After I made my Narrow Cave Deconstruction puzzle, I wanted to explore other combinations of deconstruction with shading puzzles. Here is something I made with rules adapted from the nurikabe genre. After setting 90% of the puzzle, I spent several days of unsuccessful struggle to find a valid grid without given digits, I finally settled on that one, with a given 7 and a funny thematic rule (a kind of compass looking clue that looks nice on the completed archipel map). These helped me conclude the setting, while keeping the main pieces of logic intact. Testing feedback placed the difficulty between 4 and 5. I hope you enjoy !
The puzzle :
Rules :
- Normal sudoku deconstruction apply : Fill the grid with 9 non-overlapping 3x3 square regions, such that each region contains the digits 1-9 once each and no digit repeats in any row or column. Cells outside regions do not contain digits.
- Nurikabe : the whole 11x11 grid must form a valid nurikabe grid, that is shade some cells in the grid so that all shaded cells (water) are orthogonally connected, and no 2x2 area may be entirely shaded. Unshaded cells form groups of orthogonally connected cells (islands).
- Clues : Cells with clues in the top left corner are unshaded. Each island contains exactly one clue. The clue shows the sum of the digits contained in the cells of the island. Not all cells of an island must necessarily contain digits. The size of an island is the total number of unshaded cells forming that island (including unshaded cells without digits). Each island must contain its size as a digit. No digit can repeat on an island. The "?" stands for any positive integer.
- R6C6 must have an opposite parity to the 4 orthogonally adjacent cells, if these cells contain digits.
Do try the following example puzzle :
Solution code: Column 10 and row 11 : from top to bottom and left to right, the digits, and for the empty cells, U for unshaded, S for shaded. (For column 3 of the example puzzle, it would be USU43)
on 3. September 2024, 20:17 by Silverstep
I haven't solved a Christounet puzzle since Satan #2! Can't believe that was six months ago.
It's interesting that you're combining decon with shading, since normally I use shading as notation for decon... I might have to buy a new highlighter pen before trying Blind Spot. And you said there are more like this to come?
(・_・;)
on 16. May 2024, 10:45 by LehanLehan
Oh,man..but so perfectly constructed as always,what a journey
on 5. May 2024, 16:09 by ONeill
This is a lovely puzzle, I found it a lot easier compared to some of your other deconstructions which makes a change :)
on 17. April 2024, 02:48 by RubberMittens
Incredible puzzle. So difficult. Loved it.
on 30. March 2024, 14:21 by Jesper
Lovely puzzle, thanks!
on 25. March 2024, 16:12 by MagnusJosefsson
Wonderful puzzle! The rulesets mixed very well together!
on 24. March 2024, 09:37 by zzw
Awesome puzzle! So much interesting logic throughout.
on 22. March 2024, 07:34 by Norkas
Tough, but very fun.
on 21. March 2024, 22:13 by Piatato
Awesome!
on 21. March 2024, 15:31 by bansalsaab
This was a hard nut. But doable.
on 20. March 2024, 14:20 by h5663454
You successfully cured my bad mood, thanks!
Looking forward to more deconstructed sudokus from you. : )
Difficulty: | ![]() |
Rating: | 98 % |
Solved: | 38 times |
Observed: | 14 times |
ID: | 000HD9 |
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