This Hits Different
(Published on 24. September 2026, 12:59 by marty_sears)
Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply.
Digits do not repeat on a beige hitline. The 'hit total' of a hitline is the sum of any digits that match their position along the line, starting from the square (which is position 1.) Eg: A line reading 8214 would have a hit total of 6, the sum of 2 and 4 (2 is in the 2nd position and 4 is in the 4th position.)
In this puzzle, no two hitlines have the same hit total.
Solution code: Column 1 reading downwards
Comments
on 27. September 2026, 19:51 by Major314
Quite brutal in the mid solve, but very rewarding !
on 27. September 2026, 10:44 by mscha
Tricky! But very fun!
Difficulty a high 4 stars for me
on 27. September 2026, 00:03 by Agent
Great one, some cool steps in there!
on 26. September 2026, 02:28 by CarnacTheMagnificent
I raised my arms in victory after solving this puzzle. It took just over 3 hours but was well worth it. I appreciated the notes section as I used that to track the sums for each hitline. As mentioned below, there are some tricky and clever deductions. I rated this at 4 stars. Marty, thank you very much for this gem of a puzzle!
on 26. September 2026, 00:52 by sujoyku
Wonderful puzzle! It just makes you feel really good. Thank you, Marty!
on 25. September 2026, 10:28 by GeorgeTheToad2
Beautiful as usual, another great variant. Approachable but not easy.
on 25. September 2026, 09:40 by XuanZzz
Very cute puzzle! I got it pretty smooth from the start, even got the tricky part in box 8, but totally forgot the no repeat digit rule and stuck for 10 minutes lol Happy mid-autumn festival!!
on 25. September 2026, 07:59 by Piatato
Lovely!
on 25. September 2026, 03:21 by Thanos13
Very fun and rewarding logic to start the puzzle. I especially liked the logic in the end of the puzzle. For me it was quite tricky and not easily spottable. Thank you, Marty. I loved it!
on 25. September 2026, 00:57 by amirs
Spectacular! Such a beautifully constructed puzzle with a lovely break-in and a solve path that is both fun and also makes the solver feel clever. And that last big deduction was the cherry on top (and the reason I gave it 4* rather than 3*). It took me a while to spot it but it was well worth it. This was definitely one of my favorite puzzles in recent times.
Marty: Thankyou for the lovely comment! hehe I have to know which is the big deduction you are referring to? (if you put it in a new hidden comment)
on 24. September 2026, 23:27 by Eresus
This really challenged me, but I loved it. Thank you
on 24. September 2026, 20:59 by dleclair
Great puzzle! Deductions were all waiting to be spotted, it just took me too long to find many!
on 24. September 2026, 20:40 by Adrian71
Brilliantly set as always! Took me a while to find the crucial deduction, but it felt very satisfying to find it and appreciate the beauty of it. Great stuff!
on 24. September 2026, 19:09 by Saltensity
Very cool hitlines puzzle, just that one mid solve deduction took me ages to find! Took 2 hours for me to solve, but still love it overall especially the initial observations. Thank you, Marty ;)
on 24. September 2026, 18:17 by Bonk
Could not figure out the final deduction for the life of me. I ended up bifurcating on a single 50:50 that seemed to do a whole lot and it solved the puzzle lol
on 24. September 2026, 16:30 by Snookerfan
Very nice and approachable, thanks!
on 24. September 2026, 16:30 by emoney1374
Great puzzle! Some really cool deductions!
on 24. September 2026, 16:28 by Christounet
Nice one! Thanks :)
