Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

Region Sum Caves

(Published on 17. October 2026, 00:08 by yttrio)

Rules:

Normal Sudoku rules apply.

Shade some cells (walls) such that all shaded cells are connected orthogonally by other shaded cells to the edge of the grid, and the remaining unshaded cells (cave) form one orthogonally connected area. Note that 2x2 areas that are entirely shaded or entirely unshaded *are* allowed.

Digits in cells with circles cannot be shaded, and represent the total number of unshaded cells seen horizontally and vertically from that cell, including itself. Shaded cells block the vision.

Digits in cells with squares must be shaded, and represent the total number of connected shaded cells in the group that cell is a part of.

The unshaded cells (cave) act as a region sum line: 3x3 region borders divide the cave into segments that have an equal sum. If there are multiple unconnected cave sections within the same 3x3 region, those sections are summed separately.




SudokuPad




6x6 Example:

The image below shows a sample 6x6 puzzle and solution with the same rule set.
Play the example 6x6 in SudokuPad.




Solution code: Digits in unshaded (cave) cells in row 2 (left to right) followed by digits in unshaded cells in row 8 (left to right)


Solved by maniacaljackal, tuturitu, Donatello_86 , isajo4002, Christounet, killer_rectangle, Piatato, Piff, Snookerfan, Qodec, Sudokode, mihel111, Calvinball, emoney1374, Franjo, jwsinclair, Ocklepod, Mr_tn, ... ThomasR, bboom, sorryimLate, jhw314, BigodenoQuadrado, TripleABattery, LuridGraph, hurrdurr, ophelias, jennyaa, MagnusJosefsson, belarusian644, telegramsam, Reinstar, cravenp, TheShubhi, Tacocat
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Comments

on 18. October 2026, 23:22 by udukos
Very nice combination!

on 18. October 2026, 23:03 by polcat
Phenomenal!

on 17. October 2026, 21:22 by Miatc
This almost felt more like a 4* puzzle, but that might just be me.

Fantastic puzzle, thank you!

on 17. October 2026, 18:29 by SimonC
Great puzzle! Thank you :)

on 17. October 2026, 16:03 by Franjo
Thank you very much for creating and sharing this absolutely fantastic puzzle. Made my day!

on 17. October 2026, 15:59 by emoney1374
Brilliant puzzle!

on 17. October 2026, 14:12 by mihel111
The master of YY and loops has hit again.
Very well done, yttrio.

on 17. October 2026, 12:54 by Qodec
Another beauty!

on 17. October 2026, 11:30 by Snookerfan
Amazing, very intuitive and smooth, thanks!

on 17. October 2026, 07:35 by Piatato
Great fun, thanks!

on 17. October 2026, 03:30 by Christounet
Awesome! Thanks :)

Difficulty:4
Rating:100 %
Solved:65 times
Observed:5 times
ID:000VJK

Puzzle variant

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Solution code:

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