RAT RUN 18: Mirror Maze
(Published on 11. December 2024, 01:08 by marty_sears)
- Normal sudoku rules apply.
- 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.
- TELEPORTS: Entering a teleport will cause Finkz to be instantly transported to the matching coloured teleport. From there she can continue her journey. Matching teleports always have identical digits, but teleports that don't match always have different digits.
- MIRROR CELLS: Each row, column and box contains exactly one mirror cell. Mirror cells may not contain teleports. The value of a mirror cell equals the digit in that cell subtracted from 10. Eg: a 2 in a mirror cell is 'mirrored' on the 1-9 scale, and has a value of 8. Every mirror cell contains a different digit.
- ONE-WAY DOORS: Finkz may only pass directly through a purple arrow if moving in the direction the arrow is pointing. An arrow always points to the smaller of the two values it sits between.
- TEST CONSTRAINT: In this experiment, the values of any two physically adjacent cells along the path (ie; not separated by teleportation) must have a difference of at least 5.
Solution code: Digits on the path in column 7, reading downwards
Comments
on 4. January 2025, 08:39 by Dasny
Quite easy i'd say since the hard part is at the beginning, no real pitfall after that, digits were solved before I could even think about the path for Frinkz ^^'
on 16. December 2024, 00:53 by Johan111
A very nice puzzle indeed. One of the very few that I have been able to solve with no hints from Simon at all. Break in took a bit of time as I understood what needed to be done, but I couldn’t make it work. Really loved a bit of logic towards the end, that I think was commented on here before as well. Keep up the good work, Marty, and may Finks have a loooong life in the lab.
on 15. December 2024, 18:13 by Klausku
Another beauty, that I conquered together with Finkz. We got stuck in mid-solve, but then Finks reminded me of a detail of the mirror cell rule. I wonder if there will be an experiment where the path is straightforward (to trick us all). Thanks Marty!
on 14. December 2024, 19:31 by kdkirby
In contrast to many of the other comments, the break-in took me a while, but I found that everything else followed quite easily! Another excellent addition—mirror+whispers was wonderful.
on 13. December 2024, 23:37 by davidemsa
This is one of my favourites in the series. The start and the ending are both ingenious, but for different reasons.
on 13. December 2024, 13:28 by DonQuichopp
Another beautiful adventure for Finkz. I grasped the logic of the break-in quite quickly and got a very nice flow through the puzzle just to get stuck afterwards for hours. I was not sure how to do it. I often knew I was wrong but didn't get where I took the wrong turn.
In the end it was very logical and I assumed too much (as usual with my solves).
So it was a bit trial and error and I don't deserve full credit for the solve.
For the difficulty I'd say 3* for the first part and 4* for the rest.
Looking forward to Simon's solve tonight. I love to view the deductions he makes and to compare them to mine.
on 13. December 2024, 01:07 by Ratfinkz
Bootiful puzzle! Particularly liked c1 and the resolution of b9! (Still need to do 14,15,16,17 though!)
on 12. December 2024, 20:26 by droidstr
Everyone are commenting about grate interaction between whispers and mirrors.
But sudoku and mirrors synergy is also nice here.
on 12. December 2024, 19:17 by Nairurian
Another great Finkz adventure, although this one felt more like 4* to me.
Marty: I agree, I set it at 4 stars originally
on 12. December 2024, 11:08 by davidz32z
What a wonderful puzzle as always! Just under an hour for me. When I reached the vast openness of boxes 5, 6, 8, and 9 from both sides I thought I was done for, but it was a delight to tease out!
on 12. December 2024, 01:39 by HumanBirdsong
Marty, you tickle my brain in the most delightful fashion.
on 12. December 2024, 00:27 by sujoyku
What a ride! Very tricky puzzle (especially the break-in phase), but such a rewarding solve-path. Thank you for this gorgeous new edition of your incredible series, Marty!
on 11. December 2024, 21:10 by jakestilesowen
Marty is so consistent with his wonderful rat run puzzles that it's hard to come up with novel comments each time. The logic here is fun and interesting, and I very much look forward to each new installment!
on 11. December 2024, 20:36 by LehanLehan
Just love the series,and thanks for another gem,Marty.
on 11. December 2024, 19:52 by ChristopherStanlake
Started it this morning as soon as I woke up. I got the first part of the path then was stumped for a while. I left it as I had to get an Uber to the airport for my flight home from holidaying in Prague. It was when I was staring out the window during the drive that I was thinking about the possibilities of digits being mirrored when the break-in occurred to me! I spent the flight solving the rest of the puzzle and finished just before landing in Gatwick. Simply a joy!
on 11. December 2024, 17:53 by npinguy
Thank you vorash00! I thought I had already tried that, but will try again with a fresh mind today :)
on 11. December 2024, 17:22 by lcy.30
Finishing the last part of the path is notoriously difficult! But it was wonderful to get through.
on 11. December 2024, 13:49 by Franjo
Whispering mirrors in another magic maze! What a lovely combination and what a pleasure to solve this puzzle. I really enjoyed connecting the loose ends of the path at last. Thank you so much.
on 11. December 2024, 13:45 by AshBrown
Another great one. Middle section of path was some maze to figure out
on 11. December 2024, 11:14 by mscha
Wonderful puzzle again! It's one of my favourite Rat Runs, and that's a high bar.
Got stuck several times with "there's no way to ... oh, wait, how about this?", so never for long.
Very curious to find out what's on Finkz' mind next week, and even more about the Big One - although that's probably in phase 3.
on 11. December 2024, 10:10 by Reid
I'm so excited to find out more about 'The Big One!' Impeccable job as always, Marty and Finkz!
on 11. December 2024, 10:03 by wuc
Great addition. Amazing the newly to discover aspects. Thx for another great puzzle.
on 11. December 2024, 06:39 by askaksaksask
Gaining momentum here felt harder than some previous entries, but as always, an excellent puzzle and rewarding solve. Thank you!
on 11. December 2024, 06:12 by tallcat
Definitely got me right after the opening when i was convinced i had broken it. Thankfully my brain insisted otherwise.
on 11. December 2024, 05:36 by amchap
Excellent. Harder than recent rat runs I felt. Beautiful mirror/whisper interaction.
on 11. December 2024, 01:28 by ChinStrap
Whispers + mirror cells is a great combo. Loved it from opening to finish.
on 11. December 2024, 01:18 by ViKingPrime
We're through the looking glass here people
