RAT RUN 37: Fruitful
(Eingestellt am 13. Mai 2026, 01:00 Uhr von marty_sears)
Fill the grid with the digits 1-9, so that in each row and column, one of the digits 1-9 is missing, and one of the digits is repeated. Every digit from 1-9 is missing from exactly one row and one column, and repeated in exactly one row and one column. Use the orange arrows to keep track of missing digits, and the blue arrows to keep track of repeated digits.
AIM OF EXPERIMENT: Finkz and Phinx must both reach different cupcakes by finding a path through the maze. The paths must not visit any cell more than once, share cells, cross themselves or each other, or pass through any thick maze walls.
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.
FORBIDDEN DOORS: A red X may not be passed through, and sits between two digits that sum to 10.
BLACKCURRANTS: If a blackcurrant sits between two digits, one is double the other.
REDCURRANTS: If a redcurrant sits between two digits, one is odd and the other is even.
GRAPES: If a grape sits between two digits, they have a difference of at least 5.
GOLDENBERRIES: If a goldenberry sits between two digits, they are not consecutive (or the same).
TEST CONSTRAINT: In this experiment, a rat's path is divided into segments by any fruit she eats. The digits on each segment have the same sum, to be determined. (This 'segment sum' may be different for Finkz and Phinx.)
Lösungscode: Digits visited by either rat in row 3, from left to right
Kommentare
Heute, 21:57 Uhr von DonQuichopp
I felt this was a 4 star on the easier side for me. Usually 4+ takes me days to solve. This one seemed quite straightforward to me and I got it done in about 3 hours. I enjoyed the concept very much! Thank you for another great puzzle! I dread the Wednesday without a new rat run to solve ;-(
Heute, 19:41 Uhr von Nyxx
<3
Gestern, 04:11 Uhr von monsen
Arghh.. Spent forever on this puzzle finding it extremely hard, and finally ending up with a deadly pattern at the end for the last 8 digits.... So I went back and re-read the rules...
Guess what, I had overlooked half the X rule, looking back, I see so many spots where my deductions would have been so much simpler and smoother...
Gestern, 00:04 Uhr von firespire
I'm another who struggles at anything above 2 star but could do this within 2h30.
If you can get started you hopefully have the skills to complete it. I found the sums manageable and long chains of deductions were not needed. The time I took was just finding the correct place to look but it seemed obvious when found rather than needing high IQ to work it out.
@cbossut Yes fresh currants are berries, they typically require sugar to be added for human eating. There is also a dried product in the shops called currants but these are very small dried grapes, smaller than raisins and used in baking.
am 13. Mai 2026, 23:19 Uhr von dzamie
Man it's so weird how I can wrap my mind around this puzzle but some 3* puzzles stump me quickly.
Once you push past the overload at the start and find places that the rats can't go, it gradually sifts into something more approachable - but still very difficult!
am 13. Mai 2026, 22:41 Uhr von Lykrast
What a puzzle. The start was a lot easier than I expected, and it was fun routing my favorite lesbian rats through all the fruits (so many fruits).
But then I realized I was only at the start, and that second half took a looot longer (a bit more than 2 hours total).
It's quite a devious rule, because when you'd think sudoku would help you clean it up and finish, it hits you that normal sudoku rules don't apply and there's a lot more to be done.
am 13. Mai 2026, 21:26 Uhr von AshBrown
Yeah this is a cant start watch Simon solve it
am 13. Mai 2026, 20:54 Uhr von agenthans
Simon is in for the journey for this one ;)
am 13. Mai 2026, 20:44 Uhr von DaniK
Wow, what a difficult but immensely satisfying puzzle! really enjoyed it
am 13. Mai 2026, 20:08 Uhr von etoler
Once again, Marty, you've found a new and creative way to break my brain. I'm not proud of my performance on this one, but I'm absolutely dazzled by the execution.
am 13. Mai 2026, 18:04 Uhr von cbossut
After solving a bit and feeling to much at ease, I wondered, as a non-english fluent "are currants berries ?"
Having now discovered what were those dots, I can keep flowing XD
am 13. Mai 2026, 17:30 Uhr von GeorgeTheToad2
Thank you Marty for yet another fantastic puzzle. Roll on next Wednesday.
am 13. Mai 2026, 15:46 Uhr von Franjo
After Somedoku now a Latin Square with repetitions! You never stop surprising me. And I will never stop to say: Thank you!
am 13. Mai 2026, 10:07 Uhr von Christounet
Super receptive to this puzzle. Thanks :)
Surely this can't stop at 40, right?
am 13. Mai 2026, 09:31 Uhr von Angara
Another beautiful one! It's little sad that soon these Wednesday morning puzzles will stop. Being a lab rat all these three seasons has been one of the most fun things
am 13. Mai 2026, 08:20 Uhr von Fool on Hill
Well that was a challenge, but once I got into it and used to the scanning it unfolded beautifully down to the last deduction.
am 13. Mai 2026, 07:59 Uhr von smars
Not as hard as it first looks. Three stars I think. Very fun to solve.
am 13. Mai 2026, 06:25 Uhr von blueberrypug
hardest one yet for me. but still as beautiful as ever Marty !!
am 13. Mai 2026, 04:36 Uhr von Silverscree
Very nice! The opening of that puzzle was very smooth, no hitches here. It took a bit of a turn once I needed to interpret my own pencilmarks in the mid-solve though. I think I got lucky, as I had mentally reversed the orange and blue arrow meanings as they pertain to sudoku for a few deductions. I noticed and backtracked to fix this, but I might have gotten lucky with one or two earlier deductions. C'est la vie!
Very excited to see what comes next following that completion message.
am 13. Mai 2026, 04:18 Uhr von Dcs
Unfailingly incredible puzzles week on week. I found this to flow quite smoothly once I figured out where to start!
am 13. Mai 2026, 03:46 Uhr von mscha
1:02: Let's have a quick look before I go to bed, see if it's here.
1:03: It is. Looks tricky. Tentative 5 stars, must be. No point in looking now, let's try tomorrow.
1:06: Hmm, I have at least one observation. And another one. And a digit. Two. A whole bunch. And a whole section of path.
1:50: Half the puzzle is done, this is easy! Two stars?
2:00: Hmm, this is getting trickier.
...
3:35: Done!
Very, very nice! I gave it 3 stars for difficulty in the end; might also have been a 4.
And now it's time to go to bed; I'm supposed to be working tomorrow.
am 13. Mai 2026, 01:32 Uhr von YellowMug
Just when I thought all colours are used up… next week’s rat run is yellow lol
There are fruits outside the grid!! Can’t eat those :D
Marty: I've been saving yellow :)
