Finding Your Marbles
(Published on 20. January 2024, 00:10 by ThePedallingPianist)
Solution Guide
*Disclaimer: this puzzle includes a cryptic step that is not made explicit in the instructions and requires some puzzling experience*
Divide the grid into orthogonally connected 5-cell regions. 'Marbles' join cells that share a region, and no two marbles share a region.
Draw a 'marble run' from any cell in the top row to a 3 in a corner, formed entirely of L-shaped line segments: a downwards movement (to gain speed) and then a horizontal movement of the same distance. Adjacent cells on the marble run are in different regions.
At this point, the regions reveal a cryptic hint about the nature of the marble run. Use this to solve the puzzle as an irregular 5x5 sudoku.
Solution code: Column 5 (furthest right), top to bottom
Comments
on 28. March 2024, 14:18 by ThePedallingPianist
Rewording of rules to make cryptic step slightly clearer!
on 5. February 2024, 02:19 by ViKingPrime
I learned more about pentominoes today than I ever thought possible.
on 30. January 2024, 00:17 by marty_sears
This was amazing! So happy I found the cryptic step on my own... I benefitted from knowing Stu quite well now, and also because it is exactly the sort of thing I'd do!
The moment you get it is such a lovely moment.
The fact that all 4 steps of this puzzle (finding the path, finding the regions, finding the cryptic clue, and then entering the digits) fit so well together is miraculous. And each step is also fun and challenging in its own right.
This is a true one of a kind puzzle, it made my day!
on 26. January 2024, 18:29 by RubberMittens
Very cool puzzle. I got as far as the cryptic step and then everything came to a stop, as I couldn't figure it out. The cryptic step is quite awesome.
on 22. January 2024, 05:59 by Knickolas
This had a lot more interesting steps than I thought you could pack into a 5x5! Very cute and good fun :)
on 21. January 2024, 19:31 by ThePedallingPianist
Solution guide added
on 20. January 2024, 05:24 by RJBlarmo
Nice puzzle idea :)
