Cuauhtémoc
(Published on 23. March 2026, 18:17 by aqjhs)
After ChinStrap solved a particular quad-rank puzzle he came up to me with the concept for this puzzle, so I went to MathGuy_12 with it and he gave me the ideas that led up to the creation of it.
- Normal sudoku rules apply in the 9x9 grid.
-
Full Rank:
- The digits on columns and rows, read in both directions, make a total of 36 nine-digit numbers.
- Numbers in pills outside the grid (read left to right or top to bottom) show the rank in ascending order among those 36 numbers for the indicated column or row in the direction of the clue, where the lowest number has rank 01 and the highest number has rank 36.
- There are no ties in rank.
- Pills can contain any digits from 0 to 9.
-
Full Quad-Rank:
- All the 2x2 areas covered by the grid and pills, when read in western reading order, make a total of 128 four-digit numbers.
- Clues in the center of a 2x2 area show its rank among those 128 numbers, where the lowest is 1 and the highest is 128.
- One or more equal numbers are considered to be at rank N when there are N-1 numbers of strictly lower rank. (For example, we say there are three numbers in rank 20 when there are 19 numbers of lower rank and the next rank will be 23, i.e. the ranks could go ⋯, 19, 20, 20, 20, 23, ⋯)
See also:
- Cuitláhuac
- fragmental ablation
- Dutch Flat Mates (Full Quad Rank) shoutout to Flinty
- FullY in Yank with MathGuy_12
- Rank Up 20.aq - Dutch Flat Mates
- a brutal bliss beyond this empty defeat
Solution code: Number in rank 26 (9 digits) followed by Quad in rank 12 (4 digits)
Comments
on 8. April 2026, 06:22 by darkgently
Only a mad genius could come up with this... to be fair, none of the logical steps were *too* difficult (in fact, some were beautiful) but you definitely need endurance to reach the finish line.
on 27. March 2026, 01:06 by Major314
Brutal ! Solving this beast took me way longer than I'd like to admit. While the beginning is relatively straightforward, the mid-solve took me ages, mainly because of the absurd amount of things you have to look for.
Outstanding puzzle nonetheless, thanks for setting this masterpiece !
on 26. March 2026, 02:37 by Silverscree
A very difficult puzzle to try and do in fits and starts across a couple of work days without a pen and paper. There was one point where I got a bit more bifurcate-y than I usually like to get, but ultimately I'm not sure if it ended up helping me all that much.
Certainly an exercise in holding a LARGE amount of distinct numbers in your head at one time, and a particularly beautiful solve throughout.
I hope this one gets a CTC feature, and I hope that if it's Simon he actually allows himself use of Notepad!
on 26. March 2026, 00:00 by BloodbuzzCorio
So many great full rank (or full rank +) puzzles recently and aqjhs this is absolutely one of them! I think consistent with some of the other comments I find these puzzles take me a long time as I can easily miss spotting the next place to look - but the puzzles are no less enjoyable or rewarding for that! Thanks for setting and sharing.
on 24. March 2026, 21:31 by EvaristeLogic
So many beautiful deductions very much rattled my brain...Thank you for the amazing puzzle!
on 24. March 2026, 20:54 by War
Incredible, challenging but every piece was fair. Not as intimidating as it seems despite the 5* rating
on 24. March 2026, 14:05 by Fool on Hill
Amazing puzzle - great idea and construction. Had to change my point of view several times. As ChinStrap said, lots of small and fair deductions,. Took some thought to work out what was next.
on 23. March 2026, 20:59 by SennyK
Great job guys, fantastic puzzle! :-)
on 23. March 2026, 20:13 by ChinStrap
What mathguy said. My contribution was just thinking it would be a crazy concept but never thought I'd get to see it fleshed out. The 5* rating is really for the shear amount of stuff to look for, the individual deductions all felt very fair (there are just a lot of them to find!)
Really enjoyed it but without the help of chat on stream would have taken me much longer than the 90 minutes it did.
on 23. March 2026, 18:24 by MathGuy_12
I cannot take too much credit for this monster, aq is the mastermind (read madman) behind most of this puzzle! However, he certainly did an amazing job with it!
