Samurai Archive - Ruud's Puzzles
This is an archive of Ruud's Samurai puzzles and solutions, which were originally posted on sudocue.net from 2006 to 2008. The ratings are those quoted by Ruud when he posted his puzzles.
For those who aren’t familiar with Samurai puzzles there are five overlapping grids, which can only be solved because each of the values in the overlap areas are in two of the grids.
There are diagrams for each puzzle and solution. Alternatively, if you are using a software solver, there are code strings. If you are using SudokuSolver first select File, Import, Samurai; then copy and paste the code string into the new window which opens and click OK. Other software solvers will have similar procedures.
Puzzle rating table, with links to archive entries.
At Ed's suggestion, I've added SudokuSolver(v3.6) scores to the table.A score of 0.85 indicates that SS solved these puzzles using hidden singles and box/line intersections,
scores of 0.95 and 1.00 are when SS used hidden singles, hidden pairs and box/line intersections,
higher scores indicate the use of harder techniques.
+------------+-----------+-------+ +------------+-----------+-------+
| Puzzle | Rating | Score | | Puzzle | Rating | Score |
+------------+-----------+-------+ +------------+-----------+-------+
| Samurai 1 | Hard | 1.00 | | Samurai 10 | Moderate | 0.85 |
| Samurai 2 | Tough | 0.90 | | Samurai 11 | Moderate | 0.90 |
| Samurai 3 | Hard | 0.90 | | Samurai 12 | Tough | 0.90 |
| Samurai 4 | Tough | 0.90 | | Samurai 13 | Tough | 0.90 |
| Samurai 5 | Hard | 1.85 | | Samurai 14 | Tough | 0.90 |
| Samurai 6 | Hard | 0.90 | | Samurai 15 | Tough | 0.90 |
| Samurai 7 | Hard | 0.90 | | Samurai 16 | Tough | 0.90 |
| Samurai 8 | Tough | 0.90 | | Samurai 17 | Hard | 0.90 |
| Samurai 9 | Moderate | 0.90 | | Samurai 18 | Moderate | 0.90 |
| | | | | Samurai 19 | Hard | 0.90 |
+------------+-----------+-------+ +------------+-----------+-------+
Page #1 Page #2
+------------+-----------+-------+ +------------+-----------+-------+
| Puzzle | Rating | Score | | Puzzle | Rating | Score |
+------------+-----------+-------+ +------------+-----------+-------+
| Samurai 20 | Tough | 0.95 | | Samurai 30 | Moderate | 0.90 |
| Samurai 21 | Very Hard | 0.95 | | Samurai 31 | Hard | 0.90 |
| Samurai 22 | Moderate | 0.85 | | Samurai 32 | Hard | 0.90 |
| Samurai 23 | Tough | 0.90 | | Samurai 33 | Tough | 0.95 |
| Samurai 24 | Moderate | 0.90 | | Samurai 34 | Tough | 0.90 |
| Samurai 25 | Very Hard | 0.90 | | Samurai 35 | Very Hard | 0.90 |
| Samurai 26 | Tough | 0.95 | | Samurai 36 | Hard | 0.90 |
| Samurai 27 | Tough | 0.90 | | Samurai 37 | Hard | 0.90 |
| Samurai 28 | Tough | 0.90 | | Samurai 38 | Tough | 0.90 |
| Samurai 29 | Tough | 0.90 | | Samurai 39 | Tough | 0.95 |
+------------+-----------+-------+ +------------+-----------+-------+
Page #3 Page #4
+------------+-----------+-------+ +------------+-----------+-------+
| Puzzle | Rating | Score | | Puzzle | Rating | Score |
+------------+-----------+-------+ +------------+-----------+-------+
| Samurai 40 | Hard | 0.85 | | Samurai 50 | Tough | 0.90 |
| Samurai 41 | Hard | 0.95 | | Samurai 51 | Tough | 0.85 |
| Samurai 42 | Tough | 0.85 | | Samurai 52 | Very Hard | 0.90 |
| Samurai 43 | Hard | 0.85 | | Samurai 53 | Hard | 0.95 |
| Samurai 44 | Very Hard | 1.30 | | Samurai 54 | Hard | 0.85 |
| Samurai 45 | Hard | 0.85 | | Samurai 55 | Very Hard | 0.90 |
| Samurai 46 | Tough | 0.90 | | Samurai 56 | Tough | 0.85 |
| Samurai 47 | Hard | 0.90 | | Samurai 57 | Hard | 0.85 |
| Samurai 48 | Very Hard | 0.90 | | Samurai 58 | Moderate | 0.85 |
| Samurai 49 | Tough | 0.85 | | Samurai 59 | Hard | 0.90 |
+------------+-----------+-------+ +------------+-----------+-------+
Page #5 Page #6
+------------+-----------+-------+ +------------+-----------+-------+
| Puzzle | Rating | Score | | Puzzle | Rating | Score |
+------------+-----------+-------+ +------------+-----------+-------+
| Samurai 60 | Hard | 0.90 | | Samurai 70 | Very Hard | 0.90 |
| Samurai 61 | Hard | 0.90 | | Samurai 71 | Hard | 0.85 |
| Samurai 62 | Tough | 0.90 | | Samurai 72 | Tough | 0.85 |
| Samurai 63 | Tough | 0.90 | | Samurai 73 | Very Hard | 0.95 |
| Samurai 64 | Hard | 0.90 | +------------+-----------+-------+
| Samurai 65 | Very Hard | 0.85 | Page #8
| Samurai 66 | Very Hard | 0.90 |
| Samurai 67 | Tough | 0.90 |
| Samurai 68 | Tough | 0.90 |
| Samurai 69 | Tough | 0.90 |
+------------+-----------+-------+
Page #7
Roll of HonourRuud wrote:
For each correct Clueless Explosion, you earn 1 point.
Note: To enable new players to catch up with the regulars, only the last 26 Clueless Explosions will included in the score.
On Ruud's website, players with 26 points were shown with a gold medal, those with 25 points a silver medal and a bronze medal for those with 22 points.
+----+-------+--------------------------+----------------------+-------+
| | Medal | Player | Country | Score |
+----+-------+--------------------------+----------------------+-------+
| 1 | G | Nouggie | USA | 26 |
| 2 | G | Tomas Kollen | USA | 26 |
| 3 | G | Ryder | USA | 26 |
| 4 | B | Byron Okamoto | USA | 26 |
| 5 | G | Don Parker | USA | 26 |
| 6 | G | slowhand | Brazil | 26 |
| 7 | G | PeteTy | USA | 26 |
| 8 | G | jsmif | USA | 26 |
| 9 | G | Scott Warner | USA | 26 |
| 10 | G | lynn893 | Canada | 26 |
| 11 | G | Susan | USA | 26 |
| 12 | G | Oscar | México | 26 |
| 13 | G | Hans Schmitten | Germany | 26 |
| 14 | G | Ron Cain | USA | 26 |
| 15 | G | George Stein | USA | 26 |
| 16 | G | Brian Rothery | Sweden | 26 |
| 17 | G | Nasenbaer | Germany | 26 |
| 18 | G | Yian Annette Chien | Taiwan | 26 |
| 19 | G | Gemma | Netherlands | 26 |
| 20 | G | Børge T. Anderssen | Norway | 26 |
| 21 | G | Ria Tettelaar | Netherlands | 26 |
| 22 | S | Glyn | UK | 25 |
| 23 | S | sarah | USA | 25 |
| 24 | S | Susan Warner | Sweden | 25 |
| 25 | S | Jason McNary | USA | 25 |
| 26 | S | Marlie | Netherlands | 25 |
| 27 | B | Angela | Spain | 22 |
| 28 | B | sheila | USA | 22 |
| 29 | | Yuri Joubert | Germany | 21 |
| 30 | | Julie Stuckmeyer | USA | 17 |
| 31 | | Marilyn Dorant | UK | 16 |
| 32 | | Khunangkaro | Thailand | 15 |
| 33 | | tamara | Netherlands | 14 |
| 34 | | Jyothish B> | India | 13 |
| 35 | | Neil Sinclair | Canada | 12 |
| 36 | | Snek | Czech Republic | 12 |
| 37 | | E.K. | Taiwan | 11 |
| 38 | | DianaB | USA | 10 |
| 39 | | Bruce Adkins | USA | 9 |
| 40 | | Thomas Jaspers | Netherlands | 8 |
| 41 | | Danamario | Canada | 8 |
| 42 | | Steve Powers | USA | 8 |
| 43 | | Caida | Canada | 7 |
| 44 | | James G. Miller | USA | 7 |
| 45 | | RaVexx | Spain | 6 |
| 46 | | Helena | Spain | 5 |
| 47 | | Tiddlywinx | UK | 4 |
| 48 | | Chris Sluijter | Netherlands | 4 |
| 49 | | Alan Skinner | UK | 4 |
| 50 | | Gina Hines | USA | 3 |
| 51 | | Pierre-Hugues Carmichael | Canada | 3 |
| 52 | | Prince Charles | Netherlands | 3 |
| 53 | | Grant | USA | 3 |
| 54 | | kid | Germany | 2 |
| 55 | | MaryG | Eire | 2 |
| 56 | | T O'D | USA | 2 |
| 57 | | slowhand | Brazil | 1 |
| 58 | | Bernd Kohlen | Germany | 1 |
| 59 | | Vo Ngoc Hue | USA | 1 |
| 60 | | Alexej | Slovakia | 1 |
| 61 | | Pierre-Hugues Carmichael | Canada | 1 |
| 62 | | Pierre-Hugues Carmichael | Canada | 1 |
| 63 | | OldTree | USA | 1 |
| 64 | | Isabelle Rolland | France | 1 |
| 65 | | m_b_metcalf | USA | 1 |
| 66 | | Miss Universum | Germany | 1 |
| 67 | | S.M.Farooq Zaidi | United Arab Emirates | 1 |
| 68 | | Jesus | Spain | 1 |
| 69 | | DanielR | Germany | 1 |
| 70 | | Tony Cameron | Australia | 1 |
+----+-------+--------------------------+----------------------+-------+
+----------------------+-------+---------+---------+
| Country | Score | Players | Average |
+----------------------+-------+---------+---------+
| USA | 420 | 25 | 16.8 |
| Netherlands | 106 | 7 | 15.1 |
| Germany | 78 | 7 | 11.1 |
| Canada | 58 | 7 | 8.3 |
| Sweden | 51 | 2 | 25.5 |
| UK | 49 | 4 | 12.3 |
| Taiwan | 37 | 2 | 18.5 |
| Spain | 34 | 4 | 8.5 |
| Brazil | 27 | 2 | 13.5 |
| Norway | 26 | 1 | 26.0 |
| México | 26 | 1 | 26.0 |
| Thailand | 15 | 1 | 15.0 |
| India | 13 | 1 | 13.0 |
| Czech Republic | 12 | 1 | 12.0 |
| Eire | 2 | 1 | 2.0 |
| Australia | 1 | 1 | 1.0 |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | 1 | 1.0 |
| Slovakia | 1 | 1 | 1.0 |
| France | 1 | 1 | 1.0 |
+----------------------+-------+---------+---------+
There was also a list for each of the last 26 puzzles of the order in which correct solutions were submitted. There were between 25 and 34 correct solutions submitted for each of these puzzles.
(Archive Note) The Roll of Honour tables were copied as listed on Ruud's site. Note that a few names have been repeated, probably due to people using different e-mail addresses to submit their entries. This has resulted in at least two of the country averages being too low.