Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

This puzzle was set for Scojo's setting imposter challenge. In this you are given another setter at random and have a week to set a puzzle in their style. I was given the daunting task of creating a puzzle in the style of the inimitable marty_sears. Despite going ham with the visuals and the storytelling, I was quickly unmasked as a rogue imposter due to forgetting to bring the lovely clean logic that is a hallmark of marty's puzzles. I suggest you solve the puzzle this was up against instead - Under the Influence. But if you insist, I present the Forbidden Desert. Good luck and stay safe!

• Normal sudoku rules apply: Place the digits 1 to 9 once each in every row, column, and 3x3 box
• Snakes:
  • Two snakes exist in the grid, their ends marked by headstones. Snakes move orthogonally but do not cross themselves or share cells with each other
  • One snake is a German Whisper (adjacent digits differ by at least 5). One is a palindrome (digits read the same backwards and forwards)
• Path:
  • Draw your path through the grid from R2C1 to R9C9
  • Your path moves orthogonally and does not visit any cell more than once
  • Your path does not visit any cell containing a snake
  • Your path goes through every cell containing the digit corresponding to its box number (i.e. the 1 in box 1, the 2 in box 2 etc.). Boxes are numbered 1 to 9 in normal reading order
  • Digits along your path differ by at least 2. In addition, path digits differ from any orthogonally adjacent snake cell by at least 2
• Candles: Candles contain neither snake nor path
• X: Digits on an X sum to 10. No negative constraint

Play in Sudokupad / Cosmetic-lite version / Download full solution guide (PDF)