Elemental Avalanches (Cipher X-Sum Deconstruction)
(Published on 1. March 2025, 08:19 by Las4one)
Author's note: I originally wanted to avoid giving any actual numbers in the clues, but anyway I gave up on the idea. That said, I'm still really happy with how the final puzzle turned out. It does indeed require some familiarity with deconstruction.
Rules:
- Deconstruction: Contained within the grid are nine non-overlapping 3x3 square regions, which must be located. Each region contains the digits 1 to 9 once each, such that no digit repeats in any row or column. Cells outside these regions do not contain digits and are assigned a value of zero.
- X-Sum: Clues outside the grid indicate the sum of the first X cells in the direction of the clue, where X is the first non-zero digit encountered in that direction (it is guaranteed that such an X exists).
- Cipher: The clues are ciphered. Each distinct letter from 'HARDEST' represents a different digit from 0 to 9. The notation '[X]' refers to a clue whose ones unit is X. A question mark ('?') represents any digit from 0 to 9; however, for a double-digit number, the first digit cannot be 0. To clarify, a single '?' can represent 0.
For example, [6] can represent 6, 16, 26 and so on and the clues will be valid in 11|XX623XXX479|[1], as 11=6+2+3 and 9+4+7+3+2+6=31.
Enjoy!
Solution code: Row (H+1), then column (A+2), replacing letter with its value and ignoring blank cells.
Comments
on 17. April 2025, 20:22 by h5663454
回来就做5星题果然不是明智的决定……
on 11. April 2025, 07:32 by Las4one
Thank you all for your nice comments!
on 29. March 2025, 23:39 by cyddrdrd
Very very difficult but fruitful. I like the sophisticated logic of break in and all afterwards.
on 28. March 2025, 09:40 by Christounet
Great puzzle ! Very clever break-in, followed by lots of intricate but beautiful deductions. Enjoyed it a lot. Thanks :)
on 3. March 2025, 18:41 by Jesper
Very nice (and very challenging) Deconstruction!
on 2. March 2025, 03:47 by zakkai
What a puzzle! Loved the break-in especially :)
on 2. March 2025, 03:36 by Las4one
Changed the rules of X-sum (marked in bold text) due to translation error and added example. Sorry for this!
on 1. March 2025, 15:53 by Las4one
Yes that is exactly what [X] means.
on 1. March 2025, 15:16 by Briks
Thank you
on 1. March 2025, 15:14 by Playmaker6174
@Briks
I think it means that the last digit of that X-sum total is H, and that may include the case of that total being H itself.
So a [6] means the X-sum total can be like 6, 16, 26...
on 1. March 2025, 15:03 by Briks
Could you give an example for this, please?
"The notation '[X]' refers to a clue whose ones unit is X."
