Ophiocordyceps unilateralis
(Published on 20. June 2023, 12:34 by Abdul the Killer)
In the completed grid cells containing values exactly one greater than an immediate neighbour (diagonal or orthogonal) in their box are shaded.
These shaded cells form a single orthogonally connected region, as do the unshaded cells.
No 2x2 region is wholly shaded or unshaded.
Otherwise, standard Sudoku rules apply.
Solution code: row 6 col 4
Comments
on 28. September 2023, 19:48 by Abdul the Killer
Revised rules to remove apparent ambiguity (thanks @codewizard).
on 4. September 2023, 20:46 by Baklin
Really loved this one when I got my head around some of the restriction with this rule set.
---Glad you liked it. Thanks for the comment.---ATK
on 3. July 2023, 22:06 by RubberMittens
Nice puzzle. I was confused by the instructions during my first couple attempts. It wasn't clear to me that values that were not exactly 1 greater than a neighbor were not necessarily unshaded. Not sure if that ambiguity was intentional, but it took me reaching an impossible situation to realize my misunderstanding.
on 24. June 2023, 14:43 by puzzlepandit
Wow! Nicely created. I think this will make the CTC.
---I imagine all my puzzles on CTC, so far it hasn't worked.
Thanks for your comment and your solve.
---ATK
on 23. June 2023, 07:39 by Phistomefel
Very nice one! Thanks, Abdul! :)
---Very kind of you to say. Thanks for the solve. ---ATK
on 22. June 2023, 10:47 by drbs
Nice!
---Glad you liked it, thanks for the solve. ---ATK
on 21. June 2023, 13:11 by Christounet
A great idea for a yin yang puzzle, with a very smooth execution, as pointed out by others. Must have taken a while to find the right combination of digits to make this work ! Thanks :)
Also, I checked out that unpronouncable fungi on wikipedia out of curiosity. The way it gains control of ants is just so sick !
---I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the comment.---ATK
on 21. June 2023, 11:15 by Franjo
Elegant setting, smooth solving path, not too hard: a perfect puzzle! Thank you so much for sharing this one.
---Thank you for the solve and the generous comments.---ATK
on 21. June 2023, 06:52 by MicroStudy
incredible redemption arc
---I'm glad you liked it!---ATK
on 21. June 2023, 01:10 by Calvinball
Very nice puzzle! Significantly easier than Three-Legged Dog lol, although having solved that previously certainly helped with my solve of this.
---Thanks for the solve. TLD took forever to get enough solves to achieve a rating. I quite regret that I made it so hard. This puzzle was by way of apology for that.
---ATK
on 21. June 2023, 00:55 by ozgaz
Thanks ATK - another great solve. like the combination of rule sets. What's the story with the fungus reference?
---I guess the fungus reference is about the way the shading pattern grows, like something you might see in a petri dish.
To be honest most of my titles are nonsense based only upon what music I am listening to when I'm creating the thing.
Glad you liked it, thanks for the solve.
---ATK
on 20. June 2023, 19:24 by marcmees
very smooth. thanks
---Thanks for the comment and thanks for the solve.---ATK
