Chinese Takeaway (Yin Yang Killer)
(Published on 3. May 2023, 23:51 by BenTen)
I've always enjoyed yin yang puzzles and the extra element that they bring to sudoku, so I wanted to try my hand at creating one. I now realise how tricky it is to get a unique yin yang solution, as shaded and unshaded cells can easily be switched to give a different solution, so you have to get the constraints just right.
I think I could improve on this puzzle in the future but for my first yin yang attempt, I'm happy.
Link to CTC channel solve:
CTC YouTube link
Rules:
- Normal sudoku rules apply.
- Shade some cells such that all shaded cells are orthogonally connected and all unshaded cells are orthogonally connected and no 2x2 area may be fully shaded or unshaded.
- In cages, digits must sum to the small clue in the top left corner of the cage.
- Digits in shaded cells will have a negative value towards any sum in a killer cage.
- White dots separate consecutive digits. Not all possible dots are shown.
f-puzzles link
CTC app link
Solution code: Row 4 followed by Column 1.
Comments
on 4. March 2024, 15:13 by wuc
Got to this puzzle from the ctc video. Managed to solve it on my own. Awesome puzzle. Great flow and still hard steps. Loved it. Thx.
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Thank you for the nice comment wuc. Well done in completing the solve unaided.
on 16. May 2023, 03:46 by Julia S
Saw a comment saying their break in was at the top of the grid, but I had boxes 4, 5, and 6 almost finished before I had hardly anything on the top and bottom layers. Fun to see how many different ways this can be solved :)
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Wow I'm surprised you could solve it that way. The cage values are so low in boxes 4, 5 and 6 that it leads to numerous combinations that (I thought) needed to be disambiguated by digits at the top and bottom. Well done, that is impressive!
on 15. May 2023, 18:24 by OldCaptainWZJ
Beautiful logic all the way through, each step feels hard-earned and satisfying to find. Also I noticed that the clue placement is almost rotational symmetric, that's some neat setting!
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Yes i think symmetry is always nice in a puzzle. Thank you OldCaptainWZJ.
on 14. May 2023, 17:22 by BenTen
CTC solve YouTube link added.
I got my 15 minutes of fame.. or one hour and 15 minutes!! Thanks Simon.
on 9. May 2023, 07:33 by puzzlepandit
Very good puzzle. This deserves a place on CTC channel. Also I am adding one more star of difficulty.
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Thank you puzzlepandit! I'm still waiting for my 15 minutes of fame!...
on 7. May 2023, 13:22 by Kabuki73
Enjoyed it a lot, but took my quite some time, probably I sticked for too long with coloring:)
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Thanks Kabuki73. You're in good company here; we all love our colouring-in!
on 6. May 2023, 15:51 by Snow the Jam Man
How this is rated 3 stars is beyond me, granted i'm not very experienced with yin yang. Incredible puzzle though, fantastic deductions from start to finish.
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Thank you Snow the Jam Man. Well done for sticking with it and completing it!
on 5. May 2023, 22:12 by Blashyrkh
Incredible puzzle! Solving was difficult, setting must have been an order of magnitude harder still.
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Thank you Blashyrkh. It did take many iterations and adjustments to set but it was all good fun! Well done on completing it.
on 5. May 2023, 11:26 by drbs
Excellent! Mr. A. will certainly complain that he has to deal with the numbers too early.
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Haha, yes maybe so! Thank you drbs.
on 5. May 2023, 03:56 by Calvinball
Love a good Yin Yang. If you think you can improve on this puzzle I can't wait to see it because I had an amazing time with this one!
Thanks for taking your time to set this!
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Haha, I may have set myself up by saying that!
Thank you for the lovely comments, it makes taking the time to make this all worth it! :)
on 5. May 2023, 02:36 by julien505
Very fun puzzle, although I believe it ranks as a 4-star. Advancing bit by bit on that one.
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Thank you julien505. Well done for successfully completing it!
on 5. May 2023, 00:30 by Silverscree
I really enjoyed this one! I'm not sure if everyone had the same solve path as me, but that final cage that cracks the whole puzzle wide open was really nice to figure out.
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Thank you Silverscree. Glad you enjoyed it.
on 4. May 2023, 18:51 by Dag H
Beautiful construction!
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Thank you Dag H!
on 4. May 2023, 07:54 by ScatterBrain
I felt almost at a loss a few times throughout. I was able to put in small deductions, but I found that was enough! Later on the puzzle broke open.
Thanks!
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Thank you ScatterBrain! Glad you were able to piece it together. (Not as your user name might suggest!)
on 4. May 2023, 04:49 by rictech
Loved it! Maybe the first yin-yang I was able to solve on my own. Very fair deductions throughout, though it took me a long time. A few deductions midway through made it come together beautifully. Thanks!
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I was hoping this yin yang would be a bit more approachable to people that wouldn't usually do them so reading this comment makes me very happy. Thank you!
