TVC XVIII is on this weekend. It will feature ten Tapa variants, five of which have not appeared in the TVC previously. These variants are Tapa LITS, Different Tapa, Not Alone Tapa, Black Hole Tapa and 4x4 Tapa.
Some examples of these new variants can be found online.
Tapa LITS:
Grandmaster Puzzles
A Cleverly Titled Logic Puzzle Blog (Streampunk/Tetra Firma)
Different Tapa:
Maybe Puzzles
This post will also contain some examples of the known variants that have featured on this blog below.
Thursday, 14 January 2016
Sunday, 10 January 2016
Puzzle #172: Tapa; Circled
This is the last of three posts with new Tapa variants for the TVC.
The last variant is Circled Tapa. It is based on Black and White Snake. As there is already a Black and White Tapa, I couldn't go with that name. My second thought was Dotted Tapa, but then I remembered Prasanna's Dotted Tapas. So lastly I settled on Circled Tapa, by just changing the wording of the rules. The variant here is that the Tapa wall is built up of alternating black and white circles. The clues indicate how many circles of a particular colour there are around it, instead of the number of coloured cells.
In this Tapa the wall is made up of alternating black and white circles. There are black and white clue cells. White clue cells indicate the amount of white circles in the orthogonally connected sections of the wall around that cell. Black clue cells indicate the amount of black circles in the orthogonally connected sections of the wall around that cell. Each digit indicates a section of at least length 1.
The last variant is Circled Tapa. It is based on Black and White Snake. As there is already a Black and White Tapa, I couldn't go with that name. My second thought was Dotted Tapa, but then I remembered Prasanna's Dotted Tapas. So lastly I settled on Circled Tapa, by just changing the wording of the rules. The variant here is that the Tapa wall is built up of alternating black and white circles. The clues indicate how many circles of a particular colour there are around it, instead of the number of coloured cells.
In this Tapa the wall is made up of alternating black and white circles. There are black and white clue cells. White clue cells indicate the amount of white circles in the orthogonally connected sections of the wall around that cell. Black clue cells indicate the amount of black circles in the orthogonally connected sections of the wall around that cell. Each digit indicates a section of at least length 1.
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Daily League #55: Odd Labyrinth Sudoku
The second puzzle in the Odd Sudoku series is an Odd Labyrinth Sudoku. I always enjoy solving these puzzles. It has a bit of puzzling in them, which always suits me well. You also get to create an odd/even grid, which is something I always enjoy. Parity variants always seem to suit me well.
In the design I tried to find some interesting deductions in this genre. If that totally worked, I'm not sure, but I had fun designing it. I didn't bother resolving any old puzzles, so it could be that this has been used before. It took a while to construct a valid puzzle though, as too often some of my logic led to no path existing. I think I lost some of the interesting things because I also had to make it unique, but it should still be a fun solve.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku there has to be a path that runs from the left top corner to the right bottom corner over cells that contain odd digits. This path can only travel horizontally and vertically.
In the design I tried to find some interesting deductions in this genre. If that totally worked, I'm not sure, but I had fun designing it. I didn't bother resolving any old puzzles, so it could be that this has been used before. It took a while to construct a valid puzzle though, as too often some of my logic led to no path existing. I think I lost some of the interesting things because I also had to make it unique, but it should still be a fun solve.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku there has to be a path that runs from the left top corner to the right bottom corner over cells that contain odd digits. This path can only travel horizontally and vertically.
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Saturday, 9 January 2016
Puzzle #171: Tapa; Castle
This is the second post of three new Tapa variants for the currently ongoing TVC.
This time the variant is Castle Tapa. This variant is based on the Castle Wall genre, hence the name. It also has some similarities to No Islands Tapa. There haven't been many variants that use different coloured clues. The rule is that all black clue squares are contained within the Tapa wall and white clue squares remain outside the Tapa wall. I now realise this is the exact opposite from Castle Wall, but I don't think it matters. The puzzle turned out well, in my opinion.
Rules for Tapa
This Tapa has black and white clue cells. White clue cells must always be outside the Tapa wall. You must always be able to reach the edge of the grid from them by travelling horizontally and vertically through uncoloured cells and/or clue cells. Black clue cells must always be inside the Tapa wall. You must not be able to reach the edge of the grid from them by travelling horizontally and vertically through uncoloured cells and/or clue cells.
This time the variant is Castle Tapa. This variant is based on the Castle Wall genre, hence the name. It also has some similarities to No Islands Tapa. There haven't been many variants that use different coloured clues. The rule is that all black clue squares are contained within the Tapa wall and white clue squares remain outside the Tapa wall. I now realise this is the exact opposite from Castle Wall, but I don't think it matters. The puzzle turned out well, in my opinion.
Rules for Tapa
This Tapa has black and white clue cells. White clue cells must always be outside the Tapa wall. You must always be able to reach the edge of the grid from them by travelling horizontally and vertically through uncoloured cells and/or clue cells. Black clue cells must always be inside the Tapa wall. You must not be able to reach the edge of the grid from them by travelling horizontally and vertically through uncoloured cells and/or clue cells.
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Friday, 8 January 2016
Puzzle #170: Tapa; Lonely
With the TVC having started again, I gave designing a few new variants a go. I find it more fun if a TVC has a few new variants in it. For the next 3 days I will post 3 new variants.
The first one is Lonely Tapa. This rule has already been in effect in one genre, namely Tapa Islands. This rule is that an orthogonally connected uncoloured area can only contain at most one clue cell. I was actually kind of surprised it wasn't already in this list as it seemed like such a simple rule. I think the puzzle worked out well.
Rules for Tapa
In this Tapa, any orthogonally connected uncoloured area can contain at most one clue cell.
The first one is Lonely Tapa. This rule has already been in effect in one genre, namely Tapa Islands. This rule is that an orthogonally connected uncoloured area can only contain at most one clue cell. I was actually kind of surprised it wasn't already in this list as it seemed like such a simple rule. I think the puzzle worked out well.
Rules for Tapa
In this Tapa, any orthogonally connected uncoloured area can contain at most one clue cell.
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Wednesday, 6 January 2016
TVC XVII Recap
The first TVC of the season is over. I finished in 8th place, finishing all puzzles with 9 seconds to spare. It wasn't my best solve, but I'm still happy with it.
I had a bit of a slow start on the Alternative Tapa. I was a bit slow utilising the letters. I could have used uniqueness to finish it quicker, but I wasn't 100% sure if it held up. It just looked that uniqueness couldn't be guaranteed otherwise.
The next puzzle that caused problems was the second Skyscrapers Tapa. That was mostly because I forgot a 6 Tapa clue always needs one of two opposite edges coloured. I was treating it as a 5 clue and didn't see the opening. I got through I okay with a guess.
Then the Star Tapa held me up a bit, but luckily my own puzzle had given me some practise with the stars I needed here.
The last puzzle that caused problems was the second Magic Tapa. It actually caused the most problems and I had to restart it. Even on the restart I couldn't solve it, by which it was time to enter the codes. I was afraid I wouldn't solve it in time. But after entering the codes, I realised I had been treating a 2 as a 3 the whole time. So I could quickly solve the end and answer the key within a minute and claim my bonus of 0.2 points.
I think I got the most use out of designing my Tapa Star and Tapa Magic puzzles. I don't know which of my example puzzles were most useful for others. The feedback on my practise puzzles is getting less over the years. I don't know if it is because people don't need or want them anymore or if it's just because they have come to expect them. Some feedback would be appreciated as it takes a bit of work to push out all ten Tapas in the few days between the instruction booklet coming out and the start of the contest.
Lastly, the secret Tapa I mentioned in Part 2. The Tapa With Borders grid is also solvable as a 10x10 classic Tapa. I realised from the design that all outside clues were completely irrelevant to the Tapa with Borders logic. So I decided to clue them so that they would make a unique Tapa with the rest of the clues. I thought it was a fun touch.
Rules for Tapa
I had a bit of a slow start on the Alternative Tapa. I was a bit slow utilising the letters. I could have used uniqueness to finish it quicker, but I wasn't 100% sure if it held up. It just looked that uniqueness couldn't be guaranteed otherwise.
The next puzzle that caused problems was the second Skyscrapers Tapa. That was mostly because I forgot a 6 Tapa clue always needs one of two opposite edges coloured. I was treating it as a 5 clue and didn't see the opening. I got through I okay with a guess.
Then the Star Tapa held me up a bit, but luckily my own puzzle had given me some practise with the stars I needed here.
The last puzzle that caused problems was the second Magic Tapa. It actually caused the most problems and I had to restart it. Even on the restart I couldn't solve it, by which it was time to enter the codes. I was afraid I wouldn't solve it in time. But after entering the codes, I realised I had been treating a 2 as a 3 the whole time. So I could quickly solve the end and answer the key within a minute and claim my bonus of 0.2 points.
I think I got the most use out of designing my Tapa Star and Tapa Magic puzzles. I don't know which of my example puzzles were most useful for others. The feedback on my practise puzzles is getting less over the years. I don't know if it is because people don't need or want them anymore or if it's just because they have come to expect them. Some feedback would be appreciated as it takes a bit of work to push out all ten Tapas in the few days between the instruction booklet coming out and the start of the contest.
Lastly, the secret Tapa I mentioned in Part 2. The Tapa With Borders grid is also solvable as a 10x10 classic Tapa. I realised from the design that all outside clues were completely irrelevant to the Tapa with Borders logic. So I decided to clue them so that they would make a unique Tapa with the rest of the clues. I thought it was a fun touch.
Rules for Tapa
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Sunday, 3 January 2016
Daily League #54: Odd Sudoku
I had a few ideas for the next theme. One of them I couldn't really get to work the way I wanted. I had 2 puzzles that worked, but I didn't see me managing to find any more. Another theme has been done a few times by Fred Stalder, so I'll leave that one for later. The other theme might have been badly received by the same Fred Stalder, so I figured that's not the best way to start of the new year. So after rejecting a few themes, I settled on a simple one. This theme is Odd. It's not very original. As I don't write many classic variants, I figured it would be nice to write a simple variant for once.
The first puzzle is of course just a normal Odd Sudoku. I'm happy how it turned out. I think it looks nice with the four circle layout. It took a few tries as I kept having to add clues in other places to make it unique. It's not a hard puzzle, so it will probably be solved a lot more than some of my other puzzles. I hope people at least enjoy it.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku, grey cells must contain odd digits only.
The first puzzle is of course just a normal Odd Sudoku. I'm happy how it turned out. I think it looks nice with the four circle layout. It took a few tries as I kept having to add clues in other places to make it unique. It's not a hard puzzle, so it will probably be solved a lot more than some of my other puzzles. I hope people at least enjoy it.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku, grey cells must contain odd digits only.
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Friday, 1 January 2016
TVC XVII Practise: Part 2
Here's the second part of the practise puzzles for TVC XVII. I didn't have as much time to make puzzles during New Years. We also went to see the new Star Wars move today. That took up some more time. A few variants I had some trouble making, so that they would be a bit interesting. I think they should help getting used to the variants.
The first puzzle is an Alternative Tapa. It's not too hard a puzzle. I haven't found a good way to make this variant to be influential, instead of just using it to make the puzzle unique. At least it looks nice and still fun to solve.
The second puzzle is a Tapa with Borders. I thought making the size a bit smaller would make it a bit more interesting. Although a 6x6 Tapa is not very interesting. But finding the grid will take a bit longer.
The third puzzle is a TAPA LOGIC. I think this is a nice puzzle. It was at least fun to think of the logic involved here. It should be fun to solve too.
The fourth puzzle is a Make Room For Tapa. This one took a bit of effort to make. I first tried to make the rooms fit some randomly chosen clues, but I couldn't make that work. So instead I designed the rooms first and then figured out which clues would create a unique puzzle.
The fifth puzzle is a Tapa Star. This is definitely the hardest puzzle in the set. I kept coming up with puzzles without a valid Star distribution. It is easy to create a Tapa wall without a star pattern apparently. You really need to work the stars to get to the solution in this puzzle. Approach it carefully.
I hope this set is again helpful and enjoyable. Don't forget about the secret Tapa.
Puzzles can be found below.
The first puzzle is an Alternative Tapa. It's not too hard a puzzle. I haven't found a good way to make this variant to be influential, instead of just using it to make the puzzle unique. At least it looks nice and still fun to solve.
The second puzzle is a Tapa with Borders. I thought making the size a bit smaller would make it a bit more interesting. Although a 6x6 Tapa is not very interesting. But finding the grid will take a bit longer.
The third puzzle is a TAPA LOGIC. I think this is a nice puzzle. It was at least fun to think of the logic involved here. It should be fun to solve too.
The fourth puzzle is a Make Room For Tapa. This one took a bit of effort to make. I first tried to make the rooms fit some randomly chosen clues, but I couldn't make that work. So instead I designed the rooms first and then figured out which clues would create a unique puzzle.
The fifth puzzle is a Tapa Star. This is definitely the hardest puzzle in the set. I kept coming up with puzzles without a valid Star distribution. It is easy to create a Tapa wall without a star pattern apparently. You really need to work the stars to get to the solution in this puzzle. Approach it carefully.
I hope this set is again helpful and enjoyable. Don't forget about the secret Tapa.
Puzzles can be found below.
Wednesday, 30 December 2015
TVC XVII Practise: Part 1
This is the first selection of practise puzzles for the upcoming TVC XVII. I only came aware this was starting again today, so I'm trying to get all puzzles out by Friday. This post will feature the first five puzzles.
The first puzzle is a Peers Tapa. I like the idea of this variant. I always enjoy Tapas that have the same sum in symmetrical clues. This variant forces that. The puzzle turned out reasonably well. It's one of the easier practise puzzles.
The second puzzle is a Tapa Skyscrapers. The variant can drive a lot of the puzzle, so I tend to just place some random, but nice looking, Tapa clues and make the variant drive the rest of the puzzle. I think it worked out well in this puzzle. It's not an overly hard puzzle, but you have to understand how to use the variant.
The third puzzle is a Knapp Daneben Tapa. I always have trouble with 1s turning into 0s when designing Knapp Daneben puzzles. I tried to avoid the issue as much as possible. My personal goal when designing Knapp Daneben puzzles is always to try to only use valid Tapa clues and not use combinations of digits in a cell that would not be allowed in a normal Tapa.
The fourth puzzle is an Outside Tapa. The first Outside Tapa I wrote I used a lot more Tapa clues, but I went for a lower number of clues this time and have the variant drive the solve a bit more. It turns out that using more equal symbols reduces the need for clues. I think it turned out well. This is probably the hardest puzzle in this set.
The fifth puzzle is a Tapa Magic. I'm not that much a fan of this variant. I always feel I have to use too many clues, because the restrictions won't allow it to be unique otherwise. It's still a nice puzzle and shows some of the tricks in this variant.
I hope these are helpful. Enjoy.
[Edit: Tapa Skyscrapers fixed.]
Puzzles can be found below.
The first puzzle is a Peers Tapa. I like the idea of this variant. I always enjoy Tapas that have the same sum in symmetrical clues. This variant forces that. The puzzle turned out reasonably well. It's one of the easier practise puzzles.
The second puzzle is a Tapa Skyscrapers. The variant can drive a lot of the puzzle, so I tend to just place some random, but nice looking, Tapa clues and make the variant drive the rest of the puzzle. I think it worked out well in this puzzle. It's not an overly hard puzzle, but you have to understand how to use the variant.
The third puzzle is a Knapp Daneben Tapa. I always have trouble with 1s turning into 0s when designing Knapp Daneben puzzles. I tried to avoid the issue as much as possible. My personal goal when designing Knapp Daneben puzzles is always to try to only use valid Tapa clues and not use combinations of digits in a cell that would not be allowed in a normal Tapa.
The fourth puzzle is an Outside Tapa. The first Outside Tapa I wrote I used a lot more Tapa clues, but I went for a lower number of clues this time and have the variant drive the solve a bit more. It turns out that using more equal symbols reduces the need for clues. I think it turned out well. This is probably the hardest puzzle in this set.
The fifth puzzle is a Tapa Magic. I'm not that much a fan of this variant. I always feel I have to use too many clues, because the restrictions won't allow it to be unique otherwise. It's still a nice puzzle and shows some of the tricks in this variant.
I hope these are helpful. Enjoy.
[Edit: Tapa Skyscrapers fixed.]
Puzzles can be found below.
TVC XVII Practise: Introduction
It seems 2016 is again a Tapa Variations Contest and Classic Tapa Contest year. That means that I'll actually have to defend my Tapa Master title I won in 2013 instead of the coasting on the honour without little effort. The CTC will run daily over 50 days from the 2nd of January 2016 till the 22nd of February 2016. The TVC will run in four contests over weekends between the 2nd of January 2016 and the 22nd of February 2016 The first of these contests, TVC XVII, will run from the 2nd of January 2016 till the 4th of January 2016.
TVC XVII will contain 10 variations. These variations are Alternative Tapa, Tapa with Borders, TAPA LOGIC, Peers Tapa, Tapa Skyscrapers, Make Room For Tapa, Tapa Star, Knapp Daneben Tapa, Outside Tapa and Tapa Magic. These are all variations that have previously appeared in other TVCs. So for practise you can check out older TVC's. In this post I will post the puzzles I shared before as practise for older TVCs. I will also be posting new examples for all these type in other posts. I hope they will all be useful in preparation. But not too much as I'd like to be the first to successfully defend a Tapa Master title.
Puzzles can be found below.
TVC XVII will contain 10 variations. These variations are Alternative Tapa, Tapa with Borders, TAPA LOGIC, Peers Tapa, Tapa Skyscrapers, Make Room For Tapa, Tapa Star, Knapp Daneben Tapa, Outside Tapa and Tapa Magic. These are all variations that have previously appeared in other TVCs. So for practise you can check out older TVC's. In this post I will post the puzzles I shared before as practise for older TVCs. I will also be posting new examples for all these type in other posts. I hope they will all be useful in preparation. But not too much as I'd like to be the first to successfully defend a Tapa Master title.
Puzzles can be found below.
Sunday, 27 December 2015
Daily League #53: Quad Division Sudoku
This is the fourth and last Sudoku in the 'Quad Sudoku' series. It's as far as I know a new variant. I wish I could check somewhere what variants have been done already. I though it would be nice to have a variant where the four cells were treated as two two-digit numbers. I considered turning the Diagonal Difference puzzle from instructionless round of the last WPC into a Sudoku, but I had already made a Quad puzzle with differences. Then I figured I could do something similar with division.
I just started playing around with a few placements and I noticed that the clues carry a lot of impact. They give you a lot of information and you get placements pretty quick. So I figured it should be possible to make one without any givens. I always enjoy trying to turn out Sudokus without any givens, which most people doing my Daily League puzzles must have noticed. This puzzle had an opening constructed pretty quickly. The problem of course was to get it unique with only valid clues. I had a few puzzles that were close but I couldn't get any valid clues in anymore to make it unique. After a few tries, this puzzle came out. I don't think it's overly hard, but it does involve a bit of careful calculations to make sure you don't make any errors. There's very little chance to track back.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku, a number on a grid point indicates the result of dividing the two-digit number formed by the top two digits by the two-digit number formed by the bottom two digits. Both two-digit numbers have to be read from left to right.
I just started playing around with a few placements and I noticed that the clues carry a lot of impact. They give you a lot of information and you get placements pretty quick. So I figured it should be possible to make one without any givens. I always enjoy trying to turn out Sudokus without any givens, which most people doing my Daily League puzzles must have noticed. This puzzle had an opening constructed pretty quickly. The problem of course was to get it unique with only valid clues. I had a few puzzles that were close but I couldn't get any valid clues in anymore to make it unique. After a few tries, this puzzle came out. I don't think it's overly hard, but it does involve a bit of careful calculations to make sure you don't make any errors. There's very little chance to track back.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku, a number on a grid point indicates the result of dividing the two-digit number formed by the top two digits by the two-digit number formed by the bottom two digits. Both two-digit numbers have to be read from left to right.
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Sunday, 20 December 2015
Daily League #52: Quad Max Sudoku
This is the third puzzle in the 'Quad Sudoku' series. This time once again a common variant. I picked this type as it's not an arithmetic variant and many of the Quad variants are arithmetic in nature. It's also a type that I enjoy solving.
In the design I wanted to see how far I could get with just Quad Max clues. I knew that eventually had to use givens as there is no way to differentiate between 1s and 2s with these clues. I think the design worked out well. The puzzle in the end has four givens. One of them is not necessary for uniqueness, but I wanted to keep the symmetry and it didn't ruin the solving path. The last few digits are a bit tricky, but I thought it was okay with so few digits remaining.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku, an arrow on a grid point points to the highest digit in the four cells around it. Digits may repeat around an arrow, but the highest digit is always unique.
In the design I wanted to see how far I could get with just Quad Max clues. I knew that eventually had to use givens as there is no way to differentiate between 1s and 2s with these clues. I think the design worked out well. The puzzle in the end has four givens. One of them is not necessary for uniqueness, but I wanted to keep the symmetry and it didn't ruin the solving path. The last few digits are a bit tricky, but I thought it was okay with so few digits remaining.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku, an arrow on a grid point points to the highest digit in the four cells around it. Digits may repeat around an arrow, but the highest digit is always unique.
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Sunday, 13 December 2015
Daily League #51: Quad No Difference Sudoku
This is the second puzzle in the 'Quad' Sudoku series. As far as I'm aware this is a new variant. It's the first puzzle I wrote for this series. I just thought it would be better to open the series with something more common. I thought the variant worked pretty nicely.
The design was a bit tricky. I had a different layout in mind, but I couldn't find a way to get that layout unique without giving digits around a clue. That was something I was trying to avoid as I think these Quad Sudokus look nicer when there are no digits given around the Quad clues. I changed the layout a bit in the left top and right bottom nonet. Originally the right bottom nonet was to get a Quad clue as well, but there was no way to force the 5 with such a clue. I needed that 5 for uniqueness. I still think it's a nice looking puzzle and it should be a good solve.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku, a clue given on a grid point indicates that no two of the four digits around it have this difference. E.g. a 3 clue indicates that no two of the four digits around it have a difference of 3.
The design was a bit tricky. I had a different layout in mind, but I couldn't find a way to get that layout unique without giving digits around a clue. That was something I was trying to avoid as I think these Quad Sudokus look nicer when there are no digits given around the Quad clues. I changed the layout a bit in the left top and right bottom nonet. Originally the right bottom nonet was to get a Quad clue as well, but there was no way to force the 5 with such a clue. I needed that 5 for uniqueness. I still think it's a nice looking puzzle and it should be a good solve.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku, a clue given on a grid point indicates that no two of the four digits around it have this difference. E.g. a 3 clue indicates that no two of the four digits around it have a difference of 3.
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Sunday, 6 December 2015
Daily League #50: Quadruple Sudoku
This month's theme is Quads. They will all be variants that with clues on grid points, that give information about the four cells around it. This set will contain two known variants and two new variants, as far as I'm aware. The choice for this theme came because I had an idea for a variant. I made a Sudoku with it and I think it turned out nicely. I figured it would make a good theme as there are many variants that use such a clue.
The first Sudoku is the most common variant. It's a variant I've written once before, but never for the Daily League. It's what I consider a classic variant, because there are no alternative clues in it. I wanted to make one without any overlapping clues. It turned out nicely in my mind.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku digits given on a grid point indicate the digits in the four cells around it.
The first Sudoku is the most common variant. It's a variant I've written once before, but never for the Daily League. It's what I consider a classic variant, because there are no alternative clues in it. I wanted to make one without any overlapping clues. It turned out nicely in my mind.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku digits given on a grid point indicate the digits in the four cells around it.
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Sunday, 29 November 2015
Daily League #49: Descriptive Pairs or Next To Nine Sudoku
This is the fifth puzzle in my 'A or B Sudoku' series. It is a combination of Descriptive Pairs Sudoku and Next To Nine Sudoku. I thought I might be able to combine these genres as they both use two digits for clues.
These are two types that suit my design style a bit more, because I like designing Sudokus without any givens in the grid. It was a bit hard to find a good opening, so I went for a relatively obvious opening clue. The opening is pretty narrow and it takes a while for the solve to open up a bit. I'm pretty happy how it turned out. I thought the two types work well together.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku each pair of digits is either a Descriptive Pairs Sudoku clue or a Next To Nine Sudoku clue. In a Descriptive Pairs Sudoku clue, one of the digits indicates the position of the other digit in that row or column when looking from that side. A Next To Nine Sudoku clue indicates the two digits that border the 9 in that row or column. Different clues can conform to different rules.
These are two types that suit my design style a bit more, because I like designing Sudokus without any givens in the grid. It was a bit hard to find a good opening, so I went for a relatively obvious opening clue. The opening is pretty narrow and it takes a while for the solve to open up a bit. I'm pretty happy how it turned out. I thought the two types work well together.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku each pair of digits is either a Descriptive Pairs Sudoku clue or a Next To Nine Sudoku clue. In a Descriptive Pairs Sudoku clue, one of the digits indicates the position of the other digit in that row or column when looking from that side. A Next To Nine Sudoku clue indicates the two digits that border the 9 in that row or column. Different clues can conform to different rules.
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Sunday, 22 November 2015
Daily League #48: Edge Sums or Frame Sudoku
This is the fourth puzzle in my 'A or B Sudoku' series. It's a combination between Edge Sums and Frame Sudoku.
These two type are pretty similar. One uses the sum of the first two cells and the other the sum of the first three cells. I find both types fun to solve, but I do think they get the same pretty fast. There's a few variations on them that make them a bit more interesting, like Hi-Lo Frame Sudoku and Frameless Sudoku. I thought the combination of the two and three cell sums might make it more interesting. I am happy with how the puzzle turned out, especially getting the ending to work with so few clues was fun to figure out. Hope you enjoy it too.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku the numbers on the outside indicate the sum of the digits in the first two or first three cells seen in that row or column from that direction. The number of digits can differ between different sums.
These two type are pretty similar. One uses the sum of the first two cells and the other the sum of the first three cells. I find both types fun to solve, but I do think they get the same pretty fast. There's a few variations on them that make them a bit more interesting, like Hi-Lo Frame Sudoku and Frameless Sudoku. I thought the combination of the two and three cell sums might make it more interesting. I am happy with how the puzzle turned out, especially getting the ending to work with so few clues was fun to figure out. Hope you enjoy it too.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku the numbers on the outside indicate the sum of the digits in the first two or first three cells seen in that row or column from that direction. The number of digits can differ between different sums.
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Saturday, 21 November 2015
Puzzle #169: Fortress Sudoku
For his last two puzzles for the Daily League, Tom Collyer has been playing around with the same layout in his Extra Region and Clone Sudoku and his Very Odd Sudoku. This second puzzle can be solved under a second rule. After having solved it both ways, I tried solving it under a few other rules that might be presented that way. None of them worked. But I found that solving it under Fortress Sudoku rules lead to some interesting deductions by removing a few of the givens. So with that opening, I started playing around a bit what givens would make it unique. This is the result. I think it turned out nicely.
Rules of Sudoku
In this Sudoku digits in grey cells are larger than all orthogonally adjacent white cells.
Rules of Sudoku
In this Sudoku digits in grey cells are larger than all orthogonally adjacent white cells.
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Sunday, 15 November 2015
Daily League #47: Palindrome Or Rising Sudoku
Here is the third puzzle in my 'A or B Sudoku' series. This time it is a combination between Palindrome Sudoku and Rising Sudoku. Rising Sudoku might be a bit unfamiliar. It's basically a Thermometer Sudoku without a bulb to indicate the low point of the line. I saw them more often years ago, but I think now Thermometer Sudoku has become a bit more the go-to genre.
I wasn't sure if this combination would work very well. It was a bit hard to figure out how to get a start in this Sudoku, without giving away too many givens. The construction was a bit troublesome as I ran into situations without a solution far too often. The problem was that a lot of areas wouldn't resolve themselves early in the solve and by the time they did, there would be a contradiction with clues I had laid out in the meantime. In the end, I think the puzzle worked out nicely.
Rules of Sudoku
In this Sudoku a grey line is either a Palindrome Sudoku or a Rising Sudoku clue. In a Palindrome Sudoku clue the digits along the grey line form a Palindromic sequence; the sequence can be read the same from either end. In a Rising Sudoku clue, the digits form a rising sequence from one end to the other. This sequence does not have to be an arithmetic sequence. Different grey lines can conform to different rules.
I wasn't sure if this combination would work very well. It was a bit hard to figure out how to get a start in this Sudoku, without giving away too many givens. The construction was a bit troublesome as I ran into situations without a solution far too often. The problem was that a lot of areas wouldn't resolve themselves early in the solve and by the time they did, there would be a contradiction with clues I had laid out in the meantime. In the end, I think the puzzle worked out nicely.
Rules of Sudoku
In this Sudoku a grey line is either a Palindrome Sudoku or a Rising Sudoku clue. In a Palindrome Sudoku clue the digits along the grey line form a Palindromic sequence; the sequence can be read the same from either end. In a Rising Sudoku clue, the digits form a rising sequence from one end to the other. This sequence does not have to be an arithmetic sequence. Different grey lines can conform to different rules.
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| Click to enlarge |
Sunday, 8 November 2015
Daily League #46: All Odd Or All Even Sudoku
This is the second puzzle in my 'A or B Sudoku' series. This time it's a combination of Odd and Even Sudoku.
This combination has been done before, but I've always enjoyed solving them. I generally like puzzles with parity. I used the same layout for this puzzle as one of my earlier puzzles, namely my Renban Sudoku (and in a sense my Arrow Sudoku). I thought this layout would work well for this genre and I was right. I found some interesting interactions in this layout. These interactions might lead to some harder logic, but they should be fun to figure out.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku grey cells within a single marked 3 by 3 area are either all odd or all even. This can differ between different areas.
This combination has been done before, but I've always enjoyed solving them. I generally like puzzles with parity. I used the same layout for this puzzle as one of my earlier puzzles, namely my Renban Sudoku (and in a sense my Arrow Sudoku). I thought this layout would work well for this genre and I was right. I found some interesting interactions in this layout. These interactions might lead to some harder logic, but they should be fun to figure out.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku grey cells within a single marked 3 by 3 area are either all odd or all even. This can differ between different areas.
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| Click to enlarge |
Sunday, 1 November 2015
Daily League #45: Clone Or Extra Region Sudoku
After a Daily League hiatus of over a year, I've written a number of Sudokus again. I'm planning on keeping it up for a while.
For this month, all my Sudokus will fall in a particular theme. This theme is "A or B Sudoku". This means that clues for two different genres appear in the Sudoku and it's up to you to figure out which clues are part of which genre. The reason for this theme is that one of my favourite Sudokus I have written for the Daily League was my Ace Sudoku. I really enjoyed writing that puzzle, playing around with getting the different rules having to be used in different areas. I think it's a fun solve personally. So I started playing around with different rules that are normally presented in the same way. When I had a few out, I decided I would be posting them in the Daily League.
The first puzzle is a combination of Clone and Extra Region. I first searched for a nice layout that allowed for multiple 9 cell areas that don't touch each other. The three I-shaped regions look nice and work well together. I think the combination worked out well, but can probably be improved on a bit.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku each grey area is either an Extra Region Sudoku or a Clone Sudoku clue. A Extra Region Sudoku clue contains the digits 1~9 exactly once. A Clone Sudoku clue has the exact same digits in the same place as one or more of the other grey areas, without rotation or reflection. Different grey areas can obey different rules.
For this month, all my Sudokus will fall in a particular theme. This theme is "A or B Sudoku". This means that clues for two different genres appear in the Sudoku and it's up to you to figure out which clues are part of which genre. The reason for this theme is that one of my favourite Sudokus I have written for the Daily League was my Ace Sudoku. I really enjoyed writing that puzzle, playing around with getting the different rules having to be used in different areas. I think it's a fun solve personally. So I started playing around with different rules that are normally presented in the same way. When I had a few out, I decided I would be posting them in the Daily League.
The first puzzle is a combination of Clone and Extra Region. I first searched for a nice layout that allowed for multiple 9 cell areas that don't touch each other. The three I-shaped regions look nice and work well together. I think the combination worked out well, but can probably be improved on a bit.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku each grey area is either an Extra Region Sudoku or a Clone Sudoku clue. A Extra Region Sudoku clue contains the digits 1~9 exactly once. A Clone Sudoku clue has the exact same digits in the same place as one or more of the other grey areas, without rotation or reflection. Different grey areas can obey different rules.
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| Click to enlarge |
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