TE-N [Liar JSCC Ten Line]
(Published on 4. July 2024, 14:55 by Christounet)
When I started setting last year, I received an encouraging support from Niverio, who tested my first published puzzle and streamed several of them on his channel. Since then, I knew I would want to make a kind of tribute puzzle, and my recent interest in liar japanese sums gave me the idea to make one with a related thematic (namely the basic shape of his twitch logo, without the fancy green flames). The unique ... clue is totally intended here, because I know Niv is really fond of them ;) I also like the logic that comes with it. And well, I know the design would be better without the inequality sign of course. It was a late addition because I made a tiny mistake while setting, and I would lose a lot of later logic with any other extra JS clue. I actually like the logical step it added here, so I settled on publishing this version. Have fun solving !
The puzzle :
Rules :
- Latin square : Place the digits 0 to 9 exactly once in each row and each column.
- Cave : Shade some cells in the grid such that all unshaded cells are orthogonally connected, and all shaded cells are orthogonally connected by other shaded cells to an edge of the grid.
- Shaded Ten Line : the grey line must be broken into strings of contiguous digits which sum to 10, and these strings cannot overlap. Digits may repeat freely on a 10 line, and even within a sum. Each string of digits summing to 10 is entirely shaded or entirely unshaded, and this must alternate along the line. (For example, if the first string is shaded, the second is unshaded, the third shaded...)
- Liar japanese sums : Clues outside the grid indicate either the sums of the continuous blocks of unshaded cells in that row, column or diagonal. For every clued row, column or diagonal, 2 different sets are provided (Left / Right for rows, Top / Bottom for columns, Top-Right / Bottom-Left for the diagonal) One set is correct, with all the correct sums in the correct order.(Always left to right or top to bottom.) The other set is a lie (As a whole, individual parts of the liar set can still be sometimes correct).
- Cipher : In the sets of clues, a "..." means any number of clues, including none. A "?" is a stand in for any digit 0-9, but for a double digit number, the first digit may not be 0. Clues are encrypted. Each distinct letter represents some unique digit from 0-9.
- Inequality sign : the inequality sign points to the lowest of the 2 digits.
Example puzzle : TEN-O ! (without the cipher) :
Solution code: Digits in unshaded cells in rows 1 and 3
Comments
on 1. August 2024, 14:34 by Myxo
Beautiful!
on 26. July 2024, 17:43 by Niverio
What a lovely tribute! A lot more spicy than what I usually serve out though, why this brutal? :P I enjoyed solving it immensely.
on 17. July 2024, 06:52 by tonald
It seems the answer check doesn’t work on penpa.
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@tonald : Answer check is on shading too, so maybe if you shaded the incorrect clues, it can be the cause.
Right, I erased all colors on JS clues, then answer check works.
on 13. July 2024, 19:19 by kamkam
Just wow. How is it even possible to set such puzzle. This is one of the puzzle I see and I tell myself "not for me, too complicated" but I decided to think a bit about the puzzle and kept thinking for 8 hours ! This is far more than a 5 stars for difficulty indeed. Just a spectacular puzzle.
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@kamkam : Thanks ! Glad you stuck with the puzzle and enjoyed the long ride. I enjoy marathon solves as well. I find them so satisfying. So, I tend to set puzzles that offer that kind of long experience too. Plenty of cool puzzles by awesome setters on the portal that will take you on wild rides again hopefully !
on 8. July 2024, 19:06 by Lizzy01
I would like to give this 6 out of 5 stars for difficulty.
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@Lizzy01 : Ha ha, yes, there are indeed several steps may feel quite harder than the average 5 star. I hope it was a pleasant solve for you nonetheless :)
on 5. July 2024, 14:37 by Jesper
Marvelous puzzle, thanks!
on 5. July 2024, 14:17 by Snookerfan
Fantastic puzzle! Using zero's always makes a puzzle extra hard and fun. Thank you
on 5. July 2024, 02:01 by ONeill
A great puzzle as usual :) thanks!
on 4. July 2024, 19:02 by MaizeGator
The artistry of this puzzle is incredible. Not only are the clues carefully chosen to make the solver stop and consider every possibility, but there are also a few easter eggs hidden along the way.
A lovely tribute for an awesome guy!
on 4. July 2024, 16:12 by Piatato
Awesome puzzle, very clever logic throughout!
