Harry Potter 1: Chase! Hogwarts Express: Platform 9¾
(Published on 18. April 2026, 19:20 by iEtsh)
Two young wizards, rivals at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, wake up late on the day of departure. The Hogwarts Express is about to leave… they decided to race to catch it before it’s gone. Who will make it in time?
Standard Sudoku: Each row, column, and 3×3 box contains digits 1–9 exactly once.
Race Paths: Adjacent cells on orange lines must differ by at least 4. Two paths start from broomsticks; the path with the LOWER total sum is the winner (Dutch Whispers).
Cages: Sum of digits in each cage must equal the given total.
Palindromes: Digits on the line read the same forwards and backwards.
Renban Line: Digits form a set of consecutive numbers in any order.
Comparison Arrow: Points to a smaller digit.
Kropki Dots (Black): One cell is exactly double the other (1:2).
Solution code: Sum of the digits visited by the winning wizard (the less sum), two digits only
Comments
today, 13:34 by SHERAX
Was not easy
on 19. April 2026, 15:59 by Myfyr MJ
Very nice, very easy and arguably controversial for some. :)
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iEtsh: Glad you liked it, thanks!
on 19. April 2026, 01:29 by iEtsh
Rules updated
on 19. April 2026, 01:17 by iEtsh
Thanks everyone for the feedback!
There were indeed a couple of small inconsistencies — the comparison symbol points towards the larger value, and there was also a mismatch between the rules shown here and on SudokuPad. I forgot to update it on SudokuPad before publishing.
Apologies for any confusion. Thanks to your feedback, I’m able to improve and develop the rest of the series. Much appreciated!
on 19. April 2026, 00:38 by abadx
A pity that comparison symbol doesn't follow conventions.
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iEtsh: There’s always a first time for everything :)
on 18. April 2026, 22:48 by hardline35
Thank you, nice puzzle.
On Sudokupad, the rule states : "path with the higher total sum is the winner".
Comparison symbol is technically backwards, but it's explained in the rules. There is a solution for that way that too.
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iEtsh: Sorry for the mistake, I got exhausted checking the rules here.. forgot to check SudokuPad, thanks for clarifying
on 18. April 2026, 21:39 by Fool on Hill
Neat puzzle. The arrow clue is the other way round from what I expected by convention. I just wanted to highlight this for other solvers, as I thought I'd broken it until I read very carefully.
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iEtsh: I'm glad you liked it, thanks for your comment
