The Sudoku Rat Returns! 

ah Simon you do make me laugh 😀 your little aside about Denis Healey was so funny because it never did become apparent how that thought was inspired by the noise Finkz makes as she walks 😅 Thanks for continuing to showcase this series, it means so much to me that people are enjoying it, as I am having a lot of fun making it. Was very satisfying watching the moments where you realised the next correct question to ask, such as what the bypassed black dot must be, if not a 4-8, and later where you can put the 5 in box 6. Glad you saved the 2-4 deadly pattern right til the end too - that was very much the intended finale, although it is obviously possible to get that a little bit earlier depending on what order you do the final bit of sudoku and path-building. But I always think a final disambiguation of a deadly pattern using the core rule makes for a fun ending. I’m also not usually a massive fan of Dutch Whispers - this was my first delve into properly setting with them. I have made some of the later puzzles before this, and some of those feature blackcurrants too (spoiler alert!), and I wanted this to be the puzzle where they were introduced, without any other complications apart from the line constraint. When I started thinking about what line constraint would work well with them, I realised the potential with Dutch Whispers and that the path could be very forced by avoiding 4-8 clashes… it all flowed quite quickly from there and this was one of the smoother ones to set. Thanks to everyone who has played, and especially those who have left a nice comment - always much appreciated. Looking forward to sharing more episodes with you 🙂 x 🐀

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2047">34:07</a> It also can't be a 5 because there is already a 5 in that box! Never change, Simon. Never change.

and to think, for those who haven't spoiled themselves by solving ahead with the series, the best is still yet to come!

I watch these every single day (it's my unwind routine) and this is my favorite puzzle that I've seen featured and the first time that I've commented. I've enjoyed these rat maze puzzles so much.

You know how Sven added a feature in SudokuPad with the marble run puzzles, where if you activated the feature in the settings, it would create an animation of a marble following the route? How about if he did something similar with the rat in these puzzles?

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1535">25:35</a> "It can't be from 36 because these two digits are not now far enough apart" Classic Simon

Simon was really failing to see the boxes in this one haha

I have binge watched a lot and I mean a lot of your videos! With all your nifty tips and tricks I can do much harder sudokus! It’s been amazing for my mental health so thank you 👍🏻

Love Simon’s anecdotes 😂 Makes you even more relatable. Thanks for always bringing yourself in the videos!!

My favorite bit of this puzzle is that when the path goes into box 8 that square sees all the digits except 9 . Love the channel and keep up the great work!

"why was I talking about Denis Healy, oh yes I was thinking about how Finks moves...." ??!!??

Rules: <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="241">04:01</a> Let's Get Cracking: <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="438">07:18</a> What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! Bobbins: 3x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1752">29:12</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2499">41:39</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2830">47:10</a>) Three In the Corner: 2x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2590">43:10</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2931">48:51</a>) The Secret: 2x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="450">07:30</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="457">07:37</a>) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Ah: 13x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="665">11:05</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1244">20:44</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1590">26:30</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1669">27:49</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1817">30:17</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1904">31:44</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1933">32:13</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2003">33:23</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2617">43:37</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2656">44:16</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2710">45:10</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2779">46:19</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="3053">50:53</a>) Sorry: 10x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="672">11:12</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="768">12:48</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="835">13:55</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1832">30:32</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1950">32:30</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2052">34:12</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2091">34:51</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2445">40:45</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2453">40:53</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="3051">50:51</a>) Hang On: 9x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1192">19:52</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1279">21:19</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1429">23:49</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1584">26:24</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1584">26:24</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1916">31:56</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1939">32:19</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2803">46:43</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2969">49:29</a>) By Sudoku: 7x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1561">26:01</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1745">29:05</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2224">37:04</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2398">39:58</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2428">40:28</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2659">44:19</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2833">47:13</a>) Obviously: 7x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="402">06:42</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="812">13:32</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="978">16:18</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1135">18:55</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1260">21:00</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1492">24:52</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1861">31:01</a>) Brilliant: 6x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="434">07:14</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1899">31:39</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2390">39:50</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2392">39:52</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="3066">51:06</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="3073">51:13</a>) Lovely: 4x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1244">20:44</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1249">20:49</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2376">39:36</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2974">49:34</a>) Beautiful: 3x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1463">24:23</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1628">27:08</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2656">44:16</a>) The Answer is: 2x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2268">37:48</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2458">40:58</a>) Ridiculous: 2x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2318">38:38</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2679">44:39</a>) In Fact: 2x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="635">10:35</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1354">22:34</a>) Wow: 2x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="750">12:30</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="753">12:33</a>) Cake!: 2x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="219">03:39</a>, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="223">03:43</a>) Apologies: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="336">05:36</a>) Out of Nowhere: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2131">35:31</a>) Nonsense: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1010">16:50</a>) Break the Puzzle: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2969">49:29</a>) Incredible: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="104">01:44</a>) Deadly Pattern: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2851">47:31</a>) Discombobulating: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1800">30:00</a>) Approachable: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="159">02:39</a>) Flurry of Activity: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1648">27:28</a>) Surely: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="77">01:17</a>) Whoopsie: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1866">31:06</a>) We Can Do Better Than That: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1669">27:49</a>) Pencil Mark/mark: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2717">45:17</a>) Weird: 1x (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1549">25:49</a>) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Forty Eight (31 mentions) Five (99 mentions) Black (31 mentions) Antithesis Battles: High (12) - Low (11) Even (4) - Odd (0) Lower (6) - Higher (5) Black (31) - White (0) Row (9) - Column (6) 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!

If this was 5 ?? No Simon , 5 is already in box 3 😁🙃

Simon - spends inordinate amounts of time on other puzzles picking good colors - Also Simon - picks the absolute worst path color he could pick unless he purposely wanted path to blend into walls! LOL

Hi Simon! I would love to watch you live stream the Riven remake that came out last week

Thank you for getting me to the cupcake Simon! Another beautiful puzzle in the saga of Finkz, who I have been told by a little birdy, is, in fact, a doe! Lovely solve! And, as an aside, Simon, please don't ever change! Doesn't matter how crap I'm feeling, your joy and exuberance over puzzles and deductions never fails to make me smile! As always a massive thank you to Dr Sears for this wonderful series of brain bending beauty!

I finished in 59 minutes. These puzzles have become some of my favorites. The theme really changes my mindset and I end up feeling like I'm Finkz. I look forward to more and I have to keep remembering in the future that diagonal crossing is allowed in these puzzles. I thought I had broken it at the end. Great Puzzle!

Simon..Simon..love everything about this solve from you. Great deductions..wonderful anecdotes. You bring joy every day to this channel! Exceptional puzzle from you again Marty!!

The rat Finkz is a smart rat! After quickly working out that any blackcurrants he ate had to be for eating (or rather, for ate), she leapt from high squares to low and from low squares to high to get to her cake in a speedy 24 minutes ... well done Finkz!

I still don't know why Denis Healey goes "du-durut-durut-duru" 😢😭

When I see something obvious and feel very smart for seeing it first, only to realise I was wrong the whole time and then feel stupid.

Double Dutch seems like an appropriate name given the accountancy backgrounds of Simon and Mark. Although I like to think they were the sort of accountants that help keep businesses run smoothly instead of the type that look to exploit loopholes so that giant corporations don't have to pay tax.

I love colouring puzzles and this one is so beautifully crafted. Thanks for the solve Simon!

That diagonal possibility got me for several tries. Never did remember it so had to watch till he got there.

Avoid The U-bend of Death!™️

_Loving_ this series of puzzles.

My sole point of criticism with these maze puzzles is that I really struggle to keep track of the box boundaries. Really have enjoyed them otherwise.

One of the rare instances where I've solved a puzzle before it's featured here. I enjoy this series so much, and do them (or attempt to!) as soon as they're out

Actually thought the 8×8 was a wee bit more difficult. Finished in <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1526">25:26</a>. Very enjoyable.

My favorite of the three puzzles! Cool logic throughout.

Fantastic puzzle with a superb finale: I love how the setup forces Finkz to meander through unexpected alleys and even to make a final detour when almost reaching the macmuffin

Another nice one, thanks. Have to admit on this one I went down a couple of blind alleys as I forgot about the 3x3 boxes and then forgot about the diagonal rule.

This was without a doubt my favorite puzzle of the year so far!

Thank you Simon for the continued daily dose of excellence, and another brilliant video.

Loved that puzzle, it was going to be a 159 polarity ending as the bishop's move would have put 2 high digits next to each other.. classic from Marty again.

A simpler deduction at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1780">29:40</a> that it couldn't go south might be that the next digit would have to be 8 or 9. 8 is already used and 9 can't go on a black dot.

Really interesting. I must say, I thought that you were going to only color the path itself (since the other digits did not have to have any particular relationship with each other. But I know you love coloring, Simon, and so I love watching you do it!

Solved while listening to the Moonlight and Pathétique sonatas which was just sublime on top of the joy of the puzzle. Looking forward to the further adventures of Finkz!

Wonderful puzzle from start to finish! 💯

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1680">28:00</a> "if it's 8 this would be a 4 and would clash" ... not "it can't be 8 as there's an 8 in the row" - classic (complicate it) Simon 🤣

A slightly neater way of working out the black dot shenanigans at the start that I think highlights a technique which is useful in general. You can immediately rule out the u-bend on the basis of putting too many 4/8's in box 7 same as in the video. At this point if you think about how to get the path from the top of the grid to the bottom of the grid, you see that there is a choke point and the only possible way to do this is by bringing the path through the black dot on r4c5/r4c6. You can then pencil in the path into those 2 cells as well as pencil mark 4 and 8. By sudoku the pencil marks mean that r3c2/r4c2 and r2c5/r3c5 cannot be 4/8 and that therefore the path does not travel through those dots, from which you can then work out the correct path up until r4c6

Always like Dutch whisper lines because the possibility of polarity reversal at 5 gives more flexibility than German whispers. Though I managed to get stuck for a bit for the silly reason of forgetting that a Dutch whisper doesn't have to swap polarity at a 5. Also since this is a testing facility that rewards cake, I'm still expecting one of these mazes to have portals.

Got it in <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2816">46:56</a>. Messed up and had go go back several times with the black dots, should have probably used a better contrasting color for the path, but got it done eventually.

This series is terrific! I hope it has a happier ending than Flowers for Algernon... 😿

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1553">25:53</a> finish. These are so much fun, I can't wait for the 11x11 with the "find your 3x3 boxes" rule. If only we could build sudoku puzzles into a third dimension. 😁😁😁

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="839">13:59</a> for me. Great puzzle, I'm really loving this series!

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1331">22:11</a>, I saw that the rat couldn't got through a black dot unless it was a 4,8 pair pretty quickly, which limited the path on the left side and blocked off big sections of the grid. Then, just coloring (which I love!), so that flowed fast. 5s in puzzles like this mess with my brain, but this one let me limit where they could go pretty significantly.

9<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="544">9:04</a>! Had a devil of a time seeing the diagonal movement along the path to box 7, which led me to erase and rederive the lower 3rd of the puzzle multiple times.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1925">32:05</a> Great to see Finkz again and his crazy meander ways!

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1343">22:23</a> for me. the hardest part was proving that the mouse cant take the left route. Once the start was determined, the rest was fairly easy.

solved in <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="801">13:21</a> - surprisingly easier than the previous one to me

Fun puzzle and it was so cute and heartwarming that Simon seemed to honestly feel bad about getting the fictional rat's pronouns wrong

Oooo! I did this one a week or two ago. (My time was significantly longer than Simon's) Great puzzle!

Absolutely excellent and very exciting puzzle.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2845">47:25</a>, definitely not an impressive time, but I ended up spending 10-15 minutes just drawing random shapes around with the pen until I got an idea, and eventually I did realize that I could draw the paths and use trial and error until I found the right one, and it worked. I'm happy I managed to do all three of the rat puzzles that have appeared in the channel until now without the help of Simon

Magical! Thank you!

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2270">37:50</a> for me! For whatever reason, I had a harder time visually delineating which boxes were which, so I tripped myself up a couple of times realizing I had placed 2 of the same number in one box and having to back track because of it. Aside from that, great puzzle with a clever solve path - very enjoyable!

Only on CTC would "chocolate teapoted" be a comprehensible verb!

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1705">28:25</a> ... Not only would the 8 clash - there is already an eight in the row. Occupying that grand cell that could have been a three in the corner if the naughty eight did not do its eightiness. Then again, in this puzzle scanning would be pretty hard with all the extra visuals. Edit: case in point at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2050">34:10</a> with Simon looking at r3c8 (box 3) noting it cannot be a five for difficult reasons, whereas box 3 already has its five placed! What would be very useful would be if the boxes 2,4,6 and 8 (or perhaps the other boxes 1,3,5,7 and 9 - preferences) received some shaded stripes in the background so that the boxes would still remain clearly visible in the grid. Shaded stripes because then they could still get some background color while the stripes remained visible.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2465">41:05</a> SIMON! Don't forget to color your digits... The three you placed in R6C4 is a green digit. I.E one of the low digits. Now you have four low digits in box five. If Finkz were to go left from R6C6 then R6C5 would have to be a 5 to allow Finkz to escape the box without using a low digit. The alternative is that Finkz goes straight down from R6C6 and R7C6 is a green (low) digit but it can only be a 3. Therefore, R6C6 is never a 6. And if Finkz goes left, you know he needs to go through a 5 and down through a 9 and finally left through a 1. It's very restricted going left. Also... While you are at it... Look at R7C8. It's a cropki dot. That can't be 3, 4 or 8. So it's a [126] option. Meaning the cell at R7C7 is a [134] option. (Not 2 because it exists in the column) Now... Can Finkz go to R7C7 via R7C6? Yes... But ONLY if R7C6 is the digit 5. Now you know that 5's exist in either R6C5 or R7C6. Finkz's next move IS a 5 digit. R6C6 IS a 9.

Simon I seriously think you need to try adjusting the color settings on your monitor. There was a considerable amount of easy logic you missed from apparently not seeing the 3x3 gray borders. Perhaps look up some videos on the matter. I only suggest this as the dotted grayt line is very easily visible on my screen.

Ran the maze in <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2116">35:16</a>. Might have been faster but I stopped for some berries.

I never knew that Zig and Zag were known outside of Ireland lol

I love this puzzle series! They’ve all been marvelous fun! (This one took me <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1765">29:25</a>) 😄

Oh no Simon assumed the mouse's gender

Simon is so delightful, but extra so in this episode.

To break down the early path deductions: The “u-bend” in the bottom left is always rules out, no matter which way Finkz starts. That means to cross from the top left of the grid to the bottom right, Finkz must cross the dot in R4C5-C6, marking them as 4/8

So much fun!

another great puzzle

Oh that was lovely! <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1354">22:34</a> for me! That little fakeout at the end was hilarious. Thought I broke it.😅 Great one!🎉

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1433">23:53</a> Crossed out dots were straight forward.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2033">33:53</a> No, r3c8 could NOT be a 5, since we already have a 5 in box 3 ...

I’m jealous of Helen and Matt

Note to self: In future, stop timer when breaking for breakfast ... <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2415">40:15</a> for me

3rd of July is my, my sister, my cousin, and 2 of my friends birthaday.

Simon and Marty keep referring to him as Finkz the Rat. I just realized it mirrors the term Rat Fink, but I don't think it applies to anyone or anything involved.

Nice series...this one was simpler for me then the smaller ones. Is the next one 16*16?? Surprised no redX to mark invalid simons

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="3157">52:37</a> but half of that was wasted determining the first direction

47 mins for me. Thanks.

Did Finkz start on a 1 in the first of these series? Because he started on a 2 in the second of the series? I'm hoping if there are any future puzzles with Finkz he continues to start on the same cell number as the puzzle number of the series. I think it is a great Easter Egg.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2353">39:13</a> very fun, lots of interesting logic steps

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2056">34:16</a> Sudoku! Sudoku!

ubend of death wasn't actually disproven.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2055">34:15</a> Yes. Imagine this is a 5, and you will have two 5s in box three. I don't think so.

Super fun: <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1775">29:35</a>

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2204">36:44</a> and I am proud of my time

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2834">47:14</a> Hey Finkz, I missed you buddy

Firstly it seems difficult but managed to done it in <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2008">33:28</a>

Solved in 28 minutes!

Are we to assume Finkz starts by going left because he is facing left?

Why is finkz able to re-enter a cell? It is forbidden in the rules but the solution requires it. Or am i misreading?

Rat!

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="20">00:20</a>:29 for me. Another fantastic puzzle, each better than the last! Kind comment.

Finished in <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1556">25:56</a>. Lovely constraints with the black current forcing Finkz down specific paths. Fun puzzle!

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1065">17:45</a> Finkz could still have turned left and go down Column 1 since the c2r3-r4 pair could have been anything.

37 minutes

I did it <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1013">16:53</a>. I don't know how I did it so fast! I a bit proud of myself. I guess this one really just clicked with my rat brain.

Simon seems to have ignored sudoku even more as usual.

Don't worry about the pronouns Simon, you don't know how Finkz identifies and mice can't talk. Marty will have assumed based on biological sex :P

First