Derezzed
(Published on 23. April 2024, 22:00 by heliopolix )
This is the third puzzle in the Zodiac Project, created by ViKing Prime. This puzzle was heavily inspired by Fillomino puzzles from MicroStudy and Deconstruction puzzles from Jay Dyer. It was set as part of a weekly setting challenge organized by Scojo. I'd also like to thank all my testers for their time and energy.
This puzzle is intended to portray a Lightcycle race where the vehicles leave an impassable trail behind them as they race from checkpoint to checkpoint.
THE ZODIAC PROJECT:
PART 1: Orion’s Belt by ViKing Prime
PART 2: Counting Castles by Marty Sears
PART 3: Derezzed by heliopolix
Rules:
- Checkpoints: Cells in the grid with checkered flags are checkpoints. Each checkpoint contains a different digit.
- Boxes: Place nine 3x3 square box regions in the grid. Each box contains the digits 1-9 once each. Each box contains exactly ONE checkpoint.
- Box Digits: Digits in boxes are box digits. Any contiguous run of box cells within a row or column may not contain repeated digits. However, box digits may repeat in a row or column, as long as they are not part of the same contiguous run of box cells (ie; they are separated by non-box cells.)
- Fillomino: Divide the rest of the grid into regions of orthogonally-connected cells, and enter into each such cell a number equal to the size of its region. Cells separated by a region border must NOT contain the same number (including box regions).
- German Whisper: Adjacent numbers along a green line must differ by five or more.
- Trail: Draw a line in the grid which moves orthogonally between the centers of some cells and does NOT branch or visit the same cell more than once. The trail MAY enter a cell with a green line, but may not touch or cross the green line. The trail must start at checkpoint 1, end at checkpoint 9, and visit every checkpoint in ascending order. Adjacent numbers along the trail must differ by five or more.
- Arrows: Numbers on cells with one or more arrows indicate the COMBINED amount of trail cells seen in all indicated directions. An arrow does not see the cell it is in. Some arrows in a multi-arrow cell are allowed to see zero trail cells.
- NOTE: The solution checker will only check cells containing the numbers 1-9. It does not check cells containing the number 10 or higher.
Streamers have permission to use this puzzle.
For part 4 I'm going to pass this grid on to the prestigious 99% Sneaky. I'm sure they've got something wonderful for us!
Solution code: In order, from Checkpoints 1 to 9, the number of trail cells in the region containing the Checkpoint.
Comments
on 17. October 2024, 04:59 by Vollkorn
Hardest puzzle i ever soleved, difficulty level is insane. I'm Glad i tried.
10+ hours but i couldnt stop :).
thanks for setting.
on 21. August 2024, 02:10 by th3d1c3m4n
Absolute monster, makes the other 5 stars difficult puzzles feel like 1 star ones! Best puzzle I solved so far on lmd, hat off heliopolix
on 18. August 2024, 04:50 by roflsalot
dear god
on 9. July 2024, 17:09 by vfig
over seven and a half hours solving this!
i enjoyed it though. one hell of a puzzle, with some really lovely logic coming out of the mix of rules.
on 4. July 2024, 11:13 by Christounet
Incredible ! Figuring out the implications of the ruleset takes some thinking at first, but in the most satisfying way. Great stuff and such a surprising outcome with the constraint you were given to work with ! Thanks :)
Onto #4 !
on 1. July 2024, 23:54 by ViKingPrime
You have completely robbed me of my sanity... my only hope is that you enjoy it more than I did.
on 1. July 2024, 04:18 by SamuPiano
WOW, this was genuinely the most breathtakingly beautiful puzzle that I have ever played! It fought tooth and nail until the very end. Take a bow, heliopolix!!
on 29. June 2024, 20:17 by QuiltyAsCharged
Wild and magnificent! Maybe the most challenging puzzle I've worked my way through, but it was so satisfying to complete. Some incredible "aha" moments throughout.
on 6. June 2024, 01:05 by zzw
Insane puzzle! Lots of rules but they lead to so many really interesting deductions.
on 26. April 2024, 19:30 by heliopolix
Updated rules to clarify how the Trail works.
on 24. April 2024, 16:57 by Chilly
Brilliant stuff - thought I'd broken it several times, and turned out it was OK. Took maybe 6 hours on and off over a couple of days and reminded me a lot of Fractured by Andrewsarchus - fab setting.
on 24. April 2024, 00:52 by ThePedallingPianist
I solved this as part of a joint effort on a stream, and what an epic journey it was! You may get stuck, you may get lost, you may have no idea where the next deduction is coming from, but when you find it, the chains of logic are beautiful, and the disambiguations remain utterly remarkable right to the end! Incredibly impressive setting, and I can't wait to see how the Zodiac Project progresses!
on 23. April 2024, 22:14 by mormagli
Good stuff! I went through lots of interesting observations early about how this ruleset works before finding the one that got me started. The other thoughts paid off later down the line.
