Toil and Trouble
(Published on 30. May 2025, 22:45 by Scojo)
This is a first time collaboration between myself and ThePedallingPianist, who was the only person I could think of who would willingly agree to set a puzzle like this!
Rules:- Normal sudoku rules apply: Place the digits 1-9 once each in every row, column, and 3x3 box of the main 9x9 grid.
- Doublers: One cell in every row, column, and box of the main grid is a doubler. The value of a doubler is twice the digit it contains. Every doubler contains a different digit. The value of a non-doubler cell is the digit it contains.
- German Whisper: Adjacent values along a green line must have a difference of at least 5.
- Renban: Values along a pink line must form a set of non-repeating consecutive values in any order.
- Full Rank: A value in a cell around the perimeter of the grid represents the rank of the 9 or 10 digit number formed by reading the values in that row or column from that direction, where (1) is the lowest such row or column and (36) is the highest. There are no tied ranks in this puzzle.
- When a row or column contains a double digit value, both digits contribute to the rank, with the 10s digit always appearing first. For example, if a row was 12345(6 Doubler)789, it would be read as 1234512789 from the left and 9871254321 from the right.
Solve in SudokuPad
Solution code: The 9 or 10 digit number that is rank 32
Comments
on 20. June 2025, 21:35 by Fool on Hill
I took a recommendation from The Book Wyrm to do this amazing puzzle. It takes a bit of thought to get the implications of the rules, but is beautifully conceived and constructed. And not the hardest either (but definitely not easy).
on 13. June 2025, 01:04 by The Book Wyrm
Incredibly good puzzle. Extremely minimal, yet each clue used to it's maximum. Lots in interesting logic throughout, and it's very cool the way things work out.
And not too tricky either, which is nice.
on 3. June 2025, 13:44 by marcmees
extremely beautifully constructed with just enough, well placed clues for some nice logical deductions. Thanks
on 2. June 2025, 12:26 by peacherwu2
Thrilling! Best of year so far!
on 31. May 2025, 20:10 by Snookerfan
What a puzzle, what a journey, no praise is high enough for this work of art! Incredibly tight solve path, very hard and rewarding. Thank you
on 31. May 2025, 05:09 by MattYDdraig
Absolutely stunning and stubbornly resistant right to the end.
Incredible how much those few lines can contain.
on 30. May 2025, 22:51 by aqjhs
top tier
