RAT RUN 25: Mod Cons
(Eingestellt am 11. Februar 2026, 02:00 Uhr von marty_sears)
- Normal sudoku rules apply.
- AIM OF EXPERIMENT: Finkz and Phinx must both reach different cupcakes by finding a path through the maze. The paths must not visit any cell more than once, share cells, cross themselves or each other, or pass through any thick maze walls.
- As well as moving orthogonally, they may move diagonally if there's a 2x2 space in which to do so, but may never pass diagonally through a round wall-spot on the corner of a cell.
- BLACKCURRANTS: If a blackcurrant sits between two digits then one is double the other.
- ONE-WAY DOORS: Finkz and Phinx may only pass directly through a purple arrow if moving in the direction the arrow is pointing. An arrow always points to the smaller of the two digits it sits between.
- MOTION SENSORS: The digit on a pink motion sensor indicates the number of cells that are visited within the (up to 9) cells immediately surrounding the sensor. The sensor itself is counted, if visited.
- VIDEO CAMERAS: The digit on a grey camera indicates the total SUM of the digits in any visited cells that the camera's lens points towards (before a wall is reached, which blocks vision.)
- TEST CONSTRAINT: In this experiment, both paths are valid 'modular lines'. Any set of 3 successive cells along a path contain one digit from each of the groups [1,4,7], [2,5,8] and [3,6,9].
Lösungscode: Digits in row 8 that are unvisited by either rat, from left to right
Kommentare
Gestern, 16:50 Uhr von Klausku
I am totally blown away. This is a true masterpiece.
After 20 minutes I realised, that I used entropic lines as test constraint instead of modular lines. Although this yielded some nice logic (and I thought that this was right), I came to a dead end. The second, correct approach unveiled step by step these Marty-esk paths. I finished with ab big smile on my face. Very satisfying. Thanks Marty for creating these wonderful treats. I‘m looking forward to the next episode.
am 16. Februar 2026, 23:27 Uhr von ako
This one resisted fiercely, although there was lotta general logic and almost no Sudoku - which usually is my strength. 4 Stars on difficulty for me this time. And yet there lay so much beauty in the struggle. <3
am 16. Februar 2026, 05:31 Uhr von MikeMeech
Another great maze puzzle!
am 15. Februar 2026, 11:38 Uhr von wuc
Masterpiece. Best of season.
am 15. Februar 2026, 09:54 Uhr von BG03
Only Marty can troll us so hard... Even the solution code has some troll vibes! Though at least now we know which rat is which :)
Fantastic way to bring up the double century - thanks!
am 13. Februar 2026, 03:12 Uhr von etoler
How long did it take me to break in? ...mind your own business. But once I finally got moving, the flow was incredible as always. Yet another phenomenally good puzzle, fully at home in a phenomenally good series.
am 12. Februar 2026, 20:26 Uhr von blackjackfitz
Huzzah!
am 12. Februar 2026, 20:23 Uhr von Prince Joffrey
Why does this not have 100%???
am 12. Februar 2026, 18:34 Uhr von MissAmy254
I think this is my favourite so far :)
am 12. Februar 2026, 16:32 Uhr von BrianO
That was delightful! Like others have said - slightly easier than others, but still had plenty of very interesting deductions. Thank you so much, Marty!
am 12. Februar 2026, 02:02 Uhr von Nairurian
Another lovely addition to the series. It felt like this one was a bit easier, but also one of my favourites this season.
am 12. Februar 2026, 00:16 Uhr von Exigus
That was just top notch pathfinding. Thanks!
am 12. Februar 2026, 00:07 Uhr von sujoyku
This was absolutely wonderful, just a perfect journey from start to finish. Thank you for this amazing puzzle, Marty!
am 11. Februar 2026, 23:59 Uhr von da-hans
Very nice rat run. Not brutally difficult with some nice twists in path building. And a cool solution code.
am 11. Februar 2026, 17:22 Uhr von Christounet
Phase 3 is really my prefered one so far. So it great to read that we may have more than 10 experiments to dissect this time!
am 11. Februar 2026, 16:35 Uhr von little_turd
I think this is the first modular puzzle I've dared to solve solo. Enjoyed every minute, but my brain now has a remainder of 0.
am 11. Februar 2026, 16:34 Uhr von mscha
Pretty tricky! Took me a while to find a break-in, and even longer to continue from there. ;-) But after my second breakthrough, it went fairly smoothly.
Wonderful puzzle, as always. Only 5 more to go... :-(
Marty: who said Phase 3 only has 10 experiments? ;)
am 11. Februar 2026, 16:23 Uhr von madhupt
The Rat Run series continues to amaze and makes one wonder about the brain of @marty_sears. The deductions are delectable, intricate but the puzzle is never despairing. Thanks a lot for sharing this.
am 11. Februar 2026, 15:51 Uhr von Calvinball
Congrats marty on officially surpassing the 200 published puzzle milestone. Certainly a very worthy puzzle of such a milestone.
Marty: thankyou mate, I had forgotten that was coming up!
am 11. Februar 2026, 14:41 Uhr von CallindorCray
Had a fun time with it, took me a little over an hour to solve. At first I thought I wouldn't get very far, but as usual with this series, once you find your footing, the path creates itself.
Bravo!
am 11. Februar 2026, 12:51 Uhr von Franjo
How I love the last camera-step! Thank you very much for creating and sharing another fascinating adventure.
am 11. Februar 2026, 11:15 Uhr von nunc
Thank you so much for creating these marvellous puzzles! Once again you topped yourself!
am 11. Februar 2026, 10:53 Uhr von zeniko
This is another marvellous dance of these two endearing rats. Thanks for sharing.
am 11. Februar 2026, 10:44 Uhr von MartinR
I forsee the term "rinky dinkage" (sp?) being used by Simon a lot at several points in this puzzle :)
am 11. Februar 2026, 10:25 Uhr von the_fat_goose
Another very tight rat run! Thank you for these fun puzzles.
am 11. Februar 2026, 07:55 Uhr von Angara
It was incredible. I was stuck for about half an hour because I didn't see a digit on the path in front of the camera. Thank you for this fantastic puzzle
am 11. Februar 2026, 05:16 Uhr von antiknight
That was amazing! It had some great moments in the solve.
am 11. Februar 2026, 04:59 Uhr von QuiltyAsCharged
"No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it!"
Another fascinating chapter is complete. The conclusion draws near too soon, along with The Big One... (?)
am 11. Februar 2026, 04:22 Uhr von chinesemaster
Too brilliant!! A few times I thought I broke the puzzle, but then the very nice aha moments.
am 11. Februar 2026, 02:54 Uhr von ViKingPrime
Easy to get tripped up by the differences between Sensors and Cameras, if you're a fool like me who doesn't parse the rules before diving into a puzzle. Luckily for the rest of you, you have me to barge ahead and get stuck in the mud for you, a service I am at all times willing to provide.
