The Slow Shrub
(Published on 28. February 2024, 23:13 by olliwright)
My first puzzle started with a branching thermometer and things grew from there. For this puzzle, I just went straight to growing the thermometer in all directions. The result is a symmetrical thermometer that starts from a single point and visits all nine boxes.
Normal sudoku rules apply. Place the digits 1-9 once each in every row, column and 3x3 box.
- Slow thermometer: Moving along any grey line from bulb to tip, digits may increase or stay the same, but must not decrease. For each line, the bulb is marked by the white circle in R5C5.
- German whisper: Consecutive digits along the green line must have a difference of at least 5.
- Killer cage: Digits in a cage cannot repeat and must sum to the total in the top left corner.
- Kropki dot: Digits separated by a black dot are in a 1:2 ratio. Not all dots are given.
The puzzle is available online via Sudokupad
Solution code: Row 1 from left to right (9 digits)
Comments
on 3. July 2024, 14:34 by ThymePass
Lovely as always and amazing that this was your second ever puzzle! Brilliant :)
on 5. March 2024, 17:31 by Lundo
I felt the same way as big tiger, was able to slowly get through it, but I missed whatever logic you mentioned about R4C5... This was also my second slow thermo puzzle, so it was a bit tricky for me to wrap my head around it.
on 3. March 2024, 16:11 by rhodri
I was so convinced I’d messed this up but I kept on going and was mightily relieved when it worked out
on 1. March 2024, 00:37 by Big Tiger
I'm not sure what I missed but for me that was NOT 2 stars! I'd love to learn what the break-in was, because for me it was a slog of slowly chipping away options for over an hour.
Hi Big Tiger, did you spot the logic which reduces R4C5 down to only one option? Without that the puzzle would be very tricky. -Olli
on 29. February 2024, 20:34 by SnS
another great one!
on 29. February 2024, 09:35 by keenbowl
I quite liked that one, thanks for setting&sharing!
