Inner Squish: Index Lines
(Published on 3. May 2026, 10:41 by marty_sears)
Rules:
LATIN SQUARE: Fill the 9x9 grid with the digits 1-9 so that digits don't repeat in any row or column.
SQUISHDOKU: In the purple 7x7 grid, digits may not repeat in a 3x3 box. These boxes overlap - cells on box borders (dashed lines) are shared between multiple boxes.
INDEX LINES: Along a teal line, the digit in position N (starting from the diamond) indicates the position along the line where the digit N appears. Eg: A 5 on the diamond (position 1) indicates that position 5 contains a 1.
Solution code: Row 1 of the 9x9 grid, from left to right
Comments
on 5. May 2026, 17:40 by pmays123
Incredible! I really enjoyed this. Thank you
on 5. May 2026, 13:20 by madhupt
Looks impossible at the start but then unravels beautifully!
on 5. May 2026, 03:19 by ViKingPrime
A more ChinStrapish puzzle could not exist. You even have clues "breaking outside" of a grid.
on 4. May 2026, 23:48 by ChinStrap
Lovely lovely lovely. I felt 1000% locked in the entire time and truly felt like this was made for me. Thank you so much for the wonderful present Marty.
on 4. May 2026, 17:00 by mscha
Nice. I think the inner squishdoku is a new invention (right?), and it combines well with index lines.
Very difficult for me, though. I haven't done many squishdokus, so I basically had to discover all the rules (some of which are specific to inner squishdoku, so I guess we all had to discover these) and a strategy to tackle squishdoku. Got there eventually, after 150 minutes over two days.
And now I'm too late, but happy belated birthday anyway, ChinStrap!
Marty: thanks mscha, glad you enjoyed. I can't claim credit for having the 'missing digits' present around the outside of the squishdoku... it's also been done by ChinStrap himself, and also Aqjhs. I'm a fan of the setup though and think it can be explored more. Somehow it makes the squishdoku logic a bit easier to grasp, for me
on 4. May 2026, 13:36 by abadx
Interesting construction. Approachable if you are familiar with both constraints
on 3. May 2026, 15:28 by Krisonium
Fav puzzle of da month, good stuff.
on 3. May 2026, 15:10 by Franjo
Thank you very much for creating and sharing another wonderful present and: Happy birthday, ChinStrap!
on 3. May 2026, 14:32 by Calvinball
"These are a few of Chin's favorite things"! Happy Birthday ChinStrap, I deem this puzzle more than worthy of the occasion.
on 3. May 2026, 11:17 by Angara
Beautiful! These two are one my favorite rules too) happy birthday, ChinStrap!
