Colossal Nurikabe Sudoku
(Published on 13. June 2023, 00:47 by Christounet)
I just love big grids !
So, ever since I started setting puzzles, I have been contemplating the idea of trying to set a "colossal hybrid/sudoku" puzzle, to add my own contribution to the serie initiated by MagnusJosefsson, tesseralis, and more recently the wooferzfg/Jakhob/KNT collab puzzle.
My puzzle is a giant nurikabe/sudoku hybrid, where clues are ambiguous (water or land clues). Read the rules carefully, as I have made a slight modification to the nurikabe rules. I provided a solvable example puzzle that may help you get familiar with the ruleset. This example also has a minimalism that was fun to play with, so I encourage you to solve it too.
A bit of warning based of testing feedback : for some of you, it might feel the difficulty increases in the midsolve, with harder deductions that may allow only tiny steps forward. This was a concern for one of the testers, but not the other two who told me it was fair and still rewarding later on, so I decided to release it without further modification. Let me know what you think ! And feel free to contact me on Discord for any help/questions.
Thanks to polar, lerroyy and Paquet Voleur for testing it !
Rules :
Sudoku : Standard 9x9 sudoku, where the digit in each cell of the Sudoku grid must equal the number of land cells in the corresponding 3x3 box in the Nurikabe.
Nurikabe : Shade some cells in the grid so that all shaded cells (water) are orthogonally connected, and no 2x2 area may be entirely shaded. Unshaded cells form groups of orthogonally connected cells (lands).
Clues : Given numbers in the nurikabe grid are either land clues or water clues, to be determined by the solver.
- If a clue is on a land cell, it indicates the size of the corresponding orthogonally connected area of land cells. Each land area must contain exactly one clue OR no clue.
- If a clue is on a water cell, it indicates the total number of water cells seen in all four directions from that cell, including itself. Land cells obstruct vision.
- A ? stands for any digit between 0 and 9, but a double digit clue cannot have a leading 0.
Example : Mini Nurikabe Sudoku
The puzzle :
Solve on Penpa (Note that you'll need to shade the water cells in grey/black to trigger answer check)
Solve on Penpa (A link without answer check in case the other onz doesn't work)
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: The length of the longest segment of shaded cells (water) in each of the 9 last rows of the nurikabe, from top to bottom.
Comments
on 19. July 2024, 08:25 by Christounet
New links
on 19. July 2024, 01:09 by RubberMittens
The penpa link seems to be broken.
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@RubberMittens : Ok. Thanks for letting me know. The problem comes from a long url with the answer check. I made a new link with answer check that seems to work, and in case it doesn't, I also made a link with no answer check (because the URL is shorter and won't cause Penpa to fail).
on 10. February 2024, 09:32 by Piatato
Awesome puzzle! Lovely interactions between the grids.
on 27. July 2023, 12:59 by tesseralis
@Agent seconded, please make a colossal puzzle :D
on 22. July 2023, 00:14 by Agent
Gorgeous puzzle! I always love these colossal grids, and this was no exception. Thanks :)
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@Agent : Thanks !! Maybe you could set one ? ;) I'd love to solve a colossal puzzle by you ! Or maybe I'll set another one myself, this is so much fun !
on 14. July 2023, 09:56 by tesseralis
That... was intense. I do agree it's easy to get lost in the middle sections, but it's more than made up for by some truly remarkable deductions. I'd say it's a worthwhile addition to the Colossal series :)
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@tesseralis : Thanks so much for this thoughtful comment ! It means a lot coming from one the setters of this great serie. And I'm glad you enjoyed despite the disorientation feeling of the mid-game. If I ever set another colossal, I'll try to make it feel more linear.
on 26. June 2023, 08:25 by wooferzfg
Great puzzle, thanks! The middle was pretty brutal, but the later parts of the solve were significantly more fun, with some awesome connectivity deductions.
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@wooferzfg : The middle solve was harder than I had anticipated while setting. I considered making changes to ease it, but some testers actually enjoyed the challenge, so I settled for this version. I'm glad you had more fun with the end of the puzzle :)
on 25. June 2023, 01:18 by Tacosian
Absolutely fantastic puzzle. It kept me awake too late last night because I did not want to go to sleep until I had finished. :) (Unfortunately I lost that battle and had to finish the next day.)
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@Tacosian : Thanks for the lovely feedback ! I'm really thrilled when one of my puzzles can provide such an intense experience. If you enjoy these kind of "marathon solves", I have made a couple other big grids you might appreciate, and there are also several "colossal" puzzles on the portal for you to discover.
on 23. June 2023, 00:57 by adalg
Such a delightful idea, takes time but never really slows down very much. Nearly impossible to take a break, too much fun. Thank you!
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@adalg : Wow ! That's an awesome comment to read ! That keeps me wanting to do what I like most, setting huge grids with lots of little things to find.
Also, do check out the 3 colossal puzzles that were made by other setters, you might enjoy them as well !
on 16. June 2023, 04:21 by wand
brilliant puzzle. definitely did have a slower pace in the middle, but so many interesting clues, and the difficulty was fairly smooth. epic puzzle!
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@wand : Thanks ! Epic is a nice compliment ! Glad you enjoyed the many little things I tried to set in this one.
on 14. June 2023, 11:36 by Niverio
Perfectly sized grid to procrastinate a work morning. Lovely!
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@Niverio : I'm glad I could help :) Don't postpone to tomorrow something you can postpone the day after tomorrow !
on 13. June 2023, 23:56 by Jesper
Epic puzzle, enjoyed it, thanks!
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@Jesper : Thanks, glad you enjoyed !!
on 13. June 2023, 22:57 by MicroStudy
i can see my house from here!!!
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@MicroStudy : Indeed, it can be helpful to look at the grid from high above to be able to find some of the deductions here.
on 13. June 2023, 22:57 by Myxo
Great puzzle! In a huge grid like this, it can be really hard to know what to do :D
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@Myxo : I know it can feel disorienting to walk around big grids like this, but I was confident solvers would find their way out of this archipel.
on 13. June 2023, 08:11 by lerroyy
Really nice puzzle, a few trickier parts but flowed really well!
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@lerroyy : Thanks :)
on 13. June 2023, 01:36 by Paquet Voleur
A pleasure to test something for you again Christounet! It's very nice also to be on the testing end of it, be it only because it acts as a virtual kick in the ass to get me going, instead of procrastinating and feeling guilty, as is the case for your Snakominoes 2 and 3, which I really should get serious about. For the time being though, thanks for this wild expedition in Nuridokuland!
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@Paquet Voleur : Thanks for taking the time to test this puzzle. Those snakes are easier to catch in my opinion, just takes more time !
