Heated Comparisons
(Published on 16. July 2026, 00:00 by FIT7Y)
Rules:
Place the digits 1-9 once each into every row, column, and box.
Shade some cells in the grid, such that all cells of the same shading are orthogonally contiguous, and no 2x2 area is entirely one shading.
Shaded cells are hot, increasing their digit's value by one.
Unshaded cells are cold, decreasing their digit's value by one.
A value N on a circle counts the number of values in the (up to 8) surrounding cells that are greater than or equal to N.
Have fun solving!
Solution code: Column 7, with changes in shading marked by /
Comments
on 26. August 2026, 23:08 by Nicli
The first clues were so vague, it felt like talking to people IRL. Very frightening at first but deeply satisfying. Thanks!
on 16. July 2026, 22:42 by Qodec
Madness.
on 16. July 2026, 19:10 by PierreTombal
Love the opening logic, but sadly the puzzle doesn't work out. Both the numbers and the shading lead up to a deadly pattern.
--
Please recheck your work because the puzzle is unique in both shading and numbers.
***
Okay, solved. One sneaky hiding digit that needed to be a specific colour unwinds the whole thing.
on 16. July 2026, 11:19 by Reisen
The rules interact very well with each other.Thanks
