Thanks so much for that solve. The ruleset is very similar to the recently featured copycat puzzle (most devious trap), where my main contribution was to convince everyone on including odd-lots to supplement the logic that was already there. Happy to see this rule get another day in the spotlight!
Brilliant work! Amazing puzzle! The oddlots rules seems very powerful. Almost gives too much information, too fast.....at least, on zipper lines. Wonder how well they play with other stuff? Wonder how long before we see one! Always look forward to whatever you give us!
@@Mephistahpheles I've been playing around with odd-lots in 6x6 and there are many other puzzles by 99%sneaky (the inventor of the rule) and heliopolix. With "mathsy" constraints like zippers, odd-lots are certainly very restricted but there are also very challenging interactions possible with constraints like modular lines.
I did this puzzle before the Scojo and friends one so I had an understanding of odd lots and how they counted on zippers before starting the one Simon previously solved which was a great lesson. I’d advise people try them this one first then the other to build confidence and understanding.
Simon, every evening I watch one of these videos before I go to sleep. I’m not having a great time at the moment and watching you work through this logic gives me something to smile about at the end of every day. Thank you very much.
Rules: 04:26 Let's Get Cracking: 06:08 Simon's time: 29m54s Puzzle Solved: 36:02 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! Three In the Corner: 1x (29:30) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Hang On: 10x (05:40, 07:17, 11:01, 11:51, 12:53, 16:21, 17:12, 24:39, 35:33) By Sudoku: 5x (18:09, 19:29, 24:04, 26:44, 27:47) Ah: 4x (27:28, 29:36, 30:44, 32:20) Cake!: 4x (02:28, 03:08, 03:54, 04:19) Clever: 3x (02:02, 18:11, 36:48) Beautiful: 3x (20:18, 20:21, 31:07) Brilliant: 3x (18:16, 23:59, 23:59) Extraordinary: 3x (36:10, 36:23, 36:23) The Answer is: 2x (26:36, 36:02) Gorgeous: 2x (22:36, 25:39) Surely: 2x (06:26, 06:53) What Does This Mean?: 2x (05:47, 07:04) Good Grief: 1x (22:36) Naked Single: 1x (36:17) Lovely: 1x (30:01) Break the Puzzle: 1x (20:04) Fascinating: 1x (14:51) Incredible: 1x (15:14) Ridiculous: 1x (36:51) Take a Bow: 1x (36:54) In Fact: 1x (30:07) Full stop: 1x (23:50) Phone is Buzzing: 1x (18:31) Nature: 1x (06:18) Pencil Mark/mark: 1x (33:01) Weird: 1x (36:20) Most popular digit and colour this video: One (65 mentions) Yellow (6 mentions) Antithesis Battles: High (2) - Low (2) Odd (73) - Even (43) Row (8) - Column (5) FAQ: Q1: You missed something! A1: That could very well be the case! Human speech can be hard to understand for computers like me! Point out the ones that I missed and maybe I'll learn! Q2: Can you do this for another channel? A2: I've been thinking about that and wrote some code to make that possible. Let me know which channel you think would be a good fit!
That is the most interesting opening to a puzzle I’ve ever seen on this channel. It’s got drama?! In a sudoku? Something about the tiny line to start into an unfathomably large line next. It uses the fog to hide the revelation to make a surprise… In a sudoku! Mental. I work in videogames and I love when so much emotion can be conjured by design alone. Bravo.
Absolutely loved that. A true gdc classic - zippers, fog, a super smooth flow and bags of sneaky cleverness. r2c8 was indeed masterful and also kind of funny. Bravo my friend
So good, such fun - thanks Simon. I have noticed in some of the fog puzzles featured over the past few months that the fog does not really matter, the puzzle would not really work out differently if all of the cells were exposed from the beginning. But this one makes just the right kind of use of the fog, I think, to obscure certain things in order to force thinking that might be a red herring until a digit is discovered and placed. I love fog of war puzzles when the fog is part of the structure of the logic, not so much when it is more of a gimmick, dare I say, to attract the attention of the unwary! This is a perfect example of a great way to employ it - congrats to gdc and thanks so much for this video, Simon!
Amazing puzzle. Slightly intimidating at first but so rewarding! I solved it with my girlfriend and we had a ton of fun :) I was quite proud of figuring out the break-in.
I am normally extremely fascinated with break-ins into these puzzles. However this is the first puzzle with an "easy" break-in that leads to the actual break-in! What an awesome square and an awesome puzzle! Thanks gdc!
I couldn't quite get my head around the digit and had to play with it but it was beautiful when it appeared. Then had to re learn what that meant for odd digits on the next line but practicing thinking through the logic helps us learn. After that it was such a joy to unwind
I will never tire of Simon’s giddy happiness at every puzzle which possesses a cleverly set break-in. I was only horrified, of course, to hear him utter a hum-drum “bow” at the end instead of the patented “Genuflect”
I finished in 125 minutes. Figuring out the cell in r2c8 was incredible to solve. Once I figured it out, it was a revelation. I got stuck in the middle for a long time, before realizing that Sudoku was my friend in the left columns. This was a very cool way to incorporate this ruleset in fog of war. Great Puzzle!
So glad I managed to get the break-in in the first 3 minutes or so, I'm astounded it took Simon that long but then again, it is quite an incredible cell
Thanks to everyone involved! I grinned from ear to ear when I got the 9 in box 3. Wonderful puzzle, gdc. Great solve, Simon. Somewhat smoother than mine, but I did get there.
That 9 seemed so unlikely and as I started narrowing it down I just knew that was what it would end up being! 21:46 here, once you get past some of that initial logic it flows quickly
I've know about sudokus for like 20 years, never been a fan, not bc I didn't like 'em but bc I'm not much of a puzzle guy. Not my cuppa. But for some reason, just listening to you talk and solve is soothing. Its my bedtime sleep music and my background easy listening throughout the day. Still never tried any puzzles myself, but watching you is enough. #TeamSimon
47:04 finished with a lot of fun and some real braincracking. Found a digit on a line, which was not correct (the line was the one i did not expect) so i got rid of the reveal and caried on again. I miss a good amount of logic moments (mostly too fast decutions, without complete oversight), but i do like the challenge and the persevering. Thank you @gdc and @Simon for puzzle and video!
This is the first puzzle I saw on your channel that I actually solved completely on my own before watching the video. I did get stuck for quite a long time trying to find out whether R5C2 would be a 7 or 9, but I finally got it and I'm really proud of myself for solving that one! I just stumbled upon this channel a few weeks ago and I've been hooked on solving variant sudokus on Logic Masters Germany ever since. I really enjoy and appreciate your videos and I've learnt so much about sudoku. Thank you so much for creating these videos in a way that's understandable for beginners as well! ❤️
Easier way to get the circle and square at the start: The sum is 3, so the digits on the line are 1, 2, and 3. One of those digits is even and the other two are odd!
The first and last zipper have all their digits known, each with one being a circle counting odd digits, but to get the order along the zipper, rather than count the odd digits, Simon opts to explain it "using the principles that I've understood from the puzzle." Never change, Simon.
Some logical conclusions for these types of puzzles with the odd/even indicators: Odd-counting circles on a line must be either Even or equal to half the line, rounded up. This is because either you have pairs of odds adding to an even sum, or you have one odd in each sum adding to an odd. Even-counting squares on a line must be either Odd or equal to half the line, rounded down. This is the corollary of the odd-counting circles on a line. Every digit that is not odd is even. Odd-counting circles on the center sum must be either Even or equal to half the line, rounded up. (same as a circle on the line). Even-counting squares on the center sum must be Odd and cannot be Even. This is because the cell counts itself, and if it were even then for every even digit you add on the line, you'd add two, so you always end up with 1+2n, which is odd. You will necessarily always have odd digits on a line, which then necessitates that you must also have even digits on a line, because you cannot make a line with only odd digits.
Ah, that's what my brain was trying to tell me, but I kept getting lost because I have a naughty brain. Luckily still finished the puzzle. Thanks for clarifying!
Finished in 38:39. I think I made the puzzle unnecessarily harder and longer because I didn't focus on where certain digits could be and do normal sudoku based on where the zipper lines were. Fun puzzle!
It's a little sad that Simon switched to sudoku logic at 29:40. There was some beautiful logic around the idea that the little stub in box 5 would join up to the long line: Simon thought about the last cell, which would be forced to be a 2. Then, the second to last cell (r5c7) would correspond to r2c2, so it would need to be 1 or 3, which it can't be, so at that point, without clearing any fog, we can deduce this zipper is different from the long one. That then allows us to figure out some possible paths for the long line, all of which have the 8 that corresponds to r1c2 in box 9. I figured out the 9 at the start somewhat quickly, but this part struck me as absolutely mind-boggling (granted, only because I missed simple sudoku), so having solved the puzzle before watching, I actually thought this was the amazing cell referenced in the title😅
So interestingly, because of the way the rules are worded, the zipper lines must be odd length, which makes Simon's conclusion on r4c6 at 30 minutes correct, but under normal zipper rules allowing for even length line, it wouldn't be
31:36, so neat logic thinking about how long the line centered in r2c8 had to be with the minimum digits that had to be on in in row 1 making the minimum number of even cells go higher and higher.
I could not start this on my own. Somehow my head wanted to put odd digits in cirkels and even digits in squares. Simons explanation why the square in box 3 has to be an odd digit helpt me to solve the rest of the puzzle on my own (plus a lot of goodliffing, thanks Mark!). It took me 45 minutes. I am not very good at lines puzzles so I am quite proud of it😊.
I had the same problem, and after trying to put a one in the first yellow circle, only to reveal no fog, I immediately assumed I'd misread something and just watched the solve instead. lol
I oened it on phone, and clicked on link to solve it myself. There i chose play in sudoku app, and app showed it without fog. Alle lines and stuff was visible. I am reporting it so someone can fix it. Also thank you for this video and all others, I love this channel :)
@8:07 (Simon talking about the "cog icon'') For the folks that don't know, A "cog" is a "gear." Simon, your really ought to be saying: "Click the gear or cog icon." (Or, "Cog or Gear icon.") Click the Gear/Cog icon though, Folks . Just a helper here.. ;) 😉 😁
Seven in the middle means that we need seven even digits, ie. seven pairs that sum to the central cell. 1-6 is not enough, and there is no place for the seventh digit.
If 7 is in the middle cell of box 3, that means there are 7 evens, Which means each end of the zipper line must be 7 cells extending from the total cell. Since they all must be in the top row, that means there are 7 cells across the top on the zipper line (Since it can NOT touch the shown zipper in Box 2, because that would mean a total of 8 cells extending from the total cell). If the total cell was a 7, then where do the 7,8,9 go in the top row? One of them must go on the zipper line along with 1-6, and that breaks the zipper line.
Very fun! There was one little spot where I was forced to move forward with a pseudo-guess. I was confident in my deduction, but couldn't quite articulate WHY, just that if the digit were any larger it wouldn't work.
Nice one, thanks. I got rather waylaid at the start because inexplicably I thought the long line must be symmetrical. These sudokus might turn out to be tests of mental decay.
35:27! That was very fun hehe. I had to pull up a Venn diagram of what to do for each case if [yellow circle / shape in center / middle digit was even] and it was really interesting to work through the cases lol - if the center digit is odd, then whether the shape is in the middle of the line is irrelevant. If the shape is a yellow circle, then the digit on the circle is equal to the entire length of the zipper line/2 + 0.5, and if the shape is a blue square then it's length/2 - 0.5 - if the center digit is even, then the digit on the center cannot be a blue square - if the center digit is even, then a yellow circle on the center can be pretty much any even number - if the center digit is even, then a blue square not on the center has to contain an odd digit - if the center digit is even, then a yellow circle not on the center has to contain an even digit really fun! Thank you for the puzzle
Unfortunately needed a little bit of logic help from Simon right at the beginning, but was able to finish in 19:43 (conflict checker off), but add another 10 minutes for probably would have been how much longer it would have taken me to figure it out. 😅 Many thanks to gdc for a very cool puzzle!
I have a gripe with this ruleset. Nowhere does it say that the lines have to be equal lenght in both directions from the centre cell. Couldn't one line be longer than the other, with the digits on the end of it not having anything to do with the central digit and just counting towards the number of odds and evens on the line? Because if a digit wouldn't have another digit an equal distance away, it wouldn't have anything to form a sum with.
Took me 42 minutes, the starting part with the long zipper line revealed wasn't my issue though, it was the later deductions that tripped me up several times.
I think a more straightforward approach at the start is to consider the lenght of an odd total zipper line with the sum as the number of even digits. If the sum in n, then you need at least 2n+1 digits, one odd to pair with each even as well as the odd sum (n). So we know the upper line will continue along row one for quite some time even with just 5 as a possibility.
I didn't get the 3 in r7c1. Couldn't figure it out. Once i watched the video and saw that 3 being placed, i could solve the rest of it really quickly. Nice one.
Finished in 25:27. The circles and squares were a little confusing since I'm used to them being odd/even digits, not counts! Other than that minor quibble, it was a fun puzzle!
42:11 for me, very nice puzzle! Really good flow and absolutely not that difficult! U need to use your brain that much that it’s funny and rewarding and not heavy and frustrating!
34:00 "I don't know which way it goes yet" But if you had looked, you would know. For several reasons. 1) There's a three looking at R8C5... That cannot be a three! 2) And, if the three in box eight goes in R8C5, then you are saying that 6 plus something will equal 3. 3) And... The flipside argument is that if the line went to R9C3, then you are saying that R8C5 is equal to 6 + 7 or 8, and thus will be a 13 or 14 sudoku digit. Sven's software doesn't allow it and it's also against the rules! But let's watch Simon solve the puzzle the long way around...
