Nearest Neighbors: Cage Counting
(Published on 13. July 2025, 20:03 by jakestilesowen)
Rules:
Normal 6x6 sudoku rules apply.
Taxicab distance:
The taxicab distance between two cells is the minimum number of orthogonal steps required to move between them.
Nearest neighbor distance:
A cell's nearest neighbor distance is the minimum taxicab distance to a cell with the same digit as itself.
Cage counting:
Each cage displays a count of how many cells it contains whose digit is equal to their nearest neighbor distance. (In case it's hard to visually distinguish the cages: the three cages span row 1, column 1, and box 1 respectively. Each cage has a total of 4.)
Click to see my previous puzzle introducing the Nearest Neighbors mechanic
Please leave a comment if you enjoy :)
Solution code: Column 6
Comments
on 15. July 2025, 04:37 by Fortunate
Fun and clean puzzle! I enjoyed the logic of the cages.
on 14. July 2025, 04:11 by ViKingPrime
A cleaner execution of the concept, really showcases the logic well. I'm curious to see where you take this (perhaps a 9x9 someday?)
on 13. July 2025, 22:18 by Silverbyte
Fun rule!
For readibility, I'd put the taxicab distance *after* the nearest neighbour explanation.
Perhaps even in the same paragraph.
