Yin Yang Arrows
(Published on 23. September 2022, 19:36 by Schwupel)
Small Disclaimer: I put this puzzle in as 3 star difficulty but it is probably somewhere inbetween 3 and 4. If you know "the secrets of Yin Yang" (as they are called on CTC) and with the given hints I think it qualifies for a 3 star puzzle.
Rules:
- Standard Sudoku: Place the digits 1 to 9 once each into every row, column and region.
- Standard Yin Yang: Shade some cells such that all shaded cells and all unshaded cells are orthogonally connected and no 2x2 area may be fully shaded or unshaded.
- Standard Arrow: Digits on the arrow sum to the digit in the arrow circle.
- The digit in the arrow circle is equal to the sum of all shaded cells in the direction of the arrow tip (beginning from the next cell after the arrow tip).
Image for rule clarification:
Hints:
Hints are written in white in the following paragraph. If you want too look at one, highlight the text.
Hint 1:
If an arrow points at a single cell ist has to be shaded.
Break-in:
What do you know about the shading of row 1? What does it tell you about the shading of the perimeter?
Hint 3:
Now you have a couple of shaded cells which are restricted in some way. You might want to think about how these can be useful.
Hint 4:
The diagonal arrows form a chain which forces the next arrow in the chain to be greater or equal to the previous one.
Hint 5:
Where does 9 go in box 5?
Hint 6:
Where can 1s go and what does it tell you?
Hint 7:
From this point there are multiple ways available. One would be to think about the shading of column 3. Overall box 4 might be interesting.
Solution code: Column 6 from top to bottom followed by row 8 from left to right.
Comments
on 4. June 2024, 13:46 by wuc
Absolutely brilliant. 106 minutes of pure joy. Every step tricky but fair. Such a clever puzzle thx.
on 15. November 2023, 11:50 by Niverio
Very cool puzzle, surprised to see it as a 4 star :)
on 6. August 2023, 16:45 by Mr.CHEN
A Chinese solve video(SPOILER ALERT):https://b23.tv/wVgFoxL
* Lovely solve, thank you for the video!
on 6. October 2022, 04:15 by Agent
Amazing puzzle! Great idea and well executed.
* Thank you :)
on 2. October 2022, 16:44 by Snow the Jam Man
Well i finally decided to go out of my comfort zone and try a shading puzzle, and i couldn't have picked a better one, amazing logic from start to end.
* Glad you liked it although it was new for you. Especially, because these can be very hard if you dont now the tricks of yin yang.
on 30. September 2022, 11:01 by oklux
Great idea. Loved it!
* Thanks. Glad you enjoyed!
on 30. September 2022, 10:30 by Wonderment
Amazing puzzle. Great solve path with consistent difficulty until the end.
* Thanks a lot.
on 27. September 2022, 22:35 by the_cogito
Brilliant puzzle, thanks!
* Thank you!
on 26. September 2022, 22:16 by Christounet
Very nice combination ! Yin yang is so much fun when combined with other sudoku variants. Loved the different steps of the break in. Thanks.
* I'm very happy that you liked it. Thank you.
on 26. September 2022, 18:16 by cam
Beautiful construction! Thanks for sharing :)
* Thank you. Appreciate the comment :)
on 25. September 2022, 14:17 by Bootenks
Wonderful puzzle and a must-have for all passionated solvers. :D
* Thank you for the kind words.
on 25. September 2022, 04:02 by wenchang
Very nice! Spoiler alert!
https://youtu.be/tDjv8UG6WFY
* Thank you very much for the video and what a great solve! You found the core logic almost immediately. Was a pleasure to watch even though I could not understand what you were saying.
on 24. September 2022, 20:28 by Snookerfan
Lovely puzzle, thank you!
* Thanks for solving. Appreciate all the nice comments!
on 24. September 2022, 12:43 by Tilberg
Very, very nice! Great break-in, and then a chain of clever, but never too hard deductions.
* I am really happy that you enjoyed and the individual steps were clear and smooth enough. Thank you very much for the kind feedback!
on 24. September 2022, 08:54 by KNT
very enjoyable and unique break in!
* Thanks. Very happy you enjoyed the solve!
on 24. September 2022, 08:01 by Phistomefel
Very nice one! Thank you for setting this puzzle, Schwupel!
* Thank you very much. Means a lot coming from you.
on 24. September 2022, 04:26 by marcmees
very nice. thanks.
* No, thank you!
on 24. September 2022, 00:38 by MagnusJosefsson
Great puzzle, very well set!
* Thank you. Appreciate the compliment.
on 23. September 2022, 23:25 by cdwg2000
Very nice!
* Thank you.
on 23. September 2022, 21:04 by Jesper
Excellent! I enjoyed it a lot.
* Thank you very much. Happy you liked it!
on 23. September 2022, 21:03 by Playmaker6174
Very interesting opening idea and a smooth solve later on, particularly like how almost everything got resolved at the end :)
* Glad you enjoyed and thank you for the kind feedback.
on 23. September 2022, 19:53 by Oripy
Great puzzle and great idea!
* Thank you!
on 23. September 2022, 19:43 by thoughtbyte
Great idea, beautifully executed. Thanks Schwupel!
* Thanks. Appreciate the nice words.
on 23. September 2022, 19:39 by mith
Excellent puzzle!
* Thank you!
