Mad Indirection (Indexing)
(Published on 28. November 2024, 16:01 by gdc)
This puzzle was created for Scojos weekly prompt. The topic was "Lines that move outside the grid". Thanks to the testers. Hope you enjoy.
- Normal 6x6 sudoku rules apply.
- Index Lines: The digit in the Nth cell along the line (starting from the diamond) indicates the position along the line where the digit N appears. For example: 2143 would be a valid line (with 2 as the diamond); the 1st digit, 2, indicates that the 2nd digit is a 1, and so on.
- Numbered Rooms: All outside cells on a line must contain a digit. That digit must also appear in the Nth position of that row/column, where N is the digit in the first cell of that row/column.
Similar Puzzles By Other Setters
There were two more constructors that (independently) came up with the same ruleset as mine (index lines and numbered rooms) for this scojo prompt.
There are also other puzzles that use index lines by Marty Sears (the inventor of the line), Juggler and ChinStrap.
Solution code: Column 5, top to bottom (6 digits).
Comments
on 21. January 2025, 13:00 by Aran-Fey
The rules don't make any sense.
"The digit in the Nth cell along the line (starting from the diamond) indicates the position along the line where the digit N appears."
So each digit on a line describes its own position on the line? Then every line has to be 123..., no?
I assumed this was a typo and meant to say "the Nth digit indicates the position of the N+1th digit", since that would explain why 2143 is a valid line (the 2nd number is 1, and the 4th number is 3), but then how can there be lines with a length of 3?
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gdc: Not a typo. If the third digit is a 2, then the second digit is a 3. Digits can "reference" themselves but don't have to. If they reference a different digit, the other digit always references back.
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OP: Aaaah, I get it now. The line "2143" means "1 is in position 2 (because the 1st number is 2), 2 is in position 1 (because the 2nd number is 1), 3 is in position 4, 4 is in position 3".
on 30. November 2024, 21:36 by ChinStrap
Great example of the tasty logic from this combination!
on 29. November 2024, 16:41 by Franjo
What a neat little puzzle! Thank you for sharing.
on 28. November 2024, 16:29 by TJ
Enjoyed the new rules! Not too hard though, once you find the break-in the rest just fills in.
on 28. November 2024, 16:29 by Titus Adduxas
I’m quite new to these indexing lines, but once you get the hang of them quite interesting. Nice puzzle.
