Four Alien Theorem (Build Your Own Killer Sudoku)
(Published on 7. April 2023, 09:00 by Agent)
I felt inspired after solving wonderful "alien" Japanese Sums from KNT and ibag, so I decided to create a Build Your Own Killer with alien bases. In the spirit of my other BYOK, I tried to make it consistently challenging but never unfair. I hope you'll have fun solving!
Rules
- Normal sudoku rules apply.
- Build Your Own Killer: Divide the grid into cages, i.e. non-overlapping areas of one or more orthogonally connected cells with no repeating digits. Each cell must belong to a cage. Each cage must contain exactly one clue (not necessarily in the top-left cell) indicating the sum of digits in that cage.
- Four Alien Theorem: Cage totals were written by four aliens. Each alien uses a different number base, which may or may not be the standard base 10. Two cages written by the same alien cannot touch orthogonally.
Puzzle links
Solution code: Row 7 (from left to right) then column 8 (from top to bottom)
Comments
on 15. October 2024, 12:35 by ibag
An absolute MUST and highlight for anyone who loves aliens as much as the challenge!
on 28. September 2024, 22:17 by StephenR
Thanks. I loved how the geometry kept helping, as I didn't fancy thinking about the bases more than I had to!
on 13. September 2024, 04:02 by ONeill
Super cool puzzle, thank you!
on 31. October 2023, 14:45 by madhupt
This is an absolutely fabulous puzzle! It is always an achievement to solve an @Agent puzzle but this one was particularly special to crack. So smooth once you get the hang of it. Marvellously set! Thanks for sharing this yet another masterpiece.
on 23. September 2023, 17:46 by Al Fresco
Another gem of a puzzle. Such a nice flow and variety of lovely logic. Thanks Agent
on 7. August 2023, 23:42 by Piatato
Very nice!
on 19. April 2023, 22:09 by polar
@Silverstep: I think if you check your 8 cage and rewind to that point it should be good.
on 19. April 2023, 17:56 by Silverstep
@polar Thanks a lot. That was a real brainfart by me yesterday. Turns out 8 in any base is just 8.
on 17. April 2023, 05:01 by MxTery
This puzzle was difficult, but an absolute joy to solve.
on 11. April 2023, 23:55 by ddx01
Amazing puzzle! Difficult, but very rewarding. Loved its rhythm, and the way it flows back and forward between geometry and arithmetics. Thank you, Agent!
on 11. April 2023, 16:50 by polar
@ddx01: Yeah that's right
on 10. April 2023, 18:00 by KNT
Wow, that was awesome. thank you for this tricky puzzle, and I'm so glad I could inspire it :)
on 9. April 2023, 19:42 by henrypijames
Stupidly clever puzzle!
on 9. April 2023, 18:38 by Agent
Added example in the description.
on 9. April 2023, 17:11 by henrypijames
It's not stated, but I assume that the digits in the grid (1-9) are all treated as base-10 while being summed up, no matter what base their killer cage sum is?
-- Yes, e.g. a 21-cage written by the base 5 alien can be made up of 236.
on 9. April 2023, 11:33 by twobear
Wonderful puzzle. Thanks so much!
on 8. April 2023, 18:57 by DVFrank
Really hard but very satisfying! :^)
on 8. April 2023, 10:27 by RJBlarmo
That was wonderful! Had many tricky deductions that were very satisfying to find.
on 7. April 2023, 17:00 by Tilberg
Danke!
on 7. April 2023, 14:23 by polar
Super enjoyable thanks :)
