Disambiguation Arrives Fashionably Late
(Published on 25. May 2025, 17:28 by HalfBakedLunatic)
The Rules:
• Normal Sudoku Rules Apply
• Digit along a red parity line must alternate between even and odd digits
• Digits along a green German Whisper line must differ by at least 5
• Cells separated by an X must contain digits that sum to 10, Cells separated by a V must contain digits that sum to 5
• Placing correct digits will clear fog somewhere in the grid
Solve Online here (right-click and open in new tab):
Disambiguation Arrives Fashionably Late (Cracking The Cryptic)
NOTE: (highlight hidden text to see it)
• You should be able to get almost every cell down to two candidates, columns 4 and 6 are the holdouts - but then there is one tricky step. There are three 'elimination by contradiction' and a finned X-Wing - finding any one of them will let you continue. And then, the final disambiguation is close at hand. I think the puzzle is 3.5 to 4 star difficulty, I'll start it at 3 and see what everyone thinks!
Leave a comment and let me know how you like it!
Puzzle by David Workman (aka "HalfBakedLunatic")
Solution code: Column 3, top to bottom
Comments
on 13. August 2025, 00:00 by eap314
I loved the puzzle! It'd be difficult to play by coloring, but I'm used to overly penciling things.
on 25. July 2025, 05:45 by jw5801
Very nice! I also didn't notice any tricky sudoku steps. The last reveal let me immediately fill in every other cell of the grid, which was very satisfying!
on 5. June 2025, 02:16 by Astraeus
Really gorgeous how each step of the puzzle required you to break the cells into different classification: parity, then polarity, then extremity. Beautiful puzzle.
-- Thank you Astraeus, really glad you enjoyed it!
on 4. June 2025, 10:06 by takeponmaki
Loved how it ends. great puzzle.
on 2. June 2025, 19:56 by rmjarvis
Very nice. I didn't notice any tricky steps, and the only X I used was the one in box 8. It doesn't surprise me at all that that one wasn't required either, but I used it when it showed up. My logic was usually of the sort: "Where does the high 37 go in box ??" That and some german whisper logic to find 19's next to 46's. I do always love a coloring puzzle where almost no digits are filled in until the last 20 seconds.
-- Thank you rmjarvis! That's great, pretty much what I was going for :-)
on 27. May 2025, 10:57 by BevG
I really enjoyed this puzzle. I coloured for high/low first and when I was down to pairs, re-coloured for digits within pairs. I knew what was hidden under the last fog because it was the only option (that I could see) to disambiguate, but it still took a few minutes to find what would clear that fog. Thank you for this one!
on 27. May 2025, 03:04 by vitaminz
Absolutely loved this one. Found it pretty easy but coloring puzzles are my wheelhouse. I don’t know what a finned X wing is so I doubt I used one! GW and simple odd/even sudoku (with some coloring chains) gets you where you need to go.
on 27. May 2025, 01:37 by e_reads
I’m new to sudoku, but I found this to be very approachable and rewarding. I did look at the hint, but it was ok because I learned a new skill!
on 26. May 2025, 23:41 by giladooshlon
Very nice! The x clues turned out to be unnecessary.
-- Thanks giladooshlon, you are correct. There were a couple of 'more difficult' steps and the X clues made it possible to continue on without having to resort to using more complex logic. As you probably surmised by the comments, there was still one last step along the way that is tripping many people up, but I couldn't figure out any way of making that one easier without blowing the whole disambiguation!
on 26. May 2025, 21:12 by vitaminz
Absolutely loved this one. Found it pretty easy but coloring puzzles are my wheelhouse. I don’t know what a finned X wing is so I doubt I used one! GW and simple odd/even sudoku (with some coloring chains) gets you where you need to go.
on 26. May 2025, 13:45 by sasheo
Splendid work of art! Thanks!
on 26. May 2025, 12:22 by rudaass
That's the best puzzle in a long time. Thank you very much.
on 26. May 2025, 11:04 by AnebodaSlatorp
Disambiguation makes an entrance just when the host is beginning to worry it will never show up - great stuff!
-- Thanks AnebodaSlatorp, that made me laugh!
on 26. May 2025, 10:25 by Snookerfan
Very nice coloring puzzle! Thank you
on 25. May 2025, 22:20 by Nikamar
Great puzzle! Smooth solution all the way.
on 25. May 2025, 20:27 by Exigus
I was able to get all cells down to at most 2 candidates and waited with entering any digits until then, after that I only needed one of the disambiguators to finish it. Great coloring was had. Thanks!
on 25. May 2025, 19:45 by egglet
great puzzle. colouring helped tons
on 25. May 2025, 18:27 by Marius
Not too hard but way too easy to make a mistake
-- Thanks Marius, great comment. I suppose that's what I was going for :-)
