The fireflies' pairing dance
(Published on 18. November 2025, 14:59 by Kjupatrick)
The golden dots return !
After Champagne ! here is a little harder grid (with less clues).
The fireflies' pairing dance by Patrick Junke
Rules :
Each row, column, and 3x3 region contains each of the digits from 1 to 9.
A golden dot between two digits indicates that their sum is divisible by 4.
All golden dots are given !
(And so they take precedance over black dots).
A black dot between two digits indicates that one is double the other.
(Not all black dots are given.)
A white dot between two digits indicates that they are consecutive.
(Not all white dots are given.)
The sum of two adjacent digits separated by a thick line is even.
(The sum of two adjacent digits not separated by a thick line may still be even.)
App link :
Here is a link to the grid on SudokuPad.
Solution code: The digits of the first column from top to bottom.
Comments
on 19. November 2025, 16:54 by flutchman
Beautiful puzzle, had great fun!
Regarding the rules: it might be clearer to say that digits across box borders have the same parity. Took me a while to realize what you meant by thick lines.
Patrick> Thank you ! Yes it's more straightforward, with a good formulation I didn't think of ; that said, having an opportunity to make people scratch there heads a few seconds more on a logic puzzle, I took it ;-)
on 19. November 2025, 14:07 by ThibautV
Aah, *those* thick lines! :D
Very nice puzzle. :)
Patrick> Yes, the art of recycling the environnement to save some visible clues ;-)
on 19. November 2025, 07:59 by elephantwoman
so far i'm really enjoying the golden dots. though, this one was definitely easier because i solved the other one too. i wonder if you can find a way to still make it hard once solvers are familiar with the ruleset, that would be pretty interesting.
Patrick> Thank you and glad you were interested by these rules.
It's a good question. You can't forget what you have learned from the properties of golden dots, for sure. So to keep the difficulty, I guess it has to be combined with something else to be found, replacing the thick line constraint that has to be removed, so the negative rule maybe (not showing them all) but... no I like negative rules.
on 18. November 2025, 23:41 by JTurnquest
Lovely puzzle. Struggled for a bit, then re-read the rules to realize all the gold dots were marked! It was a breeze from there. Great work!
Patrick> Thank you very much for your nice comment!
on 18. November 2025, 20:42 by Iluvsodah
It's just one of these puzzles that make me wonder how it is possible for the solution to work, let alone for anyone to think about setting it.
World class, bravo
Patrick> You can't imagine how I appreciated your comment. It's not easy to try to reach a level where the solve appear to be mysterious by itself.
on 18. November 2025, 18:37 by ketchup_monster
Extremely beautiful construction! After coloring the grid, the puzzle solves itself so elegantly, almost like a painting. Enjoyed the break-in and everything that followed.
Patrick> I felt already rewarded for my efforts with this first comment. Thank you!
