Three of Diamonds
(Published on 20. February 2023, 16:07 by zetamath)
This puzzle is dedicated to KNT and Niverio whose contributions to the puzzle community I value greatly, and who have been asking for some time when I would make a five star puzzle again.
Briefly, to complete the puzzle, you will have to do each of the following:
-) Shade some cells in the grid
-) Fill a digit in each unshaded cell
-) Draw a loop in the grid
-) Decipher the digit from 0-9 corresponding to each letter
Shading Rules: Shade some cells so that no 2x2 in the grid is entirely shaded or entirely unshaded. Unshaded cell rules: Each unshaded cell must contain a digit from 1-9. Digits cannot repeat within a row or column.
Unshaded regions: Orthogonally connected groups of unshaded cells form regions, which may have any size from 1-9. Digits cannot repeat within regions. Every region must contain at least one shape (a square, circle, or diamond).
The loop: Draw a single closed loop that moves orthogonally through the centers of some cells. The loop must visit every shaded cell, and must visit each region exactly once. The loop may visit any number of cells within a region from 1 up to the full size of the region.
Circles/Squares/Diamonds: Cells containing these shapes are always unshaded. The digit in a circle is the size of the region that contains it. The digit in a square is the number of cells within the region that contains it that are visited by the loop. The square cells may or may not be visited by the loop. Diamond cells are BOTH circles and squares. Not all circles squares or diamonds are necessarily given, and a cell which could contain a diamond may still be clued with a circle or square.
The Cipher: The letters A-J correspond to the digits 0-9. Each letter corresponds to a different digit.
Lettered Cells: A cell in the grid with a letter may be shaded or unshaded. If it is shaded, the clue means nothing. If it is unshaded, the cell contains the digit corresponding to that letter.
Outside clues: Clues outside the grid are ciphered numbers which may be one or two digit numbers. If a clue is given as two digits, it is guaranteed that the first digit is not 0. The value of an outside clue is the sum of the digits in the first contiguous group of unshaded cells in that row/column seen from the direction of the clue.
Have fun, leave a comment if you enjoy the puzzle!
PS: I stream solving sudoku like puzzles three days a week. You can check out the channel, as well as some videos I have made about setting puzzles, at my YouTube channel here.
Solution code: Column 12. Enter S for shaded cells.
Comments
on 19. December 2023, 21:08 by StephenR
Wowee, what an epic. It's quite a job keeping on top of those rules, but then you do get a hit of excitement every time you suddenly remember one and push on forward.
on 23. July 2023, 14:48 by wand
wonderful puzzle. lots to thinking about and interesting deductions with the different rules, and yet quite smooth. was initially daunted by the "if this, then it means this" rules, but now I'm looking forward to trying other puzzles with such clues
on 17. July 2023, 06:27 by konklone
Outstanding! This is one of the puzzles I am most proud of solving. Was hard in places, but there was always something there for the taking. Glad I pushed myself on this, I think I will be less intimidated by cipher puzzles from now on.
on 27. February 2023, 01:22 by Ratfinkz
Loved this! Solved in a group 9on skunkworks, great fun!
[That's awesome! co-op solves are so much fun! -z]
on 27. February 2023, 01:21 by Myxo
Beautiful puzzle!
on 24. February 2023, 16:29 by karlmortenlunna
Fantastic puzzle! A very long solve for me, but well worth the time. It was very satisfying to finish it!
on 24. February 2023, 02:15 by Gnosis66
Very enjoyable throughout! I would agree with others who found it less challenging that other 5s. However, this puzzle proves that difficulty and fun aren't necessarily correlated.
on 23. February 2023, 15:46 by stayal
The solve path was very narrow. Amazing puzzle! Thank you!
on 22. February 2023, 18:56 by chalk235
This took me ages to work out! Gruelling sometimes but ultimately satisfying. Towards the end, for each cell, the determining of its value, shading and whether it was part of a loop or not seemed like a miraculous triumph in itself! Thanks for setting it.
on 22. February 2023, 02:21 by polar
A beautifully smooth & fun solve, but I am quite surprised to see it rated at 5*. No deduction felt more than 3* to me due to how powerful each rule is, both individually and combined.
on 21. February 2023, 01:34 by Xendari
Amazing puzzle! Very fun with a great flow throughout.
on 21. February 2023, 00:40 by Nell Gwyn
It's amazing how elegant this manages to feel despite the daunting length of the rules. Each individual rule is relatively simple and yet there kept being new ways for them to interact with each other. Splendid.
on 21. February 2023, 00:10 by wooferzfg
A wonderful and extremely fun puzzle. It was honestly a lot easier & smoother than I expected it to be based on the ruleset.
Thanks for the puzzle! I'd love to see more pencil puzzles from you :)
on 20. February 2023, 23:22 by Koalagator2
Amazing puzzle, thank you! Been waiting for a 5 star puzzle from you, and this one did not disappoint!
on 20. February 2023, 22:38 by KNT
tons of fun - thanks!
on 20. February 2023, 22:12 by Niverio
Gorgeous! Loved solving this one.
on 20. February 2023, 21:52 by ONeill
Brilliant puzzle, a lot of fun! Thanks :)
on 20. February 2023, 20:33 by karlmortenlunna
Fantastic puzzle! A very long solve for me, but well worth the time. It was very satisfying to finish it!
on 20. February 2023, 19:35 by ddx2407
Wonderful puzzle. Flows quite fast at the beginning, then gets trickier towards the second half. Very satisfying to finish!! Thank you. ^_^
on 20. February 2023, 18:37 by Jesper
Enjoyed it a lot! Long ruleset but well worth it.
on 20. February 2023, 16:14 by Andrewsarchus
Great puzzle! - Need to be sure to read all the rules carefully! I got hung up a bit, until I went back and read them again.
