A Puzzle to Test your Accuracy

Here's where you can try Postcodes by Maggie & BremSter: app.crackingthecryptic.com/cz...
Normal sudoku rules apply. Digits in tabs must be placed within three cells of the narrow end of the tab (in that direction) in that row or column. A purple line contains a set of consecutive digits, in any order.
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Music: Tim McCaskey (Guitar) or Lucy Audrin (Piano): Mozart's Sonata no 16; and Mark’s outro music by Riffclown.
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Hi! We're Simon Anthony and Mark Goodliffe, two of the UK's most enthusiastic puzzle solvers. We have both represented the UK at the World Sudoku Championships and the World Puzzle Championships. We're also "cryptic crossword" aficionados. Mark is the twelve-time winner of The Times crossword championship and twice Senior World Champion in Sudoku, and Simon is the former record holder for most consecutive correct solutions to The Listener crossword. We hope we can help your puzzle solving while also introducing you to some of the world's best puzzles.
Thank you for watching!
Simon and Mark
▶ Contents ◀
0:00 Theme Music & News around the channel
1:18 Rules of today’s puzzle
2:48 Start Of Solve - Let's Get Cracking!

[@kanegonzales6171]

What is the best way to recommend a puzzle for you to solve? There is a puzzle on Logic Masters Germany called "Forbidden Fog" that needs to be completed by two people. Apparently, each person has half of the clues and you need to communicate with one another to solve it. I would love to see you and Simon work together and try it out. Love your content!

[@tyrgannusgaming6657]

There are a handful of duos puzzles like this! It would be fun for them both to solve one

[@Kirbyfan87827]

I took a look at the puzzle and thought, "There's no way I can do this, I'll just watch the video solve." But then a few seconds into the video I thought, "Wait a minute, I actually think I can figure some of this logic out," went BACK to the puzzle, and did the whole thing in 26:22 without help.

[@TheClawNinja]

Awesome :) Good feeling isn't it? I did the same thing when I started watching this channel, and now I can solve pretty much any puzzle of video length under 50 minutes or so. Those hour long ones probably take me 2-3 hours, if I get them at all, but I've learned SO MUCH by watching these two solve puzzles. Basic sudokus are easy as pie now :)

[@thebitterfig9903]

Those tabs are really fun, I'd love to see them come back in other sorts of puzzles--Arrow, German Whisper, etc. About 31 minutes for me.

[@BremSterPuzzles]

Maggie and I are working on more, but we hope other setters do stuff as well as we aren’t fast.

[@guruhoro]

56:58 to solve. I spent a whole lot of time stuck around the middle part, but when I found some logic, I got a whole chain all at once. I don't know if I'll be doing puzzles of this level regularly, but it's nice to rack my brain every now and then.

[@MattYDdraig]

23:17 The tab logic was nice and understated and linked in very smoothly with the renban lines. Very enjoyable and novel.

[@BremSterPuzzles]

Thank you very much. I will make sure Maggie gets to see this comment as she worked really hard on this. It's amazing to me someone turning 79 this month is able to make puzzles this good.

[@glum_hippo]

@@BremSterPuzzleshappy premature birthday wishes to Maggie! ❤❤

[@MattYDdraig]

@@BremSterPuzzles Pass on my best birthday wishes to her as well, and wonder how much better the puzzles will somehow be when she gets older!

[@chocolateboy300]

I finished in 82 minutes. I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out if it was possible for the renban lines to contain repeatable digits. I couldn't see a reason why not and looked up the original puzzle on lmd and saw that non-repeatable digits are in the rules for the renban lines. After that, I pencil marked myself to death and got so confused that an hour in, I had to start the whole thing over. Luckily, it went smoothly after limiting my pencil marks. Great Puzzle!

[@emilywilliams3237]

I loved watching this video, and have this puzzle on my list to try tonight after I get to my destination! Thanks for the video, Mark.

[@mikepictor]

Thank you for explaining..I read the tabs rule completely differently.

[@BremSterPuzzles]

Sorry if the rules were provided wrong. We did several versions of this and the non-final version must have been submitted. This is the correct interpretation of the rules. We have checked, and we have no idea how you got a broken version of the puzzle. Every published version that we can find has the full version of the rules that were workshopped by many different setters, had the embedded solution, had the lines tweaked for maximum visibility of the tab clues. It is really disturbing to me that a broken version got sent in.

[@glum_hippo]

Lovely idea and lovely execution

[@Paolo_De_Leva]

Thank you for this beautiful puzzle. I think there is no simple way to explain the direction indicated by the tab. Since I agree maximum visibility is desirable, an arrow cannot be used. Hence, I believe you need longer and more complex text. Also, an example of application is always needed when a rule is not easy to interpret. Here's one possible way to explain more clearly the tab rule: _"Digits in tabs must be placed within the first three cells from the tab, starting from the long side of the tab and moving towards the point where its short oblique sides converge (for instance, the tab in r3c2 shows that a 1 must be placed in one of the three cells above it)."_ _"Narrow end of the tab"_ was not clear enough for me to understand immediately. Since I cannot see the difference between "end" and "side", I see two "narrow ends" (also called the "legs" of the trapezium). Of course, this interpretation does not work in this case, because you are referring to only one "narrow end," hence the correct meaning of your sentence can be eventually deduced, but I would prefer a crystal clear definitioin.

[@masu33]

I have a knack for complaining about rules, but these were fine. Thanks for the nice construct, managed to solve it without relying on Mark.

[@BremSterPuzzles]

@@Paolo_De_Leva I will think about it and talk to other setters about it. There is a level of "trying to over clarify leads to more confusion" so I there is a lot to consider. Thanks for the feedback.

[@ellemax4605]

I typically have issues understanding the rules and these made perfect sense to me. Beautiful puzzle thank you! Sometimes when you spend so much time on something you want it to be perfect but please be assured this was a wonderful puzzle and not to get too stuck on the aesthetics of the rules

[@markp7262]

17:36 finish. A very nice new rule, and looking forward to what can be done with it in the future. Fun fun fun!

[@bradmccallum1]

12:57 "Although I kind of looked at them all..." 1 7 tab (r4c4): "Am I some kind of joke to you?"

[@vulkandrache1928]

"I have looked at all the tabs." The 1 7 is crying sad tears. It is so weird watching you mark 4 cells as yellow and then not using that information for 10+ minutes.

[@Timlagor]

..and still he does it in half the time I took!

[@robsreality]

18:18, fun puzzle, thank you!

[@evetheeevee2977]

22:07 really fun! I like the ruleset

[@josephbentley1300]

18:55 for me, thanks for the puzzle as always

[@piarittersporn]

Very beautiful puzzle. Enjoyable and quite relaxing.

[@grahamania]

Great Puzzle. Mark using the word 'entertaining' is spot on! Kind comment.

[@shawnmichajluk2044]

This was a fantastic puzzle. Love the rule set.

[@angec9908]

Mark: can I put a seven on this renban? Me for the last 15 minutes: LOOK AT THE TAB MARK! LOOK AT THE 1-7 TAB! GAAAAHHHH!

[@MRichK]

And then he ignores the seven which would solve box 6. I true blind spot!

[@Petrus74-yj4kv]

@@MRichK He ignores a lot of things, mostly his own pencil marks, and then theorizes about things like 9 on a renban that obviously cannot have it... 🤣🤣🤣

[@mudscuffer]

Oh I quite liked that ruleset. 24:04 for me.

[@jessecox6003]

31.09! First time I've ever beat Mark! 🎉

[@anaayoung9142]

I already solve this one, but I solve it again. Super good puzzle and neat rule! 🎉

[@stangerrits6712]

21:03 Reminder to always respect your pencil marks!

[@ericpraline1302]

Interesting ruleset, thanks. I got completely stuck about 3/4 of the way through, had to leave it for a few hours, and when I returned I spotted something instantly. I find that happens quite often.

[@benjaminrealy5661]

37:38. Understood rules. Moving aling smoothly for a little bit, but then got myself in a jam when i had 2 6s on a single line without noticing for a while.

[@MarushiaDark316]

Always exciting when Mark enters Beast Mode at the end. Just demolishing puzzles.

[@BrianZier]

40:23 for me. Rare that I can come anywhere close to the times Mark or Simon get 🙂

[@megaminxpll]

8:34, but then I had done it before when it was on BremSter's channel.

[@rhoadeshouse]

Hey can i somehow manually or automaticly synchronize or transfer my puzzles in Svens Sudokupad to a new phone on android? I just got it and wanted to check on some puzzles, I did not yet finish, but unfortunately its not synchronized, so therefore i assume, i have to get all the puzzles again?

[@titusadduxas]

38:44 - Happy with that.

[@stangerrits6712]

Understandable and interesting new ruleset. However, intuitively I would interpret the tabs the other way around, with the digits placed on the wide side of the tab. Seems more in line with how tabs are used in other instances imo.

[@chanporyrith1000]

Thank you for clarifying the tab rules! I completely thought ”narrow end“ meant the pointy bottom and top of the tab, and also wasn’t sure if ”within three cells“ was inclusive of the tab or not

[@BremSterPuzzles]

I would be happy to update the rules if a better wording is found. Just trying to keep them clear as well as concise, it is tricky with new things.

[@yaelvercammer5468]

Made some mistake so had to restart and kept the time, second round went much smoother and more accurate luckily :D 01:26:00 was the total time

[@themuffin437]

16:11 for me. Once I got used to the tabs the puzzle was a breeze

[@user-kt9vr1wj6y]

32:36 for the 2nd try nice puzzle

[@alanclarke4646]

56:24 for me. If I'd been more diligent in tidying up pencil marks on renban lines, I could have shaved off several minutes...

[@frankthompson9630]

I like the puzzle, but I wish the tabs were slightly more noticeable. The numbers are so small, and I got stuck several times just because I overlooked a tab clue!

[@awilliams1701]

I never thought I'd see prusa slicer in a CTC thumbnail. lol

[@jinkela7295]

Mark forgot the tab in r4c4, which confines the position of 7 in box 4

[@_-_-Sipita-_-_]

14:28 for me.

[@zainabm809]

Done it in 34 minutes 🎉 usually I take much longer

[@jdyerjdyer]

Not a bad solve. Takes a minute, but pretty straight forward. Still almost twice their time at 56 minutes for me, though.

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

17:35 for me. I got stuck a couple times, not that easy of a puzzle imo.

[@dashiellv]

Oh, I was reading a few of the tabs the wrong way.

[@bait6652]

Like others read it wrong...thought the narrow direction would be sliver so within the 5-7 cells

[@LeVraiPoio]

Unfortunately the tabs on lines are really hard to read on phone. Edit: nevermind, dark mode saved the day !

[@TurquoizeGoldscraper]

26:49 for me.

[@theredstoneengineer6934]

16:06 for me

[@RoderickEtheria]

Didn't understand the rules at the beginning when I started trying to crack the puzzle. Had to watch rules be explained to have a chance.

[@BremSterPuzzles]

I would love suggestions on better ways of wording the rules. We workshopped what I have been using, but if there is improvement, I will take ideas from anywhere.

[@tonybrooms]

01:03:14

[@LednacekZ]

19:02 today. should have been done quicker.

[@glum_hippo]

Please put “This doesn’t butter my parsnips” on my tombstone. Thank you.

[@davidh.4944]

1:08:51@#2392. The interplay between the clues was neat, but the mid-game was rather difficult. Once I figured out a couple of the renaban lines, though, the rest of it fell down pretty easily.

[@cycklist]

Embarrassing thumbnail.

[@EricMill]

Embarrassing comment.