Balance Loop Sudoku
(Published on 15. December 2021, 21:07 by Gliperal)
Normal Sudoku rules apply. Draw a single closed loop that travels orthogonally through the centers of some cells. The loop does not use any cell more than once, and must travel through each dot. The two loop segments extending from both sides of a dot must be balanced: the sum of the digits up to the first turn must be the same. ⚠️All possible dots are given.⚠️
Play on Penpa
Play on f-puzzles
Example:
Links to play the example puzzle: [Penpa] [f-puzzles]
Solution code: Row 7, Column 8
Comments
on 16. February 2024, 22:23 by GymnastSteve
I figured out how to enter the solution code! Again, what an amazing puzzle! This is the first "tricky" puzzle I have ever attempted, and the 36 hours of work I put into it was well worth it!
on 16. February 2024, 21:46 by GymnastSteve
It took me a week, and over 20 hours of work, but I have solved this unbelievable puzzle. How do I submit a solution code? I would like to officially be the 43rd person to have solved this. Thanks!
on 13. April 2023, 02:25 by KNT
I vividly recall failing to solve this puzzle around the time it was posted. Thankfully it seems I have improved, as it really went by smoothly without any sort of case checking at all. Easily the most fun puzzle I have solved of yours :-)
on 6. December 2022, 16:21 by Christounet
Finally did it !!
I'm so happy with this solve !
Since this puzzle came out, I have tried several times to find the entry point to this, but I only had the first few steps around box 1 (nothing spoilery here hopefully, because I think it's pretty obvious for any solver that's where you have to start looking), but then it went dry each time because I failed to get the bigger picture...
And yesterday, I saw the light and it was beautiful ! Finished it today after some more struggling. The whole puzzle is a serie of amazing logic moments, but that break-in is the masterpiece in the masterpiece ! I even took a picture of it to put it in my hall of fame.
So thank you very much for setting this beauty, and hats off for the construction !
on 30. January 2022, 01:51 by DiMono
Well, this took me a few hours. Fantastic puzzle.
on 29. January 2022, 14:29 by Jay Dyer
I'm a big fan of this sort of logic, so I was determined to finish this before watching the video. It took a long time, and forced me to carefully reconsider what assumptions I was making many times, but it was worth the effort. Amazing logic all the way!
on 20. January 2022, 01:06 by jgreenfield
@Vebby: Thanks for confirming that for me -- I've got it solved now, though I still don't think I found the intended step. I re-tried to break extending a line to a particular cell, and one of the two options didn't break, though I don't know how you would force that line extension logically without trying all of the options.
on 25. December 2021, 17:48 by PetLov
Wow what a nice and challenging puzzle.
on 19. December 2021, 06:22 by kolot
I was close to finishing the puzzle but then I realized that I have actually broken it. I don’t know at which step I made a mistake, and I am not sure about starting the puzzle again. It is a great puzzle and I am unhappy for not being able to solve it.
on 17. December 2021, 18:19 by Vebby
What an intricate and clever puzzle! Some extremely satisfying aha moments littered throughout the solve. Take a bow Gliperal!
on 17. December 2021, 05:28 by kolot
@polar: After setting reload protection on, it still didn’t work, but then after cloning, it worked. Thank you so much! This will be very helpful in solving puzzles on Penpa in the future.
on 16. December 2021, 23:45 by Gliperal
edited rules for clarity (thanks glum hippo)
on 16. December 2021, 23:27 by polar
@kolot - In Penpa: Settings -> Reload protection -> on. Has saved me from a lot of headaches! If you still have issues (not sure why reconnecting loses your progress), then you can also clone your progress which generates a unique URL you should be able to get from your browser history.
on 16. December 2021, 16:36 by kolot
I solved the 6x6 example in 28 minutes and then started solving the actual puzzle. In the middle of my solve, the Penpa page refreshed itself and I lost everything. This happens to me with f-puzzles or Penpa if I loose my internet connection and then connect again. CTC app is best in this sense because nothing is lost even if the page refreshes itself. This is why I added the CTC app link. Now, I will start from the beginning but I think this puzzle is worth it.
on 16. December 2021, 16:28 by kolot
CTC link: tinyurl.com/y3dtsfzh
on 16. December 2021, 10:55 by Steven R
Loved it!
on 16. December 2021, 07:01 by bigger
nice
