Small Giants
(Eingestellt am 10. Februar 2026, 01:10 Uhr von Kafkapharnaum)
Back to this here offering, like for the Chaotic Party Pack puzzles, you will find, instead of the outside smaller grid to enter the digits missing per region, a left-side strip to enter them in any which way you see fit, although for the solution code, you will need to align each of these 'Region' cells with the zero on that row. Note also that it needs to be empty for the solution check to trigger.
Big thanks once again to chrisj50 for testing!
RULES
CHAOS CONSTRUCTION
– Divide the grid into 5 regions, each made of 5 orthogonally connected cells.
– The regions and the grid as a whole must follow the Doppelganger rules as described below, and every region must contain a Doubler cell.
– The digit in the top left cell of a region (ie, its leftmost cell in its highest row) is its region number. All region numbers must be different, and together they must form a set of the digits 1 to 5.
DOPPELGANGER
– Every row, column, and region contains the digit 0 always, as well as four out of the five digits from 1 to 5 (ie, it's missing one digit that is not 0).
– No two rows, no two columns, and no two regions may be missing the same digit.
– For each 0 in the grid, the digits missing in its row, its column, and its box must be three different digits, yet zeros always have a null value (ie, zero).
DOUBLERS
– Every row, column, and region must contain a 'Doubler' cell that will double the value of its digit.
– These five cells must form a set of the digits 1 to 5 (such that a doubler cell cannot contain a 0), and Doublers cannot also be Region Numbers.
REGION SUM LINES
– The region borders must divide the blue lines into segments that each must have the same sum; if a line exits a region and reenters it elsewhere, these segments are to be counted separately.
– Every line needs to be divided in at least two segments, and every line must have at least one Region Number on it.
Lösungscode: As read in the left side strip from top to bottom, the digits missing per region, as aligned with the zeros in these regions.
Kommentare
am 12. April 2026, 11:07 Uhr von dovii
I don’t often attempt 3-star puzzles but this one was so highly rated I had to try! Very nice. Finished in 74:34
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Thank you so much for the vote of confidence and for the kind words, happy to hear you enjoyed -- and well done too, as I'm sure it must have been a lot of unusual rules all at once!
If you'd like more highly rated 3/5's, two that I solved myself and really enjoyed are Jabberwocky by Dadjokes (99%) and Atoll by Mathpesto (100% at the time of its CTC feature – youtube.com/watch?v=aANrohhFJ2g). You can find them in my list of favorites, and if you'll allow me to do a bit of self-promo, you could also try a collab I did with three other setters, called Quadrophenia (which can be found in my own catalog, page 2) :-)
am 10. März 2026, 21:58 Uhr von oskode
This puzzle keeps on delivering up to the very end. Fantastic setting, thank you!
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Many thanks for such kind words, that is really appreciated -- with that many rules, that little thing had to be layered like an onion haha, so I'm happy to hear it delivered! :D
am 24. Februar 2026, 16:53 Uhr von kingoffries
Clever puzzle! Nice to have such a difficult snack!
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A pretty caloric snack, eh XD I originally wanted to have a duo of 5x5's, but ended up thinking that this one was enough on its own hehe -- glad you enjoyed, and thanks for sharing!
am 14. Februar 2026, 18:50 Uhr von Yann
Wow, I am deeply honored by this little tribute !! So smooth with that many rules, really enjoyed it ! It really means a lot to me...
I'll try to publish the two CCs then XD ! I had them on stand-by for a long time trying to find a good third puzzle, but I gave up on that and didn't continue, but I think you're right that they could make a nice stand-alone.
Anyways, I've been really busy the last few months, and when I think of puzzling I get kind of nostalgic, thank you for reminding me what a wonderful community it is ! Wish you all the best for the future, and hope I'll find the time to pursue this fantastic little hobby ;-)
Ps : great to see the doppelganger ruleset really picking up, well done on that as well !
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Ah, I'm happy to hear that it had that effect, thank you for sharing, and I'm glad also that you liked the puzzle itself! That tribute is much deserved -- certainly your puzzles stuck with me ever since I played them.
And yes, it's been quite something to see the DG ruleset take off like that, and all the way up to a CTC feature (congrats to ChinStrap for pulling this off)! Being also really busy myself, I will likely be less active too, though I will remain active through collabs (see my message to wullemuus below), as like you said, it's really the community ultimately that makes it so fun!
am 14. Februar 2026, 09:02 Uhr von wullemuus
Nice surprise for a coffee-break- waiting for the 9x9 version :)
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Ohh, I'm afraid that this will have be up to some of the new Doppelganger setters to create, as I think it's really time for me to hang my hat as a solo setter -- after one last Still Life puzzle (an easy one - possibly up already by the time you see this comment).
I will remain active through collabs though, and incidentally, I think you missed our last one, so here is the link!
https://logic-masters.de/Raetselportal/Raetsel/zeigen.php?id=000QKL
am 11. Februar 2026, 15:24 Uhr von marcmees
A Lot of “Rules” for a 5x5 but together they make for a smooth solve. Thanks
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Yeeahh, and I think now I could have at least merged the CC rule with the Doppelganger, or vice versa, and maybe even add the 'Doubler' requirement along with the "digits 1 to 5"? It' a never ending learning process! But anyway, happy to hear that at the end of all this, it led to a smooth solve -- many thanks for the feedback!
am 10. Februar 2026, 07:52 Uhr von chrisj50
This was a pleasure to test - incredible how much logic you can squeeze into a 5x5! Thanks for sharing and I’m sure others will enjoy this one :)
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And many thanks again for being such an awesome tester Chris -- glad you enjoyed that new small CC! :D
