SudokuSolver Forum • View topic - Archive Part D. Assassins 101-125, variants, other puzzles

View unanswered posts | View active topics

Board index » Puzzles and Solutions » Killer Puzzles

All times are UTC

Archive Part D. Assassins 101-125, variants, other puzzles

Page 5 of 7

[ 68 posts ]

Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Next

Print view

Previous topic | Next topic

Author

Message

Andrew

Post subject: Archive Part D. Assassins 101-125, variants, other puzzles

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:06 am

Grand Master

Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:04 pm
Posts: 1895
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Messy One #5 by Nasenbaer (August 2008) here

Puzzle Diagram:

Images with "udosuk style Killer Cages" by Børge:

Code: Select, Copy & Paste into solver:

Solution:

+-------+-------+-------+
| 1 9 4 | 6 3 5 | 7 2 8 |
| 3 2 6 | 9 7 8 | 5 1 4 |
| 7 8 5 | 2 4 1 | 9 6 3 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 5 6 7 | 4 8 2 | 3 9 1 |
| 9 4 8 | 5 1 3 | 6 7 2 |
| 2 1 3 | 7 6 9 | 8 4 5 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 8 5 9 | 1 2 6 | 4 3 7 |
| 6 7 2 | 3 5 4 | 1 8 9 |
| 4 3 1 | 8 9 7 | 2 5 6 |
+-------+-------+-------+

Quote:

Nasenbaer: So, here's my donation for Messy One round 2. :cheesey:

Actually it's Messy One #5v6

. Tuning it for the right rating (and removing a uniqueness problem I overlooked :brickwall:

) took a lot of time. I think it's really messy, and the rating now is 1.02 although for me it feels more like a 0.75. There is also a nice shortcut (which isn't found by SSolver).
Have fun!

Afmob: Thanks for this fun Killer, Nasenbaer! I guess I didn't found the shortcut since SudokuSolver's path is not much different from mine though certainly longer. :cheesey:

Rating: 0.75 - (Hard) 0.75.

Jean-Christophe: I went the same way as Afmob. But after solving, I found this:

Hidden Text:

Nasenbaer: Actually I was thinking about this:

Hidden Text:

Not an obvious move, but since I knew what to look for... :whistle:

Andrew: Thanks Nasenbaer for a fun puzzle. I think this was the easiest Messy One so far.
I was amazed when I went through Afmob's walkthrough to find that I hadn't used his first move. I'm not sure how I missed that one. Maybe it's because of the format I use on my Excel worksheet with coloured cages. However when I now look at my worksheet it's obvious. As a result my walkthrough is very different but probably not significantly slower or harder.
I also missed the shortcuts posted by J-C and Nasenbaer; I feel I ought to have seen J-C's one. Nasenbaer's is one that I think is much easier for the puzzle creator to see than for solvers to spot.
I'll rate my walkthrough at Hard 0.75 because a few of my steps are slightly harder than a normal 0.75.

azpaull: I think my breakthrough - and first placement - finally came from analyzing the

Hidden Text:

(Sorry, I'll have to work on my walk-thru skills - I have a tendency to do these puzzles in little bits and pieces in various places, instead of sitting at a computer or with a second sheet of paper.)

I'll give it a 1.0.

(P.S. I know I probably didn't need to use *hide", but I never have had the chance to use it, and I wanted the practice.

)

Walkthrough by Afmob:

Walkthrough by Andrew:

Top

Andrew

Post subject: Archive Part D. Assassins 101-125, variants, other puzzles

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:21 am

Grand Master

Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:04 pm
Posts: 1895
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Old SSv3.2.1 scores:

Score = SudokuSolver v3.2.1 Score, rounded to nearest 0.05
E = Easy
H = Hard
In these tables, Rating is the lowest of the ratings given by Afmob,
Andrew and Mike, including estimates for puzzles by Afmob and Mike

+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Puzzle    Rating   Score | Puzzle    Rating   Score | Puzzle    Rating   Score |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| A116 Mars H1.00     1.15 | A118V0.9  H1.00     0.90 | A119V2     1.25     1.65 |
| A116 Venus 1.25     1.90 | HS2x                     | A119V3                   |
| A117       1.25     1.30 | HS2x Lite H1.25     1.35 | SOK2                1.25 |
| A118       1.25     1.30 | A119       1.00     0.90 |                          |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+

Puzzle rating table, with links to archive entries; each of these has a link to the puzzle thread.
Human Solvable 2X and Human Solvable 2X Lite are in the same archive entry.
Assassin 119 V2 and Assassin 119 V3 are in the same archive entry.

Abbreviations used in Rating Table on this page:

+------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+-------+-----------------------+-------+
| Puzzle                 |  Made By  |  Est  | Afmob | Andrew|     Other Raters      | Score |
+------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+-------+-----------------------+-------+
| Assassin 116 Mars      |   Afmob   | H1.00 |   **  | H1.00 |(U)E1.0                |  1.25 |
| Assassin 116 Venus     |    Ed     |  1.50 | H1.50 |  1.50 |(M)1.25                | !1.70 |
| Ass. 117 Hammer Throw  |    Ed     | E1.25 |  1.25 |  1.25 |                       |  1.40 |
| Assassin 118           |    J-C    |       |  1.25 |  1.25 |(Az)H1.0               |  1.35 |
| Assassin 118V0.9       |    J-C    |       |       | H1.00 |(U)E1.0                | !1.35 |
| Human Solvable 2X      |  HATMAN   |       |       |       |(U)H1.25               |  2.45 |
| Human Solvable 2X Lite |   Afmob   | H1.25 |   **  |       |                       |!R2.75 |
| Assassin 119           |   Afmob   |  1.00 |   **  |  1.00 |(U)E1.0                | !1.10 |
| Assassin 119V2         |   Afmob   |  1.25 |   **  |  1.50 |(U)H1.50               |  1.70 |
| Assassin 119V3         |   Afmob   |       |       |       |                       |  DNF  |
| SOK2                   | Nasenbaer |       |  1.00 |  1.00 |                       |  1.20 |
+------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+-------+-----------------------+-------+

Some of the selected quotes in the puzzle entries have been edited to remove "spoilers"; the full rating comments are included with the walkthroughs. In some cases the puzzle makers gave hints; these are included in tiny text in the selected quotes.

Last edited by Andrew on Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:18 am, edited 6 times in total.

Top

Andrew

Post subject: Archive Part D. Assassins 101-125, variants, other puzzles

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 10:31 pm

Grand Master

Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:04 pm
Posts: 1895
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Assassin 116 "Mars" by Afmob (August 2008) here

Puzzle Diagram:

Images with "udosuk style Killer Cages" by Børge:

Code: Select, Copy & Paste into solver:

Solution:

+-------+-------+-------+
| 9 5 4 | 3 7 8 | 2 6 1 |
| 8 2 3 | 9 6 1 | 5 7 4 |
| 1 6 7 | 5 4 2 | 9 8 3 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 5 7 9 | 4 2 6 | 1 3 8 |
| 4 8 2 | 1 3 9 | 7 5 6 |
| 3 1 6 | 7 8 5 | 4 2 9 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 6 9 8 | 2 5 4 | 3 1 7 |
| 7 4 5 | 8 1 3 | 6 9 2 |
| 2 3 1 | 6 9 7 | 8 4 5 |
+-------+-------+-------+

Quote:

Afmob: This one is for the guys! :rambo:

It was really hard to create a Killer that had the mars symbol in it since a lot of the other attempts proved to be unsolvable. Maybe someone can make the female counterpart of this Assassin?
SS Score: 1.16. Estimated rating: (Hard) 1.0.

azpaull: Very creative designing, Afmob! Thanks, I'm looking forward to working on it!

udosuk: Not many tricky moves are required so I'll rate it a 0.75 (hard) or a 1.0 (easy). :ugeek:

But the cage pattern is very nice, so congratulate Afmob for another thoughtful puzzle! :alien:

When Mike(mhparker) posted his walkthrough for A116 "Venus", he wrote: P.S. I suspect that the reason that no-one else has posted a WT for Afmob's impressive-looking "Mars" version is that (as with many Killers based on a very difficult cage pattern) it has a fairly narrow solving path that doesn't allow for much variation on udosuk's solving path. Maybe Andrew (or someone else) can nevertheless find some subtle variation that's worth posting. I hope so. In the meantime, many thanks to Afmob for the original puzzle and the creative spark. :-D

Andrew: I've now solved A116 Mars. Sorry Afmob that I'd implied (in my post about A116 "Venus")that it was a difficult puzzle. It wasn't.
This puzzle deserves a second walkthrough. My early steps aren't subtle (sorry Mike

) but they do use different logic.
I'll rate A116 Mars as Hard 1.0 because ... is a bit more complicated than that used by udosuk.

Walkthrough by udusok:

Walkthrough by Andrew:

Top

Andrew

Post subject: Archive Part D. Assassins 101-125, variants, other puzzles

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 11:07 pm

Grand Master

Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:04 pm
Posts: 1895
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Assassin 116 "Venus" by Ed (August 2008) here

Puzzle Diagram:

Images with "udosuk style Killer Cages" by Børge:

Code: Select, Copy & Paste into solver:

Solution:

+-------+-------+-------+
| 6 9 1 | 7 8 5 | 4 3 2 |
| 7 8 4 | 6 2 3 | 5 9 1 |
| 2 3 5 | 9 1 4 | 8 7 6 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 1 5 8 | 2 9 7 | 3 6 4 |
| 4 7 2 | 8 3 6 | 1 5 9 |
| 3 6 9 | 4 5 1 | 7 2 8 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 8 4 6 | 5 7 2 | 9 1 3 |
| 9 1 7 | 3 6 8 | 2 4 5 |
| 5 2 3 | 1 4 9 | 6 8 7 |
+-------+-------+-------+

Quote:

Afmob wrote:

Maybe someone can make the female counterpart of this Assassin?

Ed: Yep - here is Venus. She didn't want to give an SSscore of around 1.4-1.5 but instead of dumping it, Afmob has solved it for me with an est. rating of 1.50. Thanks Afmob! Now I can relax with her for the next week.
OT question for Afmob: Why Mars & Venus symbols? Olympics?
SS(v3.2.1)Score: 1.88. Estimated rating: 1.5.

Afmob: Thanks Ed for giving us the female variant!
With V1 I wanted to create a Killer that had a symbol in it and my first idea was the male symbol (Mars). After I created A116 Mars I thought it would only be fair to create a second Killer with the Venus symbol as V2. But I encountered too many uniqueness problems and that's why I couldn't find one until Friday.
So the symbols have got nothing to do with the Olympics, they were just my initial idea (probably because that way I could use a remote cage).
I hope to see some more wts for Mars and Venus!
Rating: 1.5 - (Hard) 1.5.

Afmob wrote:

Thanks Ed for giving us the female variant!

Mike(mhparker): Indeed, there are some puzzles that just seem to work out well, this high-quality puzzle being one of them. Interestingly, I was also working on a potential "Venus" version, and had even got to the stage where I was looking up the websites of companies like Chanel, Helena Rubenstein and Estée Lauder, in order to find some good-looking lipstick colors I could use for highlighting the cages! Fortunately, Ed beat me to it. Thanks, Ed! :-D

I only used three moderately difficult moves to crack it, all of which I would individually place in the 1.25 rating category. Therefore, I'll also rate the whole puzzle at 1.25.

Andrew: Thanks Ed for a challenging puzzle.
There were some fun steps on the diagonals which I seem to have used more than either Afmob or Mike. I enjoyed going through both of their walkthroughs. Afmob's step 1d was neat, particularly for so early in a solution. I was also impressed that Mike solved it without using any chains.
I'll rate A116 Venus at 1.5 the way I solved it. However Mike has shown that it's at most a Hard 1.25.

Walkthrough by Afmob:

Walkthrough by Mike:

Walkthrough by Andrew:

Top

Andrew

Post subject: Archive Part D. Assassins 101-125, variants, other puzzles

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 11:40 pm

Grand Master

Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:04 pm
Posts: 1895
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Assassin 117 "Hammer Throw" by Ed (August 2008) here

Puzzle Diagram:

Images with "udosuk style Killer Cages" by Børge:

Code: Select, Copy & Paste into solver:

Solution:

+-------+-------+-------+
| 4 5 6 | 9 7 2 | 1 8 3 |
| 8 3 9 | 5 4 1 | 6 2 7 |
| 2 1 7 | 6 3 8 | 4 9 5 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 5 9 3 | 1 8 7 | 2 6 4 |
| 7 4 1 | 2 5 6 | 8 3 9 |
| 6 2 8 | 3 9 4 | 5 7 1 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 1 6 4 | 7 2 3 | 9 5 8 |
| 3 8 5 | 4 6 9 | 7 1 2 |
| 9 7 2 | 8 1 5 | 3 4 6 |
+-------+-------+-------+

Quote:

Ed: Don't know how I managed to find time to make this killer. Can't get enough of the O's.
Solving is quite fun with one reverse spin move

.
I'm not planning a V2 for A117, but the cage pattern deserves one. I hope that Mike will give us Venus2 after A118 is taken. Though, still have to finish Venus. (Archive note: Nobody posted a V2)
SS(v3.2.1)score = 1.31. Estimated Rating: Easy 1.25.

Joe Casey: Thank you Ed.
Apart from the fault-finding, which is my day-job of course (see A115), I also do the puzzles.
This one was cute, cos it looked impossible, these long spiral cages making innies and outies rather futile. then I found:

Afmob: Thanks Ed for this interesting Assassin! Beautiful cage pattern!
After going through the solving paths of JSudoku and SudokuSolver it seems that the solving path is quite narrow ...
Rating: 1.25.

Andrew: Thanks Ed for a challenging puzzle with an interesting cage pattern!
It took me quite a long time before I spotted the key step which turned out to be fortunate because at that stage ...
I'll rate A117 as a solid 1.25.

udosuk: Afmob's critical move is the most brilliant one, but I think he missed some cleanup moves which could have made the solving path considerably shorter.

Outline by Joe Casey:

Walkthrough by Afmob:

Walkthrough by Andrew:

Walkthrough by udosuk using Afmob's brilliant critical move:

Top

Andrew

Post subject: Archive Part D. Assassins 101-125, variants, other puzzles

Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 12:41 am

Grand Master

Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:04 pm
Posts: 1895
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Assassin 118 by Jean-Christophe (August 2008) here

Puzzle Diagram:

Images with "udosuk style Killer Cages" by Børge:

Code: Select, Copy & Paste into solver:

Solution:

+-------+-------+-------+
| 7 1 8 | 4 2 6 | 5 9 3 |
| 5 6 2 | 3 9 8 | 4 7 1 |
| 4 9 3 | 1 5 7 | 2 8 6 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 6 7 9 | 5 3 4 | 8 1 2 |
| 3 4 1 | 7 8 2 | 6 5 9 |
| 8 2 5 | 6 1 9 | 3 4 7 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 9 5 7 | 2 4 3 | 1 6 8 |
| 1 3 6 | 8 7 5 | 9 2 4 |
| 2 8 4 | 9 6 1 | 7 3 5 |
+-------+-------+-------+

Quote:

Jean-Christophe: SSolver 3.2.1 Rating: 1.29.

Afmob: Thanks JC for this fun Killer! You really had to look for ..
Rating: 1.25.

Jean-Christophe: My idea for this cage template [Hint]

Andrew: I'll rate my solution as 1.25. It's probably a bit more difficult than Afmob's but not sufficiently so to rate it as Hard 1.25.
(and on Jean-Christophe's cage template) That's a very interesting concept although I wouldn't have called it a Hint. I went through my walkthrough again and Afmob's one after reading the concept and I can't see how it could help to reach the breakthrough any quicker. However that doesn't detract from it being an interesting cage pattern concept.

azpaull: I just finished 118 - it seemed like it took me hours before I finally found the key. Thanks for the fun puzzle, J-C! (At first, it looked like it should be easy, but, wow!) As I felt I should have found it sooner, I'll rate it a hard 1.0.

Walkthrough by Afmob:

Jean-Christophe's Idea for the Cage Template:

Walkthrough by Andrew:

Last edited by Andrew on Fri Jun 17, 2011 8:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top

Andrew

Post subject: Archive Part D. Assassins 101-125, variants, other puzzles

Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 2:43 am

Grand Master

Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:04 pm
Posts: 1895
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Assassin 118 V0.9 by Jean-Christophe (August 2008) here

Puzzle Diagram:

Images with "udosuk style Killer Cages" by Børge:

Code: Select, Copy & Paste into solver:

Solution:

+-------+-------+-------+
| 5 4 3 | 8 7 1 | 9 6 2 |
| 1 8 7 | 2 9 6 | 5 4 3 |
| 6 9 2 | 4 3 5 | 8 1 7 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 8 7 1 | 6 4 3 | 2 9 5 |
| 4 2 6 | 7 5 9 | 3 8 1 |
| 9 3 5 | 1 2 8 | 4 7 6 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 3 6 4 | 9 1 2 | 7 5 8 |
| 2 1 9 | 5 8 7 | 6 3 4 |
| 7 5 8 | 3 6 4 | 1 2 9 |
+-------+-------+-------+

Quote:

Jean-Christophe: An easier version 0.9
SSolver 3.2.1 Rating: 0.92.

udosuk: For a while I thought v0.9 was almost as hard as v1, if not harder. :rambo:

But then I worked out this 10-short-step walkthrough, with some very tidy analysis. :dude:

I'll give it a rating of 1.0 (easy). :ugeek:

Jean-Christophe: My idea for this cage template [Hint]

Andrew: Thanks J-C for another fun puzzle.

udosuk wrote:

For a while I thought v0.9 was almost as hard as v1, if not harder.

I thought the same at first.
I'll rate my solution as Hard 1.0; that may even be a bit too low.

udosuk: Using JC's cage template tips, here is another walkthrough for v0.9 which is one step shorter. The trickiest moves are similar in terms of difficulty though so same rating.

Walkthrough by udosuk:

Jean-Christophe's Idea for the Cage Template:

Walkthrough by Andrew:

Second Walkthrough by udosuk, using Jean-Christophe's Template Tips:

Top

Andrew

Post subject: Archive Part D. Assassins 101-125, variants, other puzzles

Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 5:05 am

Grand Master

Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:04 pm
Posts: 1895
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Human Solvable 2X by HATMAN (September 2008) here

Puzzle Diagram:

Images with "udosuk style Killer Cages" by Børge:

Code: Select, Copy & Paste into solver (doesn't include the blue pair in the diagrams):

Solution:

+-------+-------+-------+
| 3 2 8 | 5 1 6 | 9 4 7 |
| 7 9 5 | 2 8 4 | 3 6 1 |
| 4 1 6 | 3 9 7 | 2 5 8 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 9 7 4 | 1 2 3 | 5 8 6 |
| 1 5 2 | 6 4 8 | 7 9 3 |
| 8 6 3 | 9 7 5 | 1 2 4 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 6 4 1 | 7 5 2 | 8 3 9 |
| 2 8 9 | 4 3 1 | 6 7 5 |
| 5 3 7 | 8 6 9 | 4 1 2 |
+-------+-------+-------+

Quote:

HATMAN: It has taken me a while, but here is the second one, not as hard as the prevous one. JSudoku does it in more than ten fishes.
I'm away from base in Nigeria so have not been able to check the difficulty on SudokuSolver.
The blue pair is a 12/2 with that my solution is OK; without it my solutionfeels like heavyT&E.

udosuk(after Afmob had posted HS 2X Lite and his walkthrough for it): Even the heaviest version (without the 12/2 @ r5c8) isn't that hard. :ugeek:

If rated by the trickiest move (my step 5) then 1.25 (hard), if by sheer length then 1.0 (easy).

Andrew (in 2012): After finishing Human Solvable 1, I decided to have another look at Human Solvable 2 starting with the "Lite" version. Then I had a go at both versions of HS2, first with and then without the blue 12(2) cage.
Because my breakthrough steps apply to all three versions, my solving paths were very similar.
I found Afmob's and udosuk's walkthroughs interesting …
Rating: Easy 1.5.

HATMAN: Andrew
I would not expect an HS to go above 1.5 - that would defeat the objective to me. Basically because I can solve a 1.5 with a good wind behind me, on a sunny day, and I count myself as human. But I'm not sure about the rest of the forum given your solving skills. Of course your occasional mistakes help me believe that you are.
My friend udosuk I'm not so sure about - but his terrible humour was convincingly human - miss him.
Cheers, Maurice

Walkthrough by udosuk:

Walkthrough by Andrew (in 2012):

Walkthrough (without the blue 12(2) cage) by Andrew (in 2012):

Human Solvable 2X Lite by Afmob (September 2008) here

Puzzle Diagram:

Images with "udosuk style Killer Cages" by Børge:

Code: Select, Copy & Paste into solver:

Solution:

+-------+-------+-------+
| 3 2 8 | 5 1 6 | 9 4 7 |
| 7 9 5 | 2 8 4 | 3 6 1 |
| 4 1 6 | 3 9 7 | 2 5 8 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 9 7 4 | 1 2 3 | 5 8 6 |
| 1 5 2 | 6 4 8 | 7 9 3 |
| 8 6 3 | 9 7 5 | 1 2 4 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 6 4 1 | 7 5 2 | 8 3 9 |
| 2 8 9 | 4 3 1 | 6 7 5 |
| 5 3 7 | 8 6 9 | 4 1 2 |
+-------+-------+-------+

Quote:

Afmob: I wanted to tackle H2 X but the PS code didn't work for SumoCue so I had to recreate HATMAN's killer using SumoCue but I magically inserted a cage that wasn't there (9(2) @ R8C5) but I don't know why I did it. Maybe because of the symmetry? Well I solved the "new" Killer thinking it was HS2 X and I just wanted to post my walkthrough and I noticed that I solved the wrong version.
:bigoops:

Well, guess I was lucky to have found the right cage sum. :cheesey:

The beginning of the solving path is identical to HS2 X but the breakthrough move (steps 7a, 7b) cannot be applied because you somehow have to remove 9 from R8C5.
SS Score: 1.37. But it uses T&E! Estimated rating: At least hard 1.25 (depends on how you rate steps 7a, 7b).

HATMAN: Afmob. This was my original post, which I replaced very quickly because I thought it was too easy - so maybe I underestimated it.

Andrew (in 2012): After finishing Human Solvable 1, I decided to have another look at Human Solvable 2 starting with the "Lite" version. I found that I'd almost finished it, only missing the second breakthrough step because of careless eliminations from my Excel worksheet. When I came back to this puzzle I re-worked my first breakthrough step; the note outlines how I did it originally.
Rating: Easy 1.5

Walkthrough by Afmob:

Walkthrough by Andrew (in 2012):

Last edited by Andrew on Mon Jun 04, 2012 11:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top

Andrew

Post subject: Archive Part D. Assassins 101-125, variants, other puzzles

Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 9:26 pm

Grand Master

Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:04 pm
Posts: 1895
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Assassin 119 by Afmob (September 2008) here

Puzzle Diagram:

Images with "udosuk style Killer Cages" by Børge:

Code: Select, Copy & Paste into solver:

Solution:

+-------+-------+-------+
| 1 2 9 | 4 8 5 | 3 6 7 |
| 5 3 8 | 7 1 6 | 4 2 9 |
| 6 7 4 | 2 3 9 | 5 8 1 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 9 1 6 | 3 7 2 | 8 5 4 |
| 4 5 7 | 1 6 8 | 9 3 2 |
| 3 8 2 | 9 5 4 | 1 7 6 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 8 4 5 | 6 2 1 | 7 9 3 |
| 7 6 1 | 8 9 3 | 2 4 5 |
| 2 9 3 | 5 4 7 | 6 1 8 |
+-------+-------+-------+

Quote:

Afmob: This didn't came out as symmetrical as I wanted it to be though it's way too symmetrical to be messy. :cheesey:

SS Score: 0.92. Estimated rating: 1.0.

azpaull: Looks like it is going to be a fun one! Thanks, Afmob!

Andrew: Yes this one does look fun! Many thanks!

Afmob wrote:

This didn't came out as symmetrical as I wanted it to be though it's way too symmetrical to be messy. :cheesey:

It's got the right rating for a Messy One but if you'd posted it as that, then you'd have had to create another puzzle for A119.

udosuk: Rating: 1.0 (easy) by trickiest move ..., 0.75 by length.
Look forward to v2. :ugeek:

Andrew: My early breakthrough used different logic than in udosuk's walkthrough to achieve the same result.
I'll rate A119 as 1.0 the way that I solved it.

azpaull: Phew! Twice, I had to start over (on the original version) because of silly mistakes. Maybe I should start making walkthrus so I can walk-back when I get sloppy. But, thanks again for the fun puzzle, Afmob!

Walkthrough by udosuk:

Walkthrough by Andrew:

Top

Andrew

Post subject: Archive Part D. Assassins 101-125, variants, other puzzles

Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:20 pm

Grand Master

Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:04 pm
Posts: 1895
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Assassin 119 V2 by Afmob (September 2008) here

Puzzle Diagram:

Images with "udosuk style Killer Cages" by Børge:

Code: Select, Copy & Paste into solver:

Solution:

+-------+-------+-------+
| 9 5 8 | 4 2 6 | 3 7 1 |
| 4 2 1 | 5 7 3 | 9 8 6 |
| 3 7 6 | 9 8 1 | 4 5 2 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 6 4 3 | 7 1 2 | 8 9 5 |
| 2 1 5 | 8 3 9 | 7 6 4 |
| 7 8 9 | 6 4 5 | 2 1 3 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 8 6 7 | 2 5 4 | 1 3 9 |
| 1 9 2 | 3 6 8 | 5 4 7 |
| 5 3 4 | 1 9 7 | 6 2 8 |
+-------+-------+-------+

Quote:

Afmob: Since Ed's Assassin won't be an X-Killer I thought that at least I should make one. :ok:

This Killer should be more challenging at least that's what SudokuSolver and JSudoku think but they both missed something very important.
SS Score: 1.64. Estimated rating: 1.25.

udosuk: Estimated Rating: 1.5 (easy) - 1.5 (hard).
I probably have missed some easier paths with what indicated by Afmob. If that's the case I'd love to hear from him. :study:

(Added later: Afmob has informed me that's indeed the case. Good luck to everybody else trying to find that route.)

Afmob: Here is the easier path I've found with step 6a being the most important move. I usually don't look for these moves, so I guess I was lucky.
Rating: 1.25.

Andrew: Many thanks Afmob for a really challenging V2. I can recommend anyone who hasn't yet done so to try it!
udosuk's walkthrough has some very impressive ... After going through the walkthrough, but skipping ..., it looked like 1.5 (Hard) rather than 1.5 (Easy) to me.
Thanks udosuk for giving eliminations along the diagonals! I've also done that. It makes it much easier for those of us who do manual eliminations.

Afmob wrote:

Here is the easier path I've found with step 6a being the most important move.

IMHO step 7a is equally important. I missed that in my solution path and had to work really hard before my first placement.
Before that my path was very similar to Afmob's. After my step 14 I noticed the first part of Afmob's step 6a but missed ... However I got the same result, and a bit more, with my step 15.

I'll rate A119 V2 at 1.5 the way I solved it.

Walkthrough by udosuk:

Walkthrough by Afmob:

Walkthrough by Andrew:

Assassin 119 V3 by Afmob (September 2008) here

Puzzle Diagram:

Images with "udosuk style Killer Cages" by Børge:

Code: Select, Copy & Paste into solver:

Solution:

+-------+-------+-------+
| 9 5 8 | 4 2 6 | 3 7 1 |
| 4 2 1 | 5 7 3 | 9 8 6 |
| 3 7 6 | 9 8 1 | 4 5 2 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 6 4 3 | 7 1 2 | 8 9 5 |
| 2 1 5 | 8 3 9 | 7 6 4 |
| 7 8 9 | 6 4 5 | 2 1 3 |
+-------+-------+-------+
| 8 6 7 | 2 5 4 | 1 3 9 |
| 1 9 2 | 3 6 8 | 5 4 7 |
| 5 3 4 | 1 9 7 | 6 2 8 |
+-------+-------+-------+

Quote:

Afmob: By the way, if you got too much time on your hands then try to tackle this one (warning! contains minor spoilers on V2)
The only hint I can give you is that there really is only one solution but no software is going to help you solve it.

Andrew:

Afmob wrote:

By the way, if you got too much time on your hands then try to tackle this one (warning! contains minor spoilers on V2).

Having looked at both diagrams I would have thought it was the other way round. Solving V2 should be helpful to solving the puzzle in the hidden diagram. However I can't see any reason why solving the hidden one should help solving V2 since it's clearly a harder version of V2.

Afmob wrote:

The only hint I can give you is that there really is only one solution but no software is going to help you solve it.

I wonder if that's really true. At a quick glance all the missing areas can be replaced by cages in V2 using simple application of the 45 rule. Then it's just(?) a harder version of V2 by combining two pairs of cages. Solver software, which I've never used, ought then to be able to solve it.
[Edit. See my later message.]

Afmob: Well, it's only a minor spoiler because with those merged cages in R89 (5(2) + 11(2) and 9(2) + 13(2)) you know that no number can repeat in those cages, e.g. R9C4 cannot have the same value as R8C23+R9C3 and R9C6 cannot have the same value as R8C78+R9C7.

Andrew: As Afmob has pointed out to me by PM, [size=14]my "logic" about filliing the missing areas with the cages of V2 was wrong.
However if one did that anyway, it looks like it's still an extremely difficult puzzle, probably significantly more so than V2 which I'm currently finding very hard.
Afmob has now explained what he meant by the spoiler. Of course one still has to solve V2 without relying on that since it's not part of the V2 puzzle.

udosuk: Probably won't attempt v3 now, unless there is convincing evidence that it can be solved logically.
Note I also has a v3 for my Assassin 115 with similar difficulty, but it's not a zero killer. :geek:

(Archive Note. That V3 wasn't posted in the forum)

Top

Page 5 of 7

[ 68 posts ]

Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Next

Board index » Puzzles and Solutions » Killer Puzzles

All times are UTC

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 41 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum