This puzzle a tribute to Chaos FilloSudokumino and Chaos CaveSudoku by Magnus Josefsson, and the fantastic Meidjuluk II by glum_hippo.
Place some digits in the grid and divide the grid into regions such that:
Standard Meidjuluk Rules
Divide the grid into N regions (N=26), one of each size 1 to N. A region may not contain repeated numbers, and it may only contain factors of its size (e.g. a region of size 6 may contain any combination of 1, 2, 3, and 6, including none of them).
An example grid using a 6x6 embedded sudoku with N=17:
Solve online on Penpa. (For answer check, fill in the sudoku grid and the region borders of the Meidjuluk in green).
Full Puzzle:
Solution code: For Column 3 and Column 18 of the Meidjuluk grid, write the number of cells between region borders. (For Column 3 of the example grid, this would be 22414). Then, Row 4 of the sudoku grid.
on 5. March 2024, 02:20 by konklone
This puzzle is just amazing. In my top 5 for sure - and well worth the days I spent on it. :) Thank you for putting this together and keeping the medijuluk hybrid train moving!
on 8. February 2024, 17:12 by Jesper
Great puzzle, thanks!
on 8. February 2024, 12:32 by Piatato
Wonderful! Surprisingly smooth, very elegant logic throughout!
on 7. February 2024, 22:24 by zzw
Absurdly beautiful. Such an insanely impressive construction, to be able to resolve all this with so few clues. Not sure 100% does it justice.
on 5. February 2024, 20:46 by glum_hippo
It did take me a very long time to prove some aspects at the beginning, but it was worth the effort! It also took me far too long to DISprove some smaller things in the mid-solve, but I blame that on my own severe limitations in counting. I'm just very glad to have vaniquished this beast.
on 28. November 2023, 10:40 by Snookerfan
Fantastic puzzle that took me a well spent eternity! I had the solution and did not understand why the solution code was wrong, but as happens too often, I misread the instructions and forgot row 4 of the sudoku grid. Sorry for bothering you with my question and thank you
on 24. November 2023, 09:25 by h5663454
Wow...it took me two or three days in the afternoon and evening to finally complete the remaining 2/3 of this puzzle this afternoon...
Its difficulty can definitely be ranked among the top puzzles I have completed independently...
(Btw, in the comment on the last puzzle I completed, I said something like *I want to have a good rest*. But obviously I didn't do that...)
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Congratulations for completing the puzzle. I hope it was afternoons well spent! Hope you have some time to rest for real now :)
on 15. November 2023, 00:20 by wisty
That was absolutely magical! It's an extremely tough nut to break into at first, but it absolutely earns the right to be. Every step is satisfying, reasonable, interesting, and beautiful! The way things resolve is ridiculous fun to unfold.
I rarely say something might be the best puzzle I've ever solved - this is one of those puzzles. In my top 3 for sure. Pure serotonin.
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Thank you so much wisty! It's a great honor, and such a pleasure to watch y'all solve it together ^_^ ~tess
on 15. November 2023, 00:19 by Bellsita
That was soooo good! Brilliant puzzle!
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thank you bella! ~tess
on 15. November 2023, 00:17 by Myxo
Amazing puzzle! Miraculous how everything even resolves, and in such a clean and satisfying way!
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thank you! was fun watching y'all solve ~tess
on 21. October 2023, 20:59 by Fool on Hill
Superb puzzle - kept me thinking right to the end.
on 20. October 2023, 09:05 by Tacosian
Superb puzzle.
on 18. October 2023, 17:11 by henrypijames
Enjoyed testing this puzzle - especially since I got a few glimpses behind the curtains as the initial versions didn't completely work. The fixes revealed the logic of the construction, which is even cooler than what a regular solver would perceive.
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thank you so much henry! I'm glad you were able to enjoy it. also, did you mean to log your solve ase well? ~tess
on 15. October 2023, 22:48 by wooferzfg
Cool puzzle, thank you!
on 15. October 2023, 09:56 by Christounet
Everything about this puzzle is really cleverly/carefully plotted and fun to work through ! A very hard and very long solve for me, but worth every minute I spent, even on the earlier version I tested. I hope a lot of people try it despite the intimidating looks of the grid, because I'm sure they'll feel very satisfied if/when they complete their solve. Thanks again for this beauty :)
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thank you chris ^_^ your feedback throughout was instrumental and this puzzle wouldn't have come out as it did without you and the other testers! ~tess
on 15. October 2023, 03:51 by Agent
Impressive construction, thanks!
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it was an honor to have you test it :) ~tess
on 14. October 2023, 19:34 by ONeill
Great puzzle, very difficult for me. Well done!
on 14. October 2023, 11:15 by lerroyy
Great puzzle and construction!
on 14. October 2023, 09:21 by tesseralis
Fix solution code description
on 14. October 2023, 07:21 by tesseralis
Change example description.
on 14. October 2023, 07:20 by tesseralis
Fix solution code.