Normal Sudoku rules apply. Digits may not repeat in cages, and every cage contains a unique sum of digits. Digits along marked diagonals sum to the given totals.
There is an invisible 'cage thermometer', a single unbranching line which only moves orthogonally and visits every cage exactly once (though it can pass through more than one cell within a cage). The thermometer starts in the cage with the lowest total, and the total of each subsequent cage along the thermometer keeps increasing by 1. (I.e. a hypothetical thermometer would, in this exact order, move through cages summing to 100, 101, 102, 103, etc.)
Click HERE to play on F Puzzles
Click HERE to play on the CTC app (the correct solution has been loaded in!)
There is also a simplified version of this puzzle with given cage totals. I built it during testing and thought some of you might appreciate a small hint if you get stuck with the "proper" version. You may click
HERE to access the 'easy mode' of Thermokiller on F-puzzles. Just don't use it to cheat! (:
Furthermore, I made a somewhat more difficult version of this puzzle called Kill-o-meter. You can find it
HERE on its own LMG page.
And here's what the puzzle looks like:
Anticipated FAQ:
-Yes, the entire grid is covered in cages. That's also a bit of a hint if you know how to use it!
-The 'cage thermometer' does not have to visit every single cell in the grid. (In fact, it can never do that.)
-The 'cage thermometer' does not have a definite shape. As long as you follow the rules, you can shape it in whichever way you desire!
-I spent about a week constructing this, most of which was just trying to come up with the proper building strategy.
-I originally wanted to build it with JUST the cages and no additional clues, but this setting wouldn't solve uniquely without the little killer sums. I dare any constructor to try and build a variation of Thermokiller that way!