Vampires
(Published on 22. October 2021, 02:12 by grkles)
Normal sudoku rules apply.
Coffins [Killer Cages]: Digits in a "coffin" must sum to the total given in the top left corner.
Mirrors [Palindromes]: Digits along a line must form palindromes, which read the same backwards and forwards.
Vampires: One of the digits 1-9 is secretly a vampire, and has infiltrated every palindrome exactly once. Wherever this digit falls on a palindrome, it is not reflected, and does not appear on the other side of the line. Note that the vampire digit may be at the end of the palindrome; and, there may also be a center cell which is not duplicated, as normal for palindromes. (Essentially, treat each palindrome of length N as a normal palindrome of length N-1, with a single interloper inserted somewhere along it.)
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Solution code: Row 7 followed by column 8 (18 digits, no spaces).
Comments
on 5. February 2024, 16:00 by Krokant
Such a nice idea. Wonderful puzzle. :)
on 29. July 2022, 20:21 by Crul
Interesting rule and fun coloring exercise, I enjoyed it! Thanks.
on 19. July 2022, 19:33 by Crul
I'm not sure how exactly the Vampires work. From my understanding (English is not my first language) I see 2 ways it can work. Take this example using the 9 as the Vampire: https://i.imgur.com/UpIqg13.png
The 2 palindromes on top is what I get when I focus on the last sentence. And the 2 on the bottom is was I get when I read the first part in a naive way.
Could you clarify which one it is?
Thanks!
~~
@Crul: Sure! Of the 4 palindromes in your image, all of them would be valid except for 12329. The idea is: construct a valid palindrome of any length, then add an extra digit somewhere along it which ignores the palindrome rules. Does that help?
~~
> @grkles Does that help?
Indeed, very clear now, thanks! I'll give a try later :)
on 19. February 2022, 03:12 by CronullaMax
What an insane puzzle. The vampire concept is great with a palindrome. I would definitely have this as a 5 star difficulty.
on 10. February 2022, 09:30 by Barrels
Very nice! A clever theme used to great effect!
on 15. January 2022, 16:27 by JayForty
Wonderful puzzle! Beautiful execution of the clever ruleset and theme, absolutely loved it!
on 7. November 2021, 10:50 by polar
Very original and very brilliant too! Thanks so much :)
on 28. October 2021, 21:01 by Bootenks
Have to say this was an intrigious journey. What an awesome idea paired with a unique rule set.
on 27. October 2021, 19:22 by Hrafnsvaengr
An absolutely wonderful puzzle! I'm very grateful that you were willing to give me the occasional nudge in the right direction, because if you hadn't, I wouldn't have had the joy of exploring this puzzle for myself. What a delight!
on 27. October 2021, 18:51 by Playmaker6174
I'm completely blown away by this puzzle. After resolving how (almost) all palindromes worked, I had to find the real next step which was a whole journey to do, very clever and tight design. Absolutely amazing works! ;)
on 25. October 2021, 07:29 by twototenth
Clever and inventive concept, lovely and challenging execution. (No surprise, given the setter!)
on 22. October 2021, 06:10 by virtual
Love the idea of palindromes with "vampire" digits that don't reflect!
on 22. October 2021, 03:20 by Andrewsarchus
Very creative ruleset combined with a very beautiful Halloween theme, and brilliantly set. It was a lot of fun solving this puzzle.
