Chaos CaveSudoku
(Published on 7. December 2022, 11:55 by MagnusJosefsson)
Place some digits in the grid and shade some cells so that
1. There is a 9x9 subgrid filled with digits that forms a valid standard Sudoku.
2. Disregarding the interior 7x7 of the Sudoku subgrid, the rest of the grid forms a valid cave (see below).
Note: The borders around the 7x7 interior of the Sudoku form additional interior edges to the cave grid.
- All unshaded cells must be orthogonally connected.
- All shaded cells must be orthogonally connected to an edge of the grid.
- Each number written in an unshaded cell must show how many cells can be seen from that position, where you can see only horizontally and vertically and the view is limited by the next shaded cell or the edge of the grid. The cell with the number itself is included in the count.
- Each number in a shaded cell must equal the total number of cells in that orthogonally connected group of shaded cells.
Example of a valid puzzle (6x6 Sudoku on smaller grid):
The puzzle:
Link for solving online:
Penpa+ (Solution check requires shading in the cave grid and numbers in the Sudoku grid)
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Solution code: Number of shaded cells per column for the last 8 columns, then middle row of the Sudoku.
Comments
on 19. November 2023, 02:59 by zzw
Amazing puzzle! Lots of fun, and of course a very impressive and minimalistic construction.
on 25. October 2023, 05:28 by wooferzfg
Awesome, thank you!
on 8. October 2023, 05:53 by tesseralis
Finally got the time to be able to do this. Absolutely fantastic. Your puzzles always take the wildest combinations and squeeze fun and intriguing logic out of them!
on 15. June 2023, 23:26 by Piatato
Great fun, and so cleverly put together from beginning to end!
on 15. June 2023, 14:05 by Christounet
Incredible ! What a clever way of placing the sudoku in the grid ! And the ridiculously low number of clues... Another masterpiece. Thanks :)
on 24. April 2023, 14:28 by konklone
Outstanding puzzle. No matter how many times it happened, I was still amazed that every little piece of the cave could resolve with so little given information.
Enjoyed this one just as much as the first Chaos FilloSudoku puzzle. Now how about a Deconstructed version of this one too? ^_^
on 13. December 2022, 00:53 by SSG
Wow! It's impressive how this manages to maintain a narrow and difficult path without ever preventing steady progress. Absolutely masterful.
on 9. December 2022, 18:03 by peacherwu2
Amazing puzzle. Very interesting ruleset!
on 9. December 2022, 18:03 by peacherwu2
Amazing puzzle. Very interesting ruleset!
on 9. December 2022, 15:35 by Vebby
Fantastic once again! Thanks Magnus! :)
on 9. December 2022, 14:22 by Niverio
Gorgeous as always! I found it closer to 4 stars in difficulty, but the grid is masterfully constructed and is an absolute pleasure to solve!
on 8. December 2022, 12:40 by ONeill
Wonderful puzzle! It’s impressive that it solves so smoothly without many givens, given the size of the grid. Thanks!
on 8. December 2022, 11:04 by Agent
Incredible puzzle, very narrow solution path with a variety of logic. The resolution at the end was very satisfying.
on 8. December 2022, 09:33 by abed hawila
Magnificent!
on 7. December 2022, 23:27 by vitaminz
I've never done a puzzle like this before. Found it incredibly challenging. Many times I thought I had broken it. Almost gave up after penpa reached 2:00 :x. Glad I persevered.
on 7. December 2022, 21:13 by KNT
very nice, as usual. finding the sudoku was really clever, and the cave afterwards was very smooth and enjoyable. when's the next one? :)
on 7. December 2022, 18:15 by Jesper
I tested this puzzle and really enjoyed it! I found it fun and smooth without any particular hard steps.
on 7. December 2022, 17:56 by polar
Gorgeous puzzle - thank you Magnus! Some really interesting deductions in there with a lovely smooth path that stayed interesting to the end.
Looking forward to the next.. (I hope) :)
on 7. December 2022, 17:25 by h5663454
I have to say that the difficulty of this puzzle is much higher than the previous "Chaos Fillosudokumino", and the whole process of solving it is not very smooth, but it is still a very good puzzle.
on 7. December 2022, 16:02 by PixelPlucker
Sublime. Thanks :)
on 1. December 2022, 13:07 by MagnusJosefsson
So this time I've tried to fit a Sudoku inside a cave puzzle, hope you'll enjoy it! Difficulty should be similar to "Chaos FilloSudokumino" with no particularly hard deduction but a relatively large grid.
