Embark (Fog of war/Deconstruction/Killer/Yajilin)
(Published on 21. January 2023, 13:50 by dumediat)
This is a puzzle that I created for zetamath's Fog of War puzzle setting challenge. Huge thank you to Chameleon for implementing the logic in his software to allow fog to be cleared by placing correct Yajilin loop/shading...this puzzle would not have happened without him!
Ratings, comments, and feedback are much appreciated! Please feel free to reach out to me on Discord if you have any comments or questions. Please also feel free to try my other puzzles here.
Edit: This puzzle was featured on CTC! Click here if you would like to watch Simon's solve. This is an important milestone for me, since it represents my CTC channel debut. Thank you to everyone who recommended this puzzle to them!
Rules:
- Fog of war: The grid is covered with fog. There are three initial light sources that illuminate the darkness and clear the fog. Place correct digits, shading, or loop lines into the cells to get more light.
- Deconstruction: Contained within the grid are nine non-overlapping 3x3 square regions which must be located. Each region contains the digits 1 to 9 once each, and digits cannot repeat in any row or column. Cells outside regions do not contain digits and are considered "empty" for Yajilin rules below.
- Killer: The digits in each cage sum to the clue in the top left corner, and may not repeat. Cages may include shaded and/or unshaded empty cells, but such cells do not contribute to the cage total.
- Modified Yajilin: Shade some empty cells black so that no two shaded cells are orthogonally adjacent (including given shaded cells), and draw a non-intersecting loop through the centers of all unshaded empty cells. Arrow clues must contain a digit and be part of a 3x3 region; these clues represent the number of shaded cells in a straight line in the indicated direction.
In the final grid, all cells will contain either a digit (with or without an arrow), a loop line, or black shading. Note that drawing borders/edges or shading cells colors other than black will not affect the fog or the solution check. The following image shows how entering correct digits, shading, and loop segments clear the fog:
PuzzleTV: https://tinyurl.com/3wbmu73f
Solution code: Column 3, using digits 1-9, L for loop cells, and S for shaded cells (14 characters)
Comments
on 6. July 2024, 19:08 by QuiltyAsCharged
Fantastic puzzle, and great fun! Just a note for solvers, when the solution check says "Something's wrong here", it might mean that you haven't finished the puzzle yet. (Not that anything you entered so far is incorrect.)
on 30. January 2024, 21:57 by Malrog
I stumbled onto this after a comment on Discord and really enjoyed puzzling my way through it. Tons of fun, and, aside from the finding of the last region, which was a bit sticky, actually not as terrifyingly hard as I feared! Props to Chameleon as ever for the software too :) Thanks dumediat!
on 29. January 2023, 04:48 by dumediat
Added a link to the CTC feature on YouTube
on 28. January 2023, 20:46 by Agent
Very cool puzzle! Possibly my favourite FoW puzzle to date :)
on 28. January 2023, 19:27 by Christounet
Excellent !! I had this on my to do list for a few days. Clearing the fog with other things than digits makes for a very entertaining solve. Thanks !!
>>dumediat: Thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoyed!
on 27. January 2023, 20:52 by Chezzik
Very fun! But I ran into an issue that is at best confusing. I think I can explain it with no spoilers:
If a shaded cell is also a given clue, and it's in the fog of war, then shading that cell will not reveal any more fog of war.
This caused me a lot of confusion, because I was confident I had located the shaded cell, but got no confirmation. Eventually I started placing more loop, and revealed the given shaded cell this way, then it finally made sense.
>>dumediat: Thank you very much for the feedback! I am sure there is a way to adjust the solution so that a correctly placed shaded digits reveal fog even if given. Fortunately that was not required for the solution! :)
on 27. January 2023, 17:09 by Al Fresco
Wow. Excellent setting. The interaction between the fog of war, region and loop construction yielded some beautiful logic. Thank you :)
>>dumediat: You're welcome, and thank you for the very kind words!
on 25. January 2023, 20:17 by Ofri
Wow! what a puzzle! one of the best puzzels i have ever solved!
thank you very much for this, hoping to see more!
>>dumediat: Wow, I am honored, thank you!
on 23. January 2023, 15:45 by h5663454
The puzzles are very interesting, and the difficulty is about 3.5 stars.:)
>>dumediat: Thank you! I agree on rating, it was fun watching this oscillate between 3 and 4 stars initially.
on 23. January 2023, 11:47 by MagnusJosefsson
Great puzzle, very enjoyable! Definitely the best fog of war puzzle that I have tried so far.
>>dumediat: Thank you very much, that is high praise indeed!!
on 23. January 2023, 09:14 by CahounCZ
Very nice puzzle, thanks!
>>dumediat: You're very welcome! :)
on 22. January 2023, 18:40 by KNT
Very cool, end was a bit tricky for me but overall very high on the fun factor
>>dumediat: Thanks, glad you had fun! :)
on 22. January 2023, 17:05 by lerroyy
Great puzzle, thanks!
>>dumediat: You’re welcome, glad you enjoyed!
on 22. January 2023, 11:08 by Jesper
That was really fun, thanks!
>>dumediat: You're welcome, I'm glad you had fun!
on 22. January 2023, 06:41 by bansalsaab
Absolutely outstanding chaotic fog. :-)
>>dumediat: Thank you very much! :)
on 22. January 2023, 03:42 by thrutch
Absolute magic from start to finish. Nothing too hard, but several nice and unexpected 'Aha!' moments along the way. Thanks for setting, dumediat!
>>dumediat: You're welcome, thank you so much for the kind words!
on 22. January 2023, 02:51 by Myxo
Awesome hybrid, I loved how the genres worked together!
>>dumediat: Thank you! I agree, I was pleasantly surprised myself while setting. :)
on 21. January 2023, 22:31 by 7aminldn
I have thoroughly enjoyed solving this beautiful puzzle! Thank you for sharing :)
>>dumediat: You are very welcome, thank you for the kind words!
on 21. January 2023, 16:37 by DiMono
This was really fun, and challenging for me not having ever solved a Yajilin before. Definitely a new take on the Deconstruction variant.
>>dumediat: I am so glad you enjoyed it!
