The Female of the Species...
(Published on 5. March 2024, 12:34 by Abdul the Killer)
Standard Sudoku rules apply.
SHADING: In the completed grid, cells containing values exactly one greater than an immediate neighbour (diagonal or orthogonal) within their box are shaded (and otherwise unshaded).
YIN YANG: The shaded cells form a single orthogonally connected region, as do the unshaded cells. No 2x2 region is wholly shaded or unshaded.
ARROWS: Values in cells with arrows give the number of shaded cells in the indicated direction. All possible arrows are given.
Solution code: Row 9
Comments
on 17. September 2024, 19:58 by Shuhua Milk
Nice!
on 15. May 2024, 03:34 by emsou
What a puzzle. I especially enjoyed the negative constraint. It wasn't too clear until I browsed the comments that the arrows indicate the number of shaded cells in /each/ indicated direction rather than the combined sum.
on 9. March 2024, 16:18 by ChinStrap
Excellent balance of both parts, found myself going back and forth constantly between the arrow conditions and yin yang and sudoku.
--Nice of you to say. I was very pleased with the way the various parts coordinate.
Thanks for the solve and the comment. ---ATK
on 9. March 2024, 00:35 by Abdul the Killer
Thanks to everyone for their generous comments which are always appreciated.
on 8. March 2024, 22:51 by Cloudly
After solving your last three puzzles, I feel like I'm in love with this ruleset! Thank you for setting such amazing puzzles, I'm having a wonderful time solving them!
on 8. March 2024, 18:11 by peacherwu2
Quickly becomes very convoluted for me and broke it many times. Surely 5 star for me!
---It has teetered between four and five stars. I think this is your first solve of one of my puzzles, so I think that means you've never seen the shading rule before. That rule is not to be underestimated.
Glad that you got there in the end and I hope your stuttering solve wasn't devoid of all pleasure. ---ATK
on 8. March 2024, 12:32 by goodcity
This puzzle created some new interesting logic on Yin Yang puzzles which are very satisfying to find out. Thank you for setting such a gem !
on 7. March 2024, 22:28 by femto113
Loved the subtle contribution of the negative constraint.
on 7. March 2024, 14:44 by Snookerfan
Beautiful puzzle! Thank you
on 7. March 2024, 03:51 by BHUNTER47
Wonderful use of Yin Yang, the arrows, and the negative constraint.
on 6. March 2024, 21:28 by anyeyeball
Excellent puzzle, well thought out and fun to solve. Thanks for what was obviously very hard work setting this puzzle.
on 6. March 2024, 20:35 by gfoot
Nice combination of rules, I forgot at one point that "neighbour" included diagonals and had to go back and be a bit more careful, but it flowed well
on 6. March 2024, 19:44 by RubberMittens
Could I please clarify the rules? Shading: does the "otherwise unshaded" mean that a cell that is NOT exactly one greater than a neighbor must be unshaded? Arrows: is the cell containing the arrow included in the count? Also, are cells with multiple arrows meant to represent a sum or are each arrow considered independently from the other arrow?
---Yes, a cell that is not next to its "one-less" value in its box must be unshaded.
No, an arrow does not see its own cell and therefore its cell is not included in the count.
A cell with multiple arrows indicates it can see the same number of shaded cells in each indicated direction.
Hope that helps.
---ATK
---------------
Thank you for the rule clarification! Great puzzle! Do you consider any of my questions as spoilers that should be removed?
---Glad you got there! I don't think the comment contains spoilers so I'm happy to leave it. ---ATK
on 6. March 2024, 13:45 by elpadrinoIV
Awesome puzzle! I'm always in for a good Yin Yang puzzle, and this one is superb!
---They're special (just not so easy to make). Thanks for the kind comment. ---ATK
on 6. March 2024, 12:49 by Bankey
Fun puzzle. Thanks, @ Abdul the Killer :).
---Thanks for saying. ---ATK
on 6. March 2024, 12:48 by ozgaz
Well that was really something atk. Very hard for me but I loved the challenge. Didn’t want it to beat me. As always, every step is completely logical but attention to detail is everything. Really enjoyed it - thanks for setting.
---Thanks for the solve and the generous comment. ---ATK
on 6. March 2024, 05:12 by yttrio
[edited to remove minor spoiler] Simply fantastic combination of rule sets! A lot of very cool deductions using every part of the rule set!
---That's a tiny bit of a spoiler, but with so few solves it's probably a good idea to flag it. Oh, and hence the title.
Thanks for the solve and the kind comment.
---ATK
on 5. March 2024, 14:51 by fuxia
Yin-Yang feels like such a natural match to the neighbor rule. Very nice puzzle, quite challenging, though. Thank you.
---I agree that the two rules seem to knit together nicely. Thanks for the kind comment and the solve.---ATK
