Build Your Own Killer: Master Designer
(Published on 15. August 2023, 06:00 by Playmaker6174)
This one is another BYOK edition of mine and it follows straight up from one of my entries in a 6x6 pack before. I modified some parts of the rules and demonstrated them in a cleaner way. (Special thanks to Paletron for some feedback on the clarification on the rule set!)
The puzzle is quite challenging, but it introduces a wide range of cage building logic so I hope the solve is worth it to everyone! I also made a 6x6 example puzzle just so everyone can get into the groove.
Rules:
- Normal Sudoku rules apply: every row, column and 3x3 box contains digits from 1 to 9 each once.
- Every caged cell with a clue is used to construct a 'real' killer cage - an orthogonally connected area of cells that is one cell wide. Every cage must contain exactly one clue, and the size number of a cage must be written into its corresponding clued cell.
(for the sake of this part, a clue cell is not necessary in the top left of its respective cage)
+ IMPORTANT: Cages don't branch and also don't overlap with each other. No 2x2 area within the grid can entirely contain caged cells.
+ Within a cage, digits don't repeat and they sum to the clue written in that cage (if given).
- A cell that contains an arrow doesn't belong to any cage, and its digit shows how many cells away between it and the FIRST caged cell found on the arrow's direction.
For example, if R8C5 is a 3 then R8C8 must belong to a cage while R8C6 and R8C7 mustn't. Note that in such case, R8C9 may or may not belong to a cage.
Below is a 6x6 example that can be solved in F-puzzle link - Penpa plus - Sudokupad.
The main 9x9 puzzle:
F-puzzle link - Penpa plus - SudokupadGood luck and have fun solving!
Solution code: Row 6 (left to right) and column 5 (top to bottom), 18 digits long
Comments
on 11. November 2023, 22:34 by Myxo
Very nice!
on 18. September 2023, 15:53 by Piatato
Very nice puzzle, thanks!
on 8. September 2023, 10:34 by Christounet
Superb ! At some point during that beautiful opening, my brain wanted some cages to have their clue in the top left corner, which caused some serious trouble... That "BYO cages" rule gives me some ideas :)
on 24. August 2023, 17:21 by heliopolix
Masterfully designed!
on 17. August 2023, 09:21 by kmoter
Nice one, easier if you read the rules properly :-)
on 17. August 2023, 08:37 by Playmaker6174
Added some more emphasis on a few parts in the rule set
on 17. August 2023, 08:26 by Playmaker6174
Thank you all for the lovely feedback! This is my first time tackling with this completed rule set and I'm eager to set more of this in the future :)
on 16. August 2023, 05:05 by keaizhu
So interesting! Several rules complement each other to make puzzle full of logical fun!
on 15. August 2023, 16:22 by Bankey
Fun puzzle. Thanks, @ Playmaker6174 :).
on 15. August 2023, 14:41 by lerroyy
Great puzzle!
on 15. August 2023, 13:59 by MicroStudy
gucci got nothin on this
on 15. August 2023, 13:58 by Calvinball
I really enjoyed how these rules played together. I hope you're not sick of them because I'd love to explore more in the future!
on 15. August 2023, 11:52 by JayForty
Fun puzzle! Lots to discover and not too much arithmetic required. Thanks!
