Domino Trails
(Published on 30. January 2023, 16:00 by Blobz)
Normal sudoku rules apply.
Shade some cells (the hedges) such that the unshaded cells (the trails) form an orthogonally connected area (with no loops) where no 2x2 group of cells is either fully shaded or unshaded. Different parts of the trail may touch diagonally (checkerboard patterns ARE allowed). Note that hedges do not need to connect to the edge of the grid.
The trails are completely tiled with non-overlapping dominoes.
Caged cells are always trail cells and indicate two things: (a) the digit placed in the cage shows how many trail cells (including itself) can be seen orthogonally from that position (hedges obstruct the view). (b) the small clue in the corner of the cage shows the total sum of the corresponding domino.
Not all dominoes are marked with a cage.
Have fun, leave a comment if you enjoy the puzzle!
Solution code: Row 3 followed by Row 7
Comments
on 29. May 2024, 05:01 by Abbott Abbott
Would a loop be defined as trail cells that completely surround an island of hedge cells?
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If the trail cells were orthogonally connected all the way around the hedge cells, then yes, that's a loop. Imagine you are "in" the maze on the trail... can you walk all the way around the isolated hedge cells and get back to the cell you started in? If so, then it's a loop.
~Blobz
on 5. March 2024, 19:59 by ThymePass
That was an enjoyable solve. Thank you!
on 25. January 2024, 10:26 by rich_27
This is my new favourite puzzle of yours (of the 119 of yours I've solved so far): brilliant ruleset with such a nice solve flow
on 23. April 2023, 15:06 by Marcus
Wow, what a great puzzle! I had to start twice, but had fun from minute one to the 90th minute. Now I'm looking forward to solving the second and third parts of the series!
on 4. March 2023, 02:19 by damasosos92
A very good puzzle, thank you!
on 4. February 2023, 08:55 by dmgciubotaru
Really nice puzzle, thanks!!!
on 2. February 2023, 16:42 by Blobz
Tweaked the dominoes description.
on 31. January 2023, 14:26 by minus2ev
First shading sudoku variant I've ever solved :) Great puzzle, thanks for setting!
on 31. January 2023, 07:15 by Stingrayy
Interesting rule set and very smooth solve
