SudokuSolver Forum

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you will still feel merry after trying this Assassin! I was completely stuck for a long while but eventually found what felt like a new move to get it unstuck. Nothing complicated fortunately. A perfect gift.

I tried a new method to get this cage pattern, one I've had a lot of success with when making Texas Jigsaw Killers (for the Variants forum). I kept adjusting the shapes until I found one that SudokuSolver never had trouble with (perhaps the X helped too). Not one iteration (generated by JSudoku) of this cage pattern scored over 2.0. Generally, cage patterns for Assassins (or any killer) easily produce a valid puzzle with really high scores. Now this new method seems to give me an interesting puzzle the first one I decide to try and solve. A real time-saving change!

I'll be away at the beach for about 10 days, so see you when I get back.

Assassin 186

NOTE: 1-9 cannot repeat on the diagonals. Many thanks to Børge for providing the pics. More options are available in his Skydrive HERE




SSscore: See the Schedule thread. Thanks for your patience with me about ratings. I've only become active again since all the ratings are hidden. Really appreciated!

Cheers
Ed

Thanks Ed for a fun Christmas present! It's great that you are posting Assassins again.


Here is my walkthrough for A186. Thanks Afmob for pointing out a couple of typos and for your comment on my rating. Thanks also to Ed for pointing out an interesting CPE that I hadn't spotted.

Prelims

a) 13(2) cage in N1 = {49/58/67}, no 1,2,3
b) R1C23 = {17/26/35}, no 4,8,9
c) R1C78 = {69/78}
d) 11(2) cage in N3 = {29/38/47/56}, no 1
e) R23C1 = {19/28/37/46}, no 5
f) R23C9 = {14/23}
g) R45C1 = {19/28/37/46}, no 5
h) 13(2) disjoint cage at R4C6 = {49/58/67}, no 1,2,3
i) R4C89 = {39/48/57}, no 1,2,6
j) R56C9 = {18/27/36/45}, no 9
k) R6C12 = {15/24}
l) R78C1 = {69/78}
m) R78C9 = {29/38/47/56}, no 1
n) 8(2) cage in N7 = {17/26/35}, no 4,8,9
o) 10(2) cage in N9 = {19/28/37/46}, no 5
p) R9C23 = {16/25/34}, no 7,8,9
q) R9C78 = {49/58/67}, no 1,2,3
r) 11(3) cage in N5 = {128/137/146/236/245}, no 9

[In each of the following 45s, the two outies are in the same cage so normal combinations apply.]
1a. 45 rule on N1 2 outies R3C4 + R4C3 = 5 = {14/23}
1b. 45 rule on N3 2 outies R3C6 + R4C7 = 9 = {18/27/36/45}, no 9
1c. 45 rule on N7 2 outies R6C3 + R7C4 = 10 = {19/28/37/46}, no 5
1d. 45 rule on N9 2 outies R6C7 + R7C6 = 16 = {79}, locked for 27(5) cage at R6C7, CPE no 7 in R6C6

2. 45 rule on R789 3 outies R6C357 = 19 = {289/379/469/478} (cannot be {568} because R6C7 only contains 7,9), no 1,5 clean-up: no 9 in R7C4 (step 1c)

3. 5 in C1 only in R169C1
3a. 45 rule on C1 3 innies R169C1 = 10 = {145/235}, no 6,7,8,9, clean-up: R2C2 = {89}, no 1,2 in R8C2
3b. 3 of {235} only in R9C1 -> no 2 in R9C1, clean-up: no 6 in R8C2

4. 11(3) cage in N5 = {128/137/146/236}, (cannot be {245} which clashes with R1C1), no 5

5. 45 rule on C9 3 innies R149C9 = 20 = {389/479/569/578}, no 1,2, clean-up: no 9 in R2C8, no 8,9 in R8C8

6. 45 rule on D\ 2 innies R3C3 + R7C7 = 11 = {38/56}/[74/92], no 1, no 2,4 in R3C3

7. 45 rule on D/ 3 innies R3C7 + R5C5 + R7C3 = 13 = {148/238/247/256/346} (cannot be {139/157} which clash with 8(2) cage at R8C2), no 9

8. 45 rule on N7 3 innies R7C23 + R8C3 = 15 = {249/258/348} (cannot be {159/357} which clash with 8(2) cage, cannot be {168/267} which clash with R78C1, cannot be {456} which clashes with R9C23), no 1,7
8a. 1 in N9 only in R9C123, locked for R9
8b. Min R9C56 = 5 -> max R8C6 = 7

9. 45 rule on N2 1 outie R4C5 = 2 innies R3C46 + 1
9a. Min R3C46 = 3 -> min R4C5 = 4
9b. Max R3C46 = 8, no 8 in R3C6, clean-up: no 1 in R4C7 (step 1b)

10. 45 rule on C123 3 outies R357C4 = 10 = {127/136/145/235}, no 8,9, clean-up: no 2 in R6C3 (step 1c)

11. 45 rule on R1 3 outies R2C248 = 1 innie R1C6 + 19
11a. Max R2C248 = 24 -> max R1C6 = 5
11b. Min R2C248 = 20 = {389/479/569/578}, no 1,2, clean-up: no 9 in R1C9

12. 9 on D/ only in R4C4 + R6C6 = {49}, locked for N5 and D/, clean-up: no 7 in 11(2) cage in N3
12a. Killer pair 6,8 in R1C78 and 11(2) cage, locked for N3

13. 8(2) cage in N7 = {17} (cannot be {35} which clashes with 11(2) cage in N3) -> R8C2 = 7, R9C1 = 1, both placed for D/, clean-up: no 1 in R1C3, no 9 in R23C1, no 9 in R45C1, no 5 in R6C2, no 8 in R78C1, no 4 in R7C9, no 6 in R9C23, no 3 in R9C9

14 Naked pair {69} in R78C1, locked for C1 and N7, clean-up: no 4 in R23C1, no 4 in R45C1
14a. Killer pair 2,3 in R23C1 and R45C1, locked for C1, clean-up: no 4 in R6C2

15. R7C23 + R8C3 (step 8) = {258/348}, 8 locked for 25(5) cage at R6C3, no 8 in R6C3, clean-up: no 2 in R7C4 (step 1c)

16. R6C357 (step 2) = {379/478} (cannot be {289} because 2,8 only in R6C5, cannot be {469} which clashes with R6C4), no 2,6, 7 locked for R6, clean-up: no 2 in R5C9, no 4 in R7C4 (step 1c)

17. 45 rule on N1 3 innies R2C3 + R3C23 = 14 = {149/158/167/356} (cannot be {239/257} which clash with R23C1, cannot be {248} which clashes with 13(2) cage, cannot be {347} which clashes with R3C4 + R4C3), no 2
17a. 9 of {149} must be in R3C3 -> no 9 in R2C3 + R3C2

18. 9 in N1 only in R2C2 + R3C3, locked for D\, clean-up: no 1 in R8C8

19. 1 on D\ only in R4C4 + R6C6, locked for N5
19a. 11(3) cage in N5 (step 4) = {128/137}, no 6
19b. 7 of {137} only in R4C4 -> no 3 in R4C4
19c. R3C3 + R7C7 (step 6) = {56}/[74/92] (cannot be {38} which clashes with 11(3) cage), no 3,8
[Ed pointed out that there’s a neat CPE. 2 on D/ only in R3C7 + R5C5 + R7C3, CPE no 2 in R7C7, clean-up: no 9 in R3C3 leading to R2C2 = 9 (hidden single on D\) slightly earlier. The CPE has actually been there since steps 12 and 13.]

20. 1 in N9 only in R7C8 + R8C7 -> 27(5) cage at R6C7 = 179{28/46}, no 3,5, clean-up: no 6 in R3C3 (step 19c)

21. 6 on D\ only in R7C7 + R8C8 + R9C9, locked for N9, clean-up: no 5 in R78C9, no 7 in R9C78

22. 5 in N9 only in R9C78 = {58}, locked for R9 and N9, clean-up: no 2 in 27(5) cage at R6C7 (step 20), no 9 in R3C3 (step 19c), no 3 in R78C9, no 2 in R8C8, no 2 in R9C23

23. R2C2 = 9 (hidden single on D\), R1C1 = 4, placed for D\, R7C7 = 6, R3C3 = 5 (step 19c), R6C1 = 5, R6C2 = 1, R78C1 = [96], R7C6 = 7, R6C7 = 9, R7C9 = 2, R8C9 = 9, R8C8 = 3, R9C9 = 7, both placed for D\, R6C4 = 4, R4C6 = 9, clean-up: no 3 in R1C2, no 3,7 in R1C3, no 6,9 in R1C8, no 8 in R1C9, no 3 in R23C9, no 3 in R3C6 (step 1b), no 2,4 in R4C7 (step 1b), no 5 in R4C8, no 3 in R4C9, no 4,5,8 in R5C9

24. Naked pair {34} in R9C23, locked for R9 and N7 -> R7C3 = 8, placed for D/, R7C2 = 5, R8C2 = 2, R5C5 = 2, placed for D/, R3C7 = 3, R1C23 = [26], R1C9 = 5, R2C8 = 6, R3C2 = 8, R23C1 = [37], R45C1 = [28], R2C3 = 1, R3C4 = 2, R4C3 = 3 (step 1a), R23C9 = [41], R4C9 = 8, R4C8 = 4

25. R6C3 = 7, R45C2 = [64], R5C3 = 9, R5C4 = 5 (cage sum)

and the rest is naked singles.

Thank you Ed for this fun Assassin!

My first walkthrough had a logical mistake so I had to rewrite it again . But the good thing about it was that I spotted an easier way to crack this Killer (step 4d).

A186 Walkthrough:

1. C19+D/
a) 5 locked in Innies C1 = 10(3) = 5{14/23}; R9C1 <> 2 since 3 only possible there
b) 8(2) @ N9 <> 2,6
c) Innies D/ = 13(3) <> 9 since {139} blocked by Killer pair (13) of 8(2) @ D/
d) Innies C9 = 20(3) <> 1,2

2. R1+D/ !
a) Innies+Outies R1: 19 = R2C248 - R1C6 -> R2C48 <> 1,2 and R1C6 = (12345)
b) 11(2) <> 9
c) 9 locked 13(2) @ D/ = {49} locked for N5+D/
d) ! 8(2) @ D/ = {17} since (35) is a Killer pair of 11(2) -> R9C1 = 1, R8C2 = 7

3. C123
a) 15(2) = {69} locked for C1+N7
b) Innies C1 = 9(2) = {45} locked for C1
c) 8 locked in 25(5) @ N7 for 25(5)
d) Outies N7 = 10(2) <> 2,5

4. R789 !
a) Outies N9 = 16(2) = {79} locked for 27(5); CPE: R6C6 <> 7
b) Outies R789 = 19(3) <> 1,2,5 since R6C3 <> 2,8 and R6C7 = (79)
c) Outies R789 = 19(3) = 7{39/48} since {469} blocked by R6C4 = (49) -> 7 locked for R6
d) ! Killer pair (49) locked in Outies R789 + R6C4 for R6
e) R6C1 = 5 -> R6C2 = 1, R1C1 = 4 -> R2C2 = 9

5. N1+D\
a) 8(2) <> 1,7
b) 10(2) @ N9 <> 1,6
c) 11(3) = 1{28/37} since {236} blocked by Killer pair (23) of 10(2) @ D\ -> R4C4 = 1
d) 11(3) = {128} locked for N5+D\
e) Outies N1 = 5(2) = {23} locked for 19(5)
f) R8C8 = 3, R9C9 = 7
g) 1 locked in 27(5) @ N9 = 179{28/46} since R6C7+R7C6 = (79)
h) R7C7 = 6, R7C1 = 9, R7C6 = 7, R6C7 = 9

6. C789
a) 11(2) @ N9 = {29} -> R7C9 = 2, R8C9 = 9
b) 15(2) = {78} locked for R1+N3
c) 5(2) = {14} locked for C9+N3
d) 11(2) = {56} locked for N3+D/
e) 23(5) = 239{18/45} since R2C7+R3C78 = (239) -> R3C6+R4C7 = (1458), R3C8 = 9

7. Rest is singles without considering diagonals.


By the way, I'm only keeping my ratings hidden since Andrew also requested me to do so but at least from my side this can't and won't be a permanent condition.

Edit: Besides whatever Børge is seeing, there is NO dispute between Ed and me and there hopefully will never be one. We are just stating our opinion as far as I can tell.

Can you guys PLEASE behave like grown up men, show some courtesy, stop this silly pubertal bickering,
and concentrate on having fun creating, posting, solving and discussing sudoku puzzles.
Otherwise you may in the long run strangle this board to death, which I assume that none of you really want.

However hard I try I cannot grasp this fuss about hidden or visible ratings, which I think is absolutely insignificant to everybody else but you two.
Please, be broad minded and let everyone post ratings the way they prefer.

Thank you very much in advance.
Børge