Peristaltikmaschine (Chaos Construction)
(Published on 21. March 2025, 12:32 by glum_hippo)
Peristalsis Machine
Divide the grid into nine regions, each consisting of nine orthogonally connected cells. Enter a digit into each cell such that each row, column and region contains the digits 1 to 9 once each.
Each region consists of a single 2x2 "hub" with one or more 1-to-5-cell appendages emerging from it. Outside the 9 hubs, no other 2x2 area of the grid may be entirely occupied by a single region. It's all just interlocking appendages.
A clue cell gives the position of the leftmost cell in the topmost row of a region, and contains 2 numbers. One number gives the sum of the digits in that region's 2x2 hub, and the other number gives the highest sum of any of that region's appendages. These numbers are given in an unspecified order. A '?' can stand for any positive integer.
Extra rule for the example puzzle: Two digits separated by a white dot are consecutive.
| Example | Solution |
The main puzzle:
Play in SudokuPad.
Solution code: Row 7, with hyphens (-) to separate region borders. (9 digits)
Comments
on 26. April 2025, 16:23 by feverlute
Very enjoyable. I was a bit paranoid I’d made a mistake creating the regions and that it would break at the very end. But the irregular-region solve was working too elegantly to be an accident.
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I am very familiar with that kind of feeling! Thanks for solving and for your comment
on 8. April 2025, 11:13 by madhupt
Very nice puzzle, but very hard for me. The irregular Sudoku was also pretty difficult. If featured on CtC, it would be a long, long solve. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the feedback, madhupt. I am very doubtful that this will end up on CtC. If anyone has even submitted it, it’s unlikely the puzzle calls for the kinds of deductions that are appreciated there. Also, I didn’t put in any fog so that’s an immediate demerit…
on 8. April 2025, 01:01 by BloodbuzzCorio
Great puzzle glum_hippo! I found the irregular sudoku component particularly tricky (though it's certainly never been my strong suit) but it felt like a fair challenge to finish such a high quality idea and execution of the hub and appendage logic!
on 28. March 2025, 23:59 by Oripy
Can appendages branch?
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It is not explicitly prohibited, so no one will criticize you if they do.
on 27. March 2025, 21:43 by Zanno
Wow, that was equaly challenging an beautiful! Thank you for the Puzzle!
on 25. March 2025, 09:24 by jinkela114514
Old example link: (corrected)
https://sudokupad.app/3ka23aj0ws
The old example was not intended to be solved, and the new one is. Let me know if you have any luck though! Thanks for providing this link. —glum_hippo
on 24. March 2025, 21:28 by glum_hippo
new example.
on 24. March 2025, 20:24 by cam
Tough puzzle! Very enjoyable and interesting interactions. It stayed fun and difficult throughout. Thanks! :)
on 23. March 2025, 16:05 by glum_hippo
I’m glad you enjoyed the puzzle, peacherwu, Piatato, and askaksaksask!
on 23. March 2025, 13:27 by peacherwu2
Beautiful regions and fascinating irregular!
on 23. March 2025, 12:35 by Piatato
Very nice, thanks!
on 22. March 2025, 16:55 by askaksaksask
Easily a highlight of the year so far. This is tricky, fun, rewarding... my favorite here has to be the logic of the puzzle. A fairly new approach to chaos construction with the 'hub' criterion gives way to my mortal enemy (irregular sudoku) later on in a wonderfully nontrivial way. Thank you!
on 22. March 2025, 02:11 by glum_hippo
Thank you SirWoezel, Jesper, marcmees, and PixelPlucker for your kind comments!
on 21. March 2025, 22:09 by PixelPlucker
Gripping ruleset!
on 21. March 2025, 17:04 by marcmees
Very Nice. Thanks
on 21. March 2025, 14:48 by Jesper
Lovely CC, thanks!
on 21. March 2025, 14:12 by SirWoezel
Extremely satisfying!
