poLo
(Published on 21. January 2026, 02:35 by Mattisahuman)
This puzzle was set for Scojo’s weekly puzzle prompt last week! I am especially proud of this one and hope you enjoy solving.
Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply: Fill every row, column and 3x3 box with the digits 1-9 once each.
Kropki: Cells separated by a white dot are consecutive.
Fortress: Red cells with outward pointing arrows are larger than all of their orthogonal neighbors. Blue cells with inward pointing arrows are smaller than all of their orthogonal neighbors.
Index Line Loop: Draw a loop into the grid that may only move orthogonally and may not touch itself, not even diagonally. Additionally, fortress cells are never part of the loop; however, all fortress cells touch the loop either orthogonally or diagonally (or both). Kropki dots have no effect on the loop.
The loop is broken up into segments by box borders. These segments are index lines which are all oriented in the same direction about the loop, to be determined by the solver.
Index Lines: The digit in the Nth cell along a segment indicates the position along the segment where the digit N appears. For example: 2143 would be a valid segment; the 1st digit, 2, indicates that the 2nd digit is a 1, and so on.
Solution code: Row 5
Comments
on 2. August 2026, 17:26 by 6rank
Wow, that was a beasty puzzle with quite some unexpected turn of events. Thank you for putting this togrther:)
on 28. July 2026, 03:10 by Mattisahuman
Updated wording of rules
on 20. February 2026, 22:26 by beansontoast_
Amazing construction !!!!! loved every second
on 3. February 2026, 16:40 by Firebird
Nice puzzle! It was hard for me, especially the beginning. But thinking it through, the loop slowly started emerging. Thank you!
on 22. January 2026, 01:23 by Mattisahuman
Updated link to have my lmd username
on 21. January 2026, 10:23 by Snookerfan
Very nice puzzle, lots of fun, I understand why you are proud! Thanks
