Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

In a realm where myths intertwine with reality, you, a fledgling knight eager to prove your valor, embark on a maiden quest for the kingdom. As the sun fades and shadows sway, your once familiar trail transforms into a treacherous swamp that clasps you in its damp grip. From the swamp's depths, a sorceress rises, her aura thick with malevolence. She ensnares you with a curse, binding you to the marshy terrain.

Her voice, cold as the northern winds, murmurs the sole path to freedom: "To liberate yourself from this bewitched domain, you must forge a path across the perilous bog using the enchanted stones I bestow upon you."

Sudoku Commandments:

1. Standard Sudoku Rules: Place in each row, column, and 3x3 box the numbers 1 to 9, without repeating.

Stepping Stones Enchanting Hex:

1. One stepping stone must first be set upon a starting edge (Row 1, Column 1, Row 9, or Column 9) and reach its counterpart stone upon the opposite, terminal edge.

2. From any given stepping stone, the subsequent stone lies a knight's jump away.

3. Connect the beginning and end stones using only the stepping stones through knightly leaps.

4. No two stones can occupy the same position within their box. For example, two (or more) stones cannot both lie in the top left cell of their respective 3x3 box.

5. The total count of the stones and the digit value in the stepping stone cell both equal the magic number.

In this very challenge, eight knights of yore met their untimely doom, their spirits submerged within the murky bog. Yet, from the beyond, their souls shimmer, casting ethereal beams of guidance, illuminating your path and bestowing wisdom for the trial ahead.

Ancestral Guidance:

1. Mountains or Valleys: Non-magic number cells that are a knight's leap from any magic numbers must universally be greater than or less than the value of the magic number.

2. The Ghastly Knight’s Thermometer: Numbers along the perished knights (knight move-shaped thermometers) ascend from the bulb, summing to a multiple of the magic number. There must not be a magic number quantity of thermometers that have the same sum.

3. A Closely Guarded Secret: Hidden lies an invisible orthogonally-connected thermometer of four cells, intersecting three visible thermometers, which too sums to a multiple of the magic number. This thermometer does contribute to the total quantity of thermometers. You must make this discovery with your own wit.

"Decipher the puzzle, knight," the witch whispers, "or remain trapped forever."

Solve here: F-Puzzles

For assistance: The below image displays a valid solution to a 4x4 grid without the thermometer rules in effect. Note the following:

1. The cells in gray are the stepping stones. This satisfies a knight move's path from one edge to the opposite edge where the number of jumps equals the magic digit in the cell. Note that the "3" in the top right box is not a stepping stone despite equalling the magic number.

2. The cells in red are non-magic number digits a knight's move away from a magic number irrespective of whether or not the magic number is a stepping stone. In this case, all digits in red are less than the magic number.