*** TODAY’S PUZZLE ***
A late gift from Santa today (well, really from Ennead) who made this beautiful sudoku as a present on the Discord server as part of Secret Santa. It’s called Shikaku Killer and the basic idea is to divide the grid into rectangles… it sound simple and it sort-of is… but the logic involved is gorgeous. A highly recommended puzzle!
Play the puzzle at the link below:
https://sudokupad.app/vhpyfwlo56
Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. Divide the entire grid into rectangles each containing a single circle and a single cell containing a โ?โ. The digit in the circle gives the number of cells in the rectangle. Digits cannot repeat in rectangles and each rectangleโs digits sum to one of 10, 20, 30 and X (where X is to be determined by the solver).
Here’s Dale’s Just Giving page in support of Motor Neurone Disease:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/dale-ward-1737038415539?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL
*** FEBRUARY SUDOKU HUNT COMPETITION – VIDEOS INCOMING ***
Our February sudoku hunt, Where’s My Mamma, is by the Paint By Numbers Institute. Solution videos for all 11 new puzzles will be released on Patreon imminently!
Check it out for as little as $2/month here:
https://www.patreon.com/crackingthecryptic
*** LIVE CROSSWORD MASTERCLASS ***
On March 21, Simon and Mark will appear at the Word=Puzzles conference at Magdelen College, Oxford and do a live episode of their crossword masterclass! More information here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/word-puzzles-a-conference-tickets-1144015303569
*** NURIKABE WORLD STREAM TUESDAY’S STREAM ***
You can watch the last stream here:
The game is available here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2964540/Nurikabe_World/
*** NEW FOG APP IS OUT ON APPLE (!), STEAM & ANDROID ***
Brand new incredible Fog Sudoku puzzles by the likes of Phistomefel, Marty Sears, James Sinclair, Qodec, Dorlir, ThePedallingPianist, Sandra&Nala, Peter Veenis, Mr Menace, Florian Wortmann, Math Pesto & HalfBakedLunatic.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3165770/Cracking_the_Cryptic__Fog_of_War_1/
*** CRACKING THE CRYPTIC APP ***
Our main app (which is itself completely free) contains packs featuring Fog, Domino, Lines, and GAS puzzles, with a few special free sets as well! All the puzzles are hand-crafted by us and some of the best constructors in the world, with hints by Simon and Mark.
AppStore:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cracking-the-cryptic/id1629992934
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2085970/Cracking_the_Cryptic/
Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.StudioGoya.CrackingTheCryptic
โถ SUDOKU PAD – Use Our Software For Your Puzzles โ
You can input classic sudoku puzzles into our software and help support Sven, the programmer responsible for the wonderful user interface we all use to play these puzzles everyday. The app also comes with 12 handmade puzzles from us:
iOS:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/svens-sudokupad/id1570622073
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1706870/Svens_SudokuPad/
Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.svencodes.sudokupad
ALSO on Amazon: Search for โSudokuPadโ
โถ Contents Of This Video โ
0:00 Intro music and puzzle introduction
1:45@chainbear video incoming tomorrow
2:50 Patreon winner announcement!
4:47 Happy Birthdays
7:45 Rules
10:07 Start of Solve: Let’s Get Cracking
โถ Contact Us โ
Twitter: @Cracking The Cryptic
email: crackingthecryptic@gmail.com
Our PO Box address:
Simon Anthony & Mark Goodliffe
Box 102
56 Gloucester Road
London
SW7 4UB
(Please note to use our real names rather than ‘Cracking The Cryptic’.)
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https://discord.gg/BbN89j5
โถ OUR BACK CATALOGUE โ ALL CATEGORISED WITH LINKS!โ
https://tinyurl.com/CTCCatalogue
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https://teespring.com/en-GB/stores/cracking-the-cryptic
โถSEND US PUZZLES TO SOLVE/CONTACT USโ
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We also post the Wordle In A Minute videos on TikTok.
#sudoku #puzzle #rectangle
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I think dividing the rectangles with black lines added a little confusion, since they look so much like the default box-dividing lines. I maybe would have used a color like blue or green.
Definitely a fun puzzle!
There is a typo in the title of the puzzle in the video.
Is Simon black colour blind?
We are used to Simon not seeing black digits. Now we have him unable to see a black cage!
At 50:30 the candidates mean the black cage can be completed given the cage sum rule. After "I have nothing better than to say 'oh, dear!'", and "somehow l'm left with a 18 pair", at 57:38 the 8 is finally written in by sudoku on the column.
Simon, we love you. Perhaps black is not one of your favourite sudoku colours?
Is the puzzle called Shikaku Killer? If yes, then why does it say Shikiku above the rules in the video? If no, why does Simon keep saying Shikaku, when its name is Shikiku?
May I suggest NOT using black for marking regions in a Sudoku grid? It's hard to comprehend the difference between the Sudoku grid and the region grid. Itโs like trying to find a black cat in a dark room!
31:34 for me. Took me absolute ages to get through the first part of the puzzle.
Listen to rules: does X = 45??
15:15 : I knew it!!! ๐
Simon trying to pick a colour for a rectangle that might end up adjacent to the indigo, ruling out (light) blue because it's "too close to indigo", then of all things picks the only colour that is even closer: dark purple. Eventually, those turn out not to be adjacent at all, and the colour chosen for the rectangle that IS adjacent to the indigo is….. BLUE!!! That's the only thing more Simon than staunchly refusing the obv sudoku once he's done filling all the circles…
15:17 funny looking โrectangleโ!
For some reason this one clicked quickly for me: 43:20
I waited an hour for the cell in row 1 column 6 to have its delineation put on top. 1:00:20
46 minutes
In the logic master's site, is the star rating difficulty or how much people enjoyed solving it?
I finished in 93:18 minutes. I really like the way Shikaku rules work. They seem to agree with my brain in such a nice way. I did miss the rule that circles gave the total number of cells for about 43 minutes, so maybe that agreement was a little too strong that it caused me to ignore crucial rules. Actually utilizing all the rules, the puzzle flowed very well. I think my favorite part was after discovering the hidden X value, it allowed me to rule out eight celled blocks and force blocks to escape from boxes if they were already full. This was especially helpful in box eight, which utilized both of those tricks. Overall, this was a fantastic puzzle that really scratched my brain in a nice way. Great Puzzle!
Awesome puzzle! Loved it! Very original logic! In my solve i blundered in the end, assuming the 6 in r2c3 have a vertical region, but quickly recovered from that mistake, when i saw that this cage would have 2 6s in it. Afterwards i saw Simon explained it @57:00, he was more careful than me :)
@35:25โฆ.what? Brain fart????
Absolutely beautiful puzzle.
Took me 81 minutes. Those regions in the upper left part of the grid were a bit hard to diviode properly, but once you have all of them it becomes easier. Always love the puzzles you can help solve by coloring.
Simon was missing that black rectangle sum for so long…
A really fun puzzle, thanks for sharing it
90:27 finish, took a nap while solving it XD
59:04. That was a joy.
I'll give you three guesses what X is… Simon's favourite people will only need one!
The logic at 40:30 was absolutely brutal. Amazing solve, Simon!
45:44 for me. Funny puzzle.
Solid solve Simon, well done on an interesting puzzle.
Interesting. Sloppy solve from me — got the grid in good time, but kept messing up the sums in my head and following incorrect paths. 80:14 with several corrections.
I would say a square is not a rectangle in the colloquial use of the word.
Hello, Simon.
Whenever you post a video I try to solve it first (Failing miserably almost every time ๐ ).
I managed to solve this magnificent puzzle in approximately 2 and a half hours, I don't even know how. I'm ashamed to say that I let out a little scream of excitement when I saw that it was correct.
I just wanted to thank you for the patience and clarity with which you explain the rules and each step you take while trying to solve the sudoku.
Thank you, not only for showing us your intelligence but for motivating us to work on ours. Greetings and take care.
The last part of the rules is way too confusing. I thought X referred to the digit in the box's circle and was different for each box.
@ 53:31 I just thought 'yes, Simon, you are right, doing math on everything there but not even attempting math on the black cage. you have either 1,9,3 or 8,9,3 and the cage has to sum to 10, 20 or 30…'
I really like watching you solve the puzzles but I am entirely confused why you simply refuse to do sudoku or finish a thought ;-)
One of the few puzzles where I managed to finish faster than Simon:D (although granted he has to explain his thinking process and I don't).
Interesting digit that I figured out: From 46:21 I deduced that the rectangle from R1C1 to R4C6 has to sum to a number with a unit digit 5, since the big rectangle is a combination of rectangles with sums divisible by 10, minus R5C6. This means that the rectangle formed from R1C7 to R9C4 has a sum with unit digit 5 since the sum of 4 Sudoku rows is 45*4=180, which is also divisible by 10. Subtracting box 3 with sum 45 means the sum from R4C6 to R4C8 is divisible by 10, subtracting the 5 from R4C8 means R4C6+R4C7 has unit digit 5, which means R5C6+R5C7 has unit digit 5, which means R5C6=1, since R5C7=4, which solves all of row 5.
Sorry for the long explanation!
It didnโt occur to me that 8 cells was not on.