Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

Initial Setter Difficulty: 2/5

Normal Sudoku rules apply
Place the digits 1-9 so that they do not repeat in any row, column, or 3x3 box.

Dynamic Fog
Correctly entered digits will clear that cell only. Some key deductions will uncover cells in other parts of the grid. No guessing is required!

Dutch Flats
Every 5 in the grid must have a '1' directly above it or a '9' directly below it. It may have both, but it doesn't need both.

Santa's Journey
Draw a one-cell-wide path which only moves orthogonally and does not cross itself or otherwise overlap (it can touch itself).
Santa visits 9 houses, each represented by the digits 1-9, starting at house 1 (R7C4), and visits each house in ascending order (which is the order they are revealed from the fog by the puzzle flow *note* there are very rare scenarios that reveal the next two houses at once), finishing at house 9.
The digits on the path between two houses sum to the same value as the digits in those two cells (for example, the path connecting house 5 and house 6 must contain digits that sum to 11). The cells on the path between houses are ALL green and feature Santa, but of course you can't see that yet due to the fog.

Special Thanks
The inspiration for this puzzle was actually one that GoodCity received as a Secret Santa gift on the CTC discord last year.
We have since learned the creator of that puzzle is Malrog and the original puzzle is available here: Village Visit

Thanks to GoodCity for sharing the setting with me. It was nice to finally collab, especially with it landing on Christmas Day itself.
If it wasn't for GoodCity the consecutive weeks run of Dutch Flat Mates would've ended last Christmas, and the series wouldn't be anything near what it is.

Next week you're in for a treat, as VikingPrime has set a wonderful S-Cell Flat Mate with a twist to get the New Year off to a great start!

And then that is followed by another debutant to the series Crusader175, with a wheely great puzzle!
Incredibly, two setters (one being Crusader175) sent offerings of Flat Mates with the same contraint on the same day. We very nearly had a double puzzle drop day (it was an option we considered!).
The other setter, who will be revealed in due course, has kindly remade their puzzle with a variant constraint and will make their debut later in the month.

Merry Christmas!

To play this weeks Dutch Flat Mates, please click here 'Play CTC', or the image below.

Optional hint to help with the start:

There is only one way you can makes the path between houses 1 and 2 sum to 3. Most of the fog reveals are linked to Flat Mate deductions.

Optional hints in the middle:

Flat Mates, Flat Mates, Flat Mates!!

5 in Box 6. Hopefully you didn't assume the Santa Path.

5 in Column 4.

5 in Box 1s Flat Mate.

The final MVP is a 2 :)

Example Image
This image shows the digits on the path between Houses 5 and 6 are 2 and 9.
5 + 6 = 11 and 2 + 9 = 11. I've also made the example 5 happy by Flat Mates.

Previous puzzles in the Dutch Flat Mates series:

• #01 - 18 Oct 23 - Classic
• #02 - 25 Oct 23 - Thermometers
• #03 - 01 Nov 23 - German Whispers
• #04 - 08 Nov 23 - Region Sum Lines
• #05 - 15 Nov 23 - Sandwich Sums
• #06 - 22 Nov 23 - Little Killer
• #07 - 29 Nov 23 - Kropki
• #08 - 05 Dec 23 - Zipper Lines
• #09 - 12 Dec 23 - Renban - By GoodCity
• #10 - 19 Dec 23 - Nabner - By GoodCity
• #11 - 26 Dec 23 - Skyscrapers - By GoodCity
• #12 - 03 Jan 24 - Dutch Whispers
• #13 - 10 Jan 24 - Killer Cages
• #14 - 17 Jan 24 - Arrows
• #15 - 24 Jan 24 - Ten Lines
• #16 - 31 Jan 24 - 159 Index and Even - By GoodCity
• #17 - 07 Feb 24 - Friendly Cells
• #18 - 14 Feb 24 - Quads
• #19 - 21 Feb 24 - Silent Killer - By GoodCity
• #20 - 28 Feb 24 - XV and Equality
• #21 - 06 Mar 24 - X-Sums
• #22 - 13 Mar 24 - Numbered Rooms - By GoodCity
• #23 - 20 Mar 24 - Diagonal X-Sums
• #24 - 27 Mar 24 - Yin Yang (Neighborhoods) - By Palpot
• #25 - 03 Apr 24 - Hit Points
• #26 - 10 Apr 24 - Counting Circles
• #27 - 17 Apr 24 - XY Difference - By GoodCity
• #28 - 24 Apr 24 - Double Sandwich Sums
• #29 - 01 May 24 - Foggy Knights
• #30 - 08 May 24 - Look and Say Little Killer
• #31 - 15 May 24 - Slingshot - By GoodCity
• #32 - 22 May 24 - 258 Index and Odd
• #33 - 29 May 24 - Rellik
• #34 - 05 Jun 24 - Search 9 - By Palpot
• #35 - 12 Jun 24 - Diagonal Outside
• #36 - 19 Jun 24 - Entropic Snake - Collab with Palpot
• #37 - 26 Jun 24 - Rossini - By GoodCity
• #38 - 03 Jul 24 - Pointer Arrows
• #39 - 10 Jul 24 - Same Difference - by Marty Sears
• #40 - 17 Jul 24 - Battenburg and Average Arrows
• #41 - 24 Jul 24 - Omnipotent Lines - by Sujoyku
• #42 - 31 Jul 24 - Modular Snake
• #43 - 07 Aug 24 - Hot and Cold Lines - by Marty Sears
• #44 - 14 Aug 24 - Minmax Quads - by Sujoyku
• #45 - 21 Aug 24 - Quad Sums - By GoodCity
• #46 - 28 Aug 24 - Entropic Whispers - by gdc
• #47 - 04 Sep 24 - Thripper Lines
• #48 - 11 Sep 24 - Index Lines - by Marty Sears
• #49 - 18 Sep 24 - Kroopki Doots - by Damo_89
• #50 - 25 Sep 24 - Frameless / X-Less X-Sums
• #51 - 02 Oct 24 - Full Rank - By GoodCity
• #52 - 09 Oct 24 - Japanese Sums
• #53 - 16 Oct 24 - Chaos Construction Shifter - Collab with Palpot
• #54 - 23 Oct 24 - Ten or Eleven - By Marty Sears
• #55 - 30 Oct 24 - Split Peas - By SamuPiano
• #56 - 06 Nov 24 - Zombie (Cages) - Collab with Palpot
• #57 - 13 Nov 24 - Sharing Cages - by Sujoyku
• #58 - 20 Nov 24 - Domino Flat Mates - by Prof.Dori
• #59 - 27 Nov 24 - Circuit Board
• #60 - 04 Dec 24 - Double Arrows - by Damo_89
• #61 - 11 Dec 24 - Chinese Whispers - by Black_Doom
• #62 - 18 Dec 24 - Full File Kropki