Intro to Black Holes, Part I
(Published on 26. June 2023, 00:00 by heliopolix )
This is the first puzzle in the Intro to Black Holes series. This puzzle introduces black and white holes, killer cages, and hole sandwiches.
These puzzles are meant to be an approachable introduction to black hole puzzles. The rules might seem a bit daunting, but please give them a try!
Intro to Black Hole Series
Rules:
Place 9 "black holes" in the grid, one in each row, column, and box, each with different digits. Place 9 "white holes" in the grid with the same rules. Put black and white holes in different cells.
Given digits may be black or white holes (or not).
Black holes have zero value and white holes have double value.
Standard killer cage rules. Digits don't repeat in a cage (but values can).
Any cage must have the same number of black and white holes (it can have zero holes).
Hole sandwiches. Sandwich clues sum the digits between black and white holes (not between the digits 1 and 9).
Comments are always welcome. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the puzzle. Have fun!
Streamers have permission to use this puzzle.
Hints: A cage can never have only one hole, and black and white holes both produce even values. For some sandwiches, it's useful to consider the filling. For other sandwiches, it's useful to consider the crust + outies. It is helpful to periodically consider which digits can go on a specific hole, and which holes a specific digit can go on.
Solution code: Column 1
Comments
on 4. August 2023, 19:17 by puzzlepandit
I find this sudoku very good and with very smooth flow. Thanks to author for this wonderful puzzle. Spoiler: I had the solution and solve path for this in following link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF3DWjQE4Vs
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Thanks, I am glad you fun solving the puzzle! I hope the video brings you good fortune. Cheers and be well!
on 11. July 2023, 12:11 by Christounet
Very nice introduction to the concept ! Thanks :)
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Thank you!
on 28. June 2023, 15:49 by giladooshlon
Nice puzzle. I felt it was more of a 4 star difficult, but that's probably because I solved it without using the equal number of black and white holes in a cage constraint.
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Thanks for the feedback! I set it so that the clues always care about pairs of holes. The sandwiches care about exactly one pair, while killer cages (and little killers in part II) care about having pairs, including zero pairs. I can see how solving without that restriction must have been challenging, and I'm fascinated that it still solves!
on 27. June 2023, 18:52 by Shrouded
I love this. Original ruleset, and once you get it, it flows really well. Using the two holes as extra regions was very relevant!
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Thanks, I came up with the ruleset several months ago, but the puzzles were all hard. I wanted to make this series for a broader audience. I'm really happy that you enjoyed it!
on 26. June 2023, 22:03 by ordnanceordinance
Very nice puzzle! It was a little tricky for me after the initial break in, but then flowed smoothly.
FYI, the links for the other intro puzzles aren't working atm.
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I'm glad you found it smooth, thanks!
I've created all three puzzles, but LMD discourages publishing several puzzles at once. So, I've set them to release one at a time over the next few days.
Part II should have just gone up.
on 26. June 2023, 20:18 by marcmees
surprisingly deceptive. NIce. thanks.
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Thanks, I hope you enjoyed it!
on 26. June 2023, 14:37 by LayLowe
Clever choice for solution code;-)
Break-in is not too difficult to spot and the puzzle has a nice flow after that. Very enjoyable. Thanks for setting and sharing with us!
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Thanks, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. You're welcome.
on 26. June 2023, 14:12 by Camerz
This is the hardest puzzle I have solved to date. Great concept and a fun solve. i highly recommend!
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Thanks for the solve and for the kind words!
