Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

Find the Zipper Loop

(Published on 15. April 2024, 20:32 by gdc)

After solving some excellent loop puzzles recently, I decided to also try this genre out and create a loop that chopped into small zipper line segments. Thanks Flinty, vitaminz and garford for testing and the detailed feedback.

  • Normal Sudoku rules apply.
  • Draw a 1-cell wide orthogonal loop which can't touch itself, not even diagonally.
    • Box borders divide the loop into segments.
    • Each segment has an odd length and acts as a zipper line.
    • Digits an equal distance to the center of a segment sum to the central digit.
  • Digits in circles are on the loop and indicate the length of their segment.
  • Digits in squares indicate how many cells they see orthogonally of their own "color" (loop/non-loop) including themselves. The other color blocks vision.
Play on SudokuPad

Example Puzzle

The images below show an example puzzle and the corresponding solution. The red line represents the loop which does not perform any diagonal movements (only moves orthogonally). The segments are represented by different colors. The long segment is a valid zipper line because 5=4+1=3+2. The 3-cell segment is valid because 4=3+1. One-cell segments are always valid zipper lines. All circles show the length of the segments. The squared two counts the number of visible non-loop cells. The squared 4 counts the number of visible loop cells. If the top-right digit of the puzzle was squared, it would have to be 6 because it sees itself, one cell to the left and 5 cells to the bottom.

Play the Example Puzzle on SudokuPad

Solution code: Row 9, left to right (9 digits)


Solved by Flinty, vitaminz, AltVoid, SKORP17, efnenu, tuturitu, Big Tiger, japanoise_breakfast, goodcity, karlmortenlunna, ChinStrap, MPR, Pisu, farodin64, ofersadan, Glasgow, 9Rookienumbers, rameshsrivats, ... Scojo, StartUp21, nyxie, Fra314, BlackApolloX, Tao519, cygne, KyubiBoy, GDP, wuc, GoogleEnPassant, Jackson Philion, oskode, dogfarts, dustpan, Kyriaas, Sid9785, widjo, ranalloatl2, PippoForte
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Comments

on 17. June 2024, 23:28 by wuc
I love puzzles like this. So special and perfectly flowing. I hope I can ever set such a cool puzzle thx.

on 9. May 2024, 15:31 by Fra314
Brilliant. So many cool deductions required, the logic is sound and the puzzle is fun and beautifully constructed. A real gem!

on 18. April 2024, 13:23 by Geb
I like the way the segment length constraint shapes the loop! Very solid puzzle. Nice one.

on 16. April 2024, 18:36 by yttrio
Fun, smooth loop puzzle! Nothing too tricky, but there were still lots of interesting deductions along the way.

on 16. April 2024, 04:00 by ChinStrap
Really good loop puzzle.

on 16. April 2024, 00:42 by goodcity
The solvepath felt unexpected for this one. Very nice one!

on 15. April 2024, 23:07 by Big Tiger
I'm learning that I just don't find zipper lines fascinating - not sure why Simon of CTC loves them - but I pressed on and made it through and did enjoy myself overall. Nice work!

on 15. April 2024, 20:39 by vitaminz
A different way of thinking, at least for me, but not actually very hard (I think it’s probably more approachable than advertised). It’s worth the solve just to sit in awe of how well every piece clears up everything around it. Truly masterful setting.

on 15. April 2024, 20:36 by Flinty
Suprisingly approachable. Very nice puzzle.

Difficulty:2
Rating:95 %
Solved:72 times
Observed:8 times
ID:000HPM

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