The missing killer sum clues
(Published on 25. July 2024, 12:01 by Kjupatrick)
The missing killer sum clues by Patrick Junke
The Queen of Hearts is mad.
The King has offered Her a new Sudoku grid for Her non birthday.
An elegant coded puzzle created by the scholar Caterpillar, and ponctually delivered by the White Rabbit.
But the King failed to notice at reception that the sums in the killer cages were missing.
She did : « It makes these clues as useless as you ! This puzzle is unreasonably unsolvable ! »
Everyone suspected a trick from the Cheshire Cat, who loves to annoy the Queen.
Of course the Cheshire Cat completely disappeared.
But above all the Caterpillar also flew away.
The Mad Hatter then brillantly suggested :
« If not knowing the killer cages sums prevents us to solve the puzzle, lets deduce them back by solving the puzzle first. »
At what the Queen replied : « Off whit his head ! »
And gave the puzzle to you to solve it anyway.
Will you be the next to loose your head ?
Sudoku rules :
In this puzzle normal Sudoku rule applies.
On replacing each letter the solution relies.
Indeed each of them is coding one number.
It should not scare a talented solver.
In killer cages the numbers are not repeated,
and sum to the small total clue if indicated.
I made a
SudokuPad grid but I am still a beginner with these applications and am not satisfied of it.
Indeed you can't edit or change the letters as you whish during the solve.
I create my puzzles on Excel. If I could share the sheet of this grid, it would look more like this and really be editable, which is the spirit of the puzzle :
It gives me an idea. At least I can provide a copy-able text of the given cells, with the separator ";", for those who would like to try on Excel :
;5;;E;;;;9;4;
X;;;9;H;;;3;8;
;;;;8;;;;;
;9;;;;;W;H;O;
;;;;3;;I;S;;
H;4;;;5;N;E;X;T;
;N;9;3;;;;;;
8;;;X;;;;;;
5;;E;;;;;;;
I repeat the rules a last time in a more standard way to avoid any misinterpretation :
Normal Sudoku rules apply.
(Place a set of the digits [1-9] in each row, column, and 3x3 region.)
Normal killer cages rules apply.
(Numbers don't repeat in a cage and sum to the small total clue on top of the top left cell of the cage if indicated.)
Each letter is a transcodification of a unique corresponding digit from 1 to 9.
(Exemple of what it looks like with the help of letters that are not in the grid : Z = 1, B = 2, ... , Y = 9.)
Solution code: The solution code is the juxtaposition of four numbers, the four killer sums that should have been written on top of the following cells :
- row 1, column 6
- row 2, column 3
- row 4, column 3
- row 7, column 5
Comments
on 21. August 2024, 16:58 by Kjupatrick
Removing "Beginner" Tag
on 12. August 2024, 22:11 by permafrostyx
wow when i figured out last part it was so cool :DDD thanks patrick
it was a bit kaizo for beginner though idk why its here
Patrick > Thank you very much for your nice comment and congratulations
on 1. August 2024, 15:55 by Kjupatrick
patrick -> Patrick
on 25. July 2024, 23:20 by Kjupatrick
Who is next ?
on 25. July 2024, 22:47 by PURB97
I really enjoyed the break to this puzzle. It was done quite cleverly
Patrick> Oh ! Thank you very much ! I was going to apologies to torture you all with this puzzle...
on 25. July 2024, 19:32 by Kjupatrick
At the point where you are all (inevitably) stuck, you have to sort of undo what you have done, and use what seamed to be useless.
on 25. July 2024, 19:26 by obuibo11
I am also blocked at the same place...
on 25. July 2024, 18:48 by sujoyku
Sure, I am losing my head. But honest question: Is this puzzle worth figuring out? Or is it only some wordplay meant to tease me?
Patrick> My english is not so good to be sure my previous answer was good.
What I can say is that this puzzle is not broken, it contains all the needed clues. But there is a shift between logic and cleverness that can possibly annoy a little ; the puzzle is so, made to be also a sneaky trick.
**
Your reply was completely okay. I kept staring at the grid (knowing that it is an intended break of logic), but without finding anything helpful. Then I started wondering if, when I found the trick, I only were disappointed. That is why I asked. Maybe I will come back to it and try again to find that twist.
**
Cool then. Thx for your reply. If you want a hint, don't hesitate to make a hidden comment. But I feel that, staring at the grid, you will find it.
on 25. July 2024, 17:11 by Kjupatrick
I see you solved it, well done kublai !
Congratulation to the first solvers Oyarzabal and Hierophis69, that killed it in no time, and WatermeRen for his luck !
on 25. July 2024, 16:01 by kublai
I am in the same place as WatermeRen. I am down to 24 possibilities without a way to choose between them.
Patrick> And you are loosing your head... it's normal, because the setter is sneaky. Enter a hidden comment if your are stuck too long, I will comment back to tell you what you have to do next.
on 25. July 2024, 15:21 by WatermeRen
I managed to colour solve the whole grid but couldn't differentiate the left over 4 numbers for the letters H, N, E, X. I then just guessed and got the solution code right first try, but completely missed the logic at the end :(
Patrick> Thank you for your comment. Ah, yes, using colors to each letter can help whith the problem I described at not beeing able to edit letters, don't thought to suggest that. Wow ! It is possible to guess the four sums at once ?! Maybe I should change the solution code...
I can't tell you the thing you missed in a public comment but make a hidden comment and I will answer to it, since you have validated a solve anyway.
on 25. July 2024, 12:39 by Kjupatrick
Adding the copy-able text to insert on an Excel sheet for whose who want to try that way.
on 25. July 2024, 12:26 by Kjupatrick
Correction "style" -> "still"
