Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

Châteaux de la Loire (with Nordy)

(Published on 16. July 2025, 16:37 by sujoyku)

Nordy approached me with the idea of an Equal Split Line that is as different from a Region Sum Line as possible, i.e. its segment borders may never lie on a region border. This was the starting point for our collab, an Equal Split Loop puzzle. I had a great time working on this. Thank you for the wonderful collaboration, Nordy!
We like to thank all testers and wish you joyful solving. Bonne chance!

Rules:

Normal Sudoku rules apply. Place the digits 1 to 9 in every row, column, and blue-outlined 3x3 box.

EQUAL SPLIT LOOP - Shade some cells to form a 1-cell-wide, orthogonally-connected loop that does not touch itself, not even diagonally. Split the loop into non-overlapping segments so that digits do not repeat within a segment and each segment has the same sum.

RIVER - Split points of the loop cannot occur on the blue river (loop segments must form a "bridge" when crossing the river).

CASTLES - A digit in a castle gives the number of loop segments in the same 3x3 box as that castle. A loop segment is counted if at least one of its cells appears within the 3x3 box. Castles may be on or off the loop.

FLAGS - Each flag touches one loop cell and one non-loop cell. Digits joined by a white flag must be consecutive, and digits joined by a black flag must be in a 2:1 ratio.

Here you can solve the puzzle online:

Solve on Sudokupad

Solution code: Digits on the loop in Row 6 and Row 8 from left to right


Solved by sehringdipity, Nordy, Calvinball, trashghost, ChinStrap, Exigus, TripleABattery, tuturitu, mathpesto, brimmy, Piff, benisjammin, Christounet, Franjo, SparklePuzzle, sorryimLate, MaizeGator, c373s, ... dandydaniel, Agent, smckinley, vitaminz, Glasgow, tuoni2, jammycakes, Taeqle, koba1917, chinesemaster, Tacocat, werkelmann, LehanLehan, widjo, mse326, yttrio, Tompzini, Cryccu, QuiltyAsCharged
Full list

Comments

Last changed today, 15:35

today, 15:06 by QuiltyAsCharged
A superb and stylish puzzle that's really fun to solve

**
Thank you for your comment, QuiltyAsCharged! It is great to hear that you enjoyed the puzzle.
Kind regards, sujoyku

Last changed on 18. July 2025, 13:06

on 18. July 2025, 09:03 by jammycakes
A nice one! Easy but fun. This one needs to be on Cracking the Cryptic!

**
Thank you for your comment, jammycakes! We are glad that you liked the puzzle.
Kind regards, sujoyku

Last changed on 17. July 2025, 21:19

on 17. July 2025, 21:14 by cozmic72
A pleasure to solve, albeit not a terribly difficult one. Well deserving of the 100% rating so far.

**
Thank you for your comment, cozmic72! It is great to hear that you had a fun solve.
Kind regards, sujoyku

Last changed on 17. July 2025, 15:23

on 17. July 2025, 15:14 by sorryimLate
Thanks for the fun and surprisingly approachable puzzle!

FYI I played on mobile and all the flags were black.

**
Thank you for your comment, sorryimLate! We are glad that you had a fun solve. Also thank you for pointing out the issue with solving on mobile.
Kind regards, sujoyku

Last changed on 17. July 2025, 15:21

on 17. July 2025, 15:12 by MaizeGator
Very cool twist on a familiar rule. The castles were a great idea for restricting (what seems like) a very loose constraint.

**
Thank you for your comment, MaizeGator! We are glad that you liked the puzzle. And you are right: At first, the Equal Split Loop is quite flexible. It is curious how quickly it gets restricted once a few things get narrowed down though.
Kind regards, sujoyku

Last changed on 17. July 2025, 13:27

on 17. July 2025, 12:55 by Franjo
Ein herrlicher Spaziergang auf einem neuartigen Rundweg! Und zum Schluss gibt es dann noch einen lustigen Lösungscode… Vielen herzlichen Dank für das schöne Puzzle.

**
Sehr gern geschehen, Franjo, vielen Dank für deinen Kommentar! Es freut uns, dass Dir der Rundgang Spaß gemacht hat.
Herzliche Grüße, sujoyku

Last changed on 17. July 2025, 13:30

on 17. July 2025, 12:43 by Christounet
Agréable promenade! Car tel est notre bon plaisir. Merci :)

**
Merci beaucoup pour ton commentaire, Christounet! Nous sommes ravis d'entendre que la promenade t'a plu.
Cordialement, sujoyku

Last changed on 17. July 2025, 11:39

on 17. July 2025, 04:25 by mathpesto
An ambitious premise and well executed! Thoroughly enjoyed the entire solve :)

**
Thank you for your comment, mathpesto! We are glad that you enjoyed the puzzle.
Kind regards, sujoyku

Last changed on 16. July 2025, 21:52

on 16. July 2025, 21:47 by Exigus
Found it a bit tricky but well worth it. Thanks!

**
You are much welcome, Exigus, thank you for commenting! We are glad that you enjoyed our puzzle.
Kind regards, sujoyku

Last changed on 16. July 2025, 20:19

on 16. July 2025, 19:59 by Calvinball
Really enjoyed this puzzle, which seems inevitable when these 2 hooligans team up together. Thank you both for the fun!

**
Thank you for your comment and testing the puzzle, Calvinball! It is great to hear that you enjoyed the puzzle. "Hooligan" is a word I get not described with too often. But I agree that Nordy and I are a "dangerous" team. :D
Kind regards, sujoyku

Last changed on 16. July 2025, 19:42

on 16. July 2025, 19:37 by ChinStrap
Lovely loop builder here really enjoyed this

**
Thank you for your comment and thanks again for testing, ChinStrap! We are glad that you enjoyed our loop puzzle.
Kind regards, sujoyku

Last changed on 16. July 2025, 18:44

on 16. July 2025, 18:31 by Nordy
Thank you for this wonderful collab, sujoyku! It pushed me to grow as a setter in many ways, and I just love how everything turned out

**
Thank you, Nordy! I also learned a lot and enjoyed discussing and experimenting with you.
Kind regards, sujoyku

Difficulty:3
Rating:99 %
Solved:51 times
Observed:2 times
ID:000O8K

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