Despair
(Published on 3. March 2024, 21:00 by XeonRisq)
- The digits 1 to 9 AND an oblivion cell must appear once in every row and column. Just the digits 1 to 9 must appear once in TEN total regions. Regions are to be determined by the solver, and must be a set of nine orthogonally connected cells.
- Oblivion Cells : These cells are not part of any region, contain no value, and do not interact with remote sum clues.
- Remote Sums : A digit X in a cage points to a second digit Y located X cells away in its row or column. The number in the top left corner of the cage gives the sum of X+Y.
- Squares : (Regional sweepers) The digit in a square indicates how many oblivion cells share a border with its region.
- Circles : (Maximum cave clues) The digit in a circle cell indicates how many cells that can be seen both vertically and horizontally in its region, including itself; region borders obstruct view.
In a complete region, the circle will always be in a position in the region where it sees the maximum number of cells (if there are multiple such positions, the circle must occupy one of them). - Outside Clues : Numbers outside the grid indicate the number of borders before the oblivion cell. The edge of the grid is not counted as a border, and each oblivion cell has a border on each of its four edges, except borders that coincide with the grid edge.
- SudokuPad link - link to solve online
Solution code: Row 5 followed by a "-" then Column 4 (use 0 for oblivion cells and insert "-" where a region border is located, not including edge of grid) Example: 12-0-345-6-789-2345-1-0-967-8
Comments
on 12. August 2024, 08:59 by Silverstep
Cute break-in and very clean! I don't think there's any way to bypass the logic at the start. No amount of trial and error can get past this.
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Yeah, the break-in is pretty instrumental in getting going. Didn't think to try and brute force into this one, but the addition of oblivion cells makes trial/error that much more daunting. Thanks for trying this one; glad you enjoyed.
on 6. May 2024, 23:43 by ONeill
Awesome puzzle, it felt very unique :)
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Glad you enjoyed it! Appreciate the kind words, and solve.
on 4. May 2024, 04:07 by zzw
For a puzzle named "Despair", I was disappointed at how little despair was involved in solving it. In fact it was quite fun and interesting. How dare you use this kind of false advertising?!
Hehe, very nice, thanks
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Fair point, and I have no issue with turning to my dark side to turn up the "despair" =O .. Thanks so much for running through this one and of course for the solve/feedback.
on 4. May 2024, 04:02 by dumediat
Really cool break-in once I wrapped my head around the rules, and then surprisingly smooth after that. Lots of fun, thank you!
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Glad you enjoyed it, and appreciate the feedback on your experience!
on 25. March 2024, 11:30 by Chilly
Found my screenshot from testing so I'm claiming my solve :)
Very nice as usual Xeon.
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Thanks for the continued support and appreciate the test solve of this. There are future puzzles coming out on conversations we had about some interesting aspects of this puzzle and what may be possible. So the gratitude goes your way as well!!
on 6. March 2024, 00:02 by kamkam
I finally solved it. I missed a possibility with one of the remote clue... Definitely 5 stars for me. I definitely enjoyed solving it.
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Nice!! Impressive perseverance and glad you enjoyed the puzzle even though it proved to be challenging. Appreciate the solve and the feedback.
on 4. March 2024, 23:36 by kamkam
Oblivion cells do not interact with remote sums. Does it mean that if in a remote sums cell is a 5, and on its pathway is an oblivion cell, then it would be the 6h digit counted in the sum?
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It means that a remote sum clue could not index the oblivion cell. If the oblivion cell is 5 cells away, then in that direction 5 is not valid for the remote sum cage. (However, it may be possible that 5 is still valid in another direction)
on 4. March 2024, 21:33 by marcmees
Very nice. thanks. I solved the puzzle assuming the theory mentioned by kamkam, not counting the oblivion cell in the number of steps away from the remote sum. It seemed to work as well. :-)
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Glad you liked the puzzle, appreciate the solve and feedback.
