Hot and Bothered (Chaos Construction)
(Published on 1. January 2025, 15:58 by oklux)
Feel free to check out my other puzzles as well!
Rules:
- Standard Chaos Construction rules apply. (Place digits 1-9 in each row, column and region. The regions are orthogonally connected and have to be deduced by the solver)
- Digits along thermometers must increase from the bulb end.
- Neighboring digits along thermometers cannot be in the same region.
- Digits on the "arms" of thermometers (any cell on a thermometer that's not the bulb) indicate how many cells in the surrounding 3x3 area belong to the same region as the digit, including itself. (see example)
- Digits separated by a white dot must be consecutive. Not all dots are given.
Example:
Solution code: Row 8 with dashes (-) for region borders (Example: 123-45-6-7-89)
Comments
on 5. February 2025, 08:59 by Crusader175
I think it makes sense the bulb is excluded. Very nice CC!
on 10. January 2025, 17:29 by MCMCHammer
A really enjoyable puzzle with a creative ruleset which worked nicely.
on 9. January 2025, 06:42 by puzzlepandit
Good one. Enjoyed it a lot. Nice placements of thermos.
on 4. January 2025, 21:51 by oklux
Added example.
on 3. January 2025, 18:08 by trashghost
Very smooth, fun, and interesting the whole way through! I never felt stuck at any point and always felt on the right path. It held a perfect balance between sudoku and region building during the solve. Thanks for this beautiful puzzle!!
Also, I would recommend asking for dashes between region borders in the solution code to ensure solvers built the regions right :)
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Thank you! And that's a good idea.
on 3. January 2025, 08:34 by softie
Really fun logic in this one, though I'm not a fan of having a rule treating bulbs differently than other cells on a thermo, especially when other rules concerning thermos don't treat them differently. It would be more elegant if the rule could apply to all cells on a thermo.
And please don't make me copy down 18 numbers for a solution code!
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Thanks for the feedback!
on 3. January 2025, 00:30 by askaksaksask
If I had a nickel for every time I had to remind myself "excluding the bulb" well... I'd have about as many nickels as Skorp17 has solves. Beautiful puzzle to be sure, I do enjoy a nice accessible CC. Really fun, thank you for this!
on 2. January 2025, 21:59 by nordloc
Lovely puzzle. Went very smoothly once I actually read the rules.
on 2. January 2025, 18:27 by robokong
That was a lot of fun! The thermos and the box borders really played off of each other in a really cool way!
on 2. January 2025, 17:22 by GertVonnegut
This is a wonderful puzzle and perfect for those new to CC! Thanks for setting!
on 2. January 2025, 17:15 by GertVonnegut
This is a wonderful puzzle and perfect for those new to CC! Thanks for setting!
on 2. January 2025, 15:57 by Christounet
Lovely ! Thanks :)
on 2. January 2025, 15:54 by MaizeGator
Clarification questions about Rule 3: "Neighboring digits on thermometers cannot be in the same region"
1: Does "neighboring" mean "spatially adjacent"? Or does it mean value differing by 1? For example is R5C1 in a different region from R5C2 regardless of values?
2: Does this rule also exclude the bulbs? (hopefully this isn't a spoiler to point out that something is going on with R1C1. At least in my current interpretation of the rules)
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1. "Neighboring" refers to cells adjacent on the thermometer "line". For example, the 2nd cell of a thermometer is neighboring the 1st and 3rd cells on the thermometer, regardless of the positions of the cells.
2. Does not exclude the bulb.
on 2. January 2025, 14:11 by Franjo
Thank you very much for creating and sharing this wonderful CC-puzzle! Some people got worried about me hearing my repetitive „… excluding the bulb, excluding…“.
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Hahah, thank you!
on 2. January 2025, 04:36 by jerbear29
Very enjoyable. Would have gotten thru it quicker, but I kept forgetting the "excluding the bulb" part of rule 4.
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It's probably my fault, it could probably be worded better. Glad you still enjoyed!
on 1. January 2025, 21:24 by LehanLehan
Very nice path,it was a great pleasure to solve, thank you very much.
on 1. January 2025, 20:46 by StephenR
Thanks for not making me too hot and bothered solving your enjoyable puzzle.
The fourth rule needs updating on CTC.
on 1. January 2025, 18:26 by Sinuit
Thanks for this nicely balanced and approachable chaos construction sudoku! All the steps were never to hard or to trivial.
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Thank you for solving!
on 1. January 2025, 17:49 by Snookerfan
Very nice! I think the wording of the fourth rule is not correct and should read the amount of cells in the same region that are in the surrounding 3x3 area. Thank you
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Oh that's right, thanks for pointing it out!
on 1. January 2025, 17:43 by marcmees
very nice. thanks
on 1. January 2025, 17:00 by tallcat
Very smooth and nicely put together! I appreciated how the solver isn't left with awful irregular sudoku to finish up
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Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
