Difference Of Squares
(Eingestellt am 6. März 2025, 16:28 Uhr von MathGuy_12)
Many thanks to everyone who helped me make this puzzle!
Rules:
- Normal sudoku rules apply.
- Digits in cages sum to the expression or value in the top left corner. X and Y are positive integers such that X > Y. Digits may repeat within cages if allowed by other rules.
- Digits along an arrow sum to the digit in that arrow's circle.
- Purple lines are “renban” lines. A renban line is a collection of consecutive non-repeating digits arranged in any order.
Lösungscode: The value of X + Y followed by column 1 top to bottom.
Kommentare
am 16. März 2025, 03:49 Uhr von TheNineElements
I solved this puzzle well over a year ago (after its original appearance on CTC) but noticed it got posted here recently, so I revisited the puzzle and solved it again. On this second recent attempt, I definitely still did enjoy the actual puzzle, although the "magic" of the break-in this time around couldn't match my original impression.
Coming into my second attempt, I did remember the "trick" (which was very memorable, and very beautiful), so I got a massive headstart on the solve, which ended up being 22:59. I unfortunately do not remember my original solve time, but I would guess it would be in the 50-60 minute range, lining up with my times for medium-hard 3* difficulty puzzles.
On my original attempt, I remember it taking quite a while to figure out how to construct each set region, thus determinining the relationship between x & y. I also remember that the actual digit disambiguation was fairly straightforward for me (back then), and the remainder of the puzzle solved very nicely. During my recent attempt, it was obviously more trivial because I remembered exactly which "things" I needed to look at, and knew how to approach each phase of the solve. That being said, I did not remember too much about the later midgame going in to my recent attempt, so my experience with that phase was fairly similar to my original solve.
If I were to give the break-in (deducing the relationship between x and y) a difficulty rating, based on how I remember the original attempt, it would probably be 3-4/5 difficulty. The midgame (actually deducing the true values of x and y, and then solving the remainder of the puzzle) would probably be around 3* difficulty.
Overall, this is an excellent puzzle. Genuinely one of the best sudoku variants I've solved to date. If you haven't yet solved it, I HIGHLY recommend giving it a thorough, unassisted attempt before watching any of the videos linked in the description above. The break in is definitely tricky, but it is absolutely worth the effort of solving it yourself before spoiling the break-in. For the best experience, be prepared to spend a while experimenting and ensure you have a basic understanding of SET before heading into the solve.
MathGuy: Thank you so much for your comment! I am so glad you enjoyed the puzzle and took the time to solve it a second time :)
