Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

This puzzle was set as a Secret Santa present for the lovely AnalyticalNinja. I was a little intimidated to receive them as a recipient, and when they mentioned enjoying the pencil puzzle Aquarium I thought I'd have a go at setting a hybrid with sudoku. This wound up being quite a monster to set, and whilst I am happy with the result I mostly learned that Aquarium is a fun genre on its own but not that flexible for creating sudoku hybrids with which is probably why there aren't that many! Regardless, AnalyticalNinja has kindly let me share this gift, and so please have fun. Good luck!

• Normal sudoku rules apply: Place the digits 1 to 9 once each in every row, column, and 3x3 box
• Cages: Each cage represents an aquarium for aquarium rules. In addition, digits may not repeat in a cage
• Aquarium: Shade some cells as water. If a cell is water then all cells in the same cage at the same or lower row must also be water. Clues outside the grid indicate the number of water cells in that row or column
• Numbered Air Pockets: Clues outside the grid give the digit to be placed in the Nth position in that row or column, where N is the digit in the first position (standard numbered rooms). In addition, the digit indicated by a numbered room clue can only appear in a non-water cell
• ? means that the clue must be valid for both numbered room and aquarium rules. (Different ? clues can represent different numbers)

Play on Sudokupad (you can write in the cells containing ? to indicate what these values can be) / Play on Sudokupad (cosmetic lite version)

Download full solution guide (PDF)