Chaotic Target Practice
(Published on 11. November 2024, 20:04 by KenGlue)
Inspired by this beautiful puzzle by Jesper
We're very proud of this one. Hope you enjoy it!
RULES
CHAOS CONSTRUCTION
– Divide the grid into 9 regions, each made of 9 orthogonally connected cells. The regions and the grid as a whole must follow the Doppelganger rules as described below.
– Let the digit in the top left cell of a region (ie, its leftmost cell in its highest row) be called the 'Region Number' of that region. All region numbers must be different, and together they must form a set of the digits 1 to 9.
DOPPELGANGER
– Every row, column, and region must contain the digit 0 always, as well as eight out of the nine digits from 1 to 9 (ie, it will be missing one digit that is not 0).
– No two rows, no two columns, and no two regions may be missing the same digit.
– For each 0 in the grid, the digits missing in its row, its column, and its region must be three different digits.
POINTER ARROWS
– Each small arrow in the grid point to the specific region that does not contain the region number of the region where this arrow appears.
– The digit in an arrow cell indicates the distance where a cell of that 'target' region is located (with adjacent cells being 1 away); a pointer arrow digit may or may not also be the region number of its region.
SWEEPERS
– A digit in a sweeper square indicates the number of cells in the up to 9 cells surrounding it that belong to the same region that this square is in.
Play the puzzle on Sudokupad
All arrow and sweeper clues are fulfilled, and each region is missing
the correct digit as indicated by the arrow pointing to that region.
You can play the example puzzle Darts on Sudokupad here
The main puzzle:
Solution code: Row 3 of the main grid, with - to show region borders. Do not put the symbol on grid edges.
Comments
on 24. March 2025, 18:06 by NyarLancelot
I hate 0
on 17. November 2024, 12:57 by Snookerfan
Excellent! Thank you
on 16. November 2024, 04:00 by jubengo
My first time solving a really hard puzzle, it took me a very long time, but it was worth it ! Amazing puzzle
on 14. November 2024, 19:19 by KenGlue
Added inspiration credit
on 14. November 2024, 18:31 by GoodMorningCallum
Fantastic puzzle! Really difficult, especially to break in, but there's so much enjoyment to be had from the logic.
on 12. November 2024, 18:46 by marcmees
Challenging. thanks
on 12. November 2024, 17:15 by MattYDdraig
Simply awesome.
on 12. November 2024, 15:46 by DaleVandermeer
I think using “-” for borders is better than “|”.
on 12. November 2024, 15:40 by raaaaa
I think the difficulty of this Sudoku should be five stars.It is not convenient to input the solution code. It is suggested to replace the separator with "-".
...
Thanks! Changed the separator :)
on 12. November 2024, 00:36 by Kafkapharnaum
A major, milestone addition to the catalog, and surely the best possible bridge between the ruleset and the beloved “classic” Chaos Construction, what with the use of LK-style arrows. Super fun and impressively set region building. It’s been a privileged pleasure to be privy to some of the setting process, as well as to test the final version. And what a great example puzzle too, massive congratulations all the way for these beautiful creations!
