Ladder
(Published on 13. January 2025, 20:51 by zetamath)
Normal sudoku rules apply.
Standard rules for ten lines (gray), renban (purple), nabner (gold), German whispers (green), entropic lines (orange) and black dots (black) apply. In addition to color, each line has been labeled for clarity.
There are no negative constraints of any kind.
Ten Lines: Digits along gray lines must be broken into one or more contiguous groups of cells that add to ten. Such groups cannot overlap. Digits may repeat within such sums if allowed by other rules. For example, 513173 is a valid fill for a length 6 line, because it can be broken into 5131 and 73, each of which sum to 10.
Entropic Lines: Any set of three sequential cells along an entropic line must contain a low digit (1-3), middle digit (4-6) and high digit (7-9). Digits may repeat on a line, if allowed by other rules.
Renban Lines: The purple line in the grid is a Renban line. Digits on a renban form a set of non-repeating, consecutive digits in any order.
Nabner Lines: Digits do not repeat along gold nabner lines. Additionally, no pair of digits anywhere on a nabner line can be consecutive.
German Whispers: Along green lines, adjacent digits must differ by at least 5.
Black Dots: Digits separated by a black dot have a 1:2 ratio, meaning one is exactly double the other. Not all dots are necessarily given.
Have fun, leave a comment if you enjoy the puzzle!
PS: I stream solving sudoku like puzzles three days a week. You can check out the channel, as well as some videos I have made about setting puzzles, at my YouTube channel here.
Solution code: Column 1
Comments
on 23. January 2025, 12:03 by rhodri
Just exquisite
on 18. January 2025, 12:57 by Rrijmers
The ruleset makes this puzzle seem very hard, but it's really not. It has an incredible flow to it, with one deduction immediately leading to the next. Almost like a fog puzzle. Thanks Zeta!
on 17. January 2025, 16:55 by RobotChicken
Loved the break in and how the lines played with each other! I admit I got stuck for a while after 3/4 complete, but after seeing one digit, everything fell into place.
on 17. January 2025, 02:01 by Ragna
Such a wonderful puzzle! Thank you. :-)
on 17. January 2025, 00:15 by novato
Very enjoyable puzzle!
on 16. January 2025, 21:02 by briansometimes
Bloody brilliant, thanks
on 16. January 2025, 19:09 by GeorgeTheToad2
Super puzzle. Thank you.
on 16. January 2025, 18:09 by OGRussHood
Genius, as always!
on 15. January 2025, 19:06 by nunc
Very beautiful from the beginning to the end!
on 15. January 2025, 16:48 by PinkNickels
Incredible setting. Bravo.
on 15. January 2025, 11:25 by 9Rookienumbers
flawless
on 15. January 2025, 10:01 by Snookerfan
Beautiful, class(ic) Zeta-puzzle! Thank you
on 15. January 2025, 05:51 by greyhathero
Beautiful break-in! Doesn't end there though, Had to crunch all the way through
on 15. January 2025, 00:47 by kikanya
it was very hard for me, but i did it. great puzzle!
on 15. January 2025, 00:18 by prodigis
Solving this is like a beautiful dance
on 14. January 2025, 22:23 by antiknight
Loved the break-in and that renban in B1! Great puzzle!
on 14. January 2025, 20:28 by glum_hippo
TEN-riffic!
NAB-ulous!
ENT-irely delightful!
GW-ood job!
REN-thralling!
[Thanks glum! Great to hear from you! - z ]
on 14. January 2025, 19:34 by Calvinball
This is peak Zeta doing Zeta things, some of my favorite kinds of things.
on 14. January 2025, 18:26 by Titus Adduxas
Another gorgeous puzzle from Zetamath. I too struggled with the break in but finally spotted the gorgeous intended logic.
on 14. January 2025, 17:45 by wuc
Great but hard puzzle. 3.5* for me. Very rewarding. Great setting thx.
on 14. January 2025, 14:57 by leemsa
Lovely puzzle!!
on 14. January 2025, 14:18 by Playmaker6174
The master of lines weavering has done it again, but no chance in hell this kind of flow is at 3/5 diff lol, it’s more like solid 4/5 for me.
Still, lots of juicy interactions throughout the solve, I had plenty of fun at the end x)
on 14. January 2025, 13:11 by davidemsa
That was very nice. I specially liked the way the break in works out.
on 14. January 2025, 12:01 by echidna
Loved it—incredible puzzle with many beautiful and subtle deductions!
on 14. January 2025, 11:38 by polcat
Wow! ❤️
on 14. January 2025, 11:22 by mihel111
Classic Zetamath. Well done Sensei.
on 14. January 2025, 10:53 by Big Tiger
Hmm, nope, I broke this one and can't figure out how or where.
on 14. January 2025, 05:14 by rictech
That was excellent! Every digit required thought and logic that came from multiple rules, all the way to the end. Masterfully set. Thanks!
on 14. January 2025, 01:15 by etoler
That break-in broke my brain, but I loved it! (I also got there the hardest way possible, but I spotted the more elegant version eventually.)
I also think this is the most intuitive solution I've seen for the accessibility issues with these puzzles. I'd love to hear thoughts from someone who has some amount of color blindness, but speaking as someone who doesn't, I still appreciated having the abbreviations present to help keep everything straight in my brain.
on 13. January 2025, 23:52 by ViKingPrime
I'm a big fan of mixed rulesets and this is one of the best of them. The digits almost sing, with a small but delightful discovery every few moments.
on 13. January 2025, 23:27 by Chaka
A classic Zetamath puzzle: The break-in, the combination and positioning of clue types, everything is so well thought-out and every deduction feels really earned. Thanks again for a wonderful Sudoku, I hope to see more of you soon!
on 13. January 2025, 22:24 by applesauce
Smooth & enjoyable from start to finish. Thanks for another great puzzle!
