Order Out Of Chaos
(Published on 16. November 2023, 00:45 by zzw)
Here we have my latest puzzle, another weird Japanese sum/chaos construction hybrid (and perhaps further evidence of my descent into madness). My last puzzle was a similar JS CC where I reordered the rows and columns, so the natural next step is to reorder the clues within each row and column as well. Of course this setup needs something else in the grid to break the symmetry, and I was happy to be able to do this with only two givens.
Rules:
Chaos construction: place the digits from 1-9 in each cell such that digits don't repeat in any row, column, or region. Regions are groups of 9 orthogonally connected cells that must be determined by the solver.
Japanese sums: clues outside the grid give the sum of all the digits in a contiguous stretch of cells that are in the same region (ending either at the edge of the grid or a different region). All clues are given.
Sorting: the clues for each row and column have been sorted in ascending order within that particular row or column. The rows and columns themselves have also been sorted (but all row clues are to the left of a row, and all column clues are above a column). This means that for every row of clues, there is exactly one row of the grid (not necessarily the grid row next to those clues) that has the given sums in its region stretches (which can be in any order within that row). Likewise every column of clues corresponds to exactly one column in the grid.
Solve links:
Puzzle:
Solution code: Digits in row 1 left to right, followed by column 5 top to bottom, with an "X" between adjacent digits that are in different regions
Comments
on 18. October 2024, 01:31 by mnasti2
Very cool clever puzzle
on 3. October 2024, 06:04 by SamuPiano
Unbelievable construction! This was an epic journey the whole way :)
This one is straight to the "favorites" list!
on 22. September 2024, 16:28 by Fool on Hill
I saw this recommended - and rightly so. It is a magnificent puzzle which looks impossible and solves beautifully.
on 22. September 2024, 06:13 by Silverstep
This puzzle deserves to be in some kind of hall of fame as one of the puzzles ever. I did not expect the sequel to have a ruleset even more insane, a grid even more aesthetically pleasing, and a solve path even more enjoyable. And it's somehow *much easier* than vpermb!
on 1. April 2024, 16:30 by madhupt
An absolutely stupendous and stunning puzzle! Was able to finally solve it and I can’t believe I could finally do it with such a chaotic set of clues. It was very very hard for me but the flow is so smooth once I could discover the fantastic underlying logic. An absolute masterpiece.
on 12. March 2024, 22:59 by Christounet
Awesome !! Incredible idea and perfect construction. Fascinating how the solve path can be so clear with such chaotically organized clues. Thanks+++
on 15. December 2023, 03:24 by Agent
Excellent puzzle! It took me an embarrassingly long time to find the very first step.
on 7. December 2023, 18:08 by Xendari
even better than the first! absolutely loved the opening logic, thanks :)
on 24. November 2023, 13:33 by tonald
seems very interesting
on 20. November 2023, 18:58 by ascension
Super smooth solve path for a puzzle both of this difficulty and with clues that are this ambiguous. Great job!
on 17. November 2023, 12:32 by Lavender Gooms
Just incredible to be able to solve it from that sort of given information. Amazing.
on 16. November 2023, 21:37 by SenatorGronk
That was incredible, thanks!
on 16. November 2023, 16:14 by Jesper
Great puzzle, well designed solution path!
on 16. November 2023, 15:44 by peacherwu2
Never seen anything like this. Brilliant!
on 16. November 2023, 03:07 by KNT
Wow. Super intense puzzle. awesome, impressive construction!
on 16. November 2023, 00:53 by lerroyy
Great puzzle!
on 16. November 2023, 00:52 by The Book Wyrm
Incredible puzzle. Very smooth solve path despite the crazy ruleset, with lots of nice logic.
Surprisingly not as hard as it looks.
on 16. November 2023, 00:50 by Myxo
Incredible puzzle!
