Once a Copycat, Always a Copycat
(Published on 9. May 2026, 11:52 by marty_sears)
Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply.
COPYCAT CELLS: Nine copycat cells exist in the grid. They all contain the same digit (to be deduced), but they all have a different value. You can use the circles at the bottom to keep track.
The value of a copycat cell equals the digit in the cell that is 180° rotationally opposite itself. Eg: If r1c3 is a copycat cell, then its value equals the digit in r9c7.
MULTIPLE LINES: For two adjacent values along a grey line, one can always be divided by the other to give an exact integer - ie; one is a multiple of the other.
BLACK DOTS: If a black dot sits between two cells, the value of one is double the value of the other.
YELLOW DOTS: If a yellow dot sits between two cells, their values are NOT consecutive.
Solution code: Row 9 from left to right
Comments
yesterday, 02:24 by mscha
I've been staring at this one repeatedly for the past week, but it wasn't until I listened to Simon reading the rules that something clicked and I realized the special property of this strain of copycat cells!
{Glad to see that it took Simon a while too, although his 30 minutes is still a lot faster than my week...)
From this point, I made slow but steady progress and finished the puzzle in about an hour.
Very nice!
Oh, and very belated birthday wishes to Scojo!
on 15. May 2026, 05:19 by Atticus837
I found this one very hard. I'm not sure if there's something interesting I missed, but I kept finding that I'd make progress, then realise I had made unfounded assumptions (that all happened to be correct) and had to backtrack to prove why my assumption had been correct.
Marty: yes sounds like you might not have found the correct deductions. Everything should flow smoothly
on 14. May 2026, 22:38 by davidz32z
Really love how you had to use every single possible angle of this ruleset at one time or another! And the whole time I was thinking "What's this useless nabner dot for?" Should have seen that coming!
on 14. May 2026, 18:59 by Major314
It took me ages before figuring out what the break-in was, but once I did, everything flowed beautifully !
on 11. May 2026, 22:18 by bittersteel
Amazing puzzle, thanks! So many satisfying deductions. Especially enjoyed both the break-in and the ending
on 11. May 2026, 20:08 by Scojo
Thank you for this lovely gift Marty! The twist of having all of one digit be copycats and a forced disjoint on values was a really fun play on the "standard" modifier meta
on 10. May 2026, 13:13 by Franjo
I needed a loooong time to understand the consequences of these special copycats. But then I got into a heartwarming flow. What a wonderful idea! Thank you very much for creating and sharing another Wow!-puzzle.
on 10. May 2026, 00:33 by ViKingPrime
Your gut says Copycat puzzles are intimidating but it also says Marty Sears puzzles are super friendly and approachable. Trust the latter.
on 9. May 2026, 20:26 by ShadyAshley
This was a tough one. Took a bit to wrap my head around the implications of the rules, but once the dominoes started falling it was a supremely elegant and satisfying solve. Excellent puzzle!
on 9. May 2026, 15:42 by Snookerfan
Fabulous! Weird ruleset, hard to fully grasp at first, but after that a phenomenal solve path. Enjoyed that a lot, thanks
