Doppler Effect (Roller Coaster)
(Published on 3. January 2024, 09:00 by Agent)
Starting off the new year with yet another Directed Loop variant. This time I decided to make a Roller Coaster where the direction of the loop interacts with the sum. I believe it will be a good challenge especially in the first half, familiarity with directed loops may help a lot.
Rules
- Place the digits 1 to 9 exactly once in each row and each column.
- Draw a directed non-intersecting loop that travels orthogonally through the centers of some cells.
- Roller Coaster:
- Clues to the left of rows represent horizontal segments of the loop in that row, in the correct order.
- Clues above columns represent vertical segments of the loop in that column, in the correct order.
- For a given row or column, either all clues or no clues are given.
- Doppler Effect:
- For any Roller Coaster clue, if the respective loop segment goes towards that clue, the clue number must be strictly larger than the sum of digits on the segment.
- If the respective loop segment goes away from that clue, the clue number must be strictly smaller than the sum of digits on the segment.
Example Puzzle (6x6)
Main Puzzle (9x9)
Note that in the SudokuPad link, the outside clues can be colored and/or pencil-marked.Solution code: The digits in row 6 (from left to right) then column 3 (from top to bottom)
Comments
on 7. May 2024, 20:33 by Phistomefel
Wonderful! Thank you, Agent. (:
on 28. April 2024, 13:21 by ibag
It's unbelievable that it's possible to create such a nice puzzle with these crazy rules. Chapeau!
on 27. January 2024, 12:23 by Silverstep
I've never solved oriented loops before, and I didn't solve the example. I still think this is no more than 3 stars difficulty (could be really high 3-star though).
on 22. January 2024, 20:33 by Myxo
Super fun puzzle! :D
on 12. January 2024, 18:44 by samuel1997
Magnificent! I am proud of myself I can solve this puzzle despite that this is my first time to solve Doppler Effect. Using 2 distinct colors to identify the direction of the segments helps a lot.
on 11. January 2024, 11:25 by MagnusJosefsson
Wonderful, incredibly fun and not too difficult!
on 10. January 2024, 08:45 by tonald
Not too hard.
on 5. January 2024, 00:26 by Jesper
Lovely, thanks!
on 4. January 2024, 22:50 by Christounet
Enjoyed it a lot ! Clever use of the doppler effzct principle. Seems even trickier than knapp daneben at first glance.
on 4. January 2024, 11:58 by ONeill
Very nice :)
on 4. January 2024, 03:20 by KNT
Really nice! Incredibly smooth throughout.
I can imagine this puzzle is very tricky to those unfamiliar with oriented loops, but I think to anyone who has solved them before, this is surely much easier than 5 stars difficulty.
on 3. January 2024, 21:10 by Mr_tn
Very cool break-in. Stunning puzzle!
on 3. January 2024, 15:05 by Piatato
Brilliant idea and an awesome puzzle! :D
on 3. January 2024, 11:10 by Snookerfan
Brilliant puzzle! The given clues worked magnificently as in a very tight fit. Thank you
