V-dots
(Published on 30. March 2026, 22:52 by Plok)
Another XV puzzle (without the X this time). This one is a quite challenging at the end. Probably leans more to a 2 star puzzle.
Normal Sudoku rules apply.
Cells separated by V sum to 5.
Cells separated by a white dot are consecutive.
Cells separated by a black dot has a 1:2 ratio. (one is double the other)
Anti-Knight: Cells separated by a knight's move in chess cannot contain the same digit.
Play on SudokuPad
I enjoy the feedback, also please let me know where I can improve further.
Solution code: The last 3 digits in row 1
Comments
on 7. April 2026, 15:47 by GGGG
Loved the puzzle, the only part that spoiled the fun a little was the fact that for the x/y symmetry to break there had to be a ab pair in the white dot, and it was an early giveaway that the top square would be a b. I of course solved the puzzle fully as if I had not realized this but it did kind of spoil the fun. A really great one otherwise.
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Thanks for the kind comment. I really appreciate it. I updated the comment a little bit so it does not give spoilers to other solvers. Any suggestions how to improve?
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Sorry for the spoiler, it was kind of foolish of mine to write it so explicitly. Maybe an extra completely useless hint could give the illusion to the solver that another symmetry break would be possible so it didn't have to be an "ab" pair there to break the symmety. I know the idea of putting a useless extra hint to a complete puzzle sounds sacriligious but I personally couln't find any other idea that wouldn't involve changing the puzzle. Yet as someone actually experienced with setting puzzles you could pull it well.
on 1. April 2026, 10:10 by abadx
A very nice sudoku. I liked how dots work in the final steps of the disambiguation process. Thanks for setting. 2* for me.
on 31. March 2026, 21:04 by SocratesRanz
Very nice. Thanks. (In the SudokuPad instructions, a few words are missing about the black dot rule.)
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Thank you. Can't find how to update the ruleset in SudokuPad without breaking all statistics. Next time I have to triple check ;-)
on 31. March 2026, 19:18 by galium_odoratum
1* for me. Short but fun and with a nice solving path!
on 31. March 2026, 18:28 by Onkel_Dagobert
I enjoyed this puzzle very much. Not too difficult, but not trivial either.
on 31. March 2026, 16:47 by jeffrey.l.byrd19
Very fun puzzle! XV puzzles that lend themselves to fully coloring the grid are my favorite. This was a one star for me. It very nearly was a 2, but coloring the high digits disambiguates them quickly.
on 31. March 2026, 14:57 by wuc
Fun puzzle. Nice knight interactions along. 2*-2.5* to me with experience in marking. Great setting thx.
on 31. March 2026, 12:44 by claire38
Really enjoyed this! Thank you for setting such a lovely puzzle! :)
on 31. March 2026, 05:25 by FullHouse07
Ending was challenging indeed.I struggled a bit at some parts but i managed to finish it. That was lovely.
on 31. March 2026, 04:26 by frollark
Took this inexperienced solver 76:02 to beat but it was a very rewarding experience. Just challenging enough for me and very elegant, good one!
on 31. March 2026, 00:47 by hardline35
Very nice puzzle, I also loved the 3 digit solution code. Thank you! Try to add both king's and kinght's move rules maybe. I certainly will try to combine the XV with other variants.
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Thank you for the kind words. I experimented with combining the knight and king restrictions (see my other puzzles), but it tends to limit the solving experience, as the same patterns keep appearing.
on 31. March 2026, 00:23 by Onkel_Dagobert
I enjoyed this puzzle very much. Not too difficult, but not trivial either.
