Stay in Your Box
(Published on 2. February 2025, 03:58 by marty_sears)
It was a lot of fun doing this 2nd collab with the ever-talented Justin Vitanza (AKA Puzzle Pusher)
- Normal sudoku rules apply.
- Every box contains an invisible 'index line' whose route must be determined.
- The index lines are all 9 cells long, only move orthogonally (not diagonally), and don't cross any 3x3 box borders. They don't cross themselves, or pass through any black or green spots.
- Each row, column and box contains exactly one hidden diamond, which lies at one end of its index line, and contains its box number. (Boxes are numbered 1-9 in normal reading order from top left to bottom right.)
- The digit in position N along an index line (starting at the end with the diamond) indicates the position along the line where the digit N should be placed. Eg: if the 1st digit (in the diamond) is a 3, then the 3rd digit will be a 1.
- Digits separated by a black spot are in a 1:2 ratio.
- Digits separated by a green spot have a difference of at least 5.
INVISIBLE LINES:
DIAMONDS:
INDEXING:
SPOTS:
Please leave a comment if you enjoy :)
Solution code: Row 8 from left to right
Comments
on 23. February 2025, 13:55 by cafce25
"lies at one end of its index line" convinced me I had to figure out which end (beginning or end) so much so that I overlooked the fact it's the start in the INDEXING section about a hundred times reading over it. After that bit of reading comprehension was out of the way the puzzle was a breeze. Really enjoyed it.
on 22. February 2025, 01:42 by Asparagus
A great mental workout!
I wasted time at the start by not reading all the rules. All the more enjoyable once I saw the one I'd missed!
I am continually impressed with the different twists in every puzzle - well done again!
on 18. February 2025, 20:33 by mscha
Oof, that was hard. I gave up many times, but I kept coming back and discovering a new consequence of the rules and getting a bit further.
Wonderful puzzle!
on 10. February 2025, 01:14 by Bionic Cheese
Fantastic puzzle , really enjoyed it
on 6. February 2025, 01:33 by softie
It took me a little while to grok the rules, but then once I did the solve path was so satisfying! Amazing how you set this up to keep providing resistance the whole way through.
on 5. February 2025, 14:27 by jakestilesowen
Truly amazing how few clues it takes.
on 5. February 2025, 04:58 by anormalperson
Great puzzle! Quite approachable once you understand the whole rulesets
on 3. February 2025, 22:15 by ElenaMonteille
That was fun, many thanks to both authors!
on 3. February 2025, 21:03 by OrestisLomis
One of those puzzle where through incredible setting the solver is left feeling special because they were able to solve a puzzle that seemed impossible from the starting constraints... well in my case I did feel quite stupid because for the longest time I didn't realise there could only be 1 diamond in each row and column as well. But once I realized this the puzzle solved very nicely!
on 3. February 2025, 01:08 by jwanders
Loved it! Wonder if there's an arrangement where all the line ends are also rcb?
on 2. February 2025, 17:46 by sanabas
Fun idea, great puzzle. Extremely approachable once you absorb a key point from the rules.
on 2. February 2025, 13:23 by Franjo
Fantastic idea, fantastic setting, fantastic puzzle! And approachable, so I gave 3 stars. Thank you very, very much for creating and sharing this beautiful gem.
on 2. February 2025, 08:02 by LehanLehan
Very nice puzzle,it has a feel of both authors. Thank you very much.
on 2. February 2025, 04:08 by vitaminz
Always lovely to collaborate with you. I think this one turned out even better!
