Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
(Published on 28. March 2023, 12:34 by Abdul the Killer)
The shading pattern must have a left-right symmetry in the grid.
ANTI-KNIGHT: Cells a knight's move apart cannot contain the same digit.
Otherwise standard Sudoku rules apply.
Solution code: row 9 col 9
Comments
on 1. July 2023, 04:05 by Starstorm
I quite like this shading rule you've come up with, but I don't think this puzzle uses it to its potential. I barely had to pay attention to the shading, it was more of a knight-sudoku effort. That said, still a nice puzzle :)
On another note, I've been calling it hot-cold shading. On its own I don't think it does anything, which is why I see you're combining it with symmetries and yin-yangs. Keep up the good work!
---Thank you very much for your constructive comments.
I can only agree that the shading adds little here (20 givens could well be enough to solve an antiknight sudoku). I've made four puzzles using this exact ruleset (antiknight plus symmetric shading to be determined) and only one of them I feel is a proper success (Origin of Symmetry, which I see you've also solved).
The vocabulary I use in my head is about switches and states. Perhaps "hot-cold shading" is about as snappy as it can get.
The shading alone can be really powerful (though I haven't always used it to its full potential (certainly not here)) -- see my very first puzzle, One More Time, which has only 8 given digits (meaning that the shading is worth at least 9 given digits in that puzzle).
Meanwhile my puzzle, Anticyclone, has a shading pattern that uniquely identifies the solution (but wouldn't make for a very approachable puzzle). So there it's worth at least 17 given digits.
Thanks again for your comments and the solve.
---ATK
on 29. March 2023, 16:56 by Abdul the Killer
Thanks obi and krash for the positive feedback, glad you enjoyed the puzzle.
on 29. March 2023, 16:40 by TomMalufe
I rather liked the shading on this. I found it useful to look at both which cells are shaded and which cells are definitely NOT shaded. But, then in the end I never got stuck. I never needed to spend a long time looking for that elusive solution. Thus, I would only give this a 1 star for difficulty.
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Difficulty, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder I suspect.
Thanks for the solve and the comment.
---ATK
on 29. March 2023, 06:28 by obi
A new constraint for me - was a lot of fun, thank you!
on 29. March 2023, 02:25 by krash
What a fun solve that was. Kudos to you my man, thanks for sharing.
on 28. March 2023, 21:28 by Onkel_Dagobert
What a fun puzzle! Thank you for sharing.
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I am glad you liked it. Thanks for the comment.
---ATK
on 28. March 2023, 20:23 by sdlay2
Very nice shading idea, really enjoyable!
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Thanks for the kind comment.
---ATK
on 28. March 2023, 13:52 by MonsieurTRISTE
Nice puzzle.
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Thanks for the kind comment.
---ATK
