RAT RUN 20: Gifted
(Published on 25. December 2024, 02:14 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 walls. (The walls have been decorated with red tinsel.)
- 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.
- DYNAMIC FOG: Entering correct digits may clear fog somewhere in the maze. No guessing is necessary.
- CHRISTMAS LIGHTS: An orange Christmas light indicates that any digits visited by Finkz in its row or column are odd. A blue Christmas light indicates that any digits visited in its row or column are even.
- TELEPORTS: Every teleport is part of a matching pair. 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.
- BLACKCURRANTS: Blackcurrants sit between two digits with a 1:2 ratio.
- BAUBLES: The number on a gold bauble gives the total of any cells it touches.
- TEST CONSTRAINT: In this experiment, any two cells that are adjacent along the path contain consecutive digits (except when separated by teleportation, where the digits are identical.)
Solution code: Digits NOT on the path in row 6, from left to right
Comments
on 14. February 2025, 03:02 by mightcould
I had watched a few CTC solves from this set over the past few months, but decided to work them all myself over the past weeks (with nudges when needed.) Thank you so much for your work on this excellent series!
on 10. February 2025, 14:06 by misha
On the easier side for this series, but a beautiful puzzle nonetheless. Can't wait for phase 3!
on 16. January 2025, 05:04 by novato
Fantastic again! Can't wait for phase 3 - thank you so much Marty for sharing this with the community
on 6. January 2025, 22:28 by Nell Gwyn
What a season finale! Looking forward to the hijinks in season three...
on 5. January 2025, 08:06 by Dasny
Thank you for thoses 20 puzzles Marty ! I've been on them for one week and they were a very good bonus to my vacations
on 31. December 2024, 14:27 by mscha
Wonderful puzzle once again! I got stuck several times, mostly because forgot to fully consider the Christmas lights.
Can't wait for phase 3... Thanks for a wonderful phase 2, Marty!
on 28. December 2024, 04:59 by bigmortz
Great puzzle. It took me 78 minutes to finish it. I spent a lot time on checking the final path before I realized that there are quite a few portals hidden by the fog.
on 28. December 2024, 01:55 by wuc
Finkz greatness again. Little easier once the rules click. Thanks for all the fun time on season 2. Id be thankful to see more.
on 27. December 2024, 02:50 by Kriodeco
Another excellent puzzle. thank you!
on 26. December 2024, 22:44 by Klausku
Well, that was an unexpected ending to the final puzzle of season 2. Not uinexpected was its high quality. Marty, you delivered again! Thanks. I hope, it‘ not that long til season 3.
on 26. December 2024, 22:43 by symbolic23
I had the same thought as cwk and was relieved to discover the actual result. Though, incidentally, I made an error in column 9 which revealed a digit earlier than it should've been revealed, so I had to backtrack due to my faulty assumption. Very good construction as always!
on 26. December 2024, 17:45 by AsgarArn
Thanks for a fun, and chalanging puzzle, you fooled me once, had to backtrack to get my error.
Keep up the great work!
on 26. December 2024, 17:08 by ChristopherStanlake
Who would have thought that a sudoku could have a cliffhanger?! Thank you, Marty, I look forward to the next Phase! Merry Christmas all!
on 26. December 2024, 07:37 by geodus
That was a wonderful conclusion to the second phase of Rat Run. I hope to see more of Finkz again.
on 26. December 2024, 01:44 by llamatar
Merry Christmas! Thank you Finkz and Marty for the great puzzles!
on 26. December 2024, 01:36 by vfig
a solid conclusion to rat run series 2. i tackled it when i was far too brain dead, but thats my own fault. the entire rat run series has been brilliant and i cant wait to see what surprises marty has in store for us next year!
on 26. December 2024, 01:26 by sujoyku
Thank you for this wonderful finale of Season 2, Marty! I guess the starting phase was harder for me than it should have, but I claim as an excuse that I usually use blue for odd digits. So it was very natural to confuse odd/even altogether. :D
I loved the implications of the consecutive constraint along the path. It led to many nice deductions.
Thank you for this amazing series, Marty! You earned a lot of praise and deserve every single word of it. I am already looking forward to Season 3!
on 25. December 2024, 18:15 by gdc
A prestigious ending to the second series. Thanks for setting. Hope to see more dynamic fog in season 3.
on 25. December 2024, 17:33 by AshBrown
What a series. Thank you Marty
on 25. December 2024, 16:49 by jakestilesowen
A fun end to S2. Thanks so much for the wonderful journey!
on 25. December 2024, 13:59 by CorpJigsQuand
Another amazing puzzle. Thank you for those short moments where i can feel smart in a pretty stupid world.
Wishing everyone a great start to the new year. There's a lot to hope for - remember: we're just in 1974...
on 25. December 2024, 13:49 by Franjo
A great final episode of season two with a nice cliffhanger! Merry Christmas to you and thank you so much for creating and sharing your beautiful puzzles during the last year.
on 25. December 2024, 13:13 by llamatar
Merry Christmas! Thank you Finkz and Marty for the great puzzles!
on 25. December 2024, 12:04 by cbossut
63:12
WARNING! Don’t forget that fog can hide teleports ! At least if you want the full Marty/Finkz experience, with the heavy final twist.
I spoiled myself forgeting that in the 9th box.
That’s not the first time in the series that a false deduction led me to a kind of shortcut, and each time I wonder if these are somewhat intentional, making the puzzle more accessible?
on 25. December 2024, 11:47 by Steven666v2
79:50. All I can say is BRING ON THE NEXT SEASON!
on 25. December 2024, 10:51 by Nairurian
A lovely Christmas puzzle to unwrap (pun intended. Hopefully Phase 3 will come quicker than in two months! :)
on 25. December 2024, 09:49 by PancakePie
WOW! I had to rethink my logic a couple times, but made it through in 71:35. I love this series SO MUCH! I'm so interested in how this *SPOILER* affects the next season! Thanks Marty, your mind and silliness are always appreciated.
on 25. December 2024, 08:35 by TheNineElements
REMINDER TO ANYONE WHO USES SUDOKUPAD MOBILE: This puzzle uses DYNAMIC fog and will not work properly in the app.
Solve Time (*): 31:56
I rated this 3/5 difficulty.
This solve time is my 'second' attempt at the puzzle. The first attempt was a disaster and a major case of user error.
I use the sudokupad mobile app quite frequently for many of my solves, but I made the mistake of importing this puzzle into the app. I completely forgot this uses dynamic fog. In the app, I started the puzzle and got a digit placed during the break-in, but quickly got stuck and spent nearly 50 minutes trying to figure out how to progress, forgetting dynamic fog didn't work properly. During that first attempt, this puzzle felt impossibly hard. I spent an unreasonable amount of time trying different path options and effectively backtracking/bifurcating the path - to no avail. I must have re-read the rules 20 times during this attempt. I finally gave up 50 minutes in (I shouldn't have spent that long... I should have known that a 3* rating puzzle couldn't be this hard), and figured I was just missing or misunderstanding some aspect of the rules. Once I tried to restart my solve in a browser, I came to the revelation that I was being incredibly dumb. As soon as I followed my first digit placement in my second attempt, the whole puzzle went smoothly and was overall quite nice/fun.
Part of the reason I spent so long in the first attempt is that I made some complicated deductions that allowed me to make progress drawing the path, and it was just enough momentum to make me think it was possible and I was just not understanding something. But in the end I was WAYYY overcomplicating it. However, during that time I got VERY familiar with the rules so by the time I started a proper solve, I felt more comfortable with how everything worked.
So, don't attempt to solve this puzzle in mobile!! It is incredibly difficult to do so, and likely impossible to solve.
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With all that said, this puzzle was another great addition to the series. This one felt easier than the last several puzzles, and was a fun puzzle with some cool ideas & rules. I thought the 'Christmas Lights' constraint was fun and had some nice logic when it came to disambiguating the path. It was cool how those light clues ended up helping me both in the break in AND deep into the solve.
Also, the use of dynamic fog was wonderful and ended up using some cool tricks throughout the puzzle - but my favorite trick was towards the end of the puzzle.
Overall, this was another great puzzle from marty_sears. Thank you for all of you work constructing these puzzles and sharing them with the world! I have enjoyed the series immensely, and am grateful for your contributions to the community.
on 25. December 2024, 08:07 by jinkela114514
When will the 3rd phase start?
Marty: I'm not sure exactly but it almost certainly won't be before March. Need a bit of a break :D
on 25. December 2024, 07:20 by npinguy
An absolutely extraordinary Rat Run. May be somehow the best one yet, and that is saying A LOT.
on 25. December 2024, 05:39 by BADG3RMAN
Marty, I want to thank you for this puzzle. I've been a fan of the RAT RUN sudokus ever since the first one got posted by CtC. But this one, this may be your best one yet.
It took me 50 minutes to get through it, but the logic flowed beautifully, and every time I found the next logical step, I felt stupid for not finding it quicker because it seemed so obvious in hindsight. I do not want those 50 minutes back, and I am glad to have spent them in the middle of the night on Christmas Day. Have a very merry Christmas!
on 25. December 2024, 05:32 by antiknight
So many clever ideas! Loved it
on 25. December 2024, 05:22 by misha
On the easier side for this series, but a beautiful puzzle nonetheless. Can't wait for phase 3!
on 25. December 2024, 05:17 by askaksaksask
I cannot wait for phase 3. Thank you for the wonderful series, and tell Finkz she has earned more than enough blackcurrants. We've had Schrödinger's rat this phase, I'm excited for whatever quantum entanglement awaits with zkniF in the picture!
on 25. December 2024, 04:52 by sorryimLate
WHAT???! That was a proper Christmas trick AND treat. You really fooled me, you naughty, mad art constructor! Thanks for reminding how easy it is to be misleaded. Have a peaceful holiday, MM and FF!
on 25. December 2024, 03:32 by Nylimb
Wow! The possible effects of this on Phase 3 are scary.
on 25. December 2024, 02:37 by ChinStrap
A great end to a brilliant series. Every fan of Finkz will not be disappointed here.
on 25. December 2024, 02:22 by ViKingPrime
A season finale that will be discussed around the water cooler. What a twist (you may just have to guess to which one I'm referring)
...and now time for a much deserved break. Rest well, little Finkz.
