Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

This is the 10th chapter of the Zodiac Project, initiated by ViKingPrime. The idea is that one builds a puzzle around a specified disjoint set before picking a new one and handing the baton over to the next puzzle setter. I am very happy to be a part of it. The previous parts of the series are:

Chapter 1: Orion's Belt by ViKingPrime
Chapter 2: Counting Castles by marty_sears
Chapter 3: Derezzed by heliopolix
Chapter 4: Rodd Stevens by 99%Sneaky
Chapter 5: Phase Shift by meggen033
Chapter 6: Cage Decoder by sujoyku
Chapter 7: Star Chart by Flinty
Chapter 8: Parity Expedition by palpot
Chapter 9: Suguru's Surge by gdc

Once again, many thanks to gdc for choosing me as the next Zodiac setter! It was a great honor, and I am now thrilled to announce the next setter in this project: the phenomenal Florian Wortmann. This is the set he will be working with. I am excited to see what he does with it!

Chapter 10: Minefield Maneuvers

Having crash-landed during their hard-fought battle against Suguru, Captain Jus and her crew were stranded on planet GDC-42. Their only hope of escape was getting an audience with the king, Nai Rolf, who could provide a means of rebuilding their vessel.

As they ventured onward through the purple-tinged terrain, they presently came upon a fenced-off area, with ominous signs plastered on every surface. A look of trepidation crept onto Yt Nilf's face as he realized:

"Captain! We're about to enter a minefield!"

The only way out was through, and time was of the essence. The crew deployed their sensors into the field and started to frantically calculate, knowing one misstep would mean the failure of the Zodiac Project.

Click the puzzle to play!
Or, without the background: CTC App (no background)

Note that all marks outside the grid are purely cosmetic.

Rules:

• Normal sudoku rules apply.
• The intrepid Zodiac crew has stumbled upon a minefield they must navigate. The locals tell them that there are three mines in every row, column, and region.
• The crew puts sensors down in the grid in every cell with concentric circles, pointing in the directions indicated. None of the sensors are placed on a mine. The digit in the cell indicates the sum total of mines that can be seen in the indicated directions.
• Shockingly, the crew realizes that every sensor has a different reading.
• The Zodiac heroes then proceed on an orthogonal path through the minefield from R1C1 to R9C9, using the following method:
  • The crew does not step on a mine. Thankfully, their readings were accurate.
  • The crew does not step on any sensor, but it does pass orthogonally adjacent to each sensor to collect it - those things are expensive!
  • The crew's path does not branch or touch itself orthogonally, although it may touch itself diagonally.
  • The crew's path traces a German whisper line through the grid - you need to be quiet when trying not to explode! Adjacent digits along the path differ by at least 5.
• The monument (tower of pebbles) separates digits that are in a 2:1 ratio. Not all such structures are given.

You can play the puzzle here: CTC App (with background image)
Or, without the background: CTC App (no background)

Example Grid:

In this grid, there are three mines in every house.
All sensors contain a different digit, and each sensor's digit is equal to the sum total of mines seen in all the directions pointed at by arrows. For example, the 1 in R1C3 counts the total number of mines along the southwest and southeast diagonals beginning at R1C3. Note that there are no mines on the southeast diagonal.
The path is a valid German whisper line from R1C1 to R9C9. The path passes next to every sensor, and the path touches itself diagonally, but never orthogonally.

Happy solving! Once again, I am honored to have participated in the Zodiac project. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this puzzle, and check out the other Zodiac puzzles!