RAT RUN 30: Star Rats
(Eingestellt Heute, 01:00 Uhr von marty_sears)
- Normal sudoku rules apply.
- AIM OF EXPERIMENT: Finkz and Phinx must both reach the cupcakes by finding a path through the maze. The paths must not visit any cell more than once, cross themselves or each other, or pass through any thick maze walls. The paths may not share cells except for where they meet at the cupcake cell.
- 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.
- BOOSTER CELLS: There is one booster cell in every row, column and box, and each contains a different digit. The value of a booster cell equals its digit, plus its row number, plus its column number. Eg: If r7c3 is a booster cell and contains a 6, it will have a value of 16 (7+3+6).
- BLACKCURRANTS: If two cells are joined by a blackcurrant then the value of one is double the value of the other.
- STARFRUIT: The sum of the two values joined by a starfruit is always the same, and must be deduced.
- TEST CONSTRAINT: In this experiment, both rats visit the same number of cells, and the sequence of VALUES along both paths are identical. Eg: If the first five values visited by Finkz are 7, 4, 12, 3, 8 (in that order) then the same must be true for Phinx.
Lösungscode: Digits not visited by either rat in row 6, from left to right
Kommentare
Heute, 19:24 Uhr von Nairurian
A bit more tricky today, it was far from the one that took me the longest but it was the first one that had me break out Excel to map values.
Heute, 18:06 Uhr von antiknight
Amazing puzzle! It has some nice deductions.
Heute, 17:48 Uhr von DonQuichopp
Lovely lovely lovely. Took me little less than 2 hours to solve. Didn't find this one as hard as last weeks. For me it flowed really nicely from deduction to deduction.
Looking forward to CtCs video. This time i feel, I got the right logic quite easily. Thank you once more Marty!
Heute, 17:22 Uhr von Leodesian
Wow, what an incredible puzzle, and my favourite so far. Lots of great moments where I stopped and appreciated how nifty the logic is.
Also finding that doing the Rat Run series is improving me so much as a solver - thank you Marty!
Heute, 17:10 Uhr von blackjackfitz
Huzzah!
Heute, 17:05 Uhr von Fool on Hill
Well, I find some of these puzzles easier than some, but that was a harder one for me, and I went down every blind alley that was to be found ... excellent puzzle.
Heute, 16:30 Uhr von firespire
Maybe the first Rat Run that people have rated 4 stars that I have been able to complete.
Stuck some letters on the grid, saw a conflict, thought wait a minute I might be able to start this and switched to numbers.
I got all the information I needed from the rules, no hidden idea for me to fail to work out, no need to work backwards or anything.
A bit of brute force less thinking is my solving style, not a criticism of the setter. The skill of Marty to create a very strict solve path is what I love.
I had the row column labels setting on which always helps me and then recording cell value when boosted on the board helped.
I remembered to keep the Sudoku pad url I used as I know Marty Changes them. 1 hour 20 was my time which I think is typical of the ones I can do.
Heute, 16:18 Uhr von vitaminz
This one is a true masterpiece. Nothing else needs to be said.
Heute, 15:56 Uhr von AshBrown
Didnt find this one too bad for a change. Great puzzle once again
Heute, 15:44 Uhr von GeorgeTheToad2
Pure genius. Took longer than two hours and I enjoyed every minute. Amazing.
Heute, 15:29 Uhr von mscha
Another wonderful new ruleset, one that only makes sense in phase 3.
I had more trouble with this than I should; even when I though I got this, Marty managed to surprise me.
Glad that this isn't the finale yet, may phase 3 live long and happily! :-)
Edit to note: Exactly, alconja! Happened to me as well, and I'm sure we're not the only ones.
Heute, 14:14 Uhr von alconja
Rat Runs are like plugging in a USB stick: Try one way, prove it doesn't work. Try the other way because that has to be right and ... it doesn't work. Try the first way again and it works. :)
(Well, except that rat runs are fun.)
Heute, 13:51 Uhr von Franjo
I‘m happy to notice that this episode was NOT the last one of season 3! Again it was a great pleasure to reconstruct the paths of the lovely rat twins. Thank you so much!
Heute, 12:39 Uhr von lune
My first ever comment as I'm usually more of a silent member, but I had to comment. Each time I open this rat series, I read the rules and think "oh my, no way I'll be able to do this one". But then I start, look harder at the clues, look harder at the rules, think a little... and it just flows.
It’s so smooth every time, and so satisfying. The rules that initially seemed scary somehow start to make sense, and everything just clicks.
I absolutely adore this series. It pushes me to think a bit harder, a bit more outside the box, and in the end when you solve it, you feel smarter and incredibly satisfied.
Thanks so much, Marty, it's a pleasure every time, Wednesday started to be my favourite day for a while now :)
Heute, 10:22 Uhr von cullenmersch
This took me 3 hours to complete, but was an absolute joy to work through! My partner and I love the opportunity to "feed the girls" every week. We'll be sad to see the series end soon.
Heute, 09:24 Uhr von dinonugs
When I start with all of these, even when I understand the logic of the paths, I can't see how the digits will disambiguate. And then of course, the puzzle will almost effortlessly put them into place.
Heute, 08:52 Uhr von Owenx
Mind-blowing as always! However, I kinda guessed where the left rat was supposed to go before I was 100% sure. So hard to resist that temptation lol.
Heute, 05:57 Uhr von npinguy
To clarify the starfruit rule, are you saying that all starfruits represent the same sum (between their 2 cells)?
Marty: Yes that's right. I have tweaked the wording - is it clearer now?
Heute, 05:34 Uhr von QuiltyAsCharged
The experiment title reads the same backwards and forwards, just like the path itself!
Heute, 04:55 Uhr von etoler
And once again, I find myself in awe at the utter and unmatched brilliance of a couple of rats.
...oh, and Marty, too, I suppose. ;)
Heute, 02:58 Uhr von hamosphere
Loved it.... what was satisfying here is I could predict some of the Marty tricks that were incoming.... only took me 30 rat runs!!
Heute, 02:51 Uhr von Silverscree
Lovely puzzle once more, and an intriguing story unfolding!
Yes, we all know Marty can set well, but for once I'd like to praise his ability to find a new colour every puzzle!
Marty: haha, I am definitely running out!
Heute, 01:53 Uhr von arctan
very hard at times until you realize the right question to ask about the paths, and then it becomes incredibly obvious how everything must work (and, as always, it does so in the wonderful ways one would expect from a marty puzzle)
Heute, 01:19 Uhr von ViKingPrime
This is perhaps the Rat Run I've had the most fun with so far, which is saying a lot. I think we can chalk that up to this being one of the setters favorite constraints. You can feel the sheer joy in every step of this puzzle.
