Does Phistomefel's Ring Still Apply?
(Published on 23. February 2024, 08:43 by bodemeister)
Links: You can solve the puzzle here at CtC or here at Penpa.
Tracking cells are included to help disambiguate the doppelganger missing digits. Enjoy solving and please comment!
You can also check out my other puzzles here! Happy solving and please leave a comment if you enjoy the puzzle!
Rules:
- Doppelganger:
- Each row, column, and 3x3 box contains the digit 0 and eight of the nine digits from 1-9 (i.e. it's missing one digit that's not 0)
- Any two rows, any two columns, and any two boxes must be missing different digits
- For each 0 in the grid, the digits missing in its row, column, and box must be three different digits. - Killer: Digits in killer cages must sum to the number in the top left corner of the cage.
- Red Lines: The two digits on a red line are either equal or consecutive.
- Antiknight: Any two cells connected by a knight's move in chess must contain different digits.
Solution code: The missing digit in each column, from left to right.
Comments
on 18. February 2025, 05:27 by askaksaksask
I'm so glad you suggested this. You're certainly a master of setting dopplegänger puzzles. This was a real logical gem though. This is a BEAUTIFUL entry; I was quite stuck for a little after the relatively mild break-in... and THEN I started asking the right questions and the real intricacies of the puzzle started to come out. I really hope this puzzle gains some popular traction. This is exceptional. Thank you!
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Thanks again for yet another solve and wonderful comment! Glad others are enjoying the phenomenoms of this puzzle as much as I am! I have to credit Kafkapharnaum who inspired me to make these puzzles. His Solaris and Ancient Tablet puzzles in particular I found utterly amazing.
on 31. December 2024, 20:44 by skuntsel
Wow, simply wow! This is easily one of the best puzzles I have ever solved, and most possibly on the harder size of the spectrum. It is just a sublime setting, worth all the time that it devoured. I double down on Book Wyrm’s standpoint!
The minor break-in is really trivial as long as you’re familiar with the doppelgängers ruleset, then comes the revelation moment on how the gears click into place un general, with the major break-in soon afterward (allowing an hour or two of investigation) and regular antiknight sudoku with a twist for the eagle-eyed afterwards.
Even when you seem to understand how the system works, being at the brink of your eureka moment, you stumble upon a counterexample and have to go back to square one. And that’s up to the extent when you have solved the puzzle the logics still evades you and you still have to reiterate to grasp that elusive reasoning.
Most definitely this is an extraordinary puzzle from a really great mind. Let alone solving it is very tricky, but setting it you must be truly a genius, from ideal to an excellent implementation. This deserves much wider attention and i highly commend this puzzle. This is just the type of flawless puzzles that are at the heart of our community, from its perfect aestetics to its seamless solve path, with everything being very enjoyable and breathtaking revelation-wise.
Take a bow, Bodemeister! Please continue to deliver such jewels to the community. This is a perfect blend that offers the solver opportunity to explore the world of puzzles to its core with reinventing the classics and applying irregular logics thereto.
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Thank you skuntsel for solving my puzzle and for the raving review. I'm very happy you enjoyed the puzzle so much! I'm just on the verge of publishing a chaos construction thermo sudoku. Will have it out later today. Give it a go!
on 9. May 2024, 21:31 by The Book Wyrm
Just wow. Simply put, this puzzle is utterly amazing. Easily one of the best puzzles I've ever solved.
The entire concept of using SET in a puzzle where normal sudoku rules don't apply is very interesting and allows for some cool stuff, and this is brilliantly executed. The whole break-in sequence is extremely interesting, and even after that there are still so many interesting interactions, right up till the end.
Personally would recommend any potential solvers to definitely give this a try, and also to attempt without hints so you can discover the interesting logic naturally.
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Thank you for your comment! I have to admit I got a little lucky with this puzzle, because usually there is a very fine line between no solution and multiple solutions, but with this ruleset there is a unique solution for several different starting cage totals. It also pained me a little to post hints, but would rather have enjoy the puzzle with a hint or two than get stuck and be unable to finish.
on 24. March 2024, 01:58 by Kafkapharnaum
o_O I must say, I don’t even understand what I’m seeing right now haha -- how the heck did you find that XD I mean, I know you said you’d been thinking about doing something with the ring for a while, but still. I had noticed some things myself in my own puzzles, but would have never thought this could be usable, let alone shaped to that extent. In fact I went and checked almost all of my puzzles to compare and try and make sense of this, and NONE are anywhere close to similar to this, this is wild (and in fact, I think you’d get a kick out of Technodrome in that regard hehe). Well I love to see the ruleset not just used, but explored in new ways like this, that I could never ever have thought of or pulled off, that's for sure. Thanks so much! :D
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Thanks for giving this puzzle a go and for the overly kind words! I'm pretty happy with how it came together. I learned a lot while making it! I solved Technodrome on my phone on an airplane earlier this month and forgot to enter the solution. Will do now.
on 22. March 2024, 06:55 by bodemeister
Removed version 1 of the puzzle, and removed (version 2) from the name of this puzzle.
on 24. February 2024, 14:32 by wullemuus
The same concept and though different-really enjoyable to have two versions of this puzzle!
The different cages made it quite interesting to find the right digits as you promised this in your introduction. Well done!
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A nice surprise that you solved both puzzles! Thanks! I was kicking myself a little for publishing the first version, because it was the end of a holiday and I rushed myself a little, resulting in a puzzle that could have been improved.
on 24. February 2024, 08:49 by Mutx
Very difficult but somehow enjoyable... The logic is amazingly rigorous and lengthy, kudos!
For anyone attempting this, I recommend considering the missing digits as Schrödinger cells with an invisible number; its interaction with 0 would be much more straightforward.
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Hi Mutx, thanks for solving my puzzle, and congratulations for being the first one to solve this beast! That is an interesting idea about thinking of the missing digits as Schrodinger cells. I just used the tracking cells to extend the row, column, and box sizes to 10 to account for the missing digit, and of course to remember that the missing digits in columns 1,2,3 are the same missing digits in boxes 1,4,7, etc. Good solve, and thanks for your thoughtful comment!
