Cupid's Arrows Never Miss
(Published on 21. August 2025, 22:04 by Riccardo)
Hi everybody, I'm Riccardo from Italy;
I discovered the world of sudoku puzzles through the YT channel Cracking The Cryptic and after a few dozen solves on this site I decided to finally give it a try and construct one by myself, so here it is:
Cupid's Arrows Never Miss 💘
Rules:
1. Normal 6x6 Sudoku rules apply: place the digits 1–6 in every row, column, and 2x3 box.
2. Six hidden "lonely souls" exist in the grid — one per row, column, and box (they have to be founded). Cupid, moved by pity, shoots 3 arrows 🏹. Each arrow hits exactly two souls, joining them as a couple 💘.
3. Each arrow begins with three "clues" in its shaft:
- The arrowhead (A) shows the value shared by both souls (they need to match).
- The second cell (B) and third cell (C) indicate the location of the two souls: one soul is at (Row = B, Column = C), the other at (Row = C, Column = B).
- Extended shaft (if longer than three cells): Any additional cells in the arrow shaft (including the tail) repeat the values of B and C in some order.
4. When two souls are hit by Cupid, they fall in love, symbolised by the heart ❤️. Each heart acts as a white Kropki dot: the connected digits must be consecutive.
Happy Solving :)
Solution code: Enter the first row from left to right (6 digits)
Comments
on 26. August 2025, 21:12 by dzamie
Man, once you understand the rules, it's not that hard, but the rules themselves alone threaten to push this to a 2* puzzle.
Clarification to future solvers: In rule 4, the placement of the kropki hearts has NOTHING to do with the placement of the souls. They are ONLY kropki dots, and are in no way affected by rules 2 and 3. The flavor about "two souls hit by Cupid" ONLY means that there are 3 hearts total in the grid, and nothing else.
- Reply_Riccardo:
Thank you for your comment. You're right, with trying to keep everything on theme I might have created some unnecessary confusion, I'll keep it in mind for the next one. About the hearts what you said is correct: they're just simple white kropki whose position is irrelevant to the other rules.
on 21. August 2025, 22:24 by Riccardo
Edited because the pictures on mobile were too small
