Stepping Stones
(Published on 2. October 2021, 15:00 by RockyRoer)
This summer I discovered a series of cool puzzles by Richard with a ruleset I loved. This puzzle is my attempt to turn that ruleset into sudoku. Here are links to Richard's amazing City Construction Puzzles:
- City Construction #1
- City Construction #2
- City Construction #3
- City Construction #4
- City Construction #5 Labyrinth
This puzzle adapts the spiraling rule to digits from 1-9. Hope you enjoy!
The Rules:
- Normal Sudoku Rules Apply
- [Stepping Stones] Circle/shade 'stepping stones' in the grid by starting in the upper left corner and spiraling clockwise in to the center and circle the first 1 you see, then circling the next 2 you see, the next 3, and so on... After you've circled 9, start again at 1 and continue. (eg. 12345789123456789123...)
- Clues along the outside are the sum of the circled cells in that row or column. (Which side of the grid the clue is on is not relevant... but clues were placed in order to maintain the spiral aesthetic).
An Example Puzzle:
Link to try example on Sven's Sudokupad In this example I shaded the stepping stones green and the non-stepping stones blue.
The Puzzle:
Solution code: The digits in box 5, spiraling from the inside out [9 digits]
Comments
on 27. August 2024, 12:56 by Bankey
Amazing puzzle. Thanks, @ RockyRoer :).
on 11. July 2024, 22:53 by RockyRoer
Updated links and pictures
on 24. June 2023, 03:36 by AstralSky
Wish there is a sequel to this!
Your wish is my command: https://logic-masters.de/Raetselportal/Raetsel/zeigen.php?id=000HJ2
Be advised, it gets a little challenging at the end, but shouldn't be too bad if you keep up with the pencilmarks.
on 6. January 2023, 17:38 by peacherwu2
Wouldn't believe it. Thank you so much!~~~
Reply: So glad you enjoyed it! If you'd like another, I recently made a stepping stones sandwich puzzle, but don't think i will ever publish it because... well... there are already so many puzzles!
Here's a link: https://f-puzzles.com/?id=2jrrs9x8
on 12. December 2022, 20:07 by Al Fresco
Yet another first class puzzle. Thanks Rocky
on 5. November 2021, 18:04 by Playmaker6174
What a fantastic and incredible puzzle! The puzzle itself wasn't that difficult to me, but some of the deductions in this one were so sneaky and the way they got resolved just somehow worked wonderfully. Thank you for this treat!! :)
on 6. October 2021, 16:10 by marcmees
very nice. thanks.
on 5. October 2021, 06:21 by Richard
This is a brilliantly nice executed idea!
This one is yet another example of why I think you are one of the most innovative sudoku authors in the portal! Thx!
on 5. October 2021, 04:02 by polar
Very enjoyable puzzle - thanks.
on 4. October 2021, 12:46 by SirWoezel
Excellent puzzle. Thanks!
on 3. October 2021, 23:50 by RockyRoer
Clarified rules to point out that placement of the clues is irrelevant but done for aesthetic reasons.
on 3. October 2021, 21:04 by cmb
Very nice construction, have your [geometric shape] numbers ready.
Fun all the way through.
REPLY: Yes -- i think they are triangular numbers. And if you enjoyed this, be sure to check out some of Richard's puzzles that inspired them. They add a loop drawing component and battleships feel that I enjoyed - but much of the adding up logic useful here would transfer there too. Thanks for solving!
on 3. October 2021, 15:58 by henrypijames
Very nice and very hard (5 stars) indeed.
on 2. October 2021, 18:59 by Sktx
Take a comfortable seat, some water, headphones, and some aspirin. Make sure you have some hours ahead of you. Remember to stay hydrated throughout the solve. Have a break every hour or two. Remember, it's all worth it !
A truly great puzzle, really mindbending but very rewarding.
on 2. October 2021, 14:41 by RockyRoer
Added solution path as a hidden comment
