Lily's 4x4 Miracle
(Published on 10. March 2025, 14:56 by slamwich)
My 5-year old daughter Lily has been watching me do variant sudoku puzzles and asked if she could try. I got her started on some kid-friendly 4x4 puzzles (which she has loved), and it made me think: how interesting/difficult could I make a 4x4 puzzle?
I've never constructed a puzzle before, but months ago I'd attempted this type of negative constraint ruleset on larger grids and couldn't get anything usable -- turns out I was just looking at the wrong size!
I hope you enjoy!
Puzzle
Directions
Sudoku: Standard 4x4 sudoku using 4 digits selected from 0-9. Which digits are used in the puzzle will need to be deduced.
Doublers: Each row, column, and box has a single doubler cell. The value of this cell is twice its digit. Each digit in the puzzle is doubled once.
Kropki dots: Cells separated by a black dot have values in a 1:2 ratio. Cells separated by a white dot have values which are consecutive. All possible dots are given.
XV: Cells separated by an X have values which sum to 10. Cells separated by a V have values which sum to 5. All possible Xs and Vs are given.
Odd Circle: Cells with a gray circle have an odd value.
Solution code: Row 4
Comments
on 5. April 2025, 14:39 by Tedrow
This one is tougher than you would think it should be, but it's never discouraging. I enjoyed it.
on 13. March 2025, 08:20 by Ol-Jay
Now the official comment ;)
Thank you very much for this puzzle! I hope you keep on setting :)
It was just the right amount of difficulty to keep the challenge interesting but to not discourage me. And a lesson that reading the rules carefully is essential. XD
Very nice!
on 12. March 2025, 13:41 by slamwich
@bumperchip, @Video Floral
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the positive comments.
on 12. March 2025, 02:49 by bumperchip
That was absolutely amazing for your first puzzle! Harder than I initially thought, took me a bit, but I really enjoyed it. Brilliant rules too.
on 11. March 2025, 12:12 by Video Floral
This took me a while. Congratulations to such a great first puzzle. :)
