Monsieur Patate
(Published on 29. June 2025, 23:00 by ViKingPrime)
PUZZLE:
RULES:
Normal SUDOKU rules apply.
Digits are ANTIKNIGHT wherein cells a chess knight's move apart must not contain the same digit.
Digits within a KILLER cage must sum to the number in the top-left corner; digits must not repeat in a killer cage.
White KROPKI dots separate consecutive digits; black kropki dots separate digits where one is double the other [1:2].
The grid is partially covered in FOG; placing correct digits will clear the fog from the surrounding area (no guessing is required).
INTRODUCTION:
Created for one of Scojo's delight sudoku prompts. This puzzle could be 1-star or 5-stars for difficulty, depending on your familiarity with sudoku theorems (so please do forgive me if the challenge level doesn't necessarily align with your expectations).
Have fun!
Solution code: The digits along Row 7, left to right.
Comments
yesterday, 18:14 by jennyaa
The puzzle has 1 interesting deduction, but falls apart afterwards. IMHO it would have been better as a just-one-cell.
on 28. July 2025, 12:33 by MattJones
I’ve never been able to use The Rule in the wild before. Brilliant! So proud to have worked out to tackle this - and grateful to the setter for making it manageable. Brilliant puzzle.
on 14. July 2025, 07:50 by jakestilesowen
I had to set this one down and come back to it to figure it out, but it was definitely worth coming back to. Thanks for it!
on 3. July 2025, 08:47 by JVA
Absolutely demential people are rating this 1*
on 2. July 2025, 16:37 by damo_89
Such a rogue 1* !
on 1. July 2025, 07:29 by PatJoyce
1*? Are you mad? This puzzle is BRUTAL.
on 1. July 2025, 03:36 by chinesemaster
Solved under 10 minutes- only possible because of Simon!
on 1. July 2025, 00:30 by marty_sears
This was excellent fun and a really nice difficulty level for me. Good job I knew about Monsieur Patate though! Great response to Flinty's prompt
on 30. June 2025, 13:07 by Karitsu
Pretty glad I watched a CTC video last week that mentioned this particular peculiarity about a certain constraint and a certain Sudoku theorem or I may not have solved this one.
on 30. June 2025, 10:32 by Martina
Nice, though I feel that knowledge of that rule makes it 2*.
on 30. June 2025, 08:10 by Margrietina
This was first time in my still-very-newbie-to-Sudoku life to actually use The Secret Rule in practice, and it makes me feel very happy and proud to have been able to do so.
Thank you!!!
on 30. June 2025, 04:54 by vitaminz
Top ten sudoku moment for sure
on 30. June 2025, 03:45 by RussKozerski
Definitely needed the special rule early on to figure out that one special digit. But after that, the special rule wasn't needed. So, yeah, easy if you know the rule. Damn near impossible if you don't.
on 30. June 2025, 02:33 by saxdaddyj
Took me a bit to remember the special rule but it all came together after that. Haven't seen a lot of people use that particular secret. Great Puzzle!
on 30. June 2025, 00:30 by JoeyJoeJoe
took me 00:37:04; Would rate this Hard, save one obscure rule.
