Life, Uh, Finds a Way
(Published on 9. September 2025, 00:03 by juggler)
Chaos Deconstruction:
•Locate nine 9-cell orthogonally connected regions in the grid.
•Fill each region with the digits 1-9 so there are no repeats in any row, column, or region. Cells outside regions should be left empty.
Killer / Index Lines:
•Digits on lines do not repeat, and must sum to the attached clue, if given.
•If the Nth cell along a line (starting from the diamond) contains a digit, it indicates the position along the line where the digit N appears. e.g. a 4 in the diamond puts a 1 in the fourth cell along the line.
Gold Blooms:
•Gold blooms are always in a region.
•Region borders divide lines into segments, and a digit on a gold bloom indicates the number of cells on its segment.
Solution code: Row 1
Comments
yesterday, 21:15 by eladv
What a great puzzle! For me there was no real break-in needed -- just a constant stream of realizations and insights. Deconstructions and Chaos Constructions are often really tricky (not to mention both at once!), and this one is really nice because the index lines always give you a thread to pull on: if you scan enough, there's always some progress to be made. It's almost a 3* to me in terms of trickiness, but the sheer complexity and number of intricate deductions make this 4* after all. Nonetheless, I would recommend it to anyone who's done a few Chaos Constructions and Deconstructions and want to sink their teeth in a really juicy one.
P.S. I was gonna comment now on the great title, and only now realize the Goldbloom joke! Well played sir!
on 10. September 2025, 19:47 by Voidslime
Wonderful setting and beautiful break in! I was going mad over the lack of information until the aha moment. Best case of that I’ve had in months!
on 9. September 2025, 00:06 by mellowrobinson
Such a beautiful puzzle. I wish I had set it :) Thank you, juggler!
