This is my puzzle, and I’m so happy you enjoyed it! I tried to demonstrate as much logic that this ruleset offered as I could, aiming to show the potential. There’s a couple interesting things for the intended solve path. At 21:41, it’s actually possible to immediately do the logic with r3c3 and r9c3 to avoid the Kropki dot entirely- but I didn’t even realize that when making it, and though a player pointed it out to me afterwards, I thought the Kropki dot made it a bit easier to get your bearings so decided to keep it. Starting at 1:17:22, there’s some interesting logic with the 6s. If you attempt to put any 6s outside of the middle three rows, you can’t- either one’s alone in its row, or one’s alone in the column. So it’s actually possible to show all three remaining 6s have to be in the same column, and the only column that’s possible in is c6, which is the intended path. A lot of the logic you found without using it I didn’t even know was there, though, and I found it quite enjoyable seeing the alternate route. At 1:52:41- so you can’t check it. This actually meant that in the very first version of my puzzle, my intended solution actually broke the rules, because there was a 9 without a partner in the row! Luckily it turned out to be an easy fix, but that definitely made me concerned. I actually have appeared on this channel once before; I made a sandwich sudoku around two years ago, though the quality would never make it on now. All in all, I’m really glad you enjoyed it, though I’m sorry the ending was a bit opaque; and I greatly enjoyed watching you play it. Thank you! :D
What a fantastic puzzle. I had been mulling over how to set a sudoku that didn't follow the rules of sudoku as I am sure many people have, but that was a masterpiece of construction. I left a general comment for the channel, but I found your comment and was wondering if you would be up for a "how I set this puzzle" video for the channel? It really is some convoluted logic to get your head around, and having to think way outside the traditional box of sudokudom. One question, was the 666 through the middle of the puzzle just to show how devilish you could be :) If you could send a link to the first puzzle of yours that made it on the channel, I would really like to see the progression. Keep up the awesome setting!
Awhile back, I don't know exactly when, Simon made a comment in a video where he said something like, "Whatever ruleset you want to think about, if Phistomofel gets his hands on it, he will make the ultimate best puzzle there will ever be with that ruleset." Having said that, I would love to see him use this ruleset and make a puzzle with it.
I also spotted the requirement for the remaining 6s to be in the same column and in the same rows as the already-placed 6s, and kept waiting for Simon to figure it out and quickly fill them in.
I did it quite differently from 1:17:22, and the 3 6s were the very last digits I placed. Once you have that 49 pair in the 38 cage, if r2c8 is a 9, then it is impossible to place the final 2 9s. That places all the 9s, fills the rest of r2 with 4s, which fills the thermo with 4s and then finishes those, and then I think looking at any of 6, 7, 8 will quickly finish things, I just happened to do 7 & 8 before 6.
Took 190 minutes and I had to regain confidence in my logic by watching Simon catch up a couple times, but I got there! Fantastic puzzle, if brutal. Rare we see 5/5 difficulty on the channel, (and rarer that I succeed without hints lol) but always fun.
He realized it very quickly at least. I spent five minutes rechecking before jumping to the comments to see if anyone had come up with an alternate solution. Then your comment made me jump to the timestamp and turn the lightbulb on 😮💨
Some of my coloring habits: * Not using grays * Matching the color to its number (4=green, 8=yellow, etc.) or at least the same "column" (green=147, yellow=258, orange=369) * Specifically green vs. orange to contrast opposites (e.g. parity, high/low) * Multi-coloring with grey to indicate one digit known to be exist in a given domino/pair * Reserving a specific color (like gray #2) to indicate that the digit is "completed" (i.e. all instances placed and in a way that satisfies extra rules) * 19-sandwich: known 19s get yellow, known "not 19"s get gray #2
I started laughing when I read the rule set. The fact that the setter managed to design something solvable is really quite unexpected - congratulations Isaac, this is truly original work.
If you think about it, a valid solution with this ruleset (with a different layout of clues, obviously) _could_ be to have each box filled with nine of the same digit. That's the proof that the ruleset works. All you have to do from there is swap pairs of digits, like scrambling a Rubik's cube. Making sure each next iteration is still a valid solution. Eventually you get here!
I feel so bad whenever Simon apologises for anything. I do hope it's slightly for show and that he does not think of himself the way he seems to be talking about himself at times. You're unbelievably amazing, Simon!
Sadly, I'm very close to certain he does think that way, or at least did at one point long enough to have that mental pathway immortalized, as it's pretty much the exact train of thought I often fall into.
This might be one of the puzzles that will mostly haunt Simon for a long time, I had a look at this one in the past and I didn't even dare to try it because of how crazy and ridiculous it looks. Truly incredible works from both Isaac and Simon here :D
1:26:13 starting from this point, I kept yelling at the screen, "Simon! Look at the 7's in Row 5! You need another 7 in row 5, and it can only go in r5c4, because you already have 7 in four columns!". Absolutly amazing and brilliant puzzle, the logic here is just so clever and beautiful.
Agreed, I figured out that each number proscribes a bounded rectangle containing at most four active rows and columns (although not all corners of the rectangle are included in the set). Once you have that, the sevens get automatically placed, the three remaining sixes have only one logical location, and the fours and eights remain to be cleaned up.
Same. I was especially screaming after he was like "It would be silly if it was something to do with the 7s." and then he didn't double check the 7s real quick to make sure he didn't miss anything.
This sodon'tku is fantastic! The reason why it is so great, it's because it teaches you how to solve it along the way. You start to notice the thermometer, then the new cage rules, then the maximum of 4 rules (one digit in max 4 rows, max 4 columns or max 4 box). I feel like if I was given another puzzle with the same rules I would solve it much faster thanks to the newly acquired knowledge. Congratulations to the creator. Just brillant.
This is definitely the first (and likely only) puzzle I have ever felt like I understood faster than Simon. I think it was just set in a way that my brain sees patterns. That triple 6 in box 5 was placeable immediately after the 6s in box 6 which would have tripped the remainder of the puzzle.
The 9s destroyed me. I saw the 9s for about 30 minutes just eating away at me as he did the most round about logic to rule out digits when he didn’t need to. It’s tough.
I thought you were joking about the "computers like me" thing, but these comments really are being made by an AI faster than realtime aren't they Is this a research project? I'm curious who's behind this.
i started to panic because it looked for a second like he wasn't going to click the check button.. all the time sitting here knowing it wouldn't work..
I did the same thing on my solve and pressed the check button at the end. It provided some welcome light relief after a lot of head scratching. Lovely.
34:24 It's amusing how you backed into this 2 a different way, although 2 minutes earlier you formulated a number can be in a maximum of 4 rows, 4 columns, or 4 boxes. But didn't notice the 2s were already in 4 boxes. So at the time you formulated that rule, you could have instantly placed that 2. :)
And then he applies the same logic to box 4 a minute later, reasoning that he can't place a 2 in box 4 because that would require an 5th column, completely glossing over the fact that it would require a 5th box in the first place 😁. It's pretty obvious you'll need a 2 in boxes 1 and 2, on columns 1 and 6, on the same row. The 9th 2 should then go on the intersection of any box, row and column that already contains a 2.
That rule was missed a lot. Simon tends to forget these checklists all of the time. Not sure this would have been less than 60 minutes even if Simon spent 10 seconds counting "five columns of 8s" instead of 3 minutes doing some other deduction (or repeating one). e.g. at 1:13:37 he has postulated 8 in five columns, but works really hard two minutes later to show that the 9 in box 2 is a problem. That was a ten second deduction that took until 1:16:50, which is about three minutes.
You could hear something like sarcasm as Simon said that. He has to say "have a go" because that's what he always says -- but he knew perfectly well that most of us were firing up the popcorn popper and settling in to watch the master at work.
The rule set seems impossible for both the solver to solve and the setter to create a puzzle with a single individual solution. Kudos to both of you (assuming Simon is able to solve it.) Excited to watch Simon's process for the next 2 hours!
Toward the end, thinking about how to allocate the 6s is pretty powerful. You've already placed six 6s in the grid, in two boxes that are completely full. You know the remaining three 6s all have to go in the same box, because otherwise there'd have to be a box that only gets one 6. This rules out boxes one and three. The three 6s also all have to go in the same column, because otherwise one of the columns that's not column three or column nine would only have one 6. So the only place that can fit them is R4-6C6.
yep I got that straight away...makes a change. I also worked out the box 3 9's logic earlier which helped in some places. Needed some Simon-nudges earlier on in the puzzle though
This was the key issue that Simon missed. The video would have been far shorter if he'd just realized that the remaining 6s had to be in one column, and in one box. From very early on, there was only one option, and then many of the other considerations would have been moot.
This looks impossibile until you realize the "max four" rule, then it's just brutal :) well done to simon for discovering it, i wouldn't in a thousand year. Kudos to the setter, this is an amazing puzzle and very innovative which is saying a lot!
I was one of the first testers of this puzzle (the author and I tend to send our first drafts to each other) and I definitely struggled quite a bit with it. You did marvelously, Simon. The logic of the 6s towards the end can be spotted a bit sooner but the rest of it was very well done, indeed - and a joy to watch. Edit: Also, I guess the thumbnail artist (you?) is a Phasmophobia fan? :D
Yes, when you have the first six 6 in 2 boxes and columns, there are two possible solutions, the remaining three 6 in a column, or the seventh in a column with 6 the eighth in the same row and box as the seventh and the ninth in the same column as the eighth. Starting from Simon's position at 1:17:30, the first option is forced into box 5 and the second option is impossible. Then the position of the 4 is forced and the 7, 8, and 9 are not difficult. It took me 5 minutes from that point. One hour 40 minutes in total. I cheated a bit when I did not know how to solve column 3 I saw the beginning of the video until Simon said no more than 4 houses of the same type per number.
A few moments after Simon had placed the second set of 6’s down, I figured out that it needed a third set of 6s, and seen where it would have went. I was done with the puzzle after 1:23:00, but only because Simon had lead me to that point. :) Good job Simon, you’re much more brilliant than I in these Sudokus, but I was grinning widely when I was able to complete this puzzle much earlier than you finishing the video. :)
When Simon said "do have a go", I was like why does he think of us so highly, but afterwards when he explained the rules and put the minimum and maximum digits that could go on the thermo, I was actually ahead of him, for that I'm really proud. But then again its because of Simon and Mark that I'm able to keep up with them and their logic, so thank you so much.
I really laughed out loud at the rules, hilarious. But I don't even want to give it a try ... but definitively I'll watch this. Addendum: Around 90 mins, when there's 6 sixes, the remaining 3 sixes should go to R4-6C6, right? Add2: After watching the whole thing, very enjoyable and fun. And so so very different.
Me too, as soon as i saw "normal sudoku rules CANNOT apply" i laughed for a good 20 seconds. I had to pause the video Edit: oh no the rules get worse lmao
@@garak2406 Yeah you can do to by considering that due to the configuration of the other 6s, the 6s now are limited to only three columns/boxes so the other three 6s must share a column and a box
I love it when we see their reactions to seeing a puzzle for the first time. Granted, with most puzzles the reaction wouldn't be quite THIS amazing, but I still think they should include reveals in the video more often.
The initial reaction on The Miracle Sudoku was even more priceless. And there was one puzzle where Simon actually called Mark by phone iirc. Priceless moments on cracking the cryptic
I think there was beautiful logic in the puzzles regarding the 6 placement once you got the 6s in r456c3 and r456c9 (at about 1:20:00), that the remaining sixes must be r456 in the same column due to requiring 4 additional sixes if they are in different rows/boxes and only having 3 eights left, leaving them to be c6r456 since there were no other places left.
That's quite possibly the way you were supposed to progress. Simon could've probably finished 20 minutes sooner if he'd spotted that. It's just such a more clean and clever ending to this masterpiece of a puzzle than Simon's way.
Is it true to say that if you get two parallel sets of three digits (as the 6s) the three remaining must also be arranged in a matching parallel set of three digits? I can't see any other arrangement that's possible, but I don't trust my logic fully.
@@mrmckenzie0 Yep! Otherwise- well, let’s say there is one digit in a fourth row. Then it needs a partner in that row. But now you have two sets of four digits, and you can’t put the ninth in a fifth row, and you can’t put it in a new column since there isn’t a tenth for a partner. So the other three have to be in the same rows as the first two sets of three. But the first digit you place in a new column requires a partner in the column, and then the last digit can’t go in a new column, and the ones with the first two sets are full, so it has to go in the column with the other two new digits.
Nice puzzle! This took me almost 5 hours to solve, despite my previous experience with anti-sudoku puzzles. One observation that would have helped Simon a few times is that a row, column, or box can have at most 4 distinct digits in it.
I'm so glad to see this puzzle on the channel. This is certainly one of my favorite puzzles from last year and one of the puzzles I've most persistently recommended. The way this premise that sounds like a joke is twisted into a puzzle that I feel could really be its own genre is amazing. Hats off the constructor, and hats off to Simon!
It originally was a joke, as a matter of fact! I proposed the idea to a friend and laughed, and then I decided to try seeing what would happen if I tried the ruleset- and to my surprise, interesting logic began coming out, which inspired the puzzle!
@@notchmath9642 And great that you keep up with the comments too after setting it and watching Simon's solve. Sorry that you don't have the gear to do a HOW I DID IT video. I would watch that. Great work, and as previously said, "Above my pay grade!"
@@victusinambitus A basic summary- I set a valid solution to the ruleset that I thought looked interesting, fixed it because it actually wasn’t a valid solution and had a lone 9 in a row, then added clues one by one to try and force the solution I knew I wanted before I placed the first clue. I started with the longest thermometer possible, trimmed pieces of it off to add logic, added more clues to fix more logic; then after testing revealed an alternate path I didn’t like, I tweaked the puzzle to remove that path, and made a few other slight adjustments to try and make the solution path more telegraphed. Never once did I actually change the solution, only the clues leading to it.
Please don’t apologise ❤️ I’m so unintelligent when it comes to these sorts of puzzles but your way of explaining and going through them makes it so I can at least understand when you crack it !! :)
Resnikoff was so preoccupied with whether or not he could, that he didn't stop to think if he should! Also, it'd be cool if someone made a genuinely approachable anti-sudoku for us simpletons.
Everything is wrogn (rZOU-0E5MDI or "Pretty little Liars: The Sudoku" on the channel) by DiMono is challenging without being extreme (~4 stars equivalent on LMD imo) and was one of the first wrogn puzzles. Well worth a try [or watch] if you like these types of puzzles. It is still a sudoku though, so not as tricky as this one and possibly a good place to start.
@@ThomasJohnsen2 I have been wondering since the start of this one whether it would be possible to create something called "double negation" which would combine sudon'tku and wrogn ideas.
I don't know why I this puzzle was the first 9x9 "Sudoku" of your channel that I seriously approached without checking for any tips. Somehow it looked intriguing to try my brain on a puzzle that doesn't need greater Sudoku knowlegde so to speak! I was stunned first of course, but watching so many of Mark's and Simon's awesome videos taught my eyes to look to the right places more quickly than I thought. First the long Thermometer, then the strange closeness the digits wanted to share and a sprinkle of lots of different colouring approaches (I switched all the finished colours to green to not get too overwhelmed). Once I got to the ends of the long thermometer and could close in on the right numbers thanks to the magnificently clever clues by the setter, I was confident enough to see it through to the end!!! I truly loved this puzzle and enjoyed every moment of this 3 hour journey with a nice tea and some chocolat!!!! Thank you Mark and Simon for all the great time I can spend with you and your explanations and logic bombs!
I usually don't try the puzzles with 2 hour videos, but in the past I've been really impressed with how great the harder puzzles with weird rules are when watching Simon solve them, so I decided to give this one a go. I found myself exclaiming Simonisms about how brilliant the puzzle is as I discovered -slowly- new bits of the logic. Took me well over 2-3 hours split over 2 days but I can say this is my absolute favorite puzzle that's been featured on the channel and probably my produest solve, thanks for an absolutely brilliant puzzle! There's some logic with the 6's that makes the puzzle quite a bit easier to finish that Simon missed I think: once you get the 2nd column of 6's on the far right, you can deduce that the remaining ones can't be anywhere in the top boxes and therefore have to be somewhere in the middle 3 boxes placed as a vertical column; there is only one spot at that point with 3 free vertical spots and this immediately places the remaining 6's!
1:17:30 The moment you fix six 6s in only two columns, the other three remaining 6s are terribly restricted. They must for sure be in the same box (otherwise you'd need at least ten to make every one be paired). For the same reason, they must be in the same column. The only available place is in column 6, box 5. I'm surprised Simon didn't catch on that, and 30 minutes later he's even struggling to place the only remaining 6 in the puzzle.
I think this could have shortened the video by 30 minutes. I saw this immediately and kept shouting at Simon untill the end of the video. But then again, Simon had to let go of all his trusted techniques and had to reinvent the wheel. As a novice sodoku player myself (tabula rasa if you will) I could spot many quick solutions to this puzzle surprisingly well, because I don't have the old habits of normal sodoku. Kudos for Simon for solving the puzzle regardless of missing this technique!
I agree! This is the first and only puzzle in the channel so far where I think NOT been an expert Sudoku solver is actually an advantage! The curious part is that it would have taken me AGES to figure out some of the rules Simon found (like the maximum of 4 rows/columns/boxes for each digit), but once he established them I could incorporate them maybe easier than him, because in my case they didn't clash with everything I knew was correct in Sudoku!
97:44 for me. I can’t believe I solved this!! I was about to lose my mind at some point, but somehow managed to get to the end. This ruleset is brutal, I’ve never been this confused while solving a sudoku before, but at the same I enjoyed every single second of the solve. Incredible puzzle, just awesome.
As soon as Simon placed three 6's in Column 3 and Column 9 he could have placed the other three 6's in column 6. There were no other rows 6's could go and all the other columns in those three rows already had at least 1 digit placed. It was forced to be there.
The 6' s and the 9's are the ones that I was screaming to him for about an hour.... they were so obvious to me....but to come to that I think I never have the brain, so I could not be cruel to Simon at all...
Amazing puzzle. Amazing solve, Simon. I was quite pleased that on (very few) occasions, I was able to spot the logical path before you in places. But I could not have found the logic to arrive there in the first place. Fantastic!
And he continues this incorrect line of thinking after removing the 5s. Typical he removes them for - not the wrong reason, because at this point he already has nine 5s - but through much more complicated reasoning.
Love that every technique, idea and logic used to solve a regular sudoku gets thrown out the window, great fun to watch your solve. Thanks Simon and especially NotchMath. Brilliant.
Oh my GOSH what a puzzle. Geez. One of the best puzzles I’ve ever seen featured on this channel, and an incredible solve by Simon. I hope to see more Isaac and more Sudon’tku in the future, perhaps with other variants - an Arrow Sudon’tku, an XV Sudon’ku, etc.
Knight Sudon'tku. Skyscraper Sudon'tku. There was one kropki clue, but make the board full of dots. Quadruple Sudon'tku. Lockout lines Sudon'tku. German Whispers Sudon'tku. So many options.
This puzzle and video is so hilarious! Imagine 50:48 out of context: “You can't put a 9 on the end of a thermo, or you'd have to fill the whole thermo with nines” 😅😅😅
This is a really weird experience watching this. I still definitely don't have Simon's ability to solve this but I was beating him to many more deductions then I ever normally would (only after he'd worked out where to look). Turns out experience can be a hindrance when the rules are flipped on their head - I had much less issues adjusting given I rarely do the puzzles myself
Simons face when he clicked the check button and saw that message saying things were wrong... What I spent 2 hours and bobbined it.. And then the laugh when he remembers normal sudoku rules do not apply. 🙂
Great puzzle, and great video, thanks! On the coloring, 1st, thanks for bringing in the Mark-style grey flashes for colors where there's more than one option in a box, makes things much clearer. 2nd, I'd suggest (if a puzzle like this ever comes up again, because I don't think it's useful for general sudokus) that you keep 1 color (let's say yellow, since it's fairly mild) and mark all the "done" sets in that color - i.e., you could color all the 5's red once you have all 9, then put red on all the 2's once they'd done, etc... It would make it easier for you to track which numbers are done, and save lots of colors for other patterns.
As a lover of negative constraints, this was a pleasure to solve! As usual with the more difficult solves, I needed more time than you, Simon, and also a few times some input from your video to get unstuck. :)
1:18:13 finish. One thing I did that helped was when a number had reached 4 rows and 4 columns, I would highlight the virtual 4x4 area and look for any possible spaces that could be used to fill the remaining instances of that number. Brilliant and unexpected puzzle!
Only 23:49 into the video: I think I just realized, that since every number has to have at least one "partner", in order to NOT fulfill the usual Sudoku rule of "one in every column/box/row", this leads to a massive constraint. Unless I'm mistaken, this means every number has to appear in 3 to 4 separate rows, and 3 to 4 separate columns. If it's 3 rows, it has to be 4 columns and vice versa. I don't think any one number can occupy less than 3 colums/rows, or more than 4 columns/rows Well, or I could be a big doofus like usual and I'm missing something obvious. I'll just continue watching. I'm not at the point yet where I could solve these puzzles by myself, but I'm learning, hopefully Edit: Nope, I'm wrong. 4 rows & 4 columns does in fact work, as does 3 rows & 3 columns. so now in my mind the possible configurations are 3r3c, 3r4c, 4r3c, 4r4c
Its ok Simon. I read the rules, understood them, and still reread them because I was hoping I was wrong. This is way above my pay grade so I dare not try it on my own but take a bow for solving a puzzle full of nothing but negative constraints and Isaac can take a bow right beside you for setting it. Edit: An hour and ten for me but it would have taken me days to get that break in. Someone needs to send Simon a Puzzle of equal brilliance to give to Mark in order to repay this "kindness" 😂
When I saw the rules for this puzzle I just laughed maniacally and settled in to watch Simon struggle. You should not at all beat yourself up for not seeing things on this puzzle, it was absolutely insane. I think you did get a bit hung up on the thermos in the last half hour or so. It resolved itself pretty nicely at that point by just focusing on where the remaining digits could go. And there was a nice bit of logic with 6s where the arrangement of the first six forced the remaining three in box 5. That being said, getting to that point at all was impressive. And bravo to the setter for coming up with such a clever idea. This takes wrogn to a whole new level.
1:46:00 "I bet it's something like I could have done the sevens and totally interrupted some communication somewhere" [proceeds to ignore 7, which has unique placements in box 5/8] Although, admittedly, that'd only be 10 minutes or so saved at that point. Or ~30 minutes if he'd followed the "7 can't be in 5 boxes" logic from 1:27:30.
i'm not even gonna attempt to knit while watching like i usually do, because the second i stop paying attention i'll be utterly lost on what's going on. what a hell of a puzzle, i'm so excited :D
I never cared about sudoku or anything like that until I saw your channel. I’m dyslexic really bad with math and numbers so sudokus have always been hard for me to do. But the way you explain your thought process makes it really easy for me to understand and follow along and I really appreciate that! Your videos are so calming and comforting! One of my favorite new channels!
The Phasmophobia thumbnail got my attention, and am I ever glad it did! This has to be one of the most amazing puzzles I’ve seen on this channel. Appears truly absurd and impossible to draw even a single conclusion at the outset, and yet the logic is there, and surprisingly understandable once the momentum starts. I can barely imagine solving this, and find it truly baffling that a human brain could SET it. Amazing!
Wow, that was an interesting puzzle. I assumed from the video length that I'd find it intractable -- but after watching the first 10-15 minutes of Simon's solve and realizing that I was getting things at about the same speed he was, I decided to try it. There was one point I got stuck and had to check with the solve to see what I'd erroneously eliminated, but other than that, I got done in about 70 minutes after I stopped watching the video.
I only just discovered your channel a few days ago and have binged several of these videos! I had no idea sudoku (er- sudon'tku lol) could be so complex or so much fun. At the same time, I find your videos very meditative and lovely (I doubt I could solve these myself yet, so I've been knitting and enjoying listening to how you tackle these for now)! Thanks for sharing & Happy New Year!
Reading that ruleset is honestly one of the best laughs I've had in a while. Not started the video yet but I am incredibly excited to see how the hell Simon manages this one. I don't think I have it in me to attempt this.
I enjoy watching you solve something that I can barely wrap my mind around, it’s ok to move at a snails pace. It’s so interesting to watch you use logic to figure things out
This was enjoyable, since I was learning along with Simon how this rule set worked, which allowed me to get ahead of him at some points during the solve - but the quickness that Simon picked up the nuances of the ruleset was breathtaking. Incredible work by the setter, superb work by Simon. My brain is tired just watching - this is not a puzzle I would have attempted alone.
I try earlier version of this puzzle, and it's absolutely stunning idea! I'm sure this version should be an improvement to the solve path, and makes it more beautiful!
Absolutely incredible puzzle. I'm wishing I stopped to give it a go myself now - perhaps I will in a few months when I have forgotten more of the logic. What a treat this was. I was laughing through it because it was so joyous to appreciate it all and I Love when Simon gives his little rants of high compliments to the setter :) bravo!! I'm sure this puzzle will inspire many constructors and I look forward to hopefully seeing more like this appear on the channel in the future!! What genius this was, absolutely stunning
50:00 minutes for me. I was quite impressed by myself. Once I understood the limitations (4 rows, 4 columns, 4 boxes max) plus needing at least 2 of each digits in each box, it was easier.
this creates such an interesting type of puzzle solving that doesnt let up til the bitter end! i think this kind of ruleset could be greatly expanded upon, although im sure it would take a lot of testing and close study to set such a puzzle.
Unlearning scanning patterns seems really to be hard and get into the way of Simon's thinking for solving this. In the last part, after placing seven 7s in four rows and columns the last 7s are forced for instance. since there were only two places left in the quasi-jellyfish defined by the placed 7s in the four boxes (r5678c4578).
Very proud to say that while I normally can't keep up with Simon's logical skills, I had figured out the 2's (with the domino not exact locations) about 10 minutes before Simon. This is like mirror mode of Mario Kart where all the normal muscle memory is reversed which makes the illogical logical and lefts rights.
1:14:20 the logic of there also being 5 columns of 8 would've also broken the puzzle, so therefore the digit had to be a 4 anyway. Same conclusion, different methods. I never would've gotten there on my own though without watching the first hour and fifteen minutes of Simon doing the rest of the puzzle for me haha
yesss ahah I was so sad looking at those five rows of 8s after he did the same logic with the 6s xd. But he beat me in almost all the rest so touche I guess
This was an amazing puzzle (no, I didn't bother to attempt it) and the best solve I've ever watched. I could see the ending way before Simon did, and was cheering him on rather loudly. Definitely my favorite video on the channel ever! I wish I could watch it for the first time again. Amazing setting and solve!
The middle set of three sixes could have been filled in as soon as you had the outer sets of three sixes. Had you put them anywhere else they would have required too many extra sixes to make sure that there weren't lone sixes in any other rows, columns or boxes.
Not necessarily, there could be two sixes in box 3, aligned horizontally where one is in column 9 and the other one pairs up vertically with a 6 in box 6...
13:42 You can actually logic out the 6s from the 18 cage here. If all those cells highlighted (all 9 of them) the R4C3 cell is now the only cell in R4 that's a 5, which it can't be. So you can rule out 5s from the 18 cage, and rule out the 6s because 3x6=18, meaning they're a minimum of 7.
"I hope no one is looking at this and knows exactly what to do." I do know exactly what to do, wait for you to start solving the puzzle and try to keep up!
That was quite a doozy to solve. I did manage it, albiet with peeking ahead at the solution to make sure I hadn't messed up something, which I did a few times and had to approach it again. My biggest hangup ended up being the ones, for a while I thought there were two ways I could place them and couldn't find the distinguishing clue until I realized one of the setups was invalid
From 1:26:02 all i could see was both sevens in column 4, and with Simon leaving it to the very end of the puzzle was painfull. Always a joy seeing the unique way u see puzzles. Thanks Simon, a joy to watch a solve i would never finish.
This my favorite CTC video so far. It’s funny that not being very experienced in Sudoku was actually an advantage for once, and for the first time I was faster than Simon… 😅 Kudos to the setter for such a masterpiece.
Really enjoyed watching this Simon, absolutely brilliant to see you struggle to turn your hardwired Sudoku thinking off. Several times I was yelling at the screen that any digit can only ever be in 4 rows, columns or boxes (which you realised early on, but didn't use at several crucial steps to prevent going further down a path which can already be ruled out due to the 5th row, column or box being attempted). And hats off to Isaac for building this uniquely (I think) solvable Sudon'tku puzzle!
I reaaly like how the logic with these rules is the sort of "bizarro world" version of the same logic. Like how a normal X-wing *rules out* digits in their columns, but an anti-X-wing *forces* digits into their columns. cool stuff.
