grow so natural, i eat my kale
(Published on 17. February 2025, 02:30 by aqjhs)
I made this puzzle following Scojo's prompt to use negator modifiers along with sandwich clues.
- Normal sudoku rules apply.
- Divide the grid into two orthogonally connected regions such that no 2x2 area is completely contained in a region. All cells in one region will have a value -D, where D is the digit on the cell, and all cells in the other region will have a value of D.
- Cells marked with a circle contain a digit equal to the count of the other (up to 8) neighboring cells that are in the same region.
- Cells marked with a square contain a digit equal to the count of the (up to 8) neighboring cells that are in the other region.
- Clues outside the grid show the value sum of all cells strictly in between the digits 1 and 9 in the direction of the row/column of the clue.
- Along a dark teal line any three consecutive cells have values in different residue classes modulo 3.
- Cells joined by a dark teal dot have values in the same residue class modulo 3. Not all possible dots are given.
Note: The residue classes modulo 3 are
- [0] = {⋯, -9, -6, -3, 0, 3, 6, 9, ⋯}
- [1] = {⋯, -8, -5, -2, 1, 4, 7, ⋯}
- [2] = {⋯, -7, -4, -1, 2, 5, 8, ⋯}
See also:
Solution code: Column 8 with a dash for each region border, top to bottom. (ex. 123-456-789)
Comments
on 23. February 2025, 16:31 by elpadrinoIV
Awesome puzzle. It's quite hard, but no particular clue seemed impossible. It was just a matter of asking the right questions at the right time... and that took me quite a while, for each question.
224 minutes completely worth it, thanks so much for setting!
on 21. February 2025, 06:55 by Norkas
Very intricate and fun puzzle that took me a bit to get started and then went very smoothly. I love that you got the whole set of 0 clues to work so well.
on 20. February 2025, 20:24 by madhupt
This is such a brilliant puzzle! Absolutely fabulous but very hard, at least for me. The starting digits are simple and then the next digit in the corner comes after a million years. Or maybe I did it wrong but I can’t see any other solve path other than the one I followed. All the three constraints - yin yang, modular and sandwich go hand in hand. I did not find the need to colour, though, except the YY part, of course.
This is such a fit candidate for a CtC solve by Simon. If he does it, it has all the potential to be another feature-length fare. @adjhs, you are a genius!
on 19. February 2025, 19:30 by SenatorGronk
This one was brutal. Great job!
on 19. February 2025, 10:06 by mse326
I should not have started this at 2 in the morning. Work will suck. Worth it to finish though.
on 18. February 2025, 16:20 by jarsp
Very cool puzzle overall and quite a lot of fun!
on 17. February 2025, 15:55 by mihel111
Incredible puzzle. I gave it 5*. It is so easy to get lost in the teal lines.
Very satisfying at the end.
Very well done.
on 17. February 2025, 08:06 by Briks
Very interesting puzzle. I think the most colourful one I did. I think it is not solvable without visualisation with colours. Liked it very much!
