MIA
(Published on 24. May 2022, 16:03 by zetamath)
Normal sudoku rules apply.
Normal killer cage rules apply. However, the cages, and their totals, are missing. Therefore, you must draw some killer cages into the grid. You have the following information about the cages to help.
Each side of every dot belongs to a cage, and the two sides of each dot belong to different cages. Each killer cage is a set of one or more orthogonally connected cells. Every killer cage touches at least one dot. Killer cages do not overlap and do not contain repeated digits.
A white dot between two cages indicates that their totals are consecutive. A black dot between two cages indicates that their totals have a ratio of 2:1.
All possible dots are given. For example, if an edge has a cage on both sides, and those cages have consecutive totals, there will always be a white dot there.
Every killer cage contains its size as a digit. E.g. a cage with three cells contains a 3 in one of those cells.
The shaded cell in r9c5 is not part of any cage.
This is an example completed completed grid of a hypothetical 6x6 version of this puzzle. In the completed grid I have indicated the sizes of the cages by circling them (to show that each cage contains its size) and also labeled each cage with its total.
Have fun, leave a comment if you enjoy the puzzle!
Solution code: Row 8 followed by Row 9
Comments
on 5. April 2023, 22:04 by heliopolix
Wonderful, wonderful puzzle. The constraint on cages touching dots kept this in my attempted but unsolved pile for far too long, but today, logic prevailed! Would solve again!
on 4. July 2022, 07:33 by Bankey
A very absorbing work of art! Thanks for setting, @zetamath:). Some potential single-cell cages had me stumped for a while but then remembered the rule about every cage needing to touch at least one dot.
on 30. June 2022, 19:20 by Niverio
Wonderful puzzle! Deductions kept coming after one another and every single given digit does its job wonderfully!
on 14. June 2022, 05:39 by Agent
Beautiful deductions from start to finish. Thanks!
on 13. June 2022, 18:07 by Phistomefel
There are a great many Build-your-own-killer Sudokus. Some have given cages and you have to figure out the totals, others have given totals and you have to figure out the shape of the cages. This is the first puzzle I know of where you have to determine both simultaneously (and the general shape is not restricted). And you achieved that with a rather sparse rule set and a nicely flowing, beautiful solving path. That is impressive. Thank you so much for this idea and for setting this puzzle! Also, I am very much looking forward to your setting video. :)
on 10. June 2022, 04:48 by ShinNoKen
This was the hardest puzzle I've ever solved, and an absolute joy the whole way through. The logic came to me so naturally I couldn't believe I was really doing it until it was finished! This is definitely the most fun I've had to date with Sudoku.
on 9. June 2022, 02:30 by SimplePurpleFrog
Wow, a hard but very pretty puzzle.
Beautifully mind-bending logic.
Thank you.
on 8. June 2022, 21:38 by Crusader175
This was a very hard puzzle (especially that ending), but absolutely a masterpiece!
on 7. June 2022, 21:35 by Snookerfan
Nice puzzle Zeta, challenging ending. Love your stream!!
on 29. May 2022, 18:35 by grkles
Exploding head emoji
on 26. May 2022, 08:12 by Elliott810
Fantastic puzzle with an insane ending! Thanks:)
on 25. May 2022, 21:41 by Tilberg
To quote Jerry Seinfeld: "Really very nice and good." Thanks for a great puzzle.
on 25. May 2022, 17:07 by Christounet
Beautiful puzzle again ! Now i'm eager to watch the setting process to see how you keep track of all the negative constraint consequences and make all this work together !
on 24. May 2022, 23:59 by Jesper
Great puzzle, solves nicely!
on 24. May 2022, 16:07 by zetamath
I recorded the entire process of setting this puzzle, so in time, that will appear on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/zetamathdoespuzzles
If you're interested in seeing that, or my twice weekly puzzle streams, consider subscribing if you haven't!
on 24. May 2022, 16:05 by crispy16
Another sublime puzzle from @zetamath, which took me on a wonderful journey.
