Parity Dynamics (+ QnA type of post)
(Published on 3. September 2022, 19:14 by Playmaker6174)
Before going into the main puzzle, I just want to say a big "THANK YOU" to everyone for enjoying many of my puzzles and also giving lots of constructive feedback over the past 14 months, I'm so so delightful to see the overwhelming appreciation from everyone since I'll be honest, I'm still not reaching to the 'expert' level as a setter yet and I need to learn more from others, including setting ideas and the mindset of approaching certain ideas. There are also a few questions that some might have wondered about me as a puzzle setter here, and I'll try to address some of them through the experience that I've been going throughout those 14 months.
(For those only interested in solving the puzzle, it only starts after the attached image below)
Over one year has passed since my first ever puzzle and looking back at the journey of how far I've come at setting puzzles, I'll say I'm happy at how much I've contributed to puzzle communities, especially sudoku. As time goes on, lots of changes had/has been made to keep track of the balance between puzzle's display, the fairness of puzzle's difficulty and the rule set clarification, considering LMD community has been growing in such a fast rate. Besides of that, I've also been learning more and more from the great puzzle setters, including learning some certain values of what mostly makes great setters 'great' and highly stand-out compared to others. Moreover, I really feel like by solving puzzles more and more, I've started to appreciate the valuable efforts that many setters spend on their puzzles with also the amount of inspirational ideas that setters spread over the time, the constant learning from others and the development of effective communications.
Of course, while I'm proud of my puzzle setting progress, I still feel like I'm too underwhelmed by the constant grow of brand new ideas, which therefore holds me back from setting at certain points and deep inside my heart, I find it REALLY hard to enjoy all of them in such a short period as real life works exist and I can't entirely keep track to all of the things that are happening these days, including setting as well. Despite so, I'm still trying my best to deliver my puzzles in the most enjoyable way possible to everyone so that solvers would find them worth the fun and experience, and I'm really glad to see the fruitful results from those efforts in the past.
I do have to admit, my arrow series has quite a bad start, then it's become more polished and carefully crafted after the first break (though still have to deal with difficulty bump issue over the time). Overall, I'm really glad that the series has inspired others to make great and lovely puzzles :)
(by the way, the very next puzzle after this one will be the direct sequel of my previous Archers 34, which is one of my most remarkable puzzles)
Setting a Chaos Construction type has always appeared to be an exhausting and tedious task for me since setting mini ones is already tiresome for me, not to mention continuous searching for optimal results.
- What other puzzle genres / puzzle-related things do you enjoy besides sudoku?
I've always been interested in Star Battle and Akari, I watch plenty of video solves of these two genres, there are also a couple of pencil genres that I start to look and learn basics from them like Loop, Nurikabe, Hashi... Besides of that, I'm also an avid person at Chess, Minesweepers and Maths riddles x)
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Anyway that's pretty much all of it, if you want to ask some more questions about me then you can fill in this simple form here, I really appreciate so! I may also discuss some couple issues related to puzzles that I've seen while being a puzzle setter here in the near future, but time will decide that. Now, back to the main serve!
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The following puzzle is an easier application of my previous Parity Clockwork puzzle with the same exact combo, but my main intention is to make an easy and approachable puzzle out of it for everyone. The only reason is that I've been diving into harder side of puzzles so much that I think I should give easier puzzles some chance as well since they can be very enjoyable too, especially when it comes to dealing with balanced difficulty problem.
Estimated difficulty should lie anywhere in 2-3 range, depends on how fast you understand what's happening in the first half. There will also be another version of this main puzzle that I shared in the hidden comment section, which is on a bit harder side. I hope y'all enjoy!
Rules:
- Normal Sudoku rules apply: every row, column and 3x3 box contains digits from 1 to 9 each once.
- Digits within a cage don't repeat and they must sum to the small number written in the top left corner of that cage.
- Digits along a gray line must have the same parity, i.e. all odd digits or all even digits, and they form a set of non-repeating consecutive digits in terms of their respective parity in any order. In this case, parity of each line has to be deduced.
For example, a 3 cells gray line can be 1-3-5, 3-5-1, 3-1-5...
- A black dot implies the 1:2 ratio relationship between two cells, a white dot implies the consecutive relationship between two cells. Not all dots are given.
(For those only interested in solving the puzzle, it only starts after the attached image below)
- Some thoughts about myself as a puzzle setter?
I actually had interested in puzzles for a really long time ago but it only peaked at mid 2019 (then 2020 happened to be when pandemic occurred), where I solved sudokus and other puzzle genres more regularly during hard times, and I only stepped into puzzle setting world in mid 2021 mainly thanks to Cracking the Cryptic community.Over one year has passed since my first ever puzzle and looking back at the journey of how far I've come at setting puzzles, I'll say I'm happy at how much I've contributed to puzzle communities, especially sudoku. As time goes on, lots of changes had/has been made to keep track of the balance between puzzle's display, the fairness of puzzle's difficulty and the rule set clarification, considering LMD community has been growing in such a fast rate. Besides of that, I've also been learning more and more from the great puzzle setters, including learning some certain values of what mostly makes great setters 'great' and highly stand-out compared to others. Moreover, I really feel like by solving puzzles more and more, I've started to appreciate the valuable efforts that many setters spend on their puzzles with also the amount of inspirational ideas that setters spread over the time, the constant learning from others and the development of effective communications.
Of course, while I'm proud of my puzzle setting progress, I still feel like I'm too underwhelmed by the constant grow of brand new ideas, which therefore holds me back from setting at certain points and deep inside my heart, I find it REALLY hard to enjoy all of them in such a short period as real life works exist and I can't entirely keep track to all of the things that are happening these days, including setting as well. Despite so, I'm still trying my best to deliver my puzzles in the most enjoyable way possible to everyone so that solvers would find them worth the fun and experience, and I'm really glad to see the fruitful results from those efforts in the past.
- How old are you? What is your current job in real life?
I'm 21 years old man (or 'boy', whatever, I still look like 17 anyway) from Vietnam. I'm currently a uni student, it's been pretty rough for me over the past months since mental health and real life problems are a thing. Nonetheless, I'm still a funny guy type and I don't mind having some fun conversations, you can always contact me on Discord or Facebook or Instagram (I can leave my info in the hidden comment if you want to know so) :)- Why mainly arrow? How do you feel about your arrow series?
Arrow has been one of my very favorite variants in sudoku (besides Killer and X-sum) and still is till now, in my eyes arrow has such a weird charm from it that I can't stop exploring something from it, since it's very flexible in variants combos and really elegant when executed well. Some puzzles that has inspired me to try to set arrow puzzles (which eventually formed a series) include: Phistomefel's; Tallcat's; Emmettcito's exceptional trios: 1st, 2nd, 3rd; TotallyNormalCat's interesting arrow puzzle...I do have to admit, my arrow series has quite a bad start, then it's become more polished and carefully crafted after the first break (though still have to deal with difficulty bump issue over the time). Overall, I'm really glad that the series has inspired others to make great and lovely puzzles :)
(by the way, the very next puzzle after this one will be the direct sequel of my previous Archers 34, which is one of my most remarkable puzzles)
- Do you join in puzzle competitions?
Interestingly enough, I haven't joined in any puzzle competition though many people know me as a decent puzzle solver, I'm just a pretty terrible solver when it comes to time pressure and other restrictions, but one of my main purposes as a solver is hoping to enjoy puzzles so that I can be happy and make others feel happy to enjoy it as well.- Some upcoming puzzle ideas in the future?
Since I've decided to come back with setting (I think), some may ask about the next potential puzzle ideas in the future from mine, in that case I've been learning about certain puzzle ideas that should be exciting enough to make for interesting puzzles, including: some more new additions for arrow variant (specifically for my Battle With The Archers series), the continuation of some of my previous puzzle ideas (BYOK, neighbors sum...), more interesting variant combos or even a Chaos Construction puzzle if possible...Setting a Chaos Construction type has always appeared to be an exhausting and tedious task for me since setting mini ones is already tiresome for me, not to mention continuous searching for optimal results.
- What other puzzle genres / puzzle-related things do you enjoy besides sudoku?
I've always been interested in Star Battle and Akari, I watch plenty of video solves of these two genres, there are also a couple of pencil genres that I start to look and learn basics from them like Loop, Nurikabe, Hashi... Besides of that, I'm also an avid person at Chess, Minesweepers and Maths riddles x)
--------------------
Anyway that's pretty much all of it, if you want to ask some more questions about me then you can fill in this simple form here, I really appreciate so! I may also discuss some couple issues related to puzzles that I've seen while being a puzzle setter here in the near future, but time will decide that. Now, back to the main serve!
--------------------
The following puzzle is an easier application of my previous Parity Clockwork puzzle with the same exact combo, but my main intention is to make an easy and approachable puzzle out of it for everyone. The only reason is that I've been diving into harder side of puzzles so much that I think I should give easier puzzles some chance as well since they can be very enjoyable too, especially when it comes to dealing with balanced difficulty problem.
Estimated difficulty should lie anywhere in 2-3 range, depends on how fast you understand what's happening in the first half. There will also be another version of this main puzzle that I shared in the hidden comment section, which is on a bit harder side. I hope y'all enjoy!
Rules:
- Normal Sudoku rules apply: every row, column and 3x3 box contains digits from 1 to 9 each once.
- Digits within a cage don't repeat and they must sum to the small number written in the top left corner of that cage.
- Digits along a gray line must have the same parity, i.e. all odd digits or all even digits, and they form a set of non-repeating consecutive digits in terms of their respective parity in any order. In this case, parity of each line has to be deduced.
For example, a 3 cells gray line can be 1-3-5, 3-5-1, 3-1-5...
- A black dot implies the 1:2 ratio relationship between two cells, a white dot implies the consecutive relationship between two cells. Not all dots are given.
Puzzle:
Good luck and have fun solving!
Solution code: Row 8 (left to right) and column 8 (top to bottom), 18 digits long with no space
Solved by SKORP17, Steven R, Vebby, efnenu, JuhaK, AvonD, jalebc, Onkel_Dagobert, Sonki, Niverio, absolutebeginner, Greg, S4K, Piatato, idanz, Dermerlin, ficko, dskaff, szy2120109, Freelix, wjdrumm, ... 99jau99, Felis_Timon, dodomos, vmirandaa, Frutlop, TJReds, lutzreimer, Uhu, Hazelnut, zrbakhtiar, Bobbobert, dingledork, Carolin, Shmartus, DamnedLight, asii, teuthida, Crul, Sewerin, tallcat, abadx
Comments
on 30. April 2024, 22:07 by mezkur7
Sudokupad (w/solution): https://sudokupad.app/9f4e32eim6
on 4. September 2022, 01:55 by Piatato
Fun puzzle! Nice to learn more about you, and to see you back after — luckily — only a short break. :-D
on 3. September 2022, 19:59 by Steven R
Good to have you back as a setter :)
