Moriarty Leaves A Clue
(Published on 19. August 2023, 23:43 by HalfBakedLunatic)
Moriarty teases them by leaving a clue. What Holmes discovers is simply … the number 2? What does that mean? From there, the trail goes cold.
The Rules:
• Normal Sudoku Rules Apply
• Digits along palindrome lines read the same forwards or backwards
• Digits in a cage must sum to the number in its corner
• Orthogonally adjacent cells do not sum to either 5 or 10 (XV negative constraint)
Solve Online here:
Moriarty Leaves A Clue (Cracking The Cryptic)
Moriarty Leaves A Clue (F-Puzzles)
This is a sequel to Sherlock's advice to the good Dr. Watson, with the same ruleset. Enjoy the puzzle, and please leave a comment and let me know how you like it!
Puzzle by David Workman (aka "HalfBakedLunatic")
Solution code: Row 6, left to right
Comments
on 23. August 2023, 22:11 by alanb
Very difficult for me, but thanks to the clue I knew the puzzle did indeed include the number 2 and not just 1 & 3-9, very helpful!! ;)
on 21. August 2023, 16:11 by Snookerfan
Excellent! Thank you
on 20. August 2023, 23:29 by HalfBakedLunatic
Thanks everyone for all the great comments! This was quite an effort to put together, much more involved than my other recent puzzles - but I wanted something that would be a worthy successor to "Sherlock's Advice to the good Dr. Watson". I think I nailed it :-)
on 20. August 2023, 21:01 by RedBarchetta
Brilliant! I love these puzzles where is feels like brute force logic. Just keep plugging away with all the interactions. Very well constructed, thanks!
on 20. August 2023, 14:44 by BobAndWeave
That's a beautiful 'who dunnit' mystery for sure!
on 20. August 2023, 14:28 by Criptonight
Outstanding! I had to pencil in 'virtual cages' that came out of nowhere, and these cages were subject to the same XV restriction as all the others. Smart and elegant.
on 20. August 2023, 14:06 by mbrandtwls
Ha, Sherlock defeats Moriarty in the end! What a wonderful, mind boggling, intricate puzzle this is my friend.
on 20. August 2023, 05:21 by Fisherman
Thanks, David, I barely made it. Very beautiful puzzle indeed. Sorry for the false alarm.
--Very happy to see you pushed through and came out triumphant! Glad you liked it :-)
on 20. August 2023, 02:41 by Fisherman
This puzzle has defeated me.
--Sorry Fisherman! There are some specific (and tricky!) interactions between the negative XV constraint, the palindromes, and the cages.
