Bye for 2025
(Published on 30. December 2025, 14:39 by 72kchunshuai)
This one is actually my first hand-drafted Sudoku puzzle, and I made it at the beginning of this year. I completely borrowed the ruleset of The Secret Squared (created by BenTen), which led me into the Sudoku world.
Despite its drawbacks, I've decided to share it now, as this may be the last chance. I hope you enjoy the puzzle, and more importantly, that you enjoy every day that lies ahead.
- Normal sudoku rules: Place the digits 1-9 once each in every row, column, and 3x3 box.
- Anti-Knight: Cells that are a knight's move apart in chess cannot contain the same digit.
- Multipliers: Each 3x3 box contains a circled digit, which is equal to the multiplier of that box. The multiplier applies to all cells of the box it lies within.
- The value of each cell is equal to the digit placed in the cell multiplied by the multiplier of its box.
- Cage: The given cage total shows the sum of the values of all cells within the cage.
- Region Sum Lines: Box borders divide the blue lines into segments whose values have the same sum. Different lines may have different sums.The segment between box 5 and box 8 is purely cosmetic.
Solution code: Row 7, from left to right, nine digits.
Comments
on 6. January 2026, 11:25 by VitP
sure, call it level 1, EXCEPT it's "maths"-heavy. not that "maths" is actually a word. the correct term is "arithmetic", you learn it by age 10, and it SHOULD be in your firmware thereafter. "mathematics" is something you do at university.
ok, so the first 3 digits are easy enough, then you hit a brick wall, and you need some serious study.
did you forget a rule? of course you did.
but wait ...
did the setter omit some rules ? include redundant ones ? misstate some rules ?
why is there a counting circle in box 8 without a product ?
so many SECRETS.
quick, what's 45^2 ? no calculators allowed. no nothing allowed. well, can you do 90^2 in your head ?
to solve this puzzle, you WILL need to write down the multiplication grid for 3-9. you can eliminate many of the entries by basic "maths" logic, but about 10 remain. so now what, casing and massive bifurcation ?
no ... study the OTHER line. and ... SUDOKU.
endeth the hint.
on 30. December 2025, 20:45 by dzamie
What a cool puzzle! And a nice little bit of trivia about factoring 2025 at the end.
I really enjoyed that it's relatively quick to fill out r1c1, r3c3, and r3c4, which gives a bit of false hope that the rest of the puzzle will be pretty straightforward. Taking notes is very useful, though.
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Thanks for playing —— and a special thank you for solving many of my puzzles!
