Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

on 30. May 2025, 08:39 by Ramez
This is a very beautiful puzzle indeed. Elegant logic from start to finish. The trick in the last third of the puzzle is amazing. Thank you for setting and sharing this beautiful sudoku :)
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ND: Thank you, I appreciate the comment!

on 17. March 2025, 14:58 by QuiltyAsCharged
Incredible puzzle!
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ND: Thank you very much.

on 17. March 2025, 02:57 by NicoD
Edit: added "Modifier cells" tag.

on 12. March 2025, 08:13 by TheNineElements
One more thing (in addition to my already long earlier comment):

I think the phrasing around the pseudo-cell rules is a bit confusing/unclear.

Here’s the current phrasing:

Each row, column and box has exactly one "pseudo" cell. The "pseudo" cells consist of a set of the digits 0 to 8. For all clue types, a "pseudo" cell's value is that of its 3x3 box number.

The sentence: "pseudo cells consist of a set of the digits 0 to 8" tripped me up the first several times I read it.

I thought it was saying that each individual pseudo-cell somehow contained a set of digits — kind of like a Schrödinger cell (where one cell can hold multiple possible values). After rereading it several times, I realized it’s actually describing a global constraint: the nine pseudo-cells together Since there are nine pseudo-cells, one of them will correspond to each of the possible digits exactly once.

It may be worth rephrasing to something along the lines of:

Each row, column, and box contains exactly one "pseudo" cell. Across the entire grid, the nine pseudo-cells collectively contain the digits 0 to 8 with no repeats — one unique digit per pseudo-cell. For all clue types, a pseudo-cell’s value is equal to the number of its 3x3 box.

Just a thought, and it may make the rules a bit more clear!

on 12. March 2025, 07:49 by TheNineElements
Solve Time: 33:27

I rated this 2/5 difficulty.

This was a very engaging, interesting, and approachable puzzle! Definitely one of my favorites in recent memory. I have no idea why the user rating is currently less than 90%, as this was genuinely an excellent puzzle with a thoughtful design/solve path. The % is VERY underrated, and it's pretty disappointing to see that. I HIGHLY recommend that other users give the puzzle a go!

In general, I liked the ruleset of the puzzle, and the 'pseudo-cell' logic was surprisingly fun & well-executed. I sometimes struggle with similar 'psuedo-cell' rules (like doublers, schrödinger cells, etc.), but I found that this puzzle was actually quite approachable and the logic for determining each of them was engaging & interesting. I think the dFoW really helped in this regard, as I didn't find myself 'messing around' with all of the other 'psuedo-cells' around the grid. Since I was able to determine many of the digits in the pseudo-cells early on (as the fog revealed the puzzle), it didn't require me to keep track of too much information & let me instead focus on the actual underlying logic rather than continually scanning each of the other cells to see which digits need to be eliminated from the marked cell.

Additionally, I think dFOW path was excellently done as well. It really did a great job of segregating the solve path into many distinct sections, which made the reveals very satisfying & rewarding. The dFOW continued to have nice reveals right up until the very end. I've found that this can be quite difficult to accomplish - but this puzzle did an excellent job of utilizing dFoW to the fullest extent, which I really enjoyed.

My favorite aspect of the puzzle/solve was actually during the late mid-game, where I was disambiguating the the digits on the last couple of psuedo-cells. This bit of logic was probably the trickiest step in the whole solve, but was totally fair and a very nice idea.

Overall I found the puzzle to be very approachable, and I think it felt closer to 2* (rather than 3). My solve time was on the longer end for my typical 2* solves (and falls within the range of my 3* solves), but I don't think that this really reflects the difficulty of the actual puzzle logic. Every step throughout was totally fair, and I don't think there was any particular step/phase that was abnormal or particularly hard for a 2*. Even though the 0-8 digits are nonstandard and the psuedo-cell rules was a little tricky, I think a high beginner-low intermediate solver should have no issue working through the puzzle on their own. In fact, I think this puzzle would be a really good introduction to the 'psuedocell'/doubler/etc. Sort of ruleset for a beginner. The logic was not trivial, but each step is totally fair, and the dynamic fog does a great job of directing attention to the logic for those cells.

Overally, wonderful puzzle! It is an extremely underrated puzzle, and definitely a top-tier puzzle IMO. Thank you for sharing!
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ND: Thank you very much for this feedback, I really appreciate it. I'm glad you enjoyed solving this puzzle as much as I enjoyed setting it.
I am currently working on some other "modifiers" puzzles so stay tuned for that.

on 10. March 2025, 19:36 by LeaVulpina
I messed up a time or two, and the deduction to sort out the last few pseudo cells took me long enough to see that I almost gave in. Glad I stuck it out, because this was a really lovely puzzle!
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ND: Thank you for solving! The step you mention is pretty tricky indeed.

on 9. March 2025, 21:53 by PuzzlePatzer
Very nice puzzle! The combination of 0-8 and Pseudo cells was tricky at times but quite rewarding. Thank you!
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ND: Thanks for solving, glad you enjoyed!

on 9. March 2025, 17:22 by Snookerfan
Beautiful puzzle with a well telegraphed solvepath! Thank you
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ND: Thanks for the comment. This was a very fun one to create.

on 9. March 2025, 05:49 by gdc
Fun modifier rule. The 0-8 threw me of a couple of times but the deductions are all very fair and interesting.
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ND: Thank you for solving and for the feedback, much appreciated.