Irregular Anti-Knight 7x7 Pack
(Published on 15. January 2025, 15:07 by sujoyku)
In each of the puzzles, the following two rules hold true.
- Normal (irregular) 7x7 sudoku rules apply, i.e. each row, column and region has to contain the digits from 1 to 7 once each.
- Anti-Knight: Cells a knight's move (in chess) apart may not contain identical digits.
Puzzle 1: Knights have a point
- Arrows: Digits along an arrow sum to the digit in the circle from which it emerges. (If there is no conflict with other rules, digits on an arrow may repeat.)
Link: Knights have a point
Puzzle 2: Irregular Indication
- Index Lines: Each turquoise line is an Index Line, i.e. the digit in the Nth cell along such a line (starting from the diamond) indicates the position along the line where the digit N appears. For example, if a diamond cell contains a 3, the third cell along that line must have a 1.
Link: Irregular Indication
Puzzle 3: A Knight’s Rellik
- Rellik Cages: All cages are Rellik Cages. Any combination of one or more digits within a Rellik Cage CANNOT sum to the value in the top left. For example, a Rellik Cage with given value 6 may not contain (1,2,3), (1,5), (2,4) or a 6.
Link: A Knight’s Rellik
Puzzle 4: Knightcap
- Region Sum Lines: Regions divide blue lines into segments with equal sums. (Different lines may have different sums.)
Link: Knightcap
Puzzle 5: Minmax Knights
- Minmax Quads: Digits in a circle must appear in one of the four surrounding cells and either be the lowest or the highest digit in these four cells. (If there is no conflict with other rules, digits around a quad clue may repeat. In particular, the minimum and maximum may appear more than once.)
Link: Minmax Knights
Puzzle 6: Incognito
- X-sums: Clues outside the grid indicate the sum of the first X digits in the respective row where X is the first digit seen from the clue. The variable n is representing a natural number which has to be determined by the solver.
Link: Incognito
Solution code: R7C7 from each puzzle (6 digits in total)
Comments
on 5. February 2025, 05:14 by Chipmunk
I love anti-knight and coloring/lettering sudokus so I had a lot of fun with these! Thank you!
**
Thank you for your comment, Chipmunk! I am glad you had fun solves.
Kind regards, sujoyku
on 21. January 2025, 15:03 by ChinStrap
Wonderful set! I enjoyed them all a lot, and while I have a bias towards index lines I'd say them and the minmax quads are the ones that felt like they had the best interplay between clues and coloring. Although I realized after finishing the X-sum one that I should have thought about the clues way earlier than I did.
Wonderful pack! Not sure I'm any more convinced about anti-knight, but I'll definitely look out for more of yours!
**
Thank you for your comment, ChinStrap! I am glad that (even though you are not a big anti-knight enthusiast) you still enjoyed the puzzles.
Kind regards, sujoyku
on 19. January 2025, 10:43 by TheNineElements
1. Puzzle: Knights Have a Point
Solve Time: 20:30
I rated this 2/5 difficulty.
----------
2. Puzzle: Irregular Indication
Solve Time: 10:30
I rated this 1/5 difficulty.
----------
3. Puzzle: A Knight's Rellik
Solve Time: 29:21
I rated this 2/5 difficulty.
----------
4. Puzzle: Knightcap
Solve Time: 07:23
I rated this 1/5 difficulty.
----------
5. Puzzle: Minmax Knights
Solve Time: 26:57
I rated this 2/5 difficulty.
----------
6. Puzzle: Incognito
Solve Time: 44:48
I rated this 3/5 difficulty.
------------------------------
The average of the assigned difficulty ratings was 1.83/5 for the lot, and the median (and mode) was 2/5. They ranged between 1-3/5 difficulty.
There was only one puzzle I assigned a 3/5 difficult rating, so the majority of the set should be approachable for beginners.
------------------------------
Wonderful set of sudokus! Really enjoyed working on these. My favorite was probably 'Minmax Knights', followed by either 'Incognito' or 'Knightcap'.
Overall every puzzle was quite approachable and most felt between 1-2/5 difficulty. The hardest one for me was the last ('Incognito'), which felt around 3*. I'm not sure if I missed something in that puzzle that would have made it easier or more straightforward, but I spent approximately 30 minutes coloring all the early placed digits making incremental progress as I went. I didn't ever get stuck and my progress was consistent, but it felt like it had a more steady (slower) pace then the rest of the puzzles.
All the other puzzles were much quicker and more approachable, but they were a very nice and a fun exercise to complete. Really enjoyed having some quicker/approachable mini-sudokus with the rulesets/theme, and it was nice to have a change of constraints each time.
In general, I think a beginner solver should be able to approach/solve each of these puzzles without any hints/assistance - and they should also be entertaining for more advanced solvers as well.
Based on the averages/median difficulty rating above, I decided on rating the series a 2/5 difficulty overall. The only caveat to this final rating is that the last puzzle felt quite a bit trickier and a beginner solver may have a harder time solving it compared to the rest.
Overall, great series/set of sudoku puzzles! They were all approachable, engaging, and all-around fun. Thanks for sharing!
**
You are much welcome, TheNineElements, thank you for your detailed feedback! I am glad that you enjoyed the pack. I agree very much with your observations. The most of these puzzles should be around 2 stars with "Incognito" being the hardest. The question is if 6 x 2 stars means 2 stars overall. As I think you have to deal with very different rulesets and even can miss some stuff in an easier puzzle once in a while, I would stand by assigning it 3 stars even when there was no individual puzzle reaching this difficulty level. But, of course, that relies on the interpretation of difficulty ratings and is very much open for debate. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts!
Kind regards, sujoyku
on 17. January 2025, 13:08 by Gullie
What an excellent and enjoyable set of puzzles! the last one was seriously tricky, the 4th I somehow managed to do very quickly. Antiknight is one of my favorite constraints, but the variation with the other constraints was very fun!
Thanks for setting and sharing!!
**
You are much welcome, Gullie, thank you for your comment! I am glad you enjoyed the puzzles combining anti-knight with other variants.
Kind regards, sujoyku
on 16. January 2025, 23:19 by DVFrank
I had a bit of a mixed experience with these I must say. Throughout all of the solves, I thoroughly enjoyed the break-in (particularly the last one) - but as it happens, all the interesting little deductions were dealt with within the first couple of digits, which then turned each of these promising starts into much the same straightforward but tedious scanning exercise.
Maybe the Anti-Knight condition was a bit too strong here? In my view, these puzzles could have benefitted from some more thematic clues in the later half (which might be harder to design if the Anti-Knight condition guarantees uniqueness so early on).
**
Thank you for your comment, DVFrank! It is great to hear you liked the break-in ideas. Also thank you for sharing your critics. Yes, the anti-knight constraint is very strong (especially in smaller grids), but I consciously built the puzzles so that it plays a fundamental role in all of them.
Kind regards, sujoyku
on 16. January 2025, 15:46 by Snookerfan
Lovely set of puzzles! Constructed with great attention to detail, so even though the puzzles were relatively easy, they were a joy to solve. Thank you
**
You are much welcome, Snookerfan, thank you for your comment! I am glad that you liked the pack.
Kind regards, sujoyku
on 16. January 2025, 04:31 by Spider
Fun bag of snacks. I found them decidedly 2 stars, probably getting 3 stars simply for length.
Regarding the min max rules, I think the confusion arises because you’re wording it to be applicable whether there’s one or two digits. For clarity, you could simply articulate that. I offer this: “Digits in a circle appear in *at least* one of the four surrounding cells. If there are two digits in a circle, one of them is the minimum value for all four of the surrounding cells, and the other is the maximum value. If there is only one digit in a circle, it must either be the minimum value or the maximum value of the four surrounding cells, to be determined by the solver.”
**
Thank you for your comment, Spider! I am glad you had a fun solve. I am not sure I get your comment regarding the Minmax quads though. If there were some 1-digit circles, I could see your point. But how is there confusion when each quad indicates two different digits that have to be the minimum resp. the maximum of the four surrounding cells?
Kind regards, sujoyku
**
Thanks sujoyku! I always love your attitude towards puzzling. Grateful for you :)
I phrased the suggested rule as such because it will be applicable to use in any future puzzle and you can just copy/paste it in, whether the circles have just one digit, two digits, or a mixture. For a puzzle with a mixture, it’s most clear to use the full text I said above. The full text ought to be sufficient to always copy and paste in, though, because if there’s two digits in a circle throughout the puzzle, the “if” clause about one digit can easily be disregarded. In any event, while there might be brief confusion at times, no one would spend time attempting a solve using an incorrect understanding of the rules (e.g. that for the 57 circle, 5 and 7 appear and then all other digits must be lower than 5).
If you want to have a high attention to detail, you could have three versions of the rule, for if you’re setting a puzzle with two digits in every minmax circle, if every circle only has one, or a mixture. For this puzzle, you could change it to “Digits in a circle appear in *at least* one of the four surrounding cells. There are two digits in every circle. One of them is the minimum value for all four of the surrounding cells, and the other is the maximum value.”
For a hypothetical puzzle with every circle only having one digit, you could say “Digits in a circle appear in *at least* one of the four surrounding cells. A digit in a circle must either be the minimum value or the maximum value of the four surrounding cells, to be determined by the solver”—truly, this text could work for all cases, it’s just not as well spelled-out. At least adding the language “to be determined by the solver” indicates clearly that you have to consider the nature of what it means to have two digits present, that one must be the minimum and the other the maximum.
Peace & love,
Spider
**
Thank you for your kind explanation, Spider! I had missed that you were thinking in much broader terms. In my head, the Minmax quads only feel "right" when they have exactly two digits showing both min and max, but your idea of a ruleset is also possible. Thanks again for clarifying!
Kind regards, sujoyku
on 15. January 2025, 20:58 by OutOfMyMindBRB
Lovely set of puzzles with nice links between the puzzles - thanks!
Just a note on min/max - i initially read the instructions to mean both numbers have to be either min or max (rest of the numbers above both or below both), rather than one min and one max - oddly enough there seems to be a unique solution to that puzzle one as well :-)
It might be simpler to say one acts as min and one as max?
**
Thank you for your comment, OutOfMyMindBRB! I am glad you enjoyed the pack. Concerning Minmax quads: I might not have found the perfect wording yet. To me, it is given that the minimum and maximum cannot be the same value. So if both digits appear, only one can be the min and the other one the max. But somehow this leads to confusion more often than I like it. I will keep your suggestion in mind for any future minmax quad puzzles. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Kind regards, sujoyku
on 15. January 2025, 19:52 by Jafacake
Great job, had a nice difficulty progression to them as well
**
Thank you for your comment, Jafacake! I am glad you enjoyed the puzzles. I tried to put the hardest of them as last.
Kind regards, sujoyku
on 15. January 2025, 17:25 by Tyrgannus
Surely LMD will count this as 6 solves, haha. Looking forward to tackling this today
**
Thank you, Tyrgannus! Surely, counting it as 6 solves would be accurate. :D
Kind regards, sujoyku
on 15. January 2025, 15:57 by Calvinball
Scojo asked everyone to make a puzzle, and sujoyku said "hold my beer". Lovely little pack mate, I enjoyed them all.
**
Thank you for your comment, Calvinball! I got carried away by this prompt for sure. It is great to hear that you enjoyed the puzzles.
Kind regards, sujoyku
