Zodiac Project: Original Sin
(Eingestellt am 31. Oktober 2024, 19:21 Uhr von Nordy)
I am honored to present the 16th chapter of the Zodiac Project, spearheaded by ViKingPrime. The original plan was to create a puzzle paying tribute to the upcoming Year of the Wood Snake (according to the Chinese Zodiac), but the puzzle evolved into something...a little different. Taking a few extra moments to fully understand the rules may help smooth out your solving experience. I hope you enjoy!
Rules:
Normal Sudoku rules apply.
Each snake-circle contains a different digit and is the end of a snake that moves orthogonally through the grid. Snakes cannot touch themselves or each other orthogonally, but they may touch themselves and each other diagonally. The digit in the snake-circle is the length of that snake.
Orthogonally-connected groups of non-snake cells are called "gardens." Digits cannot repeat on a snake or in a garden. A small number clue in the top-left corner of a cell gives the sum of the digits in the snake or garden that contains that clue. (You can think of snakes and gardens as Killer Cages, where some of the sums have been given).
Forbidden Fruit: digits joined by a red apple…
- Cannot contain a 5
- Cannot both be low (1234)
- Cannot both be high (6789)
- Cannot both be even (2468)
- Cannot both be odd (1379)
Solve Online:
The idea for the Zodiac Project is that setters build a puzzle around a specified disjoint set, and then pick a new one to hand off to the next setter. Many thanks to Shintaro for nominating me for this round. I am excited to announce that Dorlir will be setting the next chapter of the Zodiac Project. Here is the disjoint set that Dorlir will be working with:
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
Chapter 10: Minefield Maneuvers by SamuPiano
Chapter 11: Ponta Delgada by Florian Wortmann
Chapter 12: Lost in Space by lerroyy
Chapter 13: Gemini by Christounet
Chapter 14: Sagittarius by Maizegator
Chapter 15: Kyklos by sfushidahardy
Lösungscode: Digits on snakes in Row 2 (left to right) followed by digits on snakes in Row 8 (left to right)
Kommentare
am 1. Dezember 2024, 08:13 Uhr von novato
Very clever and very fun to solve, thank you!
am 3. November 2024, 12:04 Uhr von Christounet
Nice! Thanks :)
am 2. November 2024, 23:58 Uhr von sujoyku
Absolutely stunning setting! Thank you for this gorgeous puzzle, Nordy!
am 2. November 2024, 10:42 Uhr von v8nagrom
No words needed. Absolutely brilliant.
am 1. November 2024, 23:19 Uhr von MSDOS
Wonderful theme! I found the opening shading a bit tough at times, but loved the discovery of some of the limitations and forcing logic! Great puzzle!
am 1. November 2024, 17:44 Uhr von ehnvn
Can different "gardens" (cages) touch each other?
—Different gardens may touch diagonally, but if any two garden cells touch orthogonally (share an edge), then those garden cells belong to the same garden region.
am 1. November 2024, 16:14 Uhr von yttrio
I saw this puzzle and was immediately tempted by it, and was not disappointed at all by the knowledge gained by solving :)
am 1. November 2024, 11:42 Uhr von marcmees
Q: when mentioning "forbidden" fruit ... does this mean snakes can not occupy the cells with apples?
—The snakes may occupy cells with apples.
am 1. November 2024, 08:44 Uhr von Sinuit
Wow, that was really nice. I liked that the sudoku part was quite easy compared to other conclusions on the way. Thanks a lot for creating and sharing!
am 1. November 2024, 05:11 Uhr von Hamsterbase
Loved this. Probably about the limit of my abilities, so I think 3 stars is about right. Many thanks to the setter.
am 1. November 2024, 00:33 Uhr von Calvinball
This was a wonderful stroll through the garden! I only got bit a few times, and that was entirely my fault because sneks only bite humans in self defense.
am 31. Oktober 2024, 21:27 Uhr von marty_sears
A really excellent and smooth solve, with lovely theming too. Those snakey circles are so cute. Top marks!
am 31. Oktober 2024, 21:17 Uhr von ViKingPrime
What an incredible puzzle! You did such a phenomenal job with this; it all seemed so daunting at first but when you spot each step it flows so smoothly.
am 31. Oktober 2024, 20:02 Uhr von Prof.Dori
This was so much fun to solve, which you always get this feeling when you solve a Nordy puzzle, truly remarkable. Thanks for the nomination and I hope I can make something as good as this.
am 31. Oktober 2024, 19:36 Uhr von sfushidahardy
A certain aspect of the puzzle felt really miraculous! (Solve it to find out!)
