RAT RUN 26: Hit and Miss
(Published yesterday, 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
today, 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!
today, 05:10 by MikeMeech
Love the hit lines!
today, 01:50 by sujoyku
Absolutely wonderful puzzle! I found it quite hard and enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you, Marty!
today, 01:33 by Atticus837
The plot thickens!
Beautiful work as always Marty.
today, 00:17 by Rab3aron
Fantastic puzzle!
yesterday, 23:35 by davidz32z
Incredible as always! I was just waiting for the hit line and it did not disappoint one bit
yesterday, 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!
yesterday, 17:18 by blackjackfitz
Huzzah!
yesterday, 16:05 by wuc
Another masterpiece. Very nice.
yesterday, 13:57 by madhupt
The series just keeps getting better and better!
yesterday, 11:05 by Franjo
Thank you so much for creating and sharing another beautiful episode of the series. Loved the hit counters.
yesterday, 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.
yesterday, 05:04 by antiknight
Excellent deductions throughout, from start to finish. I really enjoyed this one.
yesterday, 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.
yesterday, 04:37 by hamosphere
A bit easier for me this week! 2*. Great puzzle.
yesterday, 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.
yesterday, 02:45 by Lyouke
Phase 3 being extended? Music to my ears. I love this series
yesterday, 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.
yesterday, 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.
yesterday, 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 :)
