Dutch Flat Mates (Bulbous Arrows) (with Palpot)
(Published on 2. April 2025, 11:30 by Flinty)
To play the puzzle, please click the image:
Initial Setter Difficulty: 2.5/5 (possibly closer to 2 than 3, but a genuine difficulty splitter in our opinion)
Normal Sudoku rules apply
Place the digits 1-9 so that they do not repeat in any row, column, or 3x3 box.
Dutch Flats
Every 5 in the grid must have a '1' directly above it or a '9' directly below it. It may have both, but it doesn't need both.
Bulbous Arrows
The sum of the digits in the bulb equals the sum of the digits on the attached arrow.
Hint to start
The clue that uses the whole of Row 2 is forced (min/max), but then you need to ensure the 5 in Row 1 is a happy chappy. If you are stuck in Box 2, please consider how low R2C4 and R2C6 can be, and flat mates!
Special Thanks
This puzzle is based on a wonderful series of puzzles using this constraint from Juggler:
The next 2 weeks guests are:
- Collab Setter (thank you again!) Palpot, certainly doesn't make a logic leap, but this 'leap' does include a very rare event in the series!
- And then Marty_sears makes his anticipated return with a puzzle that's sure to be a hit!
Previous Dutch Flat Mate Puzzles
I have removed the list of previous puzzles in the series, as I've noticed it is starting to affect the LMD search function. The plan is to eventually list the Dutch Flat Mates on a linked spreadsheet, and ideally edit the LMD pages of the older puzzle pages too. For what it's worth, this has been a weekly series since '18 Oct 23' and is the 77th consecutive Wednesday!
Solution code: Digits from Column 8 (top to bottom)
Comments
on 8. April 2025, 08:33 by rhodri
Fascinating puzzle, loved it
on 8. April 2025, 08:29 by rhodri
Fascinating puzzle, loved it
on 2. April 2025, 19:10 by Franjo
Nice DFM-puzzle! Thank you very much for creating and sharing.
on 2. April 2025, 13:53 by VitP
a nice workout.
relatively easy, as long as you rigorously apply the PROCEDURES of
1) dutch flat mates
2) arrows
3) the thing that simon always complains about
