Dandelion (Anti-Knight Thermo Sudoku)
(Published on 7. June 2022, 02:45 by Phistomefel)
- Place digits in the grid such taht every row, column and 3x3 box contains each digit from 1 to 9 exactly once.
- The digits on a thermometer increase from the bulb end.
- Cells that are a knight's move away from each other, may not contain the same digit.
Solution code: First and last row
Comments
on 12. October 2022, 00:44 by ordnanceordinance
Solved my first Phistomefel puzzle :)
on 12. June 2022, 08:17 by Aswen
Fantastic break-in. Got a bit stuck for a while, but stumbled on what I needed to finish.
on 8. June 2022, 20:43 by Klausku
Wunderschön und überraschend, was man mit so kurzen Thermos machen kann. Das break-in ist genial. Die Lösung hat länger gedauert bei mir, denn immer bei knight-move Sudokus übersehe ich mittendrin einen Springerzug und stecke ewig fest. Danke für das tolle Puzzle.
on 8. June 2022, 07:12 by Phistomefel
@DiMono: Thank you for the tip! To be honest, I rarely think about ways how solvers could tackle a problem with uniqueness, so it is a blind spot of mine.
on 7. June 2022, 18:46 by DiMono
A wonderful break-in idea, though I found the end suffered from "all that's left is an anti-knight restriction I can't spot" frustration, as anti-knight puzzles often do. I made a point of not using the uniqueness deduction as I knew that would not be the intended logic.
A way to avoid the uniqueness deduction being possible would be to add another 2-cell thermo in box 3, say R12C8. That way the solver would know that such a deduction is possible, but not which thermo to use, and therefor would not be able to skip any intended logic.
on 7. June 2022, 16:08 by patinthehat48
brilliant puzzle as always
on 7. June 2022, 15:41 by Phistomefel
@Dag H: I can assure you that the puzzle is solvable without uniqueness. If you are interested in this, you can write me, where you used uniqueness in a hidden comment and I will try to remember how I continued from there on.
on 7. June 2022, 15:18 by PinkNickels
Absolutely brilliant. Loved every second of this.
on 7. June 2022, 15:00 by Dag H
I really enjoyed the break-in but I ended up having to use uniqueness to solve it - I assume that wasn't necessary and there was some clever interaction I didn't appreciate. Beautiful puzzle though!
on 7. June 2022, 12:36 by Phistomefel
Thank you so much for the nice feedback, folks! :)
@RJBlarmo: Thank you! To be fair, this is a lot easier when using an Anti-Knight constraint. In case you are interested in pure Thermo Sudoku with just 2- or 3-cell thermos with fascinating logic, I can recommend emmetcito's Heatstroke (id=0005YD) and Philip Newman's Jealousy (id=0009AY).
on 7. June 2022, 07:06 by Playmaker6174
Easily one of the most satisfying thermo sudokus I've done.
The opening sequence was full of beautiful deductions with nearly every single one of the clues being utilized very well; the later half felt a bit head scratching but not unfair at all, and I had a great smile when getting the final breakthrough :)
on 7. June 2022, 04:27 by RJBlarmo
Very nice break-in, impressive how much can be done with only 2 and 3 cell thermos!
on 7. June 2022, 04:13 by tallcat
Anti-knight puzzles are not normally a favorite of mine, but I enjoyed this one immensely. Lovely break-in and deft use of the constraint throughout.
on 7. June 2022, 04:04 by antiknight
Beautiful break and amazing deductions made from the small thermometers! Great puzzle as always from you Phistomefel!
on 7. June 2022, 03:55 by Phistomefel
Thanks a lot for the kind words, Piatato and Steven R! :)
on 7. June 2022, 03:51 by Steven R
Some brilliant interactions in this one, loved it!
on 7. June 2022, 03:33 by Piatato
Thanks for a lovely puzzle! :-)
