Snack'O'Mino [Level #2]
(Published on 9. March 2023, 12:47 by Christounet)
I had so much fun setting my Snakomino puzzle that I decided to make that big snake travel a little further. After his first exhausting fillomino trip, the snake is getting hungry ! And guess what, he is about to take a bite at sudoku to get its strength back for what's next on its way ! (There is a little hint about that in the puzzle.)
This puzzle was inspired by the great sudoku/fillomino hybrids by Magnus Josefsson. I thought I would just let my snake slither through this kind of grid, and this is what happened.
I suggest that you try the example puzzle first. It is quite easy but has some original logic and might help to get acquainted with the new rule I introduced.
Rules
- Sudoku : the nine 3x3 shaded areas form a valid disconnected 9x9 sudoku grid, i.e. each box contains the digits 1 to 9 once each, and there's no repeated digits in the rows/columns.
- Snake : Travelling through the grid is a snake, consisting of a one-cell wide region of orthogonally connected cells. It may not branch or touch itself orthogonally, but may touch diagonally. The first and last cells of the snake (head and tail) are in the 2 green squares. The snake must visit exactly one cell in each sudoku box, and the value of that cell must be different in each box. No other snake cell contain a digit or number.
- Fillomino rules (mostly) apply : Disregarding the cells visited by the snake (this includes the sudoku cells visited by the snake) and the central cell of each 3x3 box, divide the rest of grid into regions so that no two regions of the same size share an edge. Enter a number into each cell equal to the size of its region.
Little snack - Solve on Penpa
For the purpose of this example puzzle, I used a disconneted 4x4 sudoku grid, and of course there is no central cell to be dealing with. The rest of the rules are the same.
Snack'O'mino - Solve on Penpa
Difficulty should be between 4 and 5/5, because it could be quite a long solve based on testing feedback (Thanks ONeill !), but none of the steps are monstrously difficult. My advice for solving this puzzle is to shade in grey the non-snake snake cells, and use the line tool in Penpa to keep track of the cells that must belong to the same fillomino, like in the example solution.
Enjoy ! And consider leaving a comment if you appreciate the puzzle !
You can check out my other puzzles here if you liked this one.
Solution code: Enter the digits/numbers from row 20 (4th row from the bottom). Left to right, no spaces, X for an empty cell.
Comments
on 12. September 2024, 00:29 by kamkam
This was at the same time exquisite and hard. There wasn't any harder steps throughout all the puzzle, but every deduction was always enough rewarding. Can't wait to try the 3rd level :)
on 7. July 2024, 04:38 by MaizeGator
Quite possibly my favorite Christounet puzzle. Incredible mix of fillomino with a twist
on 7. July 2024, 04:38 by MaizeGator
Quite possibly my favorite Christounet puzzle. Incredible mix of fillomino with a twist
on 17. May 2024, 10:55 by MagnusJosefsson
Amazing puzzle! A fantastic combination that was very fun and satisfying to work through! Thanks for the shout-out as well :)
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@MagnusJosefsson : And thank you again for inspiring my creativity :)
on 28. April 2024, 11:39 by PrimeWeasel
Sublime and wonderful!
on 20. March 2024, 09:58 by Piatato
A very nice snack for anyone that loves to overindulge once in a while! :D Loads of fun all the way through!
on 19. May 2023, 11:54 by Xendari
Remarkable puzzle! I spent hours on this over a few sessions, and I really enjoyed all the time spent solving it. Thank you :)
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@Xendari : And it was nice to follow your steps over these few sessions. I'm glad it was a pleasant trip for you :)
on 22. April 2023, 14:57 by lerroyy
Really great puzzle, thanks!
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@lerroyy : Thanks :)
on 16. April 2023, 03:54 by szabog
Hmmm, this was even more delicious than the previous one. Thank you! I cannot imagine how it is possible to set a beautiful puzzle like this. And there is a level 3 - But of course, I have to wait a little between orgasms :)
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@szabog : Wow, thanks ! That's probably the best comment I ever had on one of my puzzle, which I could not imagine triggering such a... volcanic reaction in anyone ! ;)
That is the kind of feedback that keeps me wanting to set new puzzles, so I hope #3 will live up to your expectations. And guess what, there will be more after that one, for sure :)
--- That's just fair - the best comment you ever had for the best puzzle I ever had :)
on 25. March 2023, 14:38 by Niverio
Incredible puzzle yet again! 2 hours of pure joy for me.
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@Niverio : Thanks ! I really enjoyed watching you solve it too ! #3 coming soon...
on 17. March 2023, 07:46 by CahounCZ
Very nice!
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@CahounCZ : Thanks, glad you liked it !
on 15. March 2023, 22:57 by kjholt
Incredible puzzle! I was dismayed for a moment when the answer check didn't trigger but I assume that was either a penpa error or I accidentally filled a cell with the wrong number at some point while filling an adjacent fillomino. This puzzle is an instant favorite.
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@kjholt : Thanks for the nice comment ! I'm glad this one reached your "favorite" standards. That means a lot for me to get such high praise !
About the answer trigger, you can send me a screenshot of your solve on Discord if you want and I'll check where the problem comes from (my answer check or sth else)
on 13. March 2023, 19:44 by peacherwu2
It's a full blown war!
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@peacherwu2 : A war you've won apparently :) That could be a theme for one of the next episodes btw, I'll think about it...
on 13. March 2023, 18:26 by Agent
Fantastic puzzle! Very original ruleset, and the solution path is extremely satisfying.
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@Agent : Thanks for the awesome comment ! These puzzles are very satisfying to make too, I'll certainly keep making them fir a while !
on 12. March 2023, 02:08 by RJBlarmo
Very fun puzzle, a long solve but certainly worth it!
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@RJBlarmo : Thanks ! I'm happy you enjoyed it !
on 10. March 2023, 16:19 by ONeill
Very fun and original ruleset, loved it!
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@ONeill : Thanks, it was fun setting with it too !
on 9. March 2023, 21:06 by TrollErgoSum
What a journey, loved every minute of it, and there were MANY minutes to this one.
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@TrollErgoSum : Thanks ! Glad it provided MANY minutes of enjoyable solving to you :) You should try #1 too if you haven't already, I think you might enjoy it as well !
on 9. March 2023, 19:35 by Jesper
Enjoyed it a lot, thanks!
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@Jesper : I'm really glad you did, thanks :)
on 9. March 2023, 18:59 by polar
Very enjoyable puzzle thanks! Look forward to the next one :)
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@polar : Glad you liked this one :) Got a couple ideas to keep this series going for a bit.
on 9. March 2023, 14:14 by Christounet
Removed the word "disjoint" in the sudoku description. This word created some confusion about a possible "disjoint subset" that was NOT used in this puzzle. Replaced it with disconnected. Thanks polar.
on 9. March 2023, 14:05 by polar
Does disjoint here mean that the same digit cannot repeat in the same position in any box, or is it meant more in the deconstructed sense?
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Deconstructed sense, no disjoint subset here. Didn't know how to formulate that clearer in the rules. It is just a standard sudoku with disjoint boxes. I'll try to reformulate.
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Cool thanks. I'd say go with either deconstructed or disconnected in the rules rather than disjoint :)
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Disconnected ! That's the word I was looking for ! A big thank you for helping me clarify things here. Hope you'll enjiy the puzzle !
on 9. March 2023, 13:20 by Briks
Can a region of 2 consist of two diagonal cells
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No, this is standard fillomino, so cells must be "orthogonally" connected to form a valid fillomino region. If you're not familiar with fillomino, I suggest you try more standard fillomino before attempting this one :)
