Zeroville
(Published on 11. August 2025, 20:04 by marty_sears)
Place six 3x2 boxes into the grid. They can be placed either horizontally or vertically, but cannot overlap.
Place the digits 1-6 in each box so that these digits do not repeat in a row, column or box. Any cell outside a box contains a zero.
The following line rules apply to all digits along a line, (even the zeroes!)
ALTERNATING PARITY: Adjacent digits on a red line contain one even digit and one odd digit.
SAME DIFFERENCE: Adjacent digits on a turquoise line have the same difference, to be determined.
PALINDROME: A yellow line reads the same in either direction.
GERMAN WHISPER: Adjacent digits on a green line have a difference of at least FIVE.
REGION SUM: Box borders divide the darker blue line into segments. The digits on each segment have the same sum.
ZIPPER: Two digits that are an equal distance from the central spot on a lavender line sum to the digit on that central spot.
SLOW THERMO: Starting at the end with the bulb and moving along it, digits on a slow thermo always increase or stay the same (but never decrease.)
Please leave a comment if you enjoy :)
Solution code: Row 8, including zeroes
Comments
on 14. August 2025, 00:26 by cbossut
Grandiose!
You two seem to form a really nice setting pair ^^
on 13. August 2025, 06:42 by mse326
Well that'll teach me to read the rules closer. Yellow lines aren't nabner
on 12. August 2025, 20:58 by polcat
For those of us who solved the puzzle in its previous version: can you give us a quick hint about how this changes the solution?
Marty: it is just the final box that is different
on 12. August 2025, 16:41 by salsais
Nice puzzle!
For anyone else wondering why solution checker doesn't accept the solution, the puzzle changed a little bit.
on 12. August 2025, 15:57 by Snue
What a lovely puzzle ^^
I convinced myself that the puzzle was broken, because I forgot how region sum lines worked, but once I realised my mistake, everything flowed perfectly ^^
on 12. August 2025, 11:53 by Exigus
Great puzzle, lots of interesting deductions. Thanks!
on 12. August 2025, 11:51 by Franjo
Fell into the same trap as mscha! Seems I didn’t find the mentioned shortcut on the first trip. Thank you both for creating and sharing this beauty.
on 12. August 2025, 08:15 by richcard
Another puzzle with a classic Marty flow. "Surely it's far too open to get any purchase. Oh, except, there's this small constraint. And that means... and that means... oh...!"
Marty: glad you liked the puzzle :) Although Lake should be given credit for much of the fun flow in this
richcard: Ah, I didn't read the blurb before jumping in. Thank you Lake, too!
on 12. August 2025, 04:18 by chinesemaster
Breezy start, great flow, beautiful finish!
on 11. August 2025, 23:42 by taide
Lovely puzzle as always! I really liked the use of the zeros. They made me think about the typical colored lines in a new way.
on 11. August 2025, 20:55 by npinguy
Zero is considered even, right?
Marty: yes
