Six Hit Wonder
(Published on 12. November 2025, 23:41 by marty_sears)
Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply.
FOG: Entering correct digits may clear fog somewhere in the grid. No guessing is necessary.
HIT CIRCLES: All circles are outside the grid, and each must be filled with a digit. This digit indicates how many digits in its row or column match their distance from the circle. Eg: if a row with a circle at its left-hand end reads 123459786, then all of the digits except 6 and 9 match their distance from the circle, so the circle would contain a 7.
COUNTING CIRCLES: A digit in a circle also indicates how many times that digit appears in a circle.
GERMAN WHISPER LINES: Adjacent digits on a green line have a difference of at least 5.
ENTROPIC LINES: Any 3 adjacent digits along a hollow peach line must contain one digit from {1, 2, 3}, one digit from {4, 5, 6} and one digit from {7, 8, 9}.
EQUAL SPLIT LINES: Small white dots divide stripy blue lines into at least 2 segments, with the digits on each segment having the same total.
KROPKI DOTS: If a black dot sits between two digits, then one is double the other.
Puzzle 1: Hitlines
Puzzle 2: Hit Count
Puzzle 3: Dutch Flat Mates: Hitlines
Puzzle 4: Pick-up Sticks: Beige
Puzzle 5: Rank Up: Hitlines
Puzzle 6: Six Hit Wonder
Puzzle 7: HIT + MIX
Puzzle 8: Build Your Own Hitlines
Solution code: Row 9 from left to right
Comments
on 29. November 2025, 12:20 by sunevora
Stunningly beautiful puzzle; probably one of the best I have ever solved.
on 28. November 2025, 09:32 by antiknight
Beautiful start, and there were some excellent steps throughout the solve.
on 27. November 2025, 23:41 by Flinty
Easy dubz! Constraints I'm actually good at - lol :)
on 22. November 2025, 14:59 by BG03
5 stars on both. 1 hr to break in which was brutal and required a lot of conclusions to be drawn. Then another 1.5 hrs to go through the rest. I too used the simpler logic posted in one of the hidden comments to figures out the circles! Also, I did not required any clues in the last box - just sudoku got me there. Not sure if I jumped a conclusion or solved it by mistake!
Marty: thanks for playing and commenting :) yes the last line is needed, otherwise the puzzle does not have a unique solution
on 18. November 2025, 13:01 by davidz32z
I thought the colors were some Martyesque decoration, but in the end I was oh so very very grateful for them. Really tough one, but incredibly satisfying! Needed a little help on discord to break in.
on 17. November 2025, 21:54 by quantumZookeeper
This might be my favorite puzzle of all time! Really incredible work, Marty and ChinStrap. The break-in was brutal, and then my coloring and pencil marking strategy was pure madness, but I enjoyed every minute. I'd give it a 4.5/5 for difficulty, plus or minus 0.5 depending on how familiar you are with hit logic.
on 17. November 2025, 21:45 by Klausku
Wow! 7 out of 5 stars of difficulty for me. After countless hours I found a logical path. If that is the intended one, I don‘t know. I was stuck in mid-solve. But every now and then I found a deduction, which kept me going. Finally some fog cleared and revealed helpful things that carried me to the end. There is some very beautiful logic in this puzzle. Thanks Marty!
Marty: thanks very much for the lovely comment, really happy you enjoyed it. And don't forget ChinStrap - he made a lot of this too, as well as coming up with the initial concept
on 15. November 2025, 20:41 by mscha
Whew! Finished in only 648:42 (according to SudukuPad) over three days! Every “breakthough” I thought I had only got me a little bit ahead before I got stuck again.
I'd give this 7 out of 5 for difficulty, if I could.
Very nice, though!
on 14. November 2025, 17:17 by reformist
Gorgeous puzzle, beautiful solve path. The break-in seemed impossible for the 30 minutes I kept staring at it, then that very first bit of logic hit me.
on 14. November 2025, 10:09 by Snookerfan
Great puzzle! I enjoyed that a lot, thank you
on 14. November 2025, 02:07 by Atticus837
Incredible work, both of you! Took me just over an hour. I figured out the initial idea, then got very stuck after that... but pushed through and found the puzzle unravelled quite beautifully. The ending in particular was quite clever!
Excellent use of the border colours. They were helpful indeed.
on 13. November 2025, 22:51 by npinguy
WOW, that was probably the hardest puzzle I've done so far without needing help, but such beautiful insights along the way! The comment from @bboom was a big help. I didn't think colouring would be helpful in this puzzle but it was a great way to visually see how values interplayed across each other and the puzzle.
on 13. November 2025, 22:21 by War
Incredible! Gotta use the side colors (or at least as a hint, I found it very helpful)
on 13. November 2025, 20:29 by ketchup_monster
Super fun break-in. Took me a while to make some progress, but very satisfying when I did.
on 13. November 2025, 19:49 by vitaminz
I found this to be a pretty big challenge but well worth it. I felt my brain growing as I solved it!
on 13. November 2025, 15:44 by bboom
Another fun concept, I appreciate the border colors, about 15 minutes in I suddenly figured out how I should use them to my advantage. Took me just under an hour while multitasking, so the logic clicked pretty well for me.
on 13. November 2025, 14:41 by Franjo
Putting the last four digits after two and a half hours of work made me smile - what a wonderful finish! Thank you so much for creating and sharing this beautiful puzzle - both of you.
on 13. November 2025, 14:36 by Mennoo_
Wow, absolutely incredible puzzle! simply brilliant
on 13. November 2025, 14:09 by Asparagus
I really enjoyed this puzzle.
Nice Marty moment right at the end - great fun!
