Splitting the Estate (Sudoku with sweeper cells)
(Published on 20. December 2024, 20:28 by Qodec)
This is probably the weirdest negative constraint I've tried for a puzzle. Hopefully it's not too messy of a solve.
- Sudoku: Each row, column, and region indicated by thick borders in the grid must contain the digits 1 to 9 once each.
- Modified Yin Yang: Shade some cells so that all shaded cells form a single orthogonally connected region, and all unshaded cells also form a single orthogonally connected region. It is possible for 2x2 areas to be entirely unshaded or shaded.
- Sweeper cells: Circles are unshaded, and a digit in a circle shows how many cells in their 3x3 neighborhood including the cell itself (up to 9) are unshaded. Squares are shaded, and a digit in a square shows how many cells in their 3x3 neighborhood including the cell itself (up to 9) are shaded. All possible circles and squares are given.
You can play this puzzle online using Sudokupad: https://sudokupad.app/6pmcvjsvk4
Solution code: Row 2 and column 6. I.e. the 9 digits in row 2 from left to right, followed by the 9 digits in column 6 from top to bottom, for example: 123456789 123456789
Comments
on 15. August 2025, 09:33 by Playmaker6174
Quite certainly the weirdest puzzle of yours I've solved up till date, the negative constraint really went wild in this one and it led to a lot of surprising yet fruitful deductions in the middle x)
on 25. December 2024, 09:24 by Piatato
Cool! As usual I forgot about the negative constraint for a good while. It all worked a lot more nicely once I remembered!
