The Long Way Home
(Eingestellt am 20. Oktober 2026, 06:34 Uhr von Kafkapharnaum)
Big thanks once again to chrisj50 for testing!
RULES
CHAOS CONSTRUCTION
— Divide the grid into nine regions, each made of nine orthogonally connected cells, such that each row, column and nine cell region contains the digits 1 to 9 exactly once each.
COORDINATE ARROWS
— Digits on an arrow spell out the coordinates for a digit that is their sum (the target cell): the row number is written on the tail of the arrow, and the column number is written on the arrow tip. Eg, an arrow reading -1-4-> would indicate a 5 in the target cell r1c4.
— In addition, a digit *n* on the tip of an arrow indicates that *n* cells away in that direction lies a cell (the 'companion cell') belonging to the same region as this arrow's target cell, which companion cell may or may not be the target cell itself.
— No two arrows can spell out the same coordinates, but two arrows can lead to the same companion cell, provided they don't contain the same coordinates.
— All arrows are to be considered individually with regards to the above rules, even when they share a cell with another arrow.
Lösungscode: From top to bottom, the digits in column 7, with a - (dash/hyphen) to indicate region borders (grid edges can be ignored).
Kommentare
am 23. Oktober 2026, 12:57 Uhr von wullemuus
Once the break-in was solved, it got easier step by step. The new Kafka ;)?
Very enjoyable!
P.S. The monster is conquered!
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lol, I don't know about that, it's just the way that this one presented itself -- it was quite the challenge to come up with and set! Generally you know I go for easier break-in's that put the tools in the solver's hands, and let them figure things out from there hehe -- anyhow, happy to hear you enjoyed!
And no way, you broke the ice on the monster! :O I haven't mustered the courage to attempt this one yet myself, BUT, I have worked on one more Still Life 'personal setting challenge', that I think is pretty hard. Certainly I'm quite proud of that one, at least, so if you are interested in breaking the ice on that one too (ie, test it), here it is!
https://sudokupad.app/lp33cgu13h
am 21. Oktober 2026, 03:47 Uhr von earthpuzzles
Beautiful as ever!
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A most pleasing thing to hear, many thanks for sharing -- glad you enjoyed! :D
am 20. Oktober 2026, 15:02 Uhr von marcmees
splendid brainwrecking puzzle. Will have to take an other look at "this mighty one". Thanks
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Hehe, it can be quite disconcerting, can't it? I almost wanted to write something to that effect in the presentation, but then I figured I leave the surprise to the solvers. And about that other puzzle linked above, it is most certainly worth the effort, even as I remember be CC part to be quite hard -- there is just too much clever ideas in it to pass. Glad to hear you liked the inspiration I got from it!
Th puzzle you referred to is solved. Indeed totally worth the time. Thanks
am 20. Oktober 2026, 13:54 Uhr von SennyK
Absolutely loved it, great setting, very glad to see more puzzles from you! :-)
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Ah, many thanks for such kind Words Senny, that is much appreciated! I'll be going on yet another hiatus soon, this time just because of travelling, but I'm hoping to have time for maybe one more before I leave. Anyhow, happy to hear you enjoyed this one here! :D
am 20. Oktober 2026, 07:40 Uhr von chrisj50
Remarkable how you’ve squeezed so much CC logic into what looks initially like a pretty sparse grid. The ruleset made sense and gradually understanding all the implications made it a pleasure to test - thanks for sharing :)
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And a great many thanks to you for testing the different versions! I was sure the puzzle was ready for publication way earlier, but the testing most definitely led to some significant improvements -- glad to hear you found the whole process enjoyable! :D
