Escape the Matrix
(Eingestellt am 20. August 2026, 13:08 Uhr von vegemike)
hallo noch einmal!!! und ich komme mit auch noch ein mathematisches rätsel. für vielen monaten, ich wollte ein rätsel mit matrizen machen. aber, es ist nicht so einfach.
Rules
- Es gelten die normalen Sudoku-regeln.
- 2x2-Käfige sind Matrizen. Die Zahl in der oberen linken Ecke eines Käfigs ist die Determinante der Matrix.
- Für eine 2×2-Matrix [(a, b), (c, d)] (wobei (a, b) die obere Zeile ist) lautet die Determinante ad − bc.
- Ziffern können sich in einer Matrix wiederholen.
- Anm. Manche Käfige sind mit einem Minuszeichen versehen, da sie eine negative Determinante aufweisen.
Example of a Determinant:
Lösungscode: die oberste reihe!
Kommentare
am 21. August 2026, 21:20 Uhr von DetroitPiston
The pun in the end broke me. Great puzzle!
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thank you! glad to see someone share the sense of humour :) in most settings i would tragically be asked to grab my things and leave upon making a joke about the properties of a matrix...!
- mike
am 21. August 2026, 18:52 Uhr von CarnacTheMagnificent
This is a great math puzzle. The logic with the matrices flowed beautifully. Well done!
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thank you so much!! this means a lot to me :)
- mike
am 21. August 2026, 10:02 Uhr von ShadowNevio
This was a fun one. Certainly showing this to my Maths Teacher! Thx for setting!
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i think this is the highest praise a setter could ever hope for! i wish your teacher luck :)
thanks so much for commenting
- mike
am 21. August 2026, 02:59 Uhr von RockyRoer
Just enough number theory to keep the number crunching fun. Thanks for setting it and sharing it!
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that's the goal! thanks for the kind words!!:)
-mike
am 20. August 2026, 22:45 Uhr von Anthony
This felt like it took a lot longer than it actually did, just due to the heavy amount of math required. Very fun, though!
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thanks for the wonderful comment! yeah, there are a few ways to approach this one... there're some cool properties (e.g. if the determinant is even, both ad and bc must be the same parity etc) but those only really speed things up than serve as strictly necessary... sorry to bore you with the mindless arithmetic!
thanks again for commenting :)
- mike
am 20. August 2026, 19:13 Uhr von vegemike
I've made the (-ve) cages red! thanks to @palletpusher for the idea!!
am 20. August 2026, 18:56 Uhr von palletpusher
I loved this puzzle! Much more interesting maths than the typical cage sums, and significantly more approachable than your Cayley table puzzle (which I've not been able to break into despite interest). Now I'm curious about a determinant puzzle with matrices larger than 2×2s... I imagine the more constrained digit placement might offset the more difficult maths?
Also you might consider setting negative cage totals in red text (although I didn't miss any negative signs during my solve)
Anyway thank you Mike! Very enjoyable
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thank you so much for the lovely comment! i considered adding some 3x3 matrices in this puzzle but i have to be so honest and confess i have completely forgotten how to do them. another day... (i think they would be very constrained, you're right)
thanks for your interest in the Cayley Table puzzle too! the first digit is the hardest by far, and there's a lot of interactions to consider. i dont want to spoil it and give any hints unless you want them! i have the solve path written on a txt file in my computer... let me know!
also, good idea about making the -ve cages red... that completely slipped my mind. i'll have a look at doing that now
thanks again, this means a lot!
- mike
am 20. August 2026, 17:29 Uhr von ShuffBeeeell
First time I've done a 2x2 matrix puzzle, very fun!
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thank you for your kind words!!! i dont think i've done any either (except i guess this one if that counts??) but this has been the most fun to set so far! :)
- mike
am 20. August 2026, 13:09 Uhr von vegemike
added example to german page
