Campfire Whispers
(Published on 1. May 2026, 01:06 by ZagOnEm)
This is my first attempt at a variant Sudoku with what I believe is a novel ruleset. Please enjoy!
Special thanks to users "sanabas," "The Pi Guy," and "curlingclips" on the CTC Discord server for helping me transform my idea into a playable puzzle.
Rules:
- Normal Sudoku rules apply.
- Kropki: A white dot sits between a pair of consecutive digits.
- Tents: The grid contains 16 trees. Each tree is paired with an orthogonally adjacent tent, in a 1-to-1 relationship. Tents may not touch, not even diagonally. (For clarity, there is no restriction on placing multiple tents next to a single tree, or vice versa.)
- Counting Tents: Any digit in a tent indicates exactly how many tents contain that digit.
- German Whispers: Each tent differs from its paired tree by at least 5.
Click here to play on Sven's SudokuPad
Solution code: The negative diagonal, beginning in the top left corner.
Comments
on 25. May 2026, 01:44 by claire93
I found this puzzle challenging but in such a satisfying way! I loved the way you combined different rules - it pushed me to think hard about what was possible, and I got stuck for a while, but once I made a realisation about the counting numbers it all flowed so beautifully! It felt like a lovely balance between variant rules and classic sudoku solving as well.
I got a link to this from the CTC youtube channel, so I didn't realise it was your first puzzle until the final message, and I'm really blown away. I hope you enjoyed the setting process and I'd love to see more from you! - Claire
on 9. May 2026, 22:48 by QuiltyAsCharged
Great first puzzle! It's trickier than it first appears, but has a nice logical flow
on 1. May 2026, 16:55 by apothycus
Congrats on your first puzzle! I found it very smooth and approachable, the use of the tents rule worked very well.
on 1. May 2026, 01:10 by ZagOnEm
Credited several people without whom the puzzle would not have been made.
