Zodiac Project: Suguru's Surge
(Published on 27. June 2024, 15:42 by gdc)
This is the 9th chapter of the Zodiac Project, initiated by ViKingPrime. The idea is that one builds a puzzle around a specified disjoint set before picking a new one and handing the baton over to the next puzzle setter. I am very happy to be a part of it. The previous parts of the series are:
Chapter 1: Orion's Belt by ViKingPrime
Chapter 2: Counting Castles by marty_sears
Chapter 3: Derezzed by heliopolix
Chapter 4: Rodd Stevens by 99%Sneaky
Chapter 5: Phase Shift by meggen033
Chapter 6: Cage Decoder by sujoyku
Chapter 7: Star Chart by Flinty
Chapter 8: Parity Expedition by palpot
Thank you again to palpot for asking me to set the next puzzle in the series. I am delighted to be able to nominate the next setter in the Zodiac Project series: SamuPiano. Here is the Extra Region that they will be working with:
Zodiac Project, Chapter 9: Suguru's Surge
A distress call reached the ship of the Zodiac crew. A woman claims the evil Suguru is about to take over her home island. Ukyo said in a calm but alarming voice: "I know her. She sells sea-cells in the Samu System. We have to help!". Commander Jus looked irritated: "I have a bad feeling about this. Let's ask some questions and connect the dots first".
- Sudoku: Normal sudoku rules apply
- Nurikabe: Shade some cells blue (representing water), such that all water cells are orthogonally connected, but water may not fully cover a 2x2 area. Shade the remaining cells green, which represent islands.
- Suguru: An island of size N must contain the digits 1-N without repeats.
- Squares: A digit in a square is on an island and contains the largest digit of that island.
- Diamonds: A digit in a diamond is on an island and shows how many island cells are seen in the row and column combined, including itself. Water cells block vision.
- Disjoint: The 9 digits in squares and diamonds must contain the digits 1-9 once each without repeats.
- Kropki (Variant): Digits separated by a white dot are consecutive and either both island or both water.
Solve Videos
You can find live solves on this puzzle on YouTube by Puzzle Pusher and Wenchang Lu
.Solution code: Column 6, top to bottom (9 digits) with dashes (-) between island/water borders. For example: 123-45-67-89.
Comments
on 19. July 2025, 14:05 by RoystonDA
This zodiac series will be the end of me. Good work!
on 27. March 2025, 04:30 by gdc
add links to solve videos (YouTube)
on 18. January 2025, 21:22 by skuntsel
An absolutely incredible puzzle from start to finish! Many revelations along the way, and a true pleasure to solve it to the end. Thank you, gdc, for this amazing setting!
on 25. September 2024, 03:31 by ajc
Wonderful wonderful wonderful, made my evening!
on 28. August 2024, 09:05 by AsgarArn
It was a fantastic solve.
Felt very rewarding, just needed to stick to it.
on 27. August 2024, 22:36 by AsgarArn
It was a fantastic solve.
Felt very rewarding, just needed to stick to it.
on 14. July 2024, 12:59 by Christounet
Super cool ! Always a pleasure to solve a nurikabe puzzle. Thanks :)
on 1. July 2024, 00:29 by ViKingPrime
Absolutely beautiful, from start to finish.
on 30. June 2024, 22:58 by sujoyku
Thank you for this terrific puzzle, gdc! It took all of me to get it done, but it was a challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed (and I definitely learned a big deal about island/shading logic). I am lacking the right words for praising this set-up at the moment. Simply fantastic. Thanks again for sharing this gem.
on 30. June 2024, 17:47 by QuiltyAsCharged
Terrific! Really stretched my brain in good ways. The islands are safe, for now...
on 29. June 2024, 21:03 by wenchang
Enjoyed! Great puzzle. Spoiler alert!
https://youtu.be/L6OjkqtY6Jk
reload the video.
---
gdc: hey wenchang! Thanks for taking the time to record this. The updated video link works now. Well done!
on 28. June 2024, 12:38 by Franjo
This episode 9 surely is my favorite one! Thank you so much for sharing this masterpiece.
on 28. June 2024, 02:30 by meggen033
Wow! That was amazing! Very good use of the disjoint. Thanks for keeping the Zodiac Project going! Well done!
on 28. June 2024, 02:15 by Calvinball
I got a very nice feeling from this one. I answered some questions and connected the dots!
on 27. June 2024, 17:43 by Flinty
Very nice!!
on 27. June 2024, 17:11 by palpot
Wonderful puzzle! very creative and clever use of the disjoint!
on 27. June 2024, 16:18 by SamuPiano
This was a delightful puzzle! There were a lot of fantastic "aha" moments throughout :)
