Wave Sudoku
(Published on 26. May 2021, 19:06 by Vebby)
Normal sudoku rules apply: Each row, column and 3x3 box must contain each of the numbers 1-9 exactly once.
Digits along an arrow must sum to the number in the connected circle. Digits may repeat along an arrow if allowed by other rules.
An ordered triset is a set of 3 consecutive cells in a straight line (either vertical or horizontal) whose numbers are in ascending/descending order. Ignore wrapping around the grid.
Examples of ordered trisets: 2-6-9 or 8-5-4 in R7C234 or R789C5.
Counter-examples: 2-9-6 or 8-4-5 do not constitute ordered trisets.
NO unshaded cell is part of ANY ordered triset.
EACH shaded cell is part of AT LEAST ONE ordered triset.
Note: 3 consecutive shaded cells may or may not constitute an ordered triset if each of those cells is part of other ordered trisets.
The puzzle is available to solve on Penpa+, f-puzzles and CTC.
To activate final solution check on Penpa+, enter your numbers in blue, red or green colour.
Shaded cells in the f-puzzles version are in yellow colour for better visibility of arrows.
Any feedback would be much appreciated as this is my first puzzle. Enjoy!
Solution code: Row 8 followed by Column 4 (18 digits without commas or spaces)
Comments
on 6. November 2022, 07:08 by chameleon
Enjoyed surfing the waves of the puzzle :)
Nice ruleset!
on 19. September 2022, 07:41 by Andrewsarchus
Neat ruleset. Very nice puzzle!
@Andrewsarchus: Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it :D
on 24. August 2022, 20:15 by Agent
Great puzzle with an original and interesting constraint. Smooth solve once you understand the main concepts. Thanks!
@Agent: Thank you very much for trying out my puzzle and the kind feedback, I enjoyed watching your solve live on stream! :D
on 10. August 2022, 00:10 by lerroyy
Very nice puzzle! I really like the ruleset and it was a lot of fun to explore. thanks
@lerroyy: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
on 8. July 2022, 23:47 by Piatato
Nice and fun puzzle! :-)
@Piatato: Thank you! :)
on 17. June 2022, 05:43 by Nylimb
Nice puzzle! I'm afraid I resorted to bifurcation once during my solve; luckily I'm not a purist about that sort of thing.
@Nylimb: Thank you! :)
There are multiple routes to solving this given the nature of the constraint, so I fear you may have gone down a more difficult route. In a hidden comment, I'll share a Penpa+ replay of my solve without bifurcation in case you're curious.
on 3. June 2022, 14:57 by SirWoezel
Cool puzzle. Lots of hard work scratching candidates one by one until you're able to make progress, but it's never cruel. 4 stars is about right.
@SirWoezel: Thank you very much for pushing this to a rating and the kind feedback! :)
on 3. June 2022, 13:14 by Niverio
Note to self: Do not attempt 4 star puzzles on a bumpy train on the small mobile Penpa interface, haha. What a lovely idea, that I'm surprised I didn't encounter much before. Once I grasped the rules right it became a joyful surfride along the waves! Thank you so much for this gem, Vebby!
@Niverio: Haha, that is indeed a challenge, well done for sailing through! Thank you so much for giving my puzzle a try and the lovely feedback; very touching to read :)
on 26. May 2022, 17:53 by kolot
Very original idea and a great puzzle! I don’t remember when I have last done this much scanning while solving a puzzle. It was a joy to find the next deduction each time.
@kolot: Thank you very much!! I'm glad you enjoyed it :D
on 15. November 2021, 18:35 by SudokuExplorer
Lovely concept! I really liked placing the invisible 2-cell thermos and working out their interactions, thanks :-)
@SudokuExplorer: Thank you for trying out my puzzle and for the kind feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed it! :D
on 8. September 2021, 18:12 by Jesper
Enjoyed the puzzle a lot! Flowed nicely once I got a bit into it (and my head wrapped around the restriction). Thanks Vebby :)
@Jesper: Thank you so much for solving! I'm glad you enjoyed it! :D
-Vebby
on 16. July 2021, 14:49 by ICHTUES
The solve felt a bit like german whispers (unshaded).
My words to understand the constraint better are; that the only place for straight 3-cell thermos would be in the shaded cells.
@ICHTUES: Yeah interesting, thermos would be one to way to think about the rules. Specifically, each shaded cell must be on at least one imaginary thermo of length 3 or more, while no unshaded cell can be on an imaginary thermo of length 3 or more.
I see what you mean about german whispers, in which the high-low-high-low ordering is enforced due to the minimum 5 difference, but here there is no minimum difference :)
on 16. July 2021, 13:42 by ICHTUES
Solving this was a pleasure, once I've understood the rules right.
It was tricky to scan the grid.
@ICHTUES: Thank you for the kind feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
- Vebby
on 15. July 2021, 19:32 by Vebby
Made rules clearer and more concise.
on 23. June 2021, 02:57 by abed hawila
very nice! lots of scanning through the solve, the puzzle solves nicely after understanding the rules. Thank you Vebby ;)
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for giving it a go and for the kind feedback. Congrats on the solve! :) - Vebby
on 13. June 2021, 08:02 by Vebby
Changed puzzle name, added introductory description, and made the rules clearer with a tweak to the language plus an example. Bumped up the difficulty rating from Easy to Hard based on solver feedback. Updated Penpa Plus and f-puzzles links to reflect the new puzzle name and tweaks to rule language.
on 27. May 2021, 17:30 by StefanSch
I liked the puzzle idea, but this problem was quite hard.
More than two stars I would say.
@StefanSch:
Thank you for the kind feedback! I have increased the difficulty rating of the puzzle. Congrats on the solve! :)
- Vebby
on 26. May 2021, 23:16 by zuzanina
@e7odie:
The rule is about consecutive CELLS not about consecutive NUMBERS in cells.
So 3-6-7 are three numbers in ascending order in consecutive cells.
(I hope it is not too much of a hint, saying they couldn't be followed by an 8 because then this cell would need to be shaded in grey...)
@zuzanina:
Correct! Thanks for the clarifying answer and congrats on being the first solver! :)
- Vebby
