Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

am 21. April 2025, 21:07 Uhr von Jackler
Feels like people are yanking my chain. Felt way easier than 5 stars.

am 2. April 2025, 09:23 Uhr von TheNineElements
Solve Time: 77:58

I rated this 4/5 difficulty.

This was an absolutely brilliant puzzle! It had some very beautiful geometric ideas, my favorite of which was showcased via the break-in. Additionally, this one was surprisingly approachable for puzzle that is considered "very hard", and I found the solve path to be fairly intuitive (meaning I " knew" where to focus) and very enjoyable.

To be completely honest, I generally don't gravitate towards this "type" of variant line rule (it isn't my 'favorite', though I don't actively avoid such rules or anything), but this puzzle was definitely an exception. When I say "type," I’m referring to variant line rules that group adjacent cells in a way that forces interactions between multiple [overlapping] subsets of digits within the line. Similar to entropic or modular lines (or possibly ten-sum lines). Either way, I found this implementation & use of the rule to be really engaging/fun.

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I found it hard to assign this puzzle an overall difficulty score. It was definitely within the 4-5* range, but I eventually landed on an overall 4* difficulty.

I think the early break-in was surprisingly straightforward/approachable (probably 3-4*). For some reason I got very stuck (for like 35 minutes with very slow progress) towards the bottom of the puzzle in the early midgame. I spent a very long time experimenting with different digit possibilities in box 8 to no avail, but after realizing I couldn't make significant progress with the line clue logic, I started scanning and realized that I had overlooked some very obvious/basic classic sudoku deductions. Had I simply thought to check for sudoku eliminations, my solve time probably would have been around 50 minutes.

Typically a puzzle taking me nearly 80 mins would almost certainly warrant a 5* difficulty rating. However, since nearly half of that time is a result of my failure to consider beginner sudoku rules, that rating really wouldn't reflect the actual difficulty/complexity of the logic. I really felt like the variant logic and "big ideas" for this puzzle were totally fair and did not feel particularly difficult at any point (once I got unstuck). I think an intermediate solver would have no issue understanding/tracking the logic and the puzzle would be 'doable' - though it would still be quite a hard puzzle. Based on these factors, I think 4* is probably a better reflection of the difficulty (IMO, of course).

Thanks for sharing!

am 29. März 2025, 17:50 Uhr von askaksaksask
Brilliant as ever. I felt the logic and solve path were much more accessible and flowy compared to previous entries like Taiga, but this puzzle is so much fun it would be a crime to pass this up. Thank you!

am 29. März 2025, 13:18 Uhr von BHUNTER47
Awesome ruleset. Don't think this puzzle is nearly 5 star difficulty, but it is still brilliant.

am 29. März 2025, 04:45 Uhr von waffles_the_dog
Fantastic break in, the logic flowed really nicely after the initial break in. Only problem I encountered was incorrectly leaving out an option in the line going through r9c5, *after* noting the option existed but then forgetting to actually think about it :D

Other than that hiccup none of the individual deductions seemed incredibly difficult, just a bit of care needed to not be a muppet like I was :D

am 28. März 2025, 20:35 Uhr von madhupt
Brilliant puzzle! Mighty happy that I could solve an @IcyFruit puzzle at one go. Thanks for sharing this.

am 28. März 2025, 12:10 Uhr von Snookerfan
Great puzzle! In my opinion the difficulty is 3 stars at most, because there are no really hard steps in the logic. The puzzle resolves very beautifully and smoothly, there were a lot of steps that made me smile. Thank you

am 27. März 2025, 23:34 Uhr von Elliott810
Brilliant puzzle! Thank you:)