Elite Plus
(Eingestellt am 16. August 2026, 01:00 Uhr von Kafkapharnaum)
Big thanks once again to bodemeister for testing.
RULES
S-CELLS
• The grid must be filled with the digits 0-9 such that no digit repeats in a row, column, or box.
• Each row, column, and box must contain exactly one S-cell. S-cells contain two digits instead of one, and their value is the sum of those digits. Unlike the Doublers defined below, S-cells have no requirement or restriction as to their content.
DOUBLERS
• In addition to S-cells, nine more cells in the grid must be marked as Doublers such that each row, column and box contains exactly one Doubler cell, and no Doubler overlaps with an S-cell.
• A Doubler cell's (*) value is twice the value of the digit in that cell, and each digit from 1 to 9 must appear once in the set of Doublers.
MODIFIED PALINDROMES
• Grey lines read the same forwards and backwards by value. E.g. (3+2)-8-0-4*-5.
• Digits may not repeat on a grey line, whether they appear normally, in an S-cell, or in a Doubler.
LOOK-AND-SAY CAGES
• Reading the clue of a cage one digit at a time gives the partial composition of the different values found in that cage – i.e., "2536" means the cage contains exactly two cells that have a value of 5, and three cells that have a value of 6, in addition to any other cells of different values that may appear in the cage.
• Digits may repeat and multiple special cells of the same kind may appear in these cages if permitted by the other rules.
Lösungscode: Column 9, from top to bottom. For the two digits in the S-cell, write the smaller one first.
Kommentare
am 23. August 2026, 13:42 Uhr von wullemuus
Even with being prepared by Cheops this one was an acceleration run during the break-in. But then it turned unexpectedly smooth. Two for the prize of one- looking forward to #3 XD!
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Hehe, well, there might be more in store, as if you've noticed, a new setter by the name of RightHandedNeutrino has published two Still Life puzzles (and on the harder side too), and that kind of revived the flame in me for that ruleset, so, we'll see what I might come up with. (And as for this setter's puzzles, you can easily find them on the 'Solved' page of my profile)
Anyhow, thanks for the feedback on this one -- glad to hear you enjoyed that one as well, and also that it put up a fight even after Cheops hehe. Also, one last thing, bodemeister told me he lost your contact and couldn't contact you anymore, so if you want, feel free to reach out to him by commenting on one of his puzzles!
am 22. August 2026, 02:10 Uhr von bodemeister
Extremely beautiful and vicious puzzle! Had to work hard to solve this beast and enjoyed every minute of it. I've thought about designing a puzzle with a similar ruleset, but this is the final boss. I definitely can't match or beat this! Thanks for sending it my way to test!
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Goodness, a great many thanks for such kind words, glad to hear you enjoyed it like that, and of course, big thanks again for the test solve, without which I might have just shelved it in my hiatus. As for being the final boss of its kind, I don't know, I'll have to try sanabas Four Corners which seems to use similar ideas, but anyway, glad to hear it put up a fight hehe :D
am 18. August 2026, 13:28 Uhr von Arheus
Brutal. Took me two days. Well worth the 5*. Brilliant setting though!.
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A great many thanks for the kind words, much appreciated! But yeah, a pretty unusual combo of constraints that make for some rather wacky deductions, eh? XD Well done on pulling through, and thanks again for sharing!
am 16. August 2026, 22:41 Uhr von earthpuzzles
What this has in common with doppelganger is me yelling at myself “DON”T FORGET THE ZERO!”
Most times, I do remember :D
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lol, yeah, that poor 0, eh XD If you want to derust your Doppelganger skills, you should check out KenGlue's new puzzle, 'Capturing the Cyclone'! I was so rusty myself that I failed it at my first attempt, but I'll be sure to get back to it at some point. Anyway, thanks for the solve and feedback!
am 16. August 2026, 14:48 Uhr von sanabas
Some very intricate logic, and a lot of fun.
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Thanks for the kind words sanabas, glad you had fun with it! And I see you have published the puzzle with the idea you were talking about, it seems to share a certain similarity for a specific number hehe, but I swear I didn't know! I'm sure the puzzle plays a lot differently regardless; I'll be sure to discover that at some point :-)
