Chaos Construction: Pathfinder (9x9)
(Eingestellt am 3. Oktober 2022, 23:31 Uhr von KNT)
After solving Jesper's first "Numbered Regions" Chaos Construction, I got many different ideas for indexed region CC rulesets, this being the first of which that I really liked. This puzzle is a bit of a mind-bender, but I hope you'll enjoy it!
Divide the grid into regions, each consisting of nine orthogonally connected cells. Each row, column and region must contain the digits 1 to 9 once each.
The digit in the top-left cell of a region (its leftmost cell in its highest row) is its region number. All region numbers are different. In the example, these cells are circled.
You must find an orthogonally connected path that visits every region exactly once, and the path must visit each region in ascending order of the region numbers. Within each region, digits strictly increase along the path.
A digit in a cell with arrow(s) indicates the total number of cells in the same region as that cell that are part of the path, in the indicated directions combined. If a cell has multiple arrows, there must be at least one cell on the path in each of the clued directions.
Example puzzle: Penpa+ link
Main puzzle: Penpa+ link
(Answer check enabled with green edges and blue digits)
Example:
Lösungscode: Row 1 followed by Row 9
Kommentare
am 25. Juni 2023, 18:33 Uhr von h5663454
No puzzle has ever made me feel...
"The difficulty score I gave it is *very hard*, because the options given here, which is the highest difficulty score I can choose, is only *very hard*."
...This puzzle is one of them...Although it may be exaggerated, in my opinion, its difficulty must be at least 6 stars...
am 1. März 2023, 06:54 Uhr von konklone
Oddly enough, I managed to make it through the puzzle's major gauntlet mid-solve on my own, which I am very proud of -- and then kept fumbling the last few region placements and landing in contradictions! Even though I needed a hint at the very end, I feel I did very well and grew as a solver through this puzzle. Fantastic design!
am 13. Februar 2023, 14:29 Uhr von Piatato
Fantastic construction! So much fun throughout, and not even that hard after I discovered the rule that the path must go through the regions in order lol
am 7. Februar 2023, 03:32 Uhr von SimplePurpleFrog
I had to rewind a few times, but what a stunning puzzle! The logic is flawless, beautiful, clean, yet hard to infer.
am 4. Februar 2023, 01:01 Uhr von KNT
@kjholt i am happy to help: jehlp#8886
am 4. Februar 2023, 00:48 Uhr von kjholt
Can I message someone on discord for help as to where I went wrong? I'm stuck at what I thought was the end and I can't figure out why it isn't resolving.
am 3. Februar 2023, 21:28 Uhr von DillyK
This puzzle has one of the most beautiful and cleanest solution paths I've ever seen in a puzzle. Kudos to a fantastic puzzle, I wish I could rate it higher than 100%!
am 3. Februar 2023, 05:14 Uhr von cmb
Since that was amazing, it's presumptuous to ask for more, but I wish ...
am 1. Februar 2023, 16:13 Uhr von Ziboo
Pretty much the same as "stayal" says. Beautiful puzzle and very challenging for me (at my level) but such a good feeling when it solved :D
am 29. Januar 2023, 21:04 Uhr von stayal
Been following CTC for about a year and love solving the puzzles they put feature. This is the hardest puzzle I have attempted (and completed) without a video to look back at for help. This felt impossible at multiple steps, which made the breakthroughs that much more satisfying. It's incredible that this solves so elegantly with so few clues. I truly hope Simon or Mark circle back to feature this puzzle, because it was absolutely beautiful.
am 29. Januar 2023, 21:04 Uhr von stayal
Been following CTC for about a year and love solving the puzzles they put feature. This is the hardest puzzle I have attempted (and completed) without a video to look back at for help. This felt impossible at multiple steps, which made the breakthroughs that much more satisfying. It's incredible that this solves so elegantly with so few clues. I truly hope Simon or Mark circle back to feature this puzzle, because it was absolutely beautiful.
am 29. Januar 2023, 16:58 Uhr von wand
brilliant puzzle, and mindbending indeed. was sure I'd broken it multiple times, suprising and delightful twists
am 29. Januar 2023, 14:42 Uhr von giladooshlon
Wow! that was incredibly hard and incredibly good! I was going crazy multiple times, but that eureka moment in the middle was totally worth it.
am 29. Januar 2023, 00:06 Uhr von BloodbuzzCorio
KNT thanks for this exceptional puzzle. I particularly enjoyed (and was impressed by) how you combined the region/path/arrow logics throughout the solve path - a very difficult but enjoyable one to solve!
am 8. Januar 2023, 22:22 Uhr von Christounet
Now I get what you mean when you say rewarding ! ;)
That "top left cell" rule can really mess up with your mind and provoke some real sense of disorientation at some point, until you realize how powerful it is, and then it just opens up like a nice present. Fantastic !
am 9. November 2022, 20:28 Uhr von peacherwu2
Great puzzle!
am 23. Oktober 2022, 18:02 Uhr von lerroyy
Very nice puzzle! The top left cell rule is so powerful in this puzzle
am 21. Oktober 2022, 10:46 Uhr von henrypijames
Got stuck for days and had to seek help from the author. :( Amazing logic, super tight (quai-linear) solving path.
am 13. Oktober 2022, 02:04 Uhr von Agent
Insane opening, very surprising minimalistic ending.
am 7. Oktober 2022, 17:44 Uhr von the_cogito
Great puzzle, I struggle to imagine trying to set this haha
am 7. Oktober 2022, 16:08 Uhr von filuta
I also deserved at least a triple facepalm at that one point, super cool, the ending made me smile. Excellent puzzle!
am 6. Oktober 2022, 06:37 Uhr von KNT
Added Chaos Construction tag
am 5. Oktober 2022, 09:44 Uhr von MagnusJosefsson
Incredible! What an achievement to make this ruleset work at all, even more to get such a challenging but beautiful logical path. The first half is quite difficult, there was one point mid-solve where I started over checking every deduction from the start thinking I had broken the puzzle only to find there was something really cool I had missed right where I had stopped. Near the end the puzzle gets easier and flowier, and I liked that once the path/region logic was finished the puzzle finished almost immediately as well. Amazing setting!
----
Feedback like this makes me really happy, though I have to admit I got *extremely* lucky with this grid after the first half. I cannot emphasize that enough... I was ecstatic once I found the puzzle could be resolved uniquely so nicely and minimally. That feeling of "I broke the puzzle" when you actually did not is something I really like in puzzles, and I'm super glad that great solvers like you (and others) got to experience that feeling. I do set quite a lot, and comments like this just motivate me to continue :)
am 4. Oktober 2022, 23:51 Uhr von Koalagator2
Nice puzzle, very impressed that you managed to make it solve with such a minimal number of clues.
am 4. Oktober 2022, 22:11 Uhr von ONeill
Such a great puzzle. Thanks for the push in the right direction :)
am 4. Oktober 2022, 15:36 Uhr von Jesper
Great puzzle, quite remarkable! One specific point made me doubt my sanity for a while :)
am 4. Oktober 2022, 13:25 Uhr von marcmees
great puzzle again. We're getting spoiled. thanks.
am 4. Oktober 2022, 03:24 Uhr von Niverio
Very enjoyable puzzle but it made my head hurt a little bit :)
am 4. Oktober 2022, 02:36 Uhr von JayForty
Amazing puzzle! Very interesting use of the numbered rooms and a very well balanced and smooth solve. Thanks!
am 3. Oktober 2022, 23:41 Uhr von thoughtbyte
This was indeed a mind-bender! Impressively smooth for how few clues there are. Fantastic setting, thanks KNT.
