Multi-grid Multi-variant Sudoku - Simon Is Dead!
(Published on 14. November 2020, 09:00 by DiMono)
This is the puzzle I submitted to the Cracking the Cryptic September Puzzle Prompt, which was Mystery Detective. It took a full week to construct, and I'm rather proud of it. It is also a very long solve, so I recommend starting it when you're not in a rush. Good luck!
Simon is dead!
His body was found in a bloody mess on the floor, clearly the result of foul play. The killer, perhaps too confident in their ability to get away with their heinous crime, has left behind four nearly identical sudoku puzzles to taunt whoever might try to catch them. Unfortunately, the police have been unable to solve these clues. Can you decode the message and deduce the identity of the killer?
Sandwich clues, little killer clues, and killer cages are all standard. Crypto letters each map to a single different digit, and have the same value across all four grids - the value of C in one grid is the value of C in all grids. Once you've completed all four grids, the blue cells will reveal a single word from the killer that you can use to identify them. The blue cells are in order from left to right, but the grids may not be.
I recommend solving this in Penpa, as all four grids are on a single page and tracking the crypto clues is much easier. Penpa solve link
If you would really rather use f-puzzles, use the links below. Cells with crypto clues are shaded gray, and a list of which crypto letter goes with each shaded cell is included in the rules panel on the left of each puzzle.
f-puzzles Anti-knight Killer Little Killer grid
f-puzzles Killer Little Killer Sandwich grid
f-puzzles Anti-knight Killer Sandwich grid
f-puzzles Anti-knight Little Killer Sandwich grid
Solve the puzzles. Identify the killer. Find justice for Simon's murder.
Solution code: The killer's 12 letter taunt IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, followed by the bottom row of the Anti-knight Killer Sandwich grid (bottom-left grid in the image above). i.e. ABCDEFGHIJKL123456789
Comments
on 9. June 2024, 17:55 by Felis_Timon
I think answer check is broken.
I entered every digit in every grid, the crypto legend and I tried the taunt in numbers and letters. I also checked with f-puzzles which claims it's correct and I checked whether the letters have the correct numbers. Solution code got accepted too. I have no idea what else could be wrong so I think it's a problem with the answer check.
Also you say "Identify the killer". How are we supposed to do that?
@Felis_Timon: Thanks for the solve! I hope you enjoyed it. Penpa's answer check is very particular: if you have any other marks in the page that aren't part of the answer, even a stray cornermark, it will refuse to verify the solution. If it failed to pop for you, it's probably something like that.
As for identifying the killer, that was far more relevant when the puzzle was released. I wouldn't worry about it.
EDIT: Actually, I just tried entering the solution and you're right, it didn't pop. I also recreated the puzzle and entered it again, and it still didn't work. I'll let the person who built the software know. Thank you for telling me!
on 2. October 2023, 23:41 by DiMono
Fixed the Penpa+ link now that git.io is dead, and updated the image to be cleaner
on 18. May 2023, 18:02 by HighEagle
Wow! That was FUN!! Thank you! How do you even begin setting something like this? Quite amazing! The little discoveries that you have hidden that jump out at strategic moments from the other grids are so satisfying when one spots them. Sometimes the letter placings look random to begin with, and yet at the right moment its like a huge spotlight on the way forward. Thank you for the time and dedication you give to this community. It is very much appreciated!
on 4. July 2021, 00:45 by Vebby
Ton of fun! Thanks DiMono! Hats off to your monumental effort in constructing this :)
on 27. November 2020, 16:44 by argl
DiMono, this was truly awesome. Thanks for the time you put into implementing this great idea
on 16. November 2020, 18:11 by Alexander Rappa
Absolutely brilliant, thank you for crafting an intricate set of puzzles.
on 16. November 2020, 15:08 by DiMono
Clarified crypto rules slightly
on 15. November 2020, 23:39 by Ragna
Sorry, questions to the rules:
- ABCEHLOPR = 1 to 9 exactly once?
- "Crypto letters are the same across all four grids". The letters are the same? Or the value of the letters are the same for all given letters in all grids?
I'm looking forward to the puzzle :-))
@Ragna Yes, each letter maps to a single digit once, and the value of a letter in one grid is value of the same letter in all grids. So once you've identified, say, the value of C, you can fill that value in everywhere C appears. I'll reword this in the rules to make it a bit more clear.
on 15. November 2020, 20:58 by ArchonE
Wow. That was *such* a fun solve, and everything interacted so beautifully across the multiple grids. Thank you and very well done!!
@ArchonE Thanks for taking the time to solve it! I'm very glad that you enjoyed it.
on 15. November 2020, 19:35 by rubbeng
Sandwich mean sum between 1 and 9?
@rubbeng Yes, all clues are standard clues including sandwich clues being those located between 1 and 9 in the row/column.
on 14. November 2020, 16:39 by CountSudokula
Holy crap DiMono, this looks stunning at first glance. OK, I'll give it a go because The Crown only comes out tomorrow...!! Coffee, lots of coffee!!
