This is the fourth puzzle in the Intro to Black Holes series. This puzzle was set for Zetamath's 200th episode. Like the third puzzle, it uses the four clue types (black and white holes, killer cages, teleporting little killers, and hole sandwiches) that form the basic ruleset for Black Hole puzzles.
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 nine "black holes" in the grid, one in each row, column, and box, each with different digits. Place nine "white holes" in the grid with the same rules. Put black and white holes in different cells.
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).
Teleporting little killers. Little killers teleport from black holes to white holes with the same digit (never the other way). They can teleport one or more times (or not at all) and they never change direction. Include all visited holes in the sum.
Any little killer must visit the same number of black and white holes (it can visit 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.
I plan to add puzzles to this introductory series periodically. If you feel up for trying puzzles from main black hole series, you can find Black Hole #1 below. The main series is a step up in difficulty, but the puzzles in it use the familiar constraints developed here (except for #2 which is the black sheep of the black hole family - skip that one).
Tachyons and Black Holes (Black Hole #1)
Solution code: Column 3
on 6. October 2023, 01:14 by heliopolix
Added link to Black Holes #1 main puzzle.