Living The Goodliffe
(Published on 6. October 2023, 04:04 by HalfBakedLunatic)
Phase 2: Fully pencilmark the rest of the grid, and go through the prolonged task of eliminating candidates to finish the puzzle!
The Rules:
• Normal Sudoku Rules Apply.
• A black dot between cells indicates cell values with a 2:1 ratio. A white dot between cells indicates cells with consecutive values. All dots are shown.
• Digits along each arrow must sum to the digit in the circled cell. Digits may repeat along an arrow.
• Digits in a cage must sum to the number printed in its corner.
Solve Online here:
Living The Goodliffe (Cracking The Cryptic)
Note: I recently posted a puzzle titled "It's Only The Break-in That's Hard". I received feedback that the break-in wasn't really all that hard, and someone mentioned that they had to "Goodliffe" the rest of the puzzle to get through it. So ... I've reworked the opening, made it more compact (a bit more difficult, I think), and forced even more Goodliffe on the rest of the solve!
Enjoy the puzzle, and please leave a comment and let me know how you like it!
Puzzle by David Workman (aka "HalfBakedLunatic")
Solution code: Column 3 top to bottom
Comments
on 4. December 2023, 05:45 by RedBarchetta
Came here after solving Having A Goodlaugh! Another fine puzzle - just takes some time and resolve. Thanks!
on 8. October 2023, 20:20 by samuel1997
This is hilarious! I am surprised the puzzle can really be solved just by box 9 and the negative constrait!
on 8. October 2023, 05:58 by Fisherman
Don't poke The Lion. Besides, backward elimination is generally better than forward selection when solving problems.
on 7. October 2023, 15:11 by Criptonight
Absoluut mooie opening. Meesterlijke logica. Ik hou van al je puzzels :-)
-- @Criptonight I had to use a translator but thank you for the kind words!
@HBL, English is good! I can't believe anyone would rate this less than 100%, it takes along time to get to the end but fun all the way.
on 7. October 2023, 02:45 by LeaVulpina
I spent ages trying to find a way of proving which way the roping went, having not read the puzzle description. xD I'm glad my method of Goodliffing the grid and eliminating impossibilities is the setter-approved solve path! Really cool break in too!
-- Hi @LeaVulpina, the roping is an unfortunate side effect of the negative Kropki constraint, but during testing I actually made some tweaks to the cage placements just to eliminate some of the more obvious steps where you could use roping as part of the solution path. Glad you got through it!
on 7. October 2023, 00:58 by mbrandtwls
This is a long arduous solve that can only be accomplished with copious pencilmarking (in honor of, and maybe slightly teasing, Mark Goodliffe). It might be a bit frustrating to slog through, but it is well designed and perfectly accomplishes the stated goals. 100% approval all around!!
-- Thank you @mbrandtwls, happy that you understand the intentions~!
on 6. October 2023, 18:17 by BobAndWeave
That's hilarious! Great puzzle. You are the one who introduced me to CTC, I'm sure Mr. Goodliffe would be honored and amused.
on 6. October 2023, 11:43 by Felis_Timon
I think that should always be clarified on a kropki-puzzle with negative constraint: What about a 12 pair?
-- Hi @Felis_Timon, I did do a recent puzzle where the rules specifically said "Black dots are in a 2:1 ratio / No consecutive digits in the grid" (without mentioning white dots at all) - which will disallow the 12 pair. I think the normal convention with the way the rules are stated in this puzzle is that the 12 pair on the black is allowed!
