Nearest Neighbors: Introduction
(Published on 7. July 2025, 20:42 by jakestilesowen)
My thanks to Calvinball, ChinStrap, and Nico for their early testing and feedback to improve the puzzle and rules wording.
Rules:
Normal 6x6 sudoku rules apply.
Taxicab distance:
The taxicab distance between two cells is the minimum number of orthogonal steps required to move between them.
Nearest neighbor distance:
A cell's nearest neighbor distance is the minimum taxicab distance to a cell with the same digit as itself.
Shapes:
Cells with circles have digits equal to their nearest neighbor distance.
Cells with squares have digits lower than their nearest neighbor distance.
Not all shapes are necessarily given.
Click to play a 4x4 bonus/snack puzzle on SudokuPad if you'd like help easing into nearest neighbor distance
Please leave a comment if you enjoy :)
Solution code: Column 4
Comments
on 14. July 2025, 21:18 by Fortunate
Very fun puzzle for its size!
on 8. July 2025, 16:27 by ViKingPrime
Incredibly fun. Packs a lot of substance for a such a small grid.
> I'm so honored to get a comment from one of my favorite setters! Thank you! -Jake
on 7. July 2025, 21:34 by iamissam
really nice rule
on 7. July 2025, 20:47 by jakestilesowen
Added thanks/attributions
