RAT RUN 26: Hit and Miss
(Published on 18. February 2026, 01:00 by marty_sears)
- Normal sudoku rules apply.
- AIM OF EXPERIMENT: Finkz and Phinx must both reach the cupcakes by finding a path through the maze. The paths must not visit any cell more than once, cross themselves or each other, or pass through any thick maze walls. The paths may not share cells except where they meet at the cupcake cell.
- As well as moving orthogonally, they may move diagonally if there's a 2x2 space in which to do so, but may never pass diagonally through a round wall-spot on the corner of a cell.
- BLACKCURRANTS: If a blackcurrant sits between two digts then one is double the other.
- GRAPES: If two digits are separated by a grape, they have a difference of at least 5..
- TEST CONSTRAINT: In this experiment, 3x3 box borders divide both rats' paths up into segments. Not all blue hexagonal platforms need to be visited, but any blue platform that does gets stepped on becomes a 'hit counter'; its digit will indicate exactly how many digits along its path segment match their position number (the first cell visited along a segment is 'position 1'.)
Eg: If Finkz visits the digits 97325 (in that order) along a segment, then the 2 would be on the hit counter, because two digits match their position number; 3 is visited 3rd and 5 is visited 5th.
Solution code: Digits visited by rats in column 9, reading downwards
Comments
on 31. March 2026, 06:38 by Ratfinkz
Loved loved loved this one! ????
on 22. February 2026, 12:36 by extremelypuzzled
Had a great hour solving this wonderful puzzle. Thanks Marty! Quite invested in finding out what Elliot is up to.
on 21. February 2026, 12:41 by ako
Wowww, what a most beautiful struggle ... ran about five times into more or less the same contradiction ... Literally had to take it from behind (people who use "literally" wrong, may excuse the expression) and from the beginning simultaneously, so the hidden mistake could be avoided by Sudoku influence. Wonderful surprise in box 8! Thx again!
on 20. February 2026, 00:10 by dzamie
Kept losing count of my hit counters near the end, wound up having to redo the last three boxes at least 4 times...
Still, very interesting constraints, and I like that the break-in is pretty obvious.
on 19. February 2026, 23:55 by Klausku
Smooth and beautiful. Easiest puzzle in this season so far. Thanks Marty.
on 19. February 2026, 17:54 by psams
Enjoyed every box, every step. Thanks, Marty!
on 19. February 2026, 12:23 by bboom
Tough one for me, I had to backtrack on incorrect assumptions quite a few times. I had fun all the way through though so what more can I ask for?
on 19. February 2026, 05:50 by ghostmary
Wonderful puzzle as always! I enjoyed highlighting the rats as pink and blue then watching the cupcake square turn purple :) thanks for sharing!
on 19. February 2026, 05:10 by MikeMeech
Love the hit lines!
on 19. February 2026, 01:50 by sujoyku
Absolutely wonderful puzzle! I found it quite hard and enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you, Marty!
on 19. February 2026, 01:33 by Atticus837
The plot thickens!
Beautiful work as always Marty.
on 19. February 2026, 00:17 by Rab3aron
Fantastic puzzle!
on 18. February 2026, 23:35 by davidz32z
Incredible as always! I was just waiting for the hit line and it did not disappoint one bit
on 18. February 2026, 18:45 by Puzzlefan
Man, I was afraid Phinx had to run way more than Finkz again and eat both cupcakes before Finkz could get to it, but luckily Finkz got there fast enough today. Good job taking care of them both.
But hey, very nice puzzle again. I thought the ruleset would be quite difficult, but it turned out to be a lot easier than expected. With the nice twists and turns as always. Thanks again!
on 18. February 2026, 17:18 by blackjackfitz
Huzzah!
on 18. February 2026, 16:05 by wuc
Another masterpiece. Very nice.
on 18. February 2026, 13:57 by madhupt
The series just keeps getting better and better!
on 18. February 2026, 11:05 by Franjo
Thank you so much for creating and sharing another beautiful episode of the series. Loved the hit counters.
on 18. February 2026, 06:31 by mscha
Beautiful puzzle!
One of the easier ones in phase 3 - I quickly got started and never really got stuck - but no less satisfying. The ruleset works beautifully with two rats, I don't think it would have worked well in phase 1 or 2.
on 18. February 2026, 05:04 by antiknight
Excellent deductions throughout, from start to finish. I really enjoyed this one.
on 18. February 2026, 05:01 by firespire
I can't always do these puzzles but with this one progress came smoothly and with fewer mistakes from me.
So thumbs up for this puzzle from me.
I assume it was the fastest of the ones I could solve.
I think the Sudokupad links often get changed and I can't get back and check past puzzles for solve times because I don't have a record of the older address I used or maybe it's a fault my end.
on 18. February 2026, 04:37 by hamosphere
A bit easier for me this week! 2*. Great puzzle.
on 18. February 2026, 04:12 by Silverscree
Another excellent addition! This has probably bumped #24 from my top spot so far this Phase because the logic was so clearly signalled by the geometry.
on 18. February 2026, 02:45 by Lyouke
Phase 3 being extended? Music to my ears. I love this series
on 18. February 2026, 02:45 by Nairurian
Yet another great puzzle (and my first time being in the first 20 solvers). I’d say 2.5* for difficulty (I’d at least say it felt way easier than Split Ends) but a lovely ruleset that flows beautifully.
on 18. February 2026, 02:24 by ViKingPrime
I mean the sudoku being superb is a given at this point. What surprises and delights me is how you continue to elevate your aesthetics, even still. Love the little touches on this one.
on 18. February 2026, 01:53 by Euclid5040
Another truly incredible Rat Run sudoku. On top of that, it seems like the story is progressing, which I am extremely excited for. The only thing I am confused by is why this is four stars for difficulty, as I found this to be the easiest phase 3 puzzle for me so far.
Marty: Whoops! Yeah I meant to set it at 3. Have changed it. Thankyou, and glad you enjoyed it :)
