HIT & MIX
(Eingestellt am 20. November 2025, 00:22 Uhr von marty_sears)
Rules:
In each grid, fill each 3x3 box with the digits 1-9, so that no digit repeats in any row, column or box.
HITLINES:
In every puzzle in this pack, each line is a hitline. Digits may not repeat along a hitline. The number in a blue circle pointing at a hitline indicates the total of all the digits along that line that match their position number along the line (starting at the square, which is position 1.) Eg: a line reading 92485 would have a 7 pointing at it, because the only 'hits' are the 2 in the 2nd position and the 5 in the 5th position, and these sum to 7.
DUALITY:
In each puzzle, the lines will have another rule too. Each new rule will be explained when you get to it.
KROPKI:
If two digits are joined by a white dot they are consecutive. If two digits are joined by a black dot, one is double the other.
Lösungscode: Row 6 of part 9, from left to right
Kommentare
am 24. November 2025, 23:08 Uhr von extremelypuzzled
Another banger, as the kids say!
am 23. November 2025, 08:33 Uhr von Klausku
This is a fantastic puzzle pack. It took me sometime, especially #3 due to multiple errors I made. First I wasn‘t fond of this hit counting constraint. But after finishing these 9 beautifully contstructed puzzles, I changed my mind. It goes so well with the other line constraints, especially when used by a master setter like Marty. Thanks!
am 22. November 2025, 18:57 Uhr von mscha
Whew, that took me a few days!
These may seem like "bite-size" puzzles, but most of them are quite tricky. Those 4 box "partial sudokus" are in some ways trickier than full sudokus.
It was a lot of fun to figure out the interaction of hitlines with the various line types; each one behaves very differently.
Oh, and a very belated happy birthday to Ratfinkz!
PS: What do the white dots in part 2 stand for? ;-)
Marty: Thanks mscha, glad you liked :) Not sure what you mean about the white dots in part 2?
mscha: The instructions for part 2 only describe black dots, but there are also white dots present. (Not that anyone will _really_ wonder what the white dots mean, but still...)
am 22. November 2025, 17:26 Uhr von bboom
That was a fun tour, like a crash course into understanding hitlines. And the 6x6 with four regions is a surprisingly fun format as well.
am 22. November 2025, 16:57 Uhr von Ratfinkz
I'm so glad you are my friend! Thank you for this wonderful pack of puzzles thoroughly enjoyed every single one of them, despite 8 making me want to tear my hair out! Haha. Appreciate them, and you so very much. <3
am 22. November 2025, 01:36 Uhr von jakestilesowen
Lots of quality logic all the way through. A joy to experience!
am 21. November 2025, 23:46 Uhr von rkond
Great series, love how the common logic of hitlines is affected by other line rules.
am 21. November 2025, 19:01 Uhr von npinguy
I'm curious if other people approach hitlines the same way that I do:
* I make a corner mark for each digit on the line. Then I see what options are possible for the blue circle based on possible sums of the digits. Then as that starts filling out and limiting options (and often the line duality provides additional limitations) the corner marks start going red so I can eliminate them, and recalculate options.
I do a similar thing with index lines with the additional knowledge that with Index lines the misses come in singular "swaps" which means you can only get an even # of digits wrong (0 is even) on any index line.
It's very systematic but I find these processes extraordinarily relaxing.
am 21. November 2025, 15:09 Uhr von Atticus837
What a fun collection! I'm always impressed by your ability to take an idea and try every possible spin on it - See the rat run and pickup sticks series for example. The idea to do this as mean minis felt like a perfect fit. You got to make 6x6 sized puzzles without sacrificing the potential length of the hitlines, and were able to rely more on the grid furniture rather than sudoku geometry to resolve things than true 6x6 puzzles would have allowed. Beautifully done!
Marty: aw thankyou very much mate, I appreciate the kind words! These are actually called Quattroquadris... where you have only 4 boxes each containing the digits 1-9. Perfect for where you want to do a small puzzle but also want to be able to have high digits. I used them in my puzzle pack Jewels and Duality too.
A mean mini is where you have a normal 6x6 sudoku with 6 boxes, but you have to work out which six of the digits 1-9 (or even 0-9) to use!
Atticus: Ah, yes of course! I got the two mixed up. I do the same with deconstruction and chaos construction... Have to remind myself that in a chaos construction the shapes are chaotic, and a deconstruction has the regular grid boxes deconstructed. I guess the giveaway is quattroquadri being "four quadrants", and the mean mini is mean because it has ambiguity in the set of digits used. Either way, I stand by how good these were!
am 20. November 2025, 20:32 Uhr von Franjo
Quite challenging series - and a great pleasure to solve. Thank you very much for creating and sharing these beautiful puzzles, and: Happy birthday, Ratfinkz! (While all of us are longing for the comeback of rat Finkz …)
am 20. November 2025, 19:41 Uhr von Asparagus
A very enjoyable series of puzzles - each ruleset presented a new challenge!
am 20. November 2025, 11:07 Uhr von Angara
Thank you, Marty and Happy birthday to Ratfinkz!
am 20. November 2025, 07:35 Uhr von maniacaljackal
Great series of puzzles!
