The Yellow Clue Road
(Published on 9. September 2026, 22:28 by Kjupatrick)
The Yellow Clue Road by Patrick Junke
Rules:
Standard Sudoku rules apply.
A black dot between two digits indicates that one digit is double the other. Not all black dots are given.
Cells are either road cells or land cells.
No 2×2 square can be made entirely of one type of cell: either all road or all land.
All road cells are orthogonally connected.
All land cells are orthogonally connected.
A road cell cannot be adjacent to more than two other road cells.
An arrow indicates a road cell that is adjacent to only one other road cell and points towards this other road cell.
All arrows are given.
Once the entire road has been formed:
1) Divide the road into 8 sections of equal length. In each section, the digits must be consecutive and appear in order, either ascending or descending (e.g. 3-4-5-6 or 6-5-4-3).
2) Starting from the cell with the arrow pointing to the right, divide the road into 4 sections of equal length: A, B, C and D. In sections A, B and D, digits are all different.
Here is a link to a SudokuPad version of the grid.
Solution code: The 9 digits of the first row from left to right
Comments
on 11. September 2026, 16:40 by Arheus
I found this very easy and straightforward, not sure why the 4* initial estimation, it felt like a 2* for me. Really great discovery/construction!
Patrick> Thank you! At first I estimated at 3* because I am a better setter than solver and it was not straightforward for me. With few solves and "not easy to reach the first digit" in comments I increased the estimated difficulty. Now we have a first result of the votes at 3 that I found fair. But I am also convinced that you have found a more élégant way to deal with it than me.
on 10. September 2026, 09:31 by Kjupatrick
Changing estimate difficulty from 3* to 4*.
on 10. September 2026, 08:39 by Saltensity
An amazing YY puzzle and it doesn't stop there, the logic to even place the first digit is simple but not easy! Love this puzzle :D
Patrick> Simply: thank you so much.
on 9. September 2026, 23:37 by efnenu
Weird interactions! I loved being able to find the first digit and swooshing over into the sudoku part of the solve.
Patrick>Thank you efnenu! Good to have the first reaction, and a good one!
