James Sinclair Tribute/Hommage
(Published on 1. December 2024, 22:57 by Ryx)
Normal Sudoku rules apply. Additionally:
Digits in a cage sum to the number in the corner of the cages. Digits cannot repeat within a cage
Numbers outside the grid give the total of the digits between 1 and 9 in that row or column.
I got the idea for this puzzle from two things: The November CTC Discord server monthly puzzle prompt (borrowed ideas) and a recent James Sinclair puzzle, that I saw Simon solving on the CTC YouTube channel.
Solve on f-puzzles or CTC
Solution code: Digits from row 8
Comments
on 24. December 2024, 00:12 by Blackophelia
That was a lovely puzzle and flowed well!
@ Blackophelia - I am glad you enjoyed it and thank you letting me know.
on 4. December 2024, 19:10 by jwsinclair
Wow, honored and humbled. Really nice puzzle :)
@ jwsinclair - You are most welcome. And thank you for all your excellent puzzles ... and of course, the inspiration for this one.
on 2. December 2024, 21:11 by Ryx
Changed solution to just 9 digits and set difficulty to 2, since it seems like it is really a "more than one star" difficulty, more like 1.5.
on 2. December 2024, 12:14 by Visumation
I agree with your 1-star rating. Maybe 1.5 for the break-in. But it is a really nice puzzle. Thanks for sharing.
@ Visumation - Yes, 1.5 stars seems right, since this one's rating keeps bouncing between 1 and 2 stars. And thank you for the praise. The beginning was pretty easy to set, the middle a bit more challenging, then I was stuck on the ending for a while. I am really happy with the end result.
on 2. December 2024, 08:25 by Montikulum
Gorgeous construction! Flowed like silk. Only suggestion: One row/column for the solution code might be quite enough?
@ Montikulum - Thank you for the kind words and advice. As someone else noted, they would like a 9 digit solution. It's funny, in 4 years of setting puzzles, this was the first time I got that feedback ... and twice :-) I will go ahead and change that.
@Ryx I normally tend to avoid writing it every time - it's simply that as a regular solver it tends to get a bit more tedious and in the end the number of solution digits does not change anything except making the process a bit quicker for both setter and solver. Thank you for reacting to that!
on 2. December 2024, 08:04 by Squiz
Definitely not a 1* puzzle, more like a 2/2.5.
Recommend having less digits on the solution string if possible for next time.
Great puzzle, thanks for creating :)
@ Squiz - Thank you for the kind words and advice. This puzzle seems to be bouncing between 1 and 2 stars. Funny, I've been setting puzzles for 4 years now, but this is the first time anyone has mentioned the two column answer (you and one other). Is that a new trend, just using 9 digits? I will go ahead and edit the solution for this one.
on 2. December 2024, 01:58 by askaksaksask
Fun!
@ askaksaksask - I am glad you enjoyed it. I really struggled with setting it (in regards to the ending) for a while, but it did finally come together.
on 2. December 2024, 01:23 by RussKozerski
Beautiful puzzle. Possibly the most challenging solve I've ever completed. I would never rate this a 1-star for difficulty. But definitely enjoyable. Thank you.
@ RussKozerski - Thank you and thanks for the input. I really felt like it was 1 star, but I guess that is because I knew the break in. I wasn't sure how apparent it would be, but the tribe has spoken - 2 stars it is.
on 2. December 2024, 00:20 by nunc
Really nice interactions. Thanks for sharing!
@ nunc - Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed it.
