Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

Shy Abstract 3x3 Pack

(Published on 1. July 2025, 21:17 by AnalyticalNinja )

Almost three years ago, I made a small pack of 3x3 puzzles. I was trying to make that small grid as tricky as I could, and I think they turned out pretty interesting. I recently thought of this pack again and decided to share it here. Hopefully you enjoy it!

Universal rules for these puzzles:
Abstract 3x3: (aka mean mini) Within this puzzle, three digits need to be placed in each row and column once each. It's up to the solver to determine which three digits they are. (valid digits are from the range 1-9 and are the same for each row/column)
Shy Digit: One of the digits is shy, which digit is to be determined by the solver. A shy digit will present itself as its cell number instead of itself for the purpose of clues. Additionally, the shy digit cannot be any of the digits it presents itself as, nor consecutive with any of them. (example: if the shy digit is in cells 3, 5, and 7, then it could only be 1 or 9, as all the other digits are either 357 or consecutive with them.)

Further rules specific to each puzzle are listed within the puzzle links.
Here's a pdf if you'd like to have access to that. Otherwise, I will add links to each of the puzzles individually as well.

Renban.
German Whisper.
Palindrome.
Between.
Clock.
Lockout.

Also, I realize this may not be the easiest puzzle concept to grasp, so here is an example puzzle to showcase how it is supposed to work.

Example link.

Solution code: The shy digit from each of the puzzles in order. Renban, German Whisper, Palindrome, Between, Clock, and Lockout.


Solved by efnenu, Crusader175, isajo4002, marcmees, tuoni2, palpot, SKORP17, Exigus, MattYDdraig, Khatru, TJReds
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Comments

on 18. July 2025, 20:48 by TJReds
Took a while to wrap my head around the shy digit but once I did the puzzle was beautiful. Impressive how you can make such complicated sudokus in a 3x3 grid...

on 5. July 2025, 18:41 by MattYDdraig
Very cool and surprisingly tricky.

on 3. July 2025, 13:13 by Exigus
Cool concept and nice execution. Thanks!

on 2. July 2025, 05:13 by Crusader175
Very cool idea and fun puzzles!

Difficulty:3
Rating:80 %
Solved:11 times
Observed:3 times
ID:000O1M

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