Bullseye!
(Eingestellt am 4. Februar 2025, 01:48 Uhr von Lorena)
Click here to play in Sven’s SudokuPad.
I do not recommend the use of the solution checker while solving this puzzle.
Oh, no! The Wicked Witch Lorena has cursed you with forgetting all numbers! Fortunately for you, the International Accord on Curses, Hexes and Jinxes of 1692 forbids unbreakable curses so, like it or not, she must ensure that there is a way to get out of it. It’s the law! But that doesn’t mean she has to make it easy. Cruel as she is, she has determined that the only way for you to fully break the curse will be to solve this sudoku. Luckily, as the fog lifts in your mind, the numbers will gradually start to come back to you.
Your job is to fill in the grid using digits, which cannot repeat in any row, column or marked 3x3 box. What digits, you ask? Only the ones you can see! Once a given digit appears in the grid for the first time, you may use it to fill in cells. If a digit hasn’t yet made an appearance, you are not allowed to use it (pencilmarks are okay). Placing a correct digit may or may not remove fog anywhere in the grid (as the fog clears, you should eventually discover 9 different digits and thus be able to fill the grid completely).
Cells separated by a white Kropki dot must contain consecutive digits. Cells separated by a black Kropki dot must contain digits in a 2:1 ratio (i.e. one of the digits must be double the other). Grey palindrome lines must read the same in both directions. Adjacent digits in a green German whispers line must differ by at least 5. Lines cannot cross or overlap but they may share extremes.
Breaking these rules or trying to guess digits at random to clear the fog might end up with you being turned into a frog, so consider yourself warned. (Note: Yes, you remember the concept of numbers, so you can understand the rules. You’re still not allowed to use them until you see them in the grid. Nice try, though.)
This puzzle is part of my April Fools series. (More here). It is also the first appearance of the Wicked Witch, but I doubt it will be her last! Puzzle setters, watch out, because this meddlesome crone will be more than happy to stick her warty nose into your ruleset!
The illustration of the witch is by the talented Sudoku Sleuth, who featured this puzzle in his YouTube channel. You should go check it out! Thank you very much for allowing me to use it here, Sleuth!
I would also like to thank Franny (testing), Jake (testing and tech support) and juggler (accidental testing), in addition to sujoyku and gdc for their invaluable advice and thought-provoking discussion ❤️
Lösungscode: Row 5 read left to right (9 digits without spaces)
Kommentare
am 17. Februar 2025, 07:25 Uhr von oskode
This puzzle is flawed in the best possible way, thank you for setting!
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Reply by Lorena: That’s a lovely way of putting it!
am 17. Februar 2025, 06:15 Uhr von Ratzfaz
What a cursed end ;-)
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Reply by Lorena: You have no idea!
am 14. Februar 2025, 22:22 Uhr von dzamie
Oh that's phenomenal. Nearly burst out laughing!
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Reply by Lorena: I’ll get you next time! Thanks for commenting.
am 11. Februar 2025, 13:25 Uhr von glum_hippo
This puzzle is fun in spite of but ALSO because of the Tractatus logico-philosophicus expounded in the hidden comments. Meddlesome crone…
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Reply by Lorena: I couldn’t agree more! Thanks for commenting.
am 10. Februar 2025, 19:55 Uhr von waffles_the_dog
Haha! nicely done!
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Reply by Lorena: Glad you enjoyed it! And thank you for recommending it, much appreciated.
am 10. Februar 2025, 14:11 Uhr von Casp_p
What a plot twist! :-D
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Reply by Lorena: Mwahahahaha! (Which translates to “thank you for commenting” in witch-ese).
am 9. Februar 2025, 21:32 Uhr von Davemack
Sweet puzzle. I LOL-ed at the end too!
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Reply by Lorena: Mission accomplished! Thanks for commenting :)
am 9. Februar 2025, 16:54 Uhr von rdesmarais2
Loved the pressure of missing digits. Felt rewarding as we could use them.
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Reply by Lorena: Yay! The Wicked Witch will return. Thank you for commenting.
am 8. Februar 2025, 13:25 Uhr von Lorena
Slight rule changes based on feedback by Lake and The Book Wyrm. The puzzle still doesn’t make total sense but it’s slowly improving, thank you! Keep ‘em coming!
am 7. Februar 2025, 21:41 Uhr von .proxz14
That ending made me cackle like a witch I was soo not ready for it. Maybe I'm also a wicked witch after all
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Reply by Lorena: Repeat after me: Mwahahaha! Thanks for sharing :)
am 7. Februar 2025, 19:09 Uhr von ad1643
Lovely construction! Last twist was truly unexpected :)
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Reply by Lorena: Yayyyy! I’m so glad you liked it.
am 6. Februar 2025, 19:42 Uhr von Montikulum
No worries about the deleted comment @Lorena. I‘ll gladly repeat it was an excellent puzzle!
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Reply by Lorena: You came back! THANK YOU!!
am 5. Februar 2025, 23:20 Uhr von Ungesundheit
This puzzle made me laugh out loud at the end. I do love it when puzzles surprise me. Thanks Lorena, I haven’t managed to solve all of your puzzles as I’m not an expert solver yet, but those which I have got through have been delightful :)
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Reply by Lorena: What a lovely comment, thank you very much for sharing!
am 5. Februar 2025, 10:49 Uhr von Lorena
Added illustration and YouTube link
am 5. Februar 2025, 10:31 Uhr von Lorena
I tried to update the puzzle link to reflect the rule change and not only did I break it in the process, but I also accidentally deleted the most recent comment by a solver. The puzzle is fixed now but I couldn’t get the comment back. I’m so sorry!
am 5. Februar 2025, 08:20 Uhr von Lorena
Small addition to the rules for clarity, thank you everyone who has contributed to the discussion in the comments, especially the hidden ones.
am 5. Februar 2025, 03:34 Uhr von kingrex
Made an account just to rate this. Simultaneously the most satisfying and frustrating puzzle I have solved. Well Done.
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Reply by Lorena: Welcome to the dark side, we’ve got cookies! Thank you very much for your comment, I think the combination of satisfaction and frustration hits the bullseye for an April Fools puzzle!
am 5. Februar 2025, 03:12 Uhr von cwk
It occurred to me about halfway through that I might be stumbling into a similar trick as another recent puzzle, but this one was still working so I just went with it. Keep ‘em coming!
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Reply by Lorena: Thank you for commenting! Fool me once…
am 5. Februar 2025, 03:05 Uhr von amchap
Lots of fun. Tricksy too. Thanks for sharing.
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Reply by Lorena: And thank YOU for commenting.
am 5. Februar 2025, 01:31 Uhr von sdlay2
This really did make me smile, lovely work!
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Reply by Lorena: Aww! See? THAT is why I make these puzzles!
am 5. Februar 2025, 00:58 Uhr von welgen
A very creative idea with just the right amount of April Fool's trickery. Great fun!
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Reply by Lorena: I’m glad you enjoyed it, thanks for commenting! It’s not easy to hit that balance, and I already know that the sequel to this puzzle is going to break the scales but hey, win some, lose some!
am 4. Februar 2025, 19:08 Uhr von GauravM
Brilliant! This needs to be seen by the whole world, if you ask me.
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Reply by Lorena: Remind me to ALWAYS ask GauravM!! All of you lovely people are going to save me so much therapy <3
am 4. Februar 2025, 16:51 Uhr von AlSina
I found my self so lucky!
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Reply by Lorena: you get it :)
am 4. Februar 2025, 16:32 Uhr von marty_sears
This was excellent and a lot of fun! Loved the creativity, imaginative twist, and the overall sense of mischief. As an April Fools puzzle (even if in February!) it really hits the spot. Whilst Sanabas' point is technically correct, this puzzle shows an excellent interplay with the psychology and assumptions of 99% of the people who will get fooled by the trickery and make it to the end as intended. I'm pretty sure Lorena wouldn't enter this into any serious sudoku-setting competition, but as a piece of fun and joy, this succeeded tremendously
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Reply by Lorena: Trickery? What trickery?? I confess to nothing! (Quickly retracts the sudoku from all the competitions). Also: there are sudoku competitions?! I mean… of course there must be, it just hadn’t ever crossed my mind! I have so much to learn :) It’s a privilege to get to do it in such amazing company. Thanks, Marty, for your lovely comment.
am 4. Februar 2025, 14:23 Uhr von Eleder
Astounding puzzle!! I've enjoyed it immensely, thanks a lot!!!
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Reply by Lorena: And I enjoyed your comment immensely!
am 4. Februar 2025, 14:19 Uhr von OGRussHood
I love puzzles with a sick and twisted sense of humor, and this one is in the upper echelon of utter madness. The ending was hilarious. Yes, please make more of these mad puzzles!
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Reply by Lorena: I will if I keep getting such encouraging comments, thank you!!
am 4. Februar 2025, 14:02 Uhr von GeorgeTheToad2
I liked this a lot. Thank you.
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Reply by Lorena: Even toads like my puzzles, yay! That’s going on my CV.
am 4. Februar 2025, 13:01 Uhr von Martina
Great fun!
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Reply by Lorena: Thank you for the solve, and for commenting!
am 4. Februar 2025, 12:14 Uhr von ghaia
I was silenty begging you the last 15 mins of the puzzle to finally reveal those last hidden numbers, and the way I SCREAMED when you did omg i can't believe you've done this to us-
I really should have expected it, shouldn't I.
Such a nice puzzle! love the geometry, the flow of the fog and the sillyness, love it :)
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Reply by Lorena: Ah, that was you screaming? I couldn’t hear it over the sound of all the other people that I’m torturing. Thank you for the lovely comment!
am 4. Februar 2025, 09:23 Uhr von Snaques
What a plot twist! I found the rule with the numbers a bit cumbersome to keep track of, but it really paid off in the end.
As long as you keep track of the rules, this is very much doable and very nice puzzle.
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Reply by Lorena: Lovely of you to comment, thank you! Wait till you see the next one mwahahaha.
am 4. Februar 2025, 06:33 Uhr von Lorena
Still mulling over Nylimb’s (hidden) comment. For now, and until I can think of a proper replacement, I’ve just removed the offending sentence altogether.
am 4. Februar 2025, 05:33 Uhr von theParad0x
So good, I wanted to enter an unseen digit in so many times but I'm really glad I didn't. Haha
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Reply by Lorena: Shhhh don’t tell anyone but even I forgot that rule a couple of times while test solving, and had to delete digits when I remembered.
am 4. Februar 2025, 05:07 Uhr von Joely
Funky ending. Enjoyed this one :)
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Reply by Lorena: Well, I enjoyed your comment, so there!
am 4. Februar 2025, 04:45 Uhr von crhodgkin
What a fun puzzle and a very enjoyable (and funny) ending. :)
Thank you!
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Reply by Lorena: Thank YOU for your lovely comment!
am 4. Februar 2025, 04:42 Uhr von Paquet Voleur
Very much so Lorena, very much so! Amusing and treacherous!
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Reply by Lorena: Thank you! I wanted to reply with an expression from my native tongue that doesn’t have a straightforward translation into English, so I looked it up and I found a bunch of alternative sayings. My favorite, by far, was: “Some days you’re the statue and some days you’re the pigeon”. Much better than what I originally had in mind!
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Reply by Paquet Voleur: I appreciate idiomatic expressions, especially when coming from a different language. They give us hints at a different take on the world. But whatever you had in mind originally, the pigeon and statue one is awesome! But I actually came back to let you know this is the very first foggy puzzle I care rating for how I appreciated it (that is, a lot): they are not my favorite, and I don't want to lower their ratings based on a personal distaste for the kind of puzzle. A poor book review from someone who doesn't like to read impacts more than it helps.
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Reply by Lorena: That is actually very thoughtful and kind of you, other people should take heed. This is my first fog puzzle and I did it basically to learn how to use the mechanic, so I could make a different Wicked Witch puzzle. Which is bad news for you, because it means that more fog is coming. But, on the other hand, I found it really challenging to make and was sick of it by the end, so I’ll likely make a non-fog puzzle first, for a rest.
am 4. Februar 2025, 04:36 Uhr von NotSoMagnifique
I am both cursing and blessing the name of the Wicked Witch for this one, what a beauty!
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Reply from Lorena: You’re a beauty!
am 4. Februar 2025, 04:15 Uhr von alzika
Nice ending. I'm glad it was still solvable without having to start over.
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Reply by Lorena: I said “Wicked”, not “Vicious”! Maybe for the series finale… although, if I do that, I might as well start running the moment I click the “Activate” button…
am 4. Februar 2025, 04:00 Uhr von avishai
Delightful! Eagerly awaiting the next entries in this series!
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Reply by Lorena: Ach, me too, if only I didn’t have to buckle down and actually make the thing!
am 4. Februar 2025, 03:53 Uhr von sahi1l
Very funny ending! :) Well done.
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Reply by Lorena: Well done yourself! Thank you :)
am 4. Februar 2025, 03:25 Uhr von hardline35
Wow, mind blown at the end. Very very nice! Thank you!
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Reply by Lorena: Wicked Witch Productions (TM), blowing minds with sudoku since… well… 2025, actually. Gosh, I really gotta stop answering comments and go to sleep, I think I’m starting to lose the few marbles I had left.
