A Clockwork Orange
(Published on 29. March 2025, 11:11 by .proxz14)
Lore: (Rules Below)
This is a bird's eye map of a prison complex, and it has two main parts (represented by cages). Digits imprisoned in the cells of Block A are regular convicts and must form Renban lines for administration reasons. Digits in the B Block are undergoing a behavioral experiment and they must form equal split lines. Guards, shown on the map by dots, roam between cells and have complete freedom, they can choose to be 1:2 ratio dots, consecutive dots or line splitters. However, they have limited shift hours so they can't take on multiple roles.
Rules:
Normal Sudoku rules apply: Place the digits 1-9 in every row, column and 3x3 box once each.
Ambiguous Kropki: Each dot on the grid can have only one of the three following functions;
- Ratio Kropki: Digits separated by a ratio dot are in a 1:2 ratio.
- Consecutive Dot: Digits separated by a consecutive dot are consecutive.
- Line Splitter: A dot that splits the line it lives on into segments.
Renban: On a pink renban line, every segment (created by line splitter dots) must contain consecutive digits in any order. Renban lines don't need to contain a splitter dot.
Equal Split Lines: Along an orange line, digits sum to the same value in each segment (created by line splitter dots). Equal split lines must contain 2 or more segments. Digits may repeat on an equal split line and even within segments.
Play on SudokuPad
Solution code: Row 5
Comments
on 26. April 2025, 12:44 by starelev5
Creative and elegant puzzle, I liked more than I expected
on 6. April 2025, 22:06 by Lorena
Did it take hours? Yes. Was it worth it? YES.
on 30. March 2025, 12:45 by teuthida
I have a question about the rules. If a dot touches the boundary of a region but the line does not cross it, does that dot count for both regions?
.proxz14's response: Yes, it does.
on 30. March 2025, 10:07 by harpix
Proud to be the one naming this puzzle! After 15 mins I see that it's to difficult for me right now, will give it another go when I have more spare time :)
.proxz14's response: Good luck, you got this! Proud to be making this puzzle :)
on 30. March 2025, 09:36 by zeniko
Thanks for setting this piece of art!
I found it quite difficult well into the mid-solve, yet never unfair. I‘d rate it somewhere between Lost Town (with its more familiar ruleset) and the beautiful yet almost impossibly hard Equinox (through which I‘ve only managed to push through using a bifurcation).
For a future movie, the visuals of this one already remind me somewhat of the opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark…
.proxz14's response: First of all thank you for the kind comment, I appreciate it. I'm quite happy with how this one came out. And about Equinox, I've realized that I made a mistake in the intended logical path for the break-in, which seems to be the cause of the bifurcation and took down the puzzle yesterday temporarily to develop a work around for that step, it will go back up once I've fixed that issue because in general I am not a huge fan of bifurcation. And the movie is now on my ever-growing list :)
on 29. March 2025, 14:54 by CitrusGremlin
Wow this is a very intimidating looking puzzle. I think I see where to start but this is going to take me hours I'm sure. Thank you for this gift!
For future movies, I bet you could get some interesting thematic puzzle mechanics out of The Thing, or Back to the Future.
.proxz14's response: Good luck with the solve! Back to the future could be a very interesting one to set actually, time travel sudoku does sound like it opens up a lot of possibilities.
