Erica 42 (Dual Nabner Edition)
(Published on 17. March 2026, 13:00 by SennyK)
Today Erica explores the interactions between German whisper lines and nabner lines, testers' estimated difficulty 2.5* :-)
I hope you will enjoy and I would be really grateful for all the comments and ratings.
Normal sudoku rules apply.
Every line is dual German whisper and nabner line.
German whisper: Adjacent digits along a green line have a difference of at least 5.
Nabner: Digits along a golden line form a set of non-repeating non-consecutive digits in any order (i.e., any two digits on a line must differ by at least 2).
Kropki dots: Digits in cells joined by a white dot are consecutive. Digits in cells joined by a black dot are in a 1:2 ratio (i.e., one digit will be double the other). Not all dots are necessarily given.
Nabner Line Explanation:
Basically, no two digits on the line can be consecutive or the same.
If you liked this puzzle, I recommend trying out my other puzzles: The Erica Series:★☆☆☆☆: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 12, 15, 17, 23, 26, 27, 31, 32
★★☆☆☆: 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 24, 25, 29, 30, 34, 35, 38, 40
★★★☆☆: 9, 19, 21, 22, 28, 33, 37, 38, 41
★★★★☆: 36, 39 Shading/Ying-Yang:
★★☆☆☆: Pretty Odd Shaded Area
★★★☆☆: (+5)-Yang, Negative 8 YY
★★★★☆: Aim High! (YY)
★★★★★: Why-Why? Modifiers:
★★★☆☆: Modified Flat Mates, Neighbourhood Watch Fog of War:
★☆☆☆☆: Erica 12, Erica 17
★★☆☆☆: It's What You Do in the Dark That Puts You in the Light, Find It All, What the Fog?, Erica 20, Erica 29
★★★☆☆: Broken Flashlight in the Dark Pencil Puzzle/Sudoku Hybrid:
★★☆☆☆: Masyu (Short) Sudoku, Heyawake Sudoku (Given Regions)
★★★☆☆: Tetromino Sudoku
★★★★★: Heyawake Sudoku
Pairometers:
★★☆☆☆: Pairometers (6x6 Pack 1), Pairometers
★★★☆☆: Pairometers (6x6 Pack 2), Pairometers (6x6 Pack 3) Various Puzzles:
★☆☆☆☆: Blown Fuses in Electrical Installation, Let Me Introduce Myself, French Wrench, GAS Regional Constraints, Quadsumes, Snack Latin Arrows
★★☆☆☆: Symmetrical Fan, Night Club, Important Hour on the Clock, What Was the Sum Again?, Disgroup Joints, 10-Arrows, Antiking Dutch Skyscrapers, (Not so) Little Killers, Indexing Sword, Larna's HoneyMoon
★★★☆☆: Cops & Robbers, Positive Symmetry, Doppelgänger Killer 1-25, Region Whisper Line, Christmas Chaos
★★★★☆: Liars. Liars Everywhere., Sandwiched XV Squishmates, Fireworks 2025, (Yin)German Pairrows
★★★★★: Any NEWS?, Potentially Pointer, Possibly Parity Party
Solution code: Sixth (6th) row of the grid from left to right.
Comments
yesterday, 12:14 by VitP
the main difficulty here is FEAR of confronting the nabner lines. but that is PSYCHOLOGICAL, not material.
IN FACT, nabner lines are highly constrained, and THESE lines, even more so.
if you try to avoid the main issue, you cannot solve this puzzle. but if you study the lines, you quickly find that any "middle" cell can only hold 4 digits, and then the "outer" cells are similarly limited.
this populates 32 cells. phistomefel is in play, but not needed.
next, you consider the 3 main kropki sets. all are strongly limited.
the critical cell completing the break-in is r3c8.
the rest is standard reduction and basic sudoku.
all of this is well within the capacity of a beginner.
THEREFORE, the puzzle is level 2.
yesterday, 04:16 by sfield
Another great one in this series, but hard. Took me a long time. I would say hard 2* or maybe 3*.
on 17. March 2026, 23:43 by sujoyku
Nice puzzle. The difficulty is 3* for me. Thank you for sharing, SennyK!
