XS-ive Chaos
(Published on 27. February 2022, 03:10 by mathpesto)
Here's another chaos construction for you; hope you enjoy! If you're feeling stuck, post a hidden message or find me on discord. Comments and ratings are much appreciated, and please be sure to check out my other puzzles here.
Rules:
Chaos Construction: Each row, column, and region must contain the digits 1–9 exactly once. Regions must be determined.
Kropki: A white dot indicates two adjacent cells with consecutive digits. (Not all dots are necessarily given.)
Sandwich: Numbers outside the grid with an “S” show the sum of the digits between the 1 and the 9 in that row or column. If a sandwich clue is given, the digits contributing to the sandwich sum all exist within a single region, and there are boundaries separating both the 1 and the 9 from the sandwich sum.
X-Sums: Numbers outside the grid with an “X” show the sum of the first x digits from that direction, where x is the first of those digits. If an x-sum clue is given, the first x cells from that direction all exist within a single region. (There is not necessarily a boundary immediately after the xth cell.)
Puzzle:
Solution code: Enter Row 9 and Column 7 (18 digits, no spaces)
Comments
on 17. September 2023, 13:51 by StephenR
Great puzzle, thanks, and surprisingly smooth for me.
on 24. July 2022, 18:56 by peacherwu2
Not the hardest, but very enjoyable path throughout. Just that the S<36 constraint is not nearly as tight, such that I always suspected I have broken it along the way.
on 19. April 2022, 20:34 by Bankey
Very hard but enjoyable puzzle. Cannot fathom the 4* rating, though! I found it to be 5* for difficulty. Thanks for setting these puzzles, @ mathpesto :); I never cease to marvel at how you and so many others manage to create these gems !! Kudos!!
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@Bankey: Thanks so much for your kind words and for solving so many of my puzzles! Regarding difficulty level, it's the average of solvers' rating, and I think people have very different interpretations of what constitutes 4* vs. 5*.
on 7. April 2022, 11:14 by thefallenrat
I really really LIKE the first break-in!
on 20. March 2022, 20:19 by Christounet
Very nice again. Solved that one right after your last puzzle (Repeater) and managed not to break it more than once... That's progress for me !
on 4. March 2022, 03:44 by Mip
Love the way the clues interacted.
on 28. February 2022, 06:21 by ScatterBrain
This was a real struggle for me, I was surprised that I made it the whole way through. One false start near the beginning but I re-started it and saw my bad assumption!
Thanks!
on 27. February 2022, 17:52 by twobear
Very nice puzzle as always. Thank you!
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@twobear: thanks!
on 27. February 2022, 13:28 by kolot
Very beautiful puzzle. I had a lot of fun with this.
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@kolot: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
