Trapped
(Published on 3. May 2026, 03:38 by Sotehr)
PUZZLE
Play [Trapped] on SudokuPad.
RULES
Sudoku: Normal Sudoku rules apply; place the digits 1-9 once in every row, column, and 3x3 box.
Index Lines: The digit in the Nth cell along a line (starting from the diamond) indicates the position where the digit N appears. For example, if a diamond cell has a 4, the fourth cell along that line must have a 1.
Numbered Rooms: All clues outside the grid must contain a digit. That digit must appear in the Nth position looking into the grid of its row or column, where N is the digit in the first position.
Index Lines: The digit in the Nth cell along a line (starting from the diamond) indicates the position where the digit N appears. For example, if a diamond cell has a 4, the fourth cell along that line must have a 1.
Numbered Rooms: All clues outside the grid must contain a digit. That digit must appear in the Nth position looking into the grid of its row or column, where N is the digit in the first position.
NOTES
Expected Difficulty: 2.5 stars
Happy Birthday ChinStrap! I had an idea for this puzzle and set the first version pretty quickly. Then, while writing the rules (AKA looking through ChinStrap's puzzles to steal rule wording) realized that he had already set Directory Listing nearly two years ago, a puzzle using the exact same ruleset. So if you enjoy this puzzle, I highly recommend you try that one next!
Happy Birthday ChinStrap! I had an idea for this puzzle and set the first version pretty quickly. Then, while writing the rules (AKA looking through ChinStrap's puzzles to steal rule wording) realized that he had already set Directory Listing nearly two years ago, a puzzle using the exact same ruleset. So if you enjoy this puzzle, I highly recommend you try that one next!
Solution code: Box 3, left to right and top to bottom.
Solved by ChinStrap, gdc, Calvinball, lina_hyena, marajade, Krisonium, SKORP17, Angara, tuturitu, CitrusGremlin, ViKingPrime, Neumino, Bjd, chinesemaster, brimmy, Scorps, pepe74287, Nagesh, Ste1729, Wahaj, Qodec, h5663454, Malakree, ofsmul, matiasv5, wolf69, Crusader175, marcmees, Tompzini, mathhead, dorverbin, mathpesto, BG03, ManuH, Julianl, MysticMan, Lyouke, QuiltyAsCharged, lulu614, cg24
Comments
on 27. May 2026, 19:35 by MysticMan
Lovely puzzle!
on 5. May 2026, 05:35 by Crusader175
Very nice!
on 4. May 2026, 04:47 by chinesemaster
The interactions are absolutely magical!
on 4. May 2026, 02:06 by ViKingPrime
Love it when a clue breaks out of the grid. Great stuff.
on 3. May 2026, 20:52 by CitrusGremlin
I adore index line puzzles and this was a fine example.
on 3. May 2026, 06:09 by ChinStrap
This was really lovely and a great combination of both flavors of indexing. Thank you so much for the present Sotehr!
