Blackreach (U-Bahn Roller Coaster Cipher)
(Published on 19. May 2023, 09:00 by Agent)
I've been solving a lot of U-Bahns these days and it really grew on me. As my first contribution to this fascinating puzzle genre, here is a U-Bahn / Roller Coaster hybrid with ciphered clues. As you can probably expect from the ruleset and size of the grid, this puzzle may be quite challenging. I'm happy to help anytime in a hidden comment or on Discord: Agent#2896.
Rules
- Draw a loop network through the centers of some cells, which may branch or turn, but may not have any dead ends.
- U-Bahn: Clues to the left and top of the grid indicate how many times the corresponding line shape (i.e. a cross, branch, straight line, or turn) appears in the corresponding row or column, irrespective of the line shape's rotation.
- Place some digits from 1 to 9 in every cell visited by the loop network. Digits cannot repeat in any row or column. Cells not visited by the loop network do not contain digits.
- Roller Coaster: Clues to the right of the grid give the sum of digits on horizontal loop network segments in that row in the correct order. Clues to the bottom the grid give the sum of digits on vertical loop network segments in that column in the correct order. For a given row or column, either all sums or no sums are given.
- Cipher: Each letter represents a different digit from 0 to 9. All occurrences of the same letter represent the same digit. A ? may represent any digit, but for two-digit numbers, the first digit cannot be 0.
Example Puzzle (6x6)
Main Puzzle: Blackreach (11x11)
Solution code: For each row except the last, from top to bottom, the number of lines leading down from that row. Then the digits in column 4, from top to bottom, use X for empty cells.
Comments
on 9. May 2024, 21:11 by ibag
It's really great how the solution is revealed step by step.
on 28. November 2023, 01:14 by lerroyy
Great puzzle but very hard
on 16. July 2023, 12:51 by Zzzyxas
That's the most difficult U-Bahn puzzle I ever solved.
on 5. June 2023, 18:45 by Silverstep
Hard, but very fair. 6 stars difficulty.
on 27. May 2023, 16:16 by Agent
Thanks everyone for the kind comments, I'm glad you all enjoyed the puzzle :)
on 26. May 2023, 23:23 by ONeill
Incredible puzzle and very hard for me. Definitely encourages me to solve more U-Bahns, thanks Agent!
on 23. May 2023, 13:02 by ddx01
Agent, this puzzle is incredible!! It was a long solve, but I happy for every moment I spent with it! Thank you for an amazing puzzle! ^_^
on 19. May 2023, 23:56 by Myxo
Absolutely beautiful puzzle! I feel like its difficulty was oversold by previous commenters.
on 19. May 2023, 17:34 by wooferzfg
The difficulty of this one felt strange - most of it was 3-4*, but there were 3 steps in particular that were some of the trickiest U-Bahn steps I've seen. But those steps were also ridiculously cool, which made this puzzle very memorable to me.
on 19. May 2023, 16:38 by KNT
Take the previous hardest agent puzzle and add two or three stars to it.. and that's still probably a little easier than this. Utterly relentless, every segment and pencilmark earned feels worthy of applause
on 19. May 2023, 13:54 by Niverio
So stupidly difficult that I am having trouble believing this is your first u-bahn puzzle set, Agent. It was very rewarding to find all the hidden logic and reach the end, though. Thanks a lot!
on 19. May 2023, 12:14 by polar
Absolutely loved it! Thanks
on 19. May 2023, 11:35 by Jesper
Awesome puzzle, thanks!
on 19. May 2023, 10:49 by Piatato
Magnificent puzzle! Awesome logic throughout. I had a great time solving it! :-D
