Antithesis (Yin Yang Killer Sudoku)
(Published on 23. August 2022, 09:00 by Agent)
Lately I've been playing around with Yin Yang hybrids. This is the first puzzle that came out of this experimentation. I don't know if this particular ruleset has been done yet, but I think it relates nicely with the philosophical concept of Yin Yang. I plan to create more puzzles that combine Yin Yang shading with sudoku variants in different ways. Let me know if you enjoy this one!
Rules
- Normal sudoku rules apply.
- Normal Yin Yang rules apply. That is, shade some cells in the grid such that all shaded cells are connected and all unshaded cells are connected. No 2x2 box may be fully shaded or fully unshaded.
- Digits in cages cannot repeat and must sum to the small clue in the upper left corner. However, shaded cells are treated as negative. In other words, the cage total is the sum of unshaded cells minus the sum of shaded cells.
There are two important facts that make Yin Yang puzzles significantly easier.
- The Checkerboard Rule: No 2x2 square can form a checkerboard pattern.
- The Border Rule: The border of puzzle must contain only one section of each colour. That is, the border changes colour at most twice.
Puzzle links
Watch Simon's solve on CTC channel.Have fun solving!
Solution code: Row 7 (left to right) then row 9 (left to right)
Comments
on 14. April 2024, 01:04 by wuc
Very smooth cool puzzle. 1 hour of pure joy thx.
on 22. August 2023, 20:31 by LeaVulpina
Really, really cool!
on 11. May 2023, 19:04 by StephenR
This is me letting Agent know that I enjoyed this one. And that's because it was a smashing puzzle which flowed beautifully.
on 11. November 2022, 19:56 by marcmees
Liked nr 2, hence made nr 1. Confirm the perfect score. Look forward to nr 3. thanks.
-- Thank you @marcmees! I'm honoured that you decided to solve the prequel as well.
on 2. November 2022, 10:31 by RubberMittens
Great puzzle!
-- Thank you @RubberMittens!
on 9. October 2022, 23:21 by Vebby
Beautiful flow! Yin-yang is always so satisfying; I look forward to your others in the genre :)
-- You're in luck then, there's plenty more coming :p
on 19. September 2022, 13:18 by William Cheese
amazing
-- Thank you @William Cheese!
on 31. August 2022, 02:08 by cdwg2000
【阴阳杀手数独-哔哩哔哩】 https://b23.tv/Q3bMtys
-- Very nice solve!
on 27. August 2022, 20:11 by Crusader175
Beautiful construction, very inventive idea!
-- Thank you @Crusader175! I'm glad you enjoyed.
on 27. August 2022, 17:24 by Agent
Added link to Simon's solution video.
on 27. August 2022, 10:05 by ymhsbmbesitwf
Fantastic idea! Not hard, but unusual rules make it challenging. Thanks.
-- Thank you for the solve and positive feedback on the idea!
on 25. August 2022, 19:51 by wenchang
Very nice YinYang puzzle. Spoiler alert!
https://youtu.be/dOW5oe9V-hU
-- Thank you @wenchang for the feature! Great solve.
on 25. August 2022, 05:07 by filuta
cool idea and a really well crafted puzzle!
-- Thank you, I'm glad you liked the idea and the puzzle!
on 25. August 2022, 04:08 by Samish
That was the perfect idea for a yin yang, I'm surprised I've not seen it before even though I've solved many Yin-Yang/sudoku lately. I think there's a lot of potential here! The puzzle itself was extremely smooth and enjoyable, probably more 3/5 for me. Thank you!
-- Thank you for solving and the kind feedback! I agree with you for the 3/5 rating, but it can feel harder due to the novelty factor.
on 24. August 2022, 23:23 by Agent
Thank you @Steven R @Snookerfan @madhupt @thrutch @crispy16 @KNT @Jesper @DaniK @thoughtbyte @Christounet @Perladel @DiMono @Tank for the kind comments! I am thrilled to see the overwhelmingly positive response to this puzzle. There will be more Yin Yang hybrids coming in the near future :-)
on 24. August 2022, 19:10 by Tank
Amazing puzzle. Such beautiful interactions. It is the first puzzle of 4 stars that I have been able to solve Took me 85 minutes though. Thank you for setting this!
-- Congrats on your first 4-stars solve!
on 24. August 2022, 06:59 by DiMono
Excellent puzzle, thank you for setting it.
on 24. August 2022, 01:26 by Perladel
My first Yin Yang Sudoku and it's a masterpiece. Congratulations!
on 24. August 2022, 01:20 by Christounet
Very cool combination ! Yin yang is always a nice ruleset to play with. I liked the fact that the border rule came into play at several stages of the solve. A few tricky steps to deal with but nothing too hard. Thanks++
on 23. August 2022, 20:46 by thoughtbyte
Very cool idea wonderfully executed. Thanks for the fun puzzle @Agent!
on 23. August 2022, 19:58 by DaniK
Very nice puzzle! I struggled a bit but I really enjoyed it.
on 23. August 2022, 18:43 by Jesper
Great idea for a ruleset combination, and a very pleasantly smooth and approachable puzzle.
on 23. August 2022, 16:26 by KNT
Really great approachable hybrid
on 23. August 2022, 15:23 by crispy16
A fantastic combination of rules, for a very enjoyable solve.
on 23. August 2022, 15:06 by thrutch
Really enjoyed this one.
on 23. August 2022, 12:10 by madhupt
A wonderful puzzle and very approachable as well.
on 23. August 2022, 11:51 by Snookerfan
Very nice puzzle, thank you!
on 23. August 2022, 11:12 by Steven R
Really enjoyed this, the constraints interact beautifully. Looking forward to others in the series :)
