Stranger in a Strange Land
(Eingestellt am 24. Februar 2025, 10:58 Uhr von Wuschel)
- Normal Sudoku rules: Place the digits 1-9 in each row, column and box, without repeats.
- Yin Yang: Shade some cells so that all shaded cells are orthogonally connected, and all unshaded cells are orthogonally connected. No 2x2 area is fully shaded or fully unshaded. The value of a shaded cell is one greater than its digit, the value of an unshaded cell is one less than its digit.
- Region Sum lines: Box borders split blue lines into segments, the sum of the values on a segment is the same for each segment. Different lines may have different totals.
- Kropki pairs: On a black dot one value is double the other. On a white dot values differ by 1. Not all dots are necessarily given.
I also created a version with dynamic fog to guide through the solve.
Lösungscode: Shaded cells in column 5, followed by unshaded cells in row 5
Kommentare
am 30. März 2025, 12:22 Uhr von Azukay
Incredible solve my first ever 4 star, dfog was incredible
am 28. März 2025, 08:36 Uhr von TheNineElements
Solve Time: 84:30
I rated this 4/5 difficulty.
Brilliant puzzle! I solved the dFoW version, and this is one of the hardest FoW puzzles I have attempted, but it was still totally enjoyable and really well-constructed. I would put this in my top 5 favorite dFoW puzzles to date.
The break-in started off pretty easy (the default pre-revealed fog area), but after the first & second portion(s) of fog were cleared, the difficulty ramped up significantly and was consistently more difficult/complex throughout almost the entire remainder of the solve.
I would say the first few steps of the dFoW version were around 3/5 difficulty, but I after I placed a few digits, the remainder of the break in and the entire midgame/endgame was probably around 4* difficulty. Somehow this puzzle managed to be consistently tough throughout the entirety of the solve, and didn't really "collapse" at any point, right up until the very end. This was actually quite enjoyable and the consistent pacing resulted in me making progress without getting too stuck at any point.
On the whole, I really enjoyed the ruleset. Keeping track of the ±1 values on lines and on kropki dots was very tricky and hard to wrap my head around (though still very enjoyable). I think that the Yin/Yang value changing made all of the puzzle logic significantly more challenging, and I found myself forgetting to utilize the parity implications of the rule at certain points in the solve. My favorite "aspect" of the rules/puzzle was how the shaded cells interacted with the various kropki dots around the grid. The whole design of this puzzle was very creative & well thought out - and it did a great job of utilizing every "aspect" of the different rules.
I'm not sure if the dFoW version impacted the difficulty (as compared to the non-foggy version), but it's certainly possible that it helped guide my attention towards the important areas and made my solve path more efficient. Even though it appears that this puzzle was intended to not utilize fog, I thought that the dFoW triggers & reveals were perfectly executed and made for a really great solve. I can't speak to the nonfoggy version of the puzzle, but I definitely recommend solving the dFoW version if you enjoy FoW puzzles and are looking for a nice challenging puzzle.
Overall, this was an excellent puzzle, thank you for sharing @Wuschel!
am 13. März 2025, 00:47 Uhr von LeaVulpina
It's proper mind-bending to try and keep track of how the arithmetic works, but once one manages that, the logic itself is a) not unapproachable; and b) right lovely!
am 3. März 2025, 03:10 Uhr von QuiltyAsCharged
Fantastic puzzle with some pretty logic! I appreciated the option of the dynamic fog version, which focused my attention in the right spots
am 28. Februar 2025, 11:05 Uhr von DonQuichopp
I thought with the dynamic fog it's more like a 3 star. The interaction between the different rules is mindbending ;-) it took me a lot of writing down to see the possibilities, but I feel I don't deserve the solve of a 4 star puzzle, hahaha.
Took me about 4 hours my average time for 3 stars.
Thank you for the puzzle!
am 28. Februar 2025, 00:19 Uhr von rubencubed
very nice flow, and nice brain wrinkles. I got a little bogged down in all the possibilities for the middle line, but otherwise quite enjoyed it!
am 27. Februar 2025, 00:52 Uhr von Serkles
My first time solving a Cracking the Cryptic Puzzle! Loved it.
am 26. Februar 2025, 19:54 Uhr von Voidslime
Very unique and rewarding! mentally tracking possibilities was hard but never overwhelming.
am 26. Februar 2025, 16:32 Uhr von oskode
Incredible!
am 25. Februar 2025, 20:58 Uhr von madhupt
Very smooth and enjoyable!
am 25. Februar 2025, 12:28 Uhr von gfoot
Well set, a nice blend between rules, and while not too difficult overall, the effect on kropki dots was particularly challenging for me! I stuck to the non-fog version.
am 25. Februar 2025, 11:13 Uhr von 9Rookienumbers
I went back and forth between the two versions. It was brutal, confusing, and I kept making mistakes until the very end: my brain was so fried it took me 4 attempts to punch in the right solution code. Loved it.
am 24. Februar 2025, 21:58 Uhr von softie
I really enjoyed going back and solving the puzzle again with the fog! It was really interesting to see how my first solve path had depended on combining some clues and Sudoku logic that were not available with the fog present.
am 24. Februar 2025, 18:36 Uhr von henrypijames
The title alone is triggering PTSD in me - probably anyone who's gone through Friends in Unknown Lands. But at least this isn't a CC.
am 24. Februar 2025, 16:12 Uhr von wuc
Did the no fog version. Awesome ruleset. Lots of math. Loved it thx.
am 24. Februar 2025, 15:53 Uhr von Snookerfan
Great and very fun puzzle, although the ruleset made the scanning quite hard. Thank you!
