RAT RUN 33: Hot and Cold
(Published yesterday, 03:02 by marty_sears)
Normal sudoku rules apply.
AIM OF EXPERIMENT: Finkz and Phinx must both reach different cupcakes by finding a path through the maze. The paths must not visit any cell more than once, share cells, or pass through any maze walls.
HOT AND COLD ZONES: Divide the grid into two zones of orthogonally connected cells, one hot and the other cold. No 2x2 area may be completely in one zone.
INVISIBLE WALLS: A few maze walls are visible, but the rest are invisible and must be located. If two orthogonally adjacent cells are in different zones, a wall exists between them. If they are in the same zone, no wall exists between them. Because no 2x2 spaces exist fully within one zone, no diagonal movements are possible in this maze.
BOX BALANCE:
• The value of a hot cell equals its digit +1.
• The value of a cold cell equals its digit -1.
• In each 3x3 box, the total value of hot cells must equal the total value of cold cells.
CURRANTS:
• If a BLACKCURRANT sits between two cells, then the value of one is double the value of the other.
• If a REDCURRANT sits between two cells, then one has an odd value and the other has an even value.
• Two cells joined by a currant are both in the same zone.
TEST CONSTRAINT: In this experiment, Phinx must stay in the hot zone and Finkz must stay in the cold zone.
Solution code: Hot digits in row 5, from left to right
Comments
today, 15:33 by BG03
You guys can all see where this is going right? The final rat run #40 is just going to be a completely blank white square. We will have to construct the puzzle ourselves and then solve it. It would be the ultimate Marty thing to do. And he is perhaps the only setter who can pull it off!
It will also prove that Finkz and Phinx have achieved super human intelligence and have transcended into a higher plane of existence. A fitting end to this series.
today, 04:10 by psams
Very fun, definitely required a few side notes!
yesterday, 23:30 by Asparagus
Yet again the word masterpiece seems an understatement - another stunning creation!
But now I don't know which I am looking forward to more: the aqua rat run or the next instalment of the story!
yesterday, 22:05 by DaniK
Wow, fantastic! I found this one particularly smooth and fun. Great puzzle!
yesterday, 22:00 by Christounet
Hot stuff.
yesterday, 21:15 by mir85
So good I solved it twice!
I love a good yin-yang sudoku and this was wonderful :) Nice little twist with the build-your-own maze.
yesterday, 21:15 by Dcs
Absolutely incredible! I found the solve path very intuitive, definitely my favourite in the series so far. 4* is usually quite intimidating but I found this as hard as I would usually find a 3*.
PS: Big fan of the note-taking section
yesterday, 20:36 by dinonugs
This was a tough one, but all the more satisfying to complete. Extensive Excel note taking occurred :D. Still, I somehow was able to complete it with very few mistakes along the way. Thanks!
Edit: Somehow I solved it without figuring out the secret referred to in comments below. That would have made things a bit easier!
yesterday, 14:02 by wuc
Wonderful sum idea. As a yy veteran it felt rather approachable. What a beautiful puzzle. The main deduction itself. Mindblowing.
yesterday, 13:42 by etoler
How does this still feel undeniably like a Rat Run??
Genius as always. Thanks for another amazing puzzle, Marty!
yesterday, 13:08 by luna_vale
Amazing puzzle!
yesterday, 12:46 by Exigus
Fantastic. And the story as well. Thanks!
yesterday, 12:37 by Franjo
Thank you so much for creating and sharing another wonderful episode, this time featuring an amazing arithmetical YY. Brilliant!
yesterday, 11:01 by mscha
Awesome!
This was another one of those where I thought I'd never be able to solve it, but after the first deductions, it was a surprisingly smooth solve. I'd even give it 3 stars for difficulty, if it weren't for the evil black dot in box 7...
Of course, drinking coffee out of a Rat Run mug made solving a lot easier. ;-)
yesterday, 10:59 by ViKingPrime
This might be the most clever entry of them all and that is indeed saying something.
yesterday, 10:48 by Rab3aron
Wow! Brilliant design as always, I feel like every week I say this one is my new favorite!
yesterday, 10:35 by Fool on Hill
Wow! No idea how you thought of that, but it comes together beautifully once all the pieces click into place.
yesterday, 10:29 by ThePedallingPianist
Hot.
yesterday, 08:25 by Gammon88
Another amazing addition to the series, loved it!
yesterday, 07:55 by Angara
Incredible puzzle! I was stuck for an hour until I reread the rules and realized that I had forgotten about the same sum in the box rule and from that moment on, everything went very smoothly. Thank you Marty!
yesterday, 06:11 by chinesemaster
Never thought yinyang and rat run could go so well together! That's exactly what a genius is capable of doing. Thanks a lot!
yesterday, 04:49 by Silverscree
A very fun puzzle, and very unique in this series due to the nature of the test constraint. I eagerly await experiment 34!
yesterday, 04:07 by emoney1374
Sometimes I wonder “how can this man keep doing it?!”, but every week Marty delivers. My favorite puzzle in the series
