2026 Chaotic First Sums
(Published on 21. February 2026, 17:39 by Florian Wortmann)
With a slight delay, here's another thematic puzzle for the by now not-so-new year :-D
The estimated difficulty is between 3 and 4 stars. Scroll down for an approachable 5x5 example puzzle.
Chaos Construction
Divide the grid into regions, each consisting of eight orthogonally connected cells. Each row, column and region contains the digits 1-8 once each.
First Sums
A clue outside the grid is the sum of all cells in the corresponding row/column that are in the same region as the cell nearest to the clue, up to the first region border.
Even
The cell with the gray square contains an even digit.
Link:
SudokuPad
Try the 5x5 example puzzle here
Solution code: row 8
Comments
on 25. February 2026, 10:42 by Jorrr2
Nice one, took me some time. 3,5 stars?
on 23. February 2026, 18:44 by Franjo
Mag sein, dass First Sums schon früher für eine CC genutzt wurden. Doch dies hier ist zweifellos ein großartiges Thema-Puzzle.
Trotz der 15 … ;-)
on 21. February 2026, 22:33 by Aidan488
Very nice! I really enjoyed how the regions interacted with each other. I also want to mention I made a puzzle with the same ruleset… so I think this was a GREAT idea!
on 21. February 2026, 18:48 by henrypijames
2⅓ difficulty.
