Ana-"con"-da Slitherlink
(Published on 22. March 2024, 19:46 by yttrio)
This puzzle is based off of an idea I got from Nordy. A puzzle with a similar rule set by The Bard can be found here. Estimated difficulty is between 3 and 4 stars.
Rules:
Normal Sudoku rules apply.
Digits in cells separated by a black dot have a 2:1 ratio. Not all possible dots are necessarily given.
Slitherlink: Draw a single continuous loop along the borders of cells that never crosses itself and never branches. In this puzzle, the loop is NOT allowed to touch the outside border of the grid. Cells marked with a square act as slitherlink clues (i.e., the digit in a marked cell gives how many of its four sides are segments in the loop).
Any two cells separated by a loop segment must contain consecutive values. In other words, every loop segment acts as a white Kropki dot.
6x6 Example:
The image below shows a sample 6x6 puzzle and solution with the same rule set.
Note: The 6x6 example does not contain any black Kropki dot clues.
Play the example 6x6 in SudokuPad.
Solution code: Column 4 with hyphens between digits separated by the loop. (for example, column 4 with hyphens from the 6x6 example puzzle would be 2-1563-4)
Comments
on 1. June 2024, 21:53 by KNT
cool!
on 6. May 2024, 18:31 by dumediat
Incredibly smooth with some really nice logic, thank you!
on 13. April 2024, 13:23 by Krokant
Fantastic Puzzle. :)
on 29. March 2024, 06:19 by Nordy
Amazingly intricate solution path! Loved it
on 26. March 2024, 15:51 by Christounet
Enjoyed both puzzles. Quite the "tour-de-force" to find a valid grid with the myriad of white dots than comes with the ruleset ! Thanks :)
on 25. March 2024, 20:35 by goodcity
Great puzzle with some fantastic steps !
on 25. March 2024, 14:09 by ninjamunk
My first "slither"-puzzle. Absolutely brilliant! Really loved it.
on 25. March 2024, 06:14 by Phistomefel
This puzzle has such cool deductions and I have been laughing all the way through the solve. Also, I believe it was not easy to construct. I have to say I am a bit curious - if you want to share that piece of information: how long did it take you to find a constellation that didn't end in a contradiction?
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Thanks for solving and for the kind comment! It definitely took quite a few iterations to get a working version. I'm don't recall the exact time, but it took multiple days spending a couple hours each day.
~yttrio
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Ah, I see. I feared that constructing this beauty might have taken a while. Thanks for sharing, yttrio!
Phistomefel
on 24. March 2024, 23:17 by cam
My brain was already pretty damaged to begin with, so I don't think this had the same effect on me ;) It was a really smooth beautiful puzzle as always. You should be proud of this one.
on 24. March 2024, 20:13 by LeweLotki
This puzzle has demaged my brain. Amazing solution
on 23. March 2024, 21:28 by Myxo
Cool puzzle!
on 22. March 2024, 22:16 by kublai
Loved this combination! I wish I could give this puzzle better than a 'very nice' rating.
on 22. March 2024, 21:37 by Calvinball
This one molted my brain in the best ways possible.
