The Library of Destruction
(Published on 19. July 2026, 00:00 by NXTMaster)
The rules are as follows:
- Coded Latin Square: Place one letter from A, B, E, L, M, N, O, U, X in each cell such that no letter repeats in a row or column. Each letter represents a unique value from 1-9.
- Chaos Destruction: All given regions must be 'destroyed' by making sure they do not contain all nine letters. The grid also consists of nine hidden, orthogonally connected regions that each do contain all nine letters. The value of a letter in a circle represents how many of its orthogonally and diagonally adjacent cells, including itself, belong to both the given and hidden regions where the circle resides (i.e., where they overlap). All possible circles have been given.
- The values of the letters in the indicated diagonal sum to a number ending in the value of M. For instance, if the value of M is 9, then the values of the diagonal may sum to 9, 19, 29, 9999, etc.
The puzzle is available on SudokuPad. However, this alternate version might be easier for note-taking: A-I Version. Answer Check verifies correct letters within the 9x9 grid and correct values in the right grid. Have fun destroying!
Solution code: The values of the letters in Row 3 (Left to Right). Include a "-" to separate values in different hidden regions.
Comments
on 30. July 2026, 15:16 by skuntsel
An astonishingly beautiful and clever puzzle. I eventually ran out of conventional pencil-marking space while trying to track the boundaries of two different region systems, and had to devise an additional notation just to keep the digits and their corresponding possibilities under control.
Very hard, but always fair and deeply rewarding—recalcitrant right to the end, yet never arbitrary. I especially enjoyed the interaction between the two region types; it made for an elegant and highly distinctive constraint. Tremendous work by NXTMaster.
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Your kind words mean a lot to me; thank you for the solve and feedback.
on 25. July 2026, 14:47 by marcmees
Hurray,
Finally destroyed it (and got you the red stars well deserved) Brutally but enjoyably hard. Thanks
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Thank you for the solve and congrats. You earned your library card :)
on 20. July 2026, 09:25 by bodemeister
Nice puzzle. Thanks for sharing!
on 20. July 2026, 08:29 by Marshal on Mars
Brutally difficult but entirely fair and there aren't *too* many steps where you need to visualize more than 3 steps out what the consequence of a digit or a region expansion or boundary would be. Well constructed! 2h 30m 29s here--just under 2:30 without having to do the end-of-puzzle number-to-letter swaps.
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I'm glad you enjoyed the challenge, and thanks for the solve
on 19. July 2026, 01:01 by Justalilguy
Oh it's beautiful
