RAT RUN 8: Discontinuous
(Published on 24. July 2024, 01:00 by marty_sears)
- Normal sudoku rules apply: place the digits 1-9 once each in every row, column, and 3x3 box (marked with dotted lines.)
- AIM OF EXPERIMENT: Finkz the rat must reach the cupcake by finding a path through the maze. The path must not visit any cell more than once, cross itself, or pass through any thick maze walls.
- As well as moving orthogonally, Finkz may move diagonally if there's a 2x2 space in which to do so, but may never pass diagonally through a round wall-spot on the corner of a cell.
- MODIFIER: There are 9 doubler cells to be located in the maze, one in each row, column and box, and each containing a different digit. The real value of a doubler cell is calculated by doubling the digit that appears in it.
- BLACKCURRANTS: The values of cells connected by a blackcurrant are in a 1:2 ratio (one is double the other.) Not all possible blackcurrants have been given.
- FORBIDDEN DOORS: The values of cells connected by a red X sum to 10. Finkz may never pass through a red X. Not all possible red Xs have been given.
- TEST CONSTRAINT: In this experiment, dotted box borders divide the correct path into segments, each of which must be a valid 'nabner line'; no two cells anywhere on a path segment can have consecutive or equal values. Eg: if a path segment contains an 8, there may not be a 7, a 9, or a doubled 4 anywhere else on that segment.
Solution code: Digits in row 2 that are on the path, from left to right
Comments
on 4. October 2024, 11:21 by Crusader175
The hardest puzzle of the series, but everything just blend really nicely!
on 25. September 2024, 11:40 by BabyfacedBard
Incredible setting, one of the most satisfying and enjoyable solves in recent memory! Actually quite proud of my solve time of 36:55, considering it’s only my second ever four star completion.
I love sudoku series in general, since it adds an extra goal of full completion.
on 13. September 2024, 02:49 by Nylimb
Like some previous solvers, I broke this multiple times. I saved replay files of those attempts, so I could go back and see where I went wrong. Maybe later...
Anyway, it's a great puzzle, that stays difficult to the very end. Thanks!
on 26. August 2024, 18:52 by hmf213
Another amazing puzzle. there were at least five times when I thought I had broken it, just to find a different way for the path. Even after I already had all the correct digits, the last piece of the path was more intricate than I had expected.
on 22. August 2024, 00:56 by virus_dave
Wow, this is the first one of the series that I kept making serious errors on, and only discovered when the path logically had to take a different turn than I had expected, at which point i had to keep going back and fixing my pencil markings. Eventually it all came together, but man was this one harder than the prior ones.
The break-in was very cute, too, but the rest of the puzzle was much harder than what you'd think from the start. :)
on 16. August 2024, 11:16 by Snaques
Saved the toughest one in the series the last and what a finish to the series it was!
This was clearly the most complex out of the 10 and ended up haivng to restart twice. I mean I don't even know where I went wrong, because there are so many moving parts.
Anyway, this and the Nala series are the two of the best sudoku experiences I've ever had and can't wait for the season 2. ;)
on 16. August 2024, 01:50 by Ragna
Rattenscharf! ;-))
on 12. August 2024, 14:27 by AsgarArn
Really enyojed this puzzle. As with the other in the same series. Need to be methodical in this one 2 Times i had to double back because i broke the puzzle due to errors or miss interpretations. 3 time i thougth i broke it just to find out i had not and was indeed correct.
Took its time to solve slow but steady and even progress. It was hard all the way trougth. Liked that alot!
Thanks for a great puzzle.
on 6. August 2024, 20:07 by ChinStrap
My favorite so far in one of the best series I've played. Although with nabner and doubler cells I'm bound to enjoy it. Amazing setting as always.
on 6. August 2024, 17:16 by Kriodeco
Absolutely loved this puzzle, but it was very hard for me. The doubles logic kept tripping me up. First time trying a puzzle with doubler cells. Once I got the hang of it the logic was really lovely to work through.
on 6. August 2024, 10:58 by Uskok
This was a huge difficulty spike. At least I hope it was a spike, or the rat is becoming smarter than me at an exponential rate and the human race might be losing the rat race.
on 6. August 2024, 02:42 by Hal_Incadenza
This was amazing! It took me at least six tries and the last one was “only” an hour and a half, but it was really worth it! Only one left to solve until n. 10 comes out, can’t wait!
on 4. August 2024, 06:29 by CorpJigsQuand
Dammit. Finkz got really annoyed with me on this one. She almost starved because of all the wrong steps i took. That was hard to watch. Still cant understand how some evil genius is able to produce such a masterpiece. Need to recover now...
on 2. August 2024, 18:27 by fishwithapipe
A huge thank you for the series as a whole, solving them has been joyous.
on 2. August 2024, 14:08 by Cosinus
Challenging, easy to make some mistakes. But very, very satisfying. Everything fits together perfectly. Really love the series! ❤️
on 31. July 2024, 14:49 by mayiyang
This is the most difficult one in the series, but the logic of it is definitely brilliant!
on 31. July 2024, 14:26 by Montikulum
Nearly 190 minutes... that rat probably outsmarted me. Immaculate setting!
on 31. July 2024, 13:58 by Klausku
This is one of the best puzzles I have ever done. Brilliant and never-seen-before logic at some stages of the solve. But VERY tricky. I had to start over 4 times and couldn‘t find my mistake. Luckily Marty hinted me. Thanks again.
By now, Finks must be most puzzle-skilled rodent on the planet. I wonder if there will be a maze that she can‘t get through.
on 31. July 2024, 00:56 by sacklunch
Like the rest of the series, this is a fabulous, beautiful, fun puzzle. But holy cats, was this one tough! I think I broke and restarted it four times. Nabner + doubler = headache
on 29. July 2024, 01:40 by sunevora
That was much harder than the rest so far - but absolutely worth breaking it twice and starting over!
on 29. July 2024, 01:01 by ViKingPrime
A lovely puzzle but I worry we have lost the real Finkz the rat along the way, with all these teleportation experiments... where has she gone?
on 26. July 2024, 15:10 by WildEnte
Just wow
on 26. July 2024, 10:19 by DonQuichopp
Oh wow, what a puzzle! Like finkz, the puzzles are getting more brilliant every time!
I started out quite easily and spotted the breakin right away. But then, oh man, it got more and more difficult. Early in my solve I spotted the right path but was too stupid to figure out how Finkz could navigate the obstacle. It took me over 10 hours to solve, but enjoyed it every minute. And in the end, I am proud that I have solved it.
Looking forward to being told by Simon on CtC how underdeveloped my brain is (probably even worse than Finkz's hahahahah), he spots the difficult deductions like 100 times faster.
Thank you Marty for another genius sudoku!
Has this been upgraded to a 4-star? If so, this would be my first 4-star solve <3
on 25. July 2024, 22:12 by Perladel
How can a puzzle be infuriatingly tough and infuriatingly clever at the same time? Astonishing setting in any case
on 25. July 2024, 15:56 by vfig
this one gave me a lot of trouble. hardest of the series so far, for me. maybe its just because nabner lines still arent intuitive for me, but i often had a lot of difficulty seeing where the next deduction was, and made numerous small errors along the way requiring copious undos. got the cupcake in the end though.
on 25. July 2024, 10:15 by GeorgeTheToad2
Best one of the series so far. I think we have said that for every puzzle. Exceptional setting Marty. Thank you.
on 25. July 2024, 09:56 by Christounet
Trickiest maze of the serie so far ! Not hard, but not harmless for poor little Finkz, with a continuous run of little traps that left her with a few scratches and bruises. Thanks :)
on 25. July 2024, 01:36 by Tomf1sh
Absolute stunner as always. I'm relatively new to sudoku and this series is always testing the boundaries of what I thought I was capable of, with a fun ratty twist. It makes my day whenever you upload a new one. Thank you so much!
on 24. July 2024, 22:24 by AshBrown
Took me 4 hours and made loads of mistakes. But what a puzzle!
on 24. July 2024, 20:32 by Franjo
My poor old brain nearly broke while discovering the long winding road the lovely rat had to run this time. But in the end solving this puzzle was so satisfying! The series stays incredibly good. So again, thank you so much for sharing your wonderful mazes.
on 24. July 2024, 20:07 by sujoyku
Wow, what a fantastic journey this has been! I took me very long to find the breakthrough idea. But even when I got that, I had to find a lot of tricks. When I thought I had passed the toughest spots, I started breaking the puzzle only to find out I had yet again missed some sneaky possibility. Words fail to describe how wonderful this puzzle is. Thank you very much for this gorgeous rat run series, marty_sears!
on 24. July 2024, 17:10 by Geb
I am always looking forward to new puzzles in this series. Every single one has been great!
on 24. July 2024, 16:38 by Nairurian
Another great chapter in Finkz’s saga, although it feels like the difficulty took a sharp increase here. I think solving last week’s puzzle was almost faster than getting the break in this week.
on 24. July 2024, 15:45 by wuc
Awesome addition to the series. Every puzzle with unique twists and clever deduction. This one is one of my favourites thx.
on 24. July 2024, 11:43 by davidemsa
Another great Rat Puzzle puzzle, and the hardest of these so far for me.
I appreciate the use of intuitive symbols in the series. To give an example from this one, the red Xs are the natural choice to represent for forbidden. But that letter also has a sudoku meaning, so you made them mean that as well.
on 24. July 2024, 10:01 by 9Rookienumbers
Thank you again marty sears! This was brilliant, had me questioning all my deductions without being frustrating.
on 24. July 2024, 07:28 by MSDOS
Another wonderful puzzle to add to the series! I agree with @sorryimLate that it was very easy to make mistakes, or at least for me, think I had broken it several times only to spot the beautiful logic that not breaking the puzzle forces! Probably one of my favourites so far.
on 24. July 2024, 03:00 by sorryimLate
Just wonderful as always! The consistence of the quality of these puzzles is stunning. Even without any fancy teleports and stuff it was so interesting and entertaining. And very easy to make mistakes in this one:)
on 24. July 2024, 02:58 by BHUNTER47
Brilliant.
