Only real 3good5you fans will get this title
This puzzle was set for round 1 of the first Skunkworks League competition season hosted by damasosos92, in which participants get a few weeks to set a puzzle per round. For this round, the lines and inside of the grid were given, and participants were forbidden from modifying the interior of the grid (other than given digits) as well as placing any extra lines.
Rules:
Regular sudoku rules apply; place the digits 1-9 in every row, column, and 3x3 box exactly once each.
Indexed little killers: Each arrow outside the grid has a unique index from 1-9, inclusive, given by the number next to the arrow outside the grid; if given as a question mark, the arrow's index must be determined by the solver. Each line in the grid corresponds to exactly one arrow, and each arrow corresponds to exactly one line. Let the sum of the digits inside the grid pointed to by an arrow be the arrow's little killer sum. A line that corresponds to an arrow must, when read in some direction from one end of the line to the other, first contain the index of the arrow, then the little killer sum's tens digit, then its ones digit. Which line corresponds to which arrow, as well as the reading direction for a line, may remain ambiguous.
For example, if R1C8 and R2C9 are 8 and 9, then the arrow with an index of 4 would have a little killer sum of 17. The line corresponding to this arrow would read as 4-1-7 from one of the ends of the line to the other.
Solve online:
Sudokupad with Track Cells (recommended)
Solution code: Column 5 (Top to bottom, 9 digits, no spaces)
on 14. October 2024, 04:35 by MattYDdraig
Mind blown
on 13. October 2024, 23:21 by damasosos92
Astonishingly good.
on 13. October 2024, 21:25 by ademjaz
A tough one but very elegant and enjoyable, loved it!
on 13. October 2024, 17:53 by Piatato
Great puzzle! Creative and a lot of fun!
on 13. October 2024, 14:51 by Fool on Hill
Brilliant puzzle - tough, but creative and fair. One of my favourites from the first round.
on 13. October 2024, 13:24 by ThePedallingPianist
It was a pleasure to solve and judge this as part of The Skunkworks League! This was an outstandingly creative response to the prompt and the solve is difficult but always logical. Fantastic puzzle!