The Sudokutown Murders
(Published on 19. February 2022, 04:40 by Nordy)
This puzzle is the result of a killer collaboration with Loric.
If you have ever wondered why "Killer Cages" and "Little Killers" have the word "Killer" in them, you are not alone, and you may find some answers in this puzzle. Solve at your own risk ;)
Normal Rules:
Normal Sudoku: Place the digits 1 to 9 in every row, column, and 3x3 box.
Killer Cages: Digits within a cage cannot repeat, and must sum to the clue in the top left corner (if given). Killer Cages are referred to as "crime scenes" in the Special Rules.
Special Rules:
WATCH OUT! A serial killer is on the loose and is leaving crime scenes and dead digits all over Sudokutown. Luckily, Sudokutown's #1 Detective is on the case, and a few brave citizens have stepped forward to provide eye-witness accounts. But will the killer be caught in time?
Serial Killer: One of the digits is a serial killer. All instances of the serial killer digit appear on a single, 1-cell wide orthogonally connected path (Snake). The serial killer's path starts in the largest crime scene (44 Killer Cage, total of 8 cells), then moves to the next largest crime scene (7 cells), then the next largest crime scene (6 cells), and so on. Exactly two adjacent cells on the serial killer's path appear in each crime scene, with one cell containing the serial killer and the other cell containing a "dead" digit. Once a digit is "dead," that digit cannot appear in any future crime scenes. After the final digit is "dead," the serial killer escapes off the edge of the grid (caught in the sequel, perhaps?).
- Additional Details: The serial killer appears on both ends of the path. The serial killer's path may not touch itself orthogonally or diagonally. The serial killer and "dead" digit may appear within a crime scene in any order. The serial killer never re-enters a crime scene. Some instances of the serial killer digit will appear outside of crime scenes—those instances may appear anywhere along the path, as long as the serial killer travels through the crime scenes in descending order (in other words, the serial killer can "take a break" between crime scenes).
Detective: One of the digits is Sudokutown's #1 Detective. The detective digit is trying to catch the serial killer, but is always one step behind. The detective digit cannot appear in crime scenes, cannot appear on the serial killer's path, and cannot appear orthogonally adjacent to the serial killer digit. The detective digit appears in the cell with a star.
Witnesses (Little Killers): Some witnesses have spotted the serial killer's path. The Little Killer clues outside the grid show the sum of the digits on the corresponding diagonal that are on the serial killer's path (digits that are not on the serial killer's path are not counted toward the sum).
Example: Below is an example that you can solve online (CTC, F-Puzzles). We recommend solving or studying the example before diving into the main puzzle.
In the solution provided, the serial killer's path is shaded yellow, the serial killer is 1 and is flashed red, the "dead" digits are flashed green, and the detective is 6 and is shaded blue. The serial killer's path starts in the largest crime scene (15 Killer Cage) where 5 is the first "dead" digit. The serial killer then travels in order through the next largest crime scenes and kills the digits 4 and 3. After "taking a break" in Box 4, the serial killer murders the final digit (2) before escaping off the edge of the grid. Note that the Little Killer clues are the sum of the digits on the serial killer's path only.
Here is the main puzzle. Good luck!
Solution code: Serial killer digit, then detective digit, then “dead” digits in the order they are killed, and then row 5 (18 digits, no spaces)
Comments
on 31. December 2023, 08:30 by yukysh
One of the best puzzles I have done!
on 26. June 2023, 02:37 by damasosos92
I cannot believe how beautiful this puzzle is. It's relatively straightforward. I made for two times the same error, forcing me to restart the puzzle two times (I'm very disappointed with myself for that, because apart for that error the logical path was right every time). My error will be saved on the stream forever. Just a wrong sum, two times.
The puzzle was fantastic anyway, thank you!
on 11. April 2023, 18:05 by CutiePancake
This was brutal, took me over 10 hours and quite a few logical mistakes I had to backtrack from. But I persevered and I finally finished it. It was an absolute joy to solve this puzzle!
on 18. January 2023, 22:48 by szabog
Thank you for season 1 of the Sudokutown Murders, the best series of 2022. After one year I am waiting for the season 2 :) Oh, and thanks for the trailer, too, that helped.
on 3. December 2022, 03:29 by Selenotropism
Very good fun and theme!
on 26. November 2022, 09:02 by erml
Such a beautiful idea, thank you!
on 20. September 2022, 15:30 by AstralSky
Absolutely wonderful puzzles.Btw is the sequel out yet?
on 6. September 2022, 04:59 by flyjim
I didn't know who the killer was until the end. It was a great feeling.
on 11. August 2022, 00:00 by kjholt
I want more of these, absolutely fantastic theming and well worth the time it takes to parse the ruleset. I also found it very helpful to solve the example so thank you for including it. Will be waiting for the sequel!
on 23. March 2022, 15:23 by mathpesto
Such a brilliantly set puzzle, and so much fun to solve!
on 20. March 2022, 01:08 by sanabas
Fun puzzle, not as intimidating as it looks at first glance. Like the detective, just have to be careful to not make unwarranted assumptions.
on 18. March 2022, 04:56 by LazerWulf
2:48:xx - Got about 45 minutes in before I realized I had broken the puzzle from a very early assumption and had to start over. It seems easy enough to start, but it is deceptively tricky. For me, it played out like a true murder mystery, where finding the killer was one of the last deductions I made, and once it was unmasked, the rest of the puzzle broke like the denouement after the climax.
on 17. March 2022, 21:10 by Boble
Awesome puzzle, I felt like a detective solving it! Hoping for a sequel!
on 17. March 2022, 03:05 by Silverstep
Relatively easy (40 minutes), relaxing solve. The solution path has a nice vibe to it, like chasing down a killer for real. Don't be afraid to try this out if you have no problem with long rulesets; this is not too hard.
on 20. February 2022, 17:50 by Bankey
What a brutal puzzle, but so totally absorbing! One of the most complex ones I have done so far; definitely a 5-star difficulty in my view. Very very enjoyable. Thanks, @ Nordy:-) (waiting for the sequel !)
on 20. February 2022, 05:54 by LordPi
Fantastic concept and execution! This one was a lot of fun to do
on 19. February 2022, 11:18 by kroutu
Loved this puzzle, thanks !
