Trapped Knights
(Published on 14. April 2026, 00:33 by ZenLOSER)
My first puzzle on LMD! I hope you enjoy it. I'm not sure if the difficulty is 2 or 3, please let me know.
Rules:
- Normal Sudoku rules: Put the digits 1-9 once each in every row, column, and 3x3 box
- Killer Cages: Digits may not repeat within a cage and sum to the value in the upper left corner
- Round Table cells: A cell is a Round Table cell if another cell exists with the same digit a knights move away. Digits in a Round Table cell indicate the total number of Round Table cells containing that digit in the puzzle.
- Example: if 5 is in a Round Table cell there will be exactly 5 Round Table cells with the digit 5 in them in the completed puzzle, no more and no less.
- Trapped Knights: All digits in cages are Round Table cells. (Other cells outside cages can also be Round Table cells).
- Gray Circle: Digits in a gray circle must be odd.
Solution code: Row 2
Comments
on 18. April 2026, 08:54 by ZenLOSER
I'm not sure how many have been showcased recently, but I remember a while ago a somewhat common rule on CtC puzzles was:
"Circles: If the digit N appears in a circle, then exactly N circles contain the digit N."
I was trying to make a reference to this circle rule combined with knights by calling it Round Table cells.
on 17. April 2026, 18:30 by itsid
I have no idea how to rephrase the ruleset.. but it was indeed a bit tough to understand w/o actually trying to solve the puzzle.
Once the puzzle is open and one gets to start with some very basic things (like colouring all known "round table"-cells [i.e. killer cages] one gets a MUCH better idea of how this will play out eventually.
and the set up was really nice, gentle but not too easy break in just so it's still in the "oh yeah.. right!" category... really enjoyable.
thank you
on 17. April 2026, 15:11 by jordanza
WOW! Never seen anything like this before. Stunning construction :)
on 15. April 2026, 01:49 by ZenLOSER
I'm bad at html so the first edit looked wrong :)
on 15. April 2026, 01:47 by ZenLOSER
Edited to clarify a negative constraint per feedback.
on 15. April 2026, 01:43 by ZenLOSER
@KingIsulgard Changing around which values are in those cells will cause certain of them to have too many Round Table cells of their digit. This disambiguates the cells.
The rules example of 5's saying there would be *exactly* 5 was meant to convey the negative constraint. I will add more wording to make it clear.
on 14. April 2026, 20:53 by KingIsulgard
Is it me, or doesn't R3C789 and R4C789 not disambiguate?
PS: would have been nice if it was noted that the 'round table cells' are also a negative constraint.
on 14. April 2026, 14:20 by chis_r
I actually felt like my experience with the knights rule ended up confusing me more because I bad to unlearn it in this puzzle! A very cool ruleset and I needed a bit of colouring to complete it, but it was really satisfying. Thanks so much!
on 14. April 2026, 13:12 by oskode
Setting this as your first puzzle is very impressive, congratulations!
on 14. April 2026, 08:13 by superkinkel
Great idea and I‘m not sure, I was lucky once or twice and just missed an option and eliminated candidates too early, but generally it‘s probably more towards two stars, once you get hold of the concept and have a bit of experience with Knight-based rules.
on 14. April 2026, 03:28 by StevenS
Very unique rule
