Another Puzzle By The Wizard

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▶ABOUT US◀
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 eleven-time winner of The Times championship 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

[@SudokuManiacs]

I never thought the tag of a "Wizard" would become permanent. :) There is a little story behind 2013. In 2012, I was in London and Tom Collyer and I would meet regularly. We all used to maintain blogs for sudokus and Tom and I thought why not form a facebook group of authors and we post our blog entries there. This would help each of us reach out to followers of our individual blogs and increase traffic for all of us. That's when the "league" was formed. We had all the best creators posting there, as Christoph mentioned, and it was one lovely ride. I am thankful to Simon for presenting our memories so beautifully. Rishi Puri

[@tomcollyer641]

My blog was mainly not sudoku before the days of the league :-) these days it seems to be mainly nothing which is very sad, but you're right, it was a great ride. I'd love to see some more videos - for example Fred also had some very stylish variants and some very well constructed classics - and if you wanted a challenge then Bram's puzzles never disappointed. The group is just about still going, but as a bit of history it was invaluable for me in learning how to publish puzzle graphics and also to clearly state the rules of a puzzle ahead of the 2014 WSC in London. I think the group also had a good influence in the preparations for the 2016 WSC in Senec, which remains my all time favourite WSC.

[@DiMono]

I solved this puzzle without using the initial 9. It did require a few "if this square is this number" attempts to rule values out. Figured you may want to give it a try, and perhaps re-issue it if you want to give people an "easy" and "hard" version of the same puzzle ;)

[@christophseeliger5551]

2013 was indeed an incredible year. Several puzzle creators (including Rishi and Bastien and several other wellknown people) agreed on a synchronized schedule for updating their blogs and challenged each other with their beautiful creations each week. Unfortunately most of them have stopped with regular updates. It’s really nice to show off some of these diamonds again.

[@SudokuManiacs]

Our regular jobs got the better of us Christoph, and with new authors coming in, we decided to kind of take a break. For me the initial batch of authors was the best that the League had.

[@BlueCyann]

Done, did it, somebody give me a T-shirt. LOVED this puzzle. All kinds of different logic needed, challenging almost all the way through, just lovely.

[@kamilbidzinski475]

There it is. I got genuinely excited seeing a title for a Sudoku video. I didn't think this day would come. The last one was just so clever.

[@SudokuManiacs]

Thank you :)

[@Almond19912]

Simon: "35 minutes its taken me ages" Meanwhile me taking an hour and 40: "I've done really well to not break 2 hours!"

[@SvviftDeath]

45:06 This was a fun puzzle. The restraints on the side helped eliminate certain ascending numbers which made it difficult to start but once you found a way into the puzzle it was a slow but steady progression. No fancy tricks just good logic. Great puzzle.

[@alexortiz9777]

I think you need a better graphic for explaining the skyscraper puzzle. Right now it looks like it's just the distance to the tallest skyscrapper, but something like 213 would give a value of 2

[@DiMono]

I did this puzzle on my own before watching the video, and it never occurred to me to fill in the skyscraper numbers, so I just did the puzzle keeping even/odd in mind. When I went to check my solution after about 55 minutes, it said I was wrong and outlined it, which I took to be just drawing attention to the puzzle at first, so I checked my solution over. Then I realized I could fill in the outer ring, so I did, and it came back with *even more* errors. That's when I realized what it was telling me, and that I was actually correct the first time. It was a roller coaster of emotions.

[@tbyoutubenz]

Question for the Q&A, when you first started solving Cryptics, were you great at the straight off the bat, if not how did you practice and get better at the start?

[@Czeckie]

Qustion for Mark: Do you work in a field, where (cryptic) solving comes handy in some fashion? (even by stretch of imagination) Or, possibly, the other way around, i.e. your work practice somehow feeding into your ability to solve the puzzles?

[@BVIGrockle]

one of the pleasures of this channel is going back through the archives and finding puzzles you haven't done yet. I tried this today and while it kicked my backside it was an absolute pleasure to work through, kept me constantly engaged for the very long time it took me to solve - thanks so much @sudokumaniacs for a great puzzle

[@tremkl]

Had a nightmare of a time finishing this one. Took me almost 2 hours. Thought about quitting many times, but boy did I feel bad-ass when I solved it.

[@MinimumGnome]

Just under an hour for me. Definitely got the brain juices flowing with this one. Thanks for another wonderfully difficult sudoku variant.

[@zacharymorritt3228]

The clue which first got me into cryptic crosswords, from a Terry Pratchett book, is still ingrained in my memory years later. Would love if Mark could weigh in on it: "Shaken players carry the load (9)"

[@57thorns]

I will try: Shaken should be an anagram. But players does not have nine letter, so a nine letter word for players. And the anagram is a load carrier (wagon, crane etc). And I am stumped.

[@zacharymorritt3228]

@@57thorns you're on exactly the right lines. If you want a hint, the players are musical, and you'll want to think old-fashioned (for the load-carrier and the players!)

[@57thorns]

@@zacharymorritt3228 I kind of figured it out. Except the word I figured out for the carrier was not a real word, but the anagram server game me both words.

[@timeomnivore]

Took me exactly 2 hours. What an brilliant and fun puzzle.

[@57thorns]

So I was not the only one..

[@jeythegrey]

took me exactly 2 hours as well... never thought i'd solve it

[@BryanLeeWilliams]

"It's damn clever" Best line by Simon ever.

[@RandomBurfness]

A question for Mark! How do you think one should approach starting solving cryptic crosswords, especially if one is not a native speaker and as such hasn't grown up absorbing the necessary culture to immediately understand some references?

[@MazerTime]

watch a lot of solves so you learn common phrases and such. learning a language is like 90% listening, so the more english in general you listen to the better you get anyway, but try to watch the crosswords videos.

[@Badabooom163]

Lahav P isn’t it the most interesting part to find these “common things” by yourself? After you found (or know it) it starts to be just a routine

[@57thorns]

@@MazerTime There are some thing you can learn from watching cryptic crossword videos such as some of the abbreviations and marker words that indicate how the word play works (anagrams, first letter, last letter etc). The other part, history, contemporary sport references etc is much harder, you will learn the most common eventually, but every time there is a new reference to an internationally known cricket player, if you are not living in the cricket parts of the world, you will have no clue where to even begin. There is so much more than language here. I suppose you would need to follow British new media, watch BBC broadcasts daily etc.

[@3laserbeam3]

Damn, that was beautiful to solve and figure out! ~51 minutes here.

[@rabidsamfan]

For Mark, are there any easier places to start learning the conventions of cryptic clues, like what words signal an abbreviation?

[@stephentroop4649]

rabidsamfan there is a Wikipedia page called crossword abbreviations. It has a huge chunk of commonly used acronyms and 1 word abbreviations.

[@TheBlackZodiacGhost]

I see a 30+ minute video, I instantly press like!

[@Badabooom163]

Did it in 1:25 without any hint. Started in 3 am (why???), but it was a great way to not to sleep enough for tomorrow 😄 Great puzzle!

[@victorfinberg8595]

I like this puzzle. Even though it's pretty hard, it doesn't require genius-level reasoning, and you can make slow, steady progress, and always feel that you're moving forward.

[@facilvenir]

1 hour 38 minutes 23 seconds and probably 5 nights of sleeping about sudoku, but I did it. It wasn't easy. For a moment I even thought about giving up, but thank Simon... I mean... thank God I didn't!! Edit: I almost died when I saw the "That doesn't look right to me" sign.

[@christopherschwab7101]

Successfully struggled my way through this one! Though when I finished the web app told me that my solution was incorrect. I checked it against the solution in the video, and it was all correct!

[@kchkch8253]

Beautiful puzzle! Glad to solve it although it took me a much longer time :p

[@The123Christian]

Question for Q&A: Have you tried a cryptic crossword in a different language?

[@truthteller4689]

Tough. I got about 6 numbers after 50 minutes! (So I got up to 10:31 in the video by myself) Then I got the hint about the 8's. Then I solved the whole thing in 2 hours! OMG. Quite a fun puzzle though.

[@derekallen7]

Questions for Mark: 1) Are you ever going to come to the American Crossword tournament? And 2) Can you add videos featuring the challenging Listener Crossword?

[@davidh.4944]

I was just about to finish it up, or so I thought, after about an hour of work, when I hit a contradiction in the skyscraper clues. I tried backtracking it a ways, but I must've made the mistake pretty early on. I did complete it successfully the second time through, after another 90 minutes. I did have a bit of a scare when I realized I'd put odd digits in an even side box, but fortunately it didn't affect the solve. These skyscraper variants are fun, but slow going. Even slower than my usual snail's pace.

[@hafor2205]

Lovely solve

[@57thorns]

Delete all the outside clues to check the sudoku in the centre, only the empty outside cells should be red.

[@JaggerG]

So after I encountered a contradiction in my totally sound and definitely not dubious logic *ahem*, I started over and suddenly realized that specifying the value of the skyscraper clues is completely redundant. All you need is the fact they’re odd or even. You can never use the exact values to gain more information, because you can only get those values by finding that information first. That probably could have saved you time, perhaps? Maybe only seconds?

[@tomluo7178]

Really elegant solve, 22:35 here.

[@JimOMoore]

Thoroughly enjoyed that one, lots of different techniques to cycle through to progress. Took me twice as long as you, as is usual, but chuffed with myself for getting there.

[@57thorns]

Actually the nines in the bottom right and top left corners (both are symmetrical) has to be in the middle from the start. The 9 can never be two steps from an odd number, which rules out all but one of the space in the crosses. Then again, that was about as far as I came.

[@57thorns]

Simon found it at 9:00. Trying this now after sleeping and got a bit further, but now to see the solve to see what logic I missed.

[@57thorns]

Wow, it took me two hours (with a few small breaks) but I managed to grind it out.

[@liiiinder]

Still think you should press check on these puzzles so we have a pattern to check against if we are unsure if its the same. As this check gave a really easy to spot pattern :)

[@joeridumortier65]

Them creepy breathing pauses we're the mike isn't on. I'm instantly thinking I lost connection.

[@MazerTime]

i kept getting different reasoning to you, therefore solved it in a completely different order, and every time you got to a box i already filled and got the same result i was so relived!

[@stevesebzda570]

WOW. (Cool comments and a video of something cool coming up) Definitely watching and solving-along on this one though it seems so cool and involved. :-) 😂☕ @5:30 for example. That skyscraper clue for the 6s I center marked as a 2,4 (because it has to be even). Then a few seconds later (those 9s being in box six in row 6) I put a 2 for the skyscraper clue on the outside because it has to be even (and 4 won't work). Doesn't that 2 then fix that 2,4 clue above to a 4 (for the 9 in box 5)? Is that how this works? All of the skyscraper clues work this way (odd and even) all the way around ? How does somebody do this? Amazing Construction. The Constructor, are you a cool Alien from outer space.?! Lol 😂 Did you have the Voyager Spacecraft, sent up in the 70s, in your backyard in otherwords? Lol :)) 😂☕ AMAZING. Is that how that "2" then "4" on the outside work though ? Amazing if it does all the way around the grid. ;-)) 😂☕ [[Edit: I can see now (@10:00 or something) they don't work that way, but still highly cool them all behaving Odd and Even solid-alternating all the way around though ]] Skyscraper, (Odd and Even solid-alternating all the way around), PLUS setting a sudoku for all of them (and itself) in-between?! How does anybody do that?? Lmao, amazing. ;) 😂☕☕☕(I need THREE cups a' coffee now, lol). And Simon, I'll be the one falling off my chair on this one, lol. ;)) 😂😂 (Especially, being those 9s being in the left two cells in boxes 9 and 6 throwing it up into the Even two on the right in box 3 that you did). Amazing Construction again **falling off my chair now ** lol 😮😂☕(coffee in hand)

[@chrispiasecki9324]

I pressed the check button and had a heart attack and had to watch the whole video to find out the checker can't check the puzzle aaahhhhhh!! I usually only watch enough to learn the mechanics of the puzzle and some logic behind it if its a new mechanic, I can't try and solve it if I watched u solve it all the way through, please put that checker not working warning at the beginning next time thnks! :D

[@xnisfuzzy]

Spent about 25 minutes scratching my head and not making progress. Decided to come back to the video and see if I had missed something, or entered a number incorrectly, only to see that the outside numbers CAN repeat (I was falsely applying sudoku rules on the outer section 🤣😭.) Paused the video and will now need to give it another go, likely with significantly more progress

[@IronTem]

Is it at all possible to alter the software somehow so the shaded cells are colored differently from the player's own coloring options? Not being able to use color for fear of erasing the shaded cells is annoying

[@Wecoc1]

You could use a bit of CSS for that: var css = document.createElement('style');css.type = "text/css"; css.innerHTML = ".sudoku-shapetext.sudoku-shapetext--underlay[style*=\"background-color: rgb(207, 207, 207)\"] { background-color: #b8c5d4 !important; border: 0; }"; document.querySelector('head').appendChild(css);

[@BlueCyann]

Since I almost always erase color that's not directly needed for the solve as it is here, I wouldn't like that.

[@chompyzilla]

When you colour a shaded cell, you already get a shaded version of the colour.

[@RocketsharK7]

There are several errors in this puzzle and it is actually unsolvable. In the upper left corner the 5 clue should be a 2 for your answer but it cant be because it is suppose to be odd. Column 4 has a 2 clue in it but you can see to skyscraper 3 which cant happen because it has to be an even number. That conflicts with the nine in the top left 3x3 box and makes this puzzle have no answer. Please follow up on this. I spent 2 hours on this puzzle to find it an answerable.

[@kuroganeyuuji6464]

this isn't like the other skyscraper he showed on the channel, on that one the rules for 'seeing'(how the clue outside works) where special, on this you have to look at the whole row or column, so the 9 for exemple can always be seen, and the clues outsides say how many you can see so for example, on row 1 from left to right just because the 4 is hidden behind the 5 doesn't mean you stop there, you keep going until you see a 9(meaning everthing after is lower, thus hidden), because 6 7 8 are higher than 5 and are still a possibility to be visible.

[@DOSSTONED]

takes about 35mins to solve. The Wizard: I don't know the different about these digits, the only thing I know is Z/Z2, LOL

[@WillWatches]

1:43 had a mini heart attack when t said it was incorrect at the end, but got the same solution as you

[@ifroad33]

Mark, do some crossword puzzles feel alike at times, or do they all feel unique while solving them? I know I recognize some words which are used multiple times in some Swedish crossword puzzles in news pappers or such, but maybe the harder puzzles are different.

[@MrHebee1]

Just a tip to help with future videos. It should not take a full five minutes to get to the puzzle start. You do a long intro with a lot of your videos which is not necessary. You could easily cut out 2 minutes in the intro. If you don't want to do that include a timestamp to the puzzle start. This will help people that might be turned away from the long intro.

[@nightwishlover8913]

Hi Simon (noob here) - I'm looking at time 10.23; I don't get how you can put a 2 in row 0 column 4 (for want of a better description) surely it would be a 3 since there are 2 smaller skyscrapers in front of the 9 i.e. 3 seen ones? Could you explain, please?

[@nightwishlover8913]

@@VictorCastillon1 so the 9 cannot be in the third position, then, surely?

[@VictorCastillon1]

As 9 is in the third square, the skyscraper clue has to be either 2 or 3, but because of the shaded square clue the 3 is eliminated, so it has to be a 2. Because of that 2 the two squares before the 9 have to be in a descending order so the second square is hidden behind the first. i.e. 3 1 9 (the 1 is hidden behind the 3, so just 2 skyscrapers ar visible)

[@dancrooksycamore]

You won't see the number behind the 7 because it must be smaller than a seven, as the eight has already been placed

[@nightwishlover8913]

@@VictorCastillon1 Of Course! Fool that I am! Thanks.

[@VictorCastillon1]

@@PatchworkPS I think you are confused in how the skyscraper clues work. In the case of R4C0, the 3 indicates that 3 skyscrapers can be seen in that row (6->8->9) all the others are hidden.

[@G.Aaron.Fisher]

What an unrelenting puzzle. I kept thinking it would break, but it put up a fight until about half the digits went in.

[@glum_hippo]

Astonishing puzzle!

[@markaustin3858]

What is your favourite cryptic crossword clue?

[@Kurgosh1]

Wow, that was tough, but I actually feel pretty darned good about solving it. I couldn't do it all the way through in one go (just took too long), but even if I had my time would be terrible.

[@Mrcastleskeep]

What kind of microphone are you running? Every time you drop your hand on your desk my sub hits hard lol.

[@laurencesharp5777]

A question for Mark (and Simon) : Why, on a channel called "Cracking The Cryptic" do you feature so few cryptic crossword solves? By my count you've featured cryptic crosswords in 24 of the last 300 posts and other crosswords, e.g. American style ones in 5 posts. More crossword solves please! Laurence

[@ragnkja]

Laurence Sharp The disadvantage of crosswords is that they’re really language- and culture-specific, so a lot of us just won’t have a chance at them, whereas language-independent puzzles are much more accessible to an international audience.

[@laurencesharp5777]

@@ragnkja - I agree with you that language independent puzzles are more accessible, and, although personally I would prefer that they solved a cryptic crossword everyday, I accept that the majority of posts need to be sudokus or similar puzzles. But the channel is called "Cracking The Cryptic" and not "Solving the Sudoku" and I don't think it is too unreasonable of me to expect a few more crosswords to feature in posts.

[@PatchworkPS]

EDIT: obviously I'm wrong. If anyone's as confused as me, the rules aren't the same as in the previous skyscraper video where the outside number indicated the number of buildings that could be seen until the first hidden one. Here they're just the number of visible skyscrapers. I'm afraid this solution is wrong. The final grid's outside numbers don't match the number of skyscrapers seen in quite a few rows, for instance rows 1 3 4 and 6 from the left.

[@dudbike]

I don't think you understand the rules. Row 1 you can see the 2,5,7,8,9 which equals 5. Looks good to me.

[@Tahgtahv]

Row 1 can see 2,5,7,8,9 - 5 is correct; Row 3 can see 6,8,9 - 3 is correct; Row 4 can see 3,5,8,9 - 4 is correct; Row 6 can see 8,9 - 2 is correct. Perhaps you've misunderstood how skyscraper logic works?

[@PatchworkPS]

But there's a 4 in row 1 hidden by the 5? Surely only 2 are seen?

[@PatchworkPS]

@@dudbike and @Tahgtahv Jesus Christ I get it now, the rules are different from their previous skyscraper video. Thanks a ton.

[@theohill2521]

i've just checked his final solution in those rows mentioned and it looks good to me

[@NA-cx5zm]

Surprised to find out that this sudoku does not have an unique solution. Still a good solve. Obviously I got a different valid answer. Though funny enough the height of the skyscrapers is still the same in all rows and columns.

[@JaggerG]

Did you by any chance get a screenshot or something? Every time I thought I had a different, valid solution for anything featured in this channel, I had just misunderstood the rules.

[@blimpvapor]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the rules of the puzzle, but the solution doesn't seem to meet the goal. Row 3 has 9 in the 4th position as the tallest skyscraper while the tallest should be odd. Similarly the same 9 doesn't comply with the even numbered position on the top rail in column 4. Not saying I can solve it better, just wondering if it was a mistake

[@mrmonster3434]

I think the skyscraper number refers to the number of visible (ascending height) cells, rather than the position of the highest. A "shorter" cell will not count towards the total unless it is unobscured.

[@rickwyckoff291]

Mind = blown

[@stevewithington1787]

52 minutes. Nice puzzle.

[@TioStrawb]

Q: How many cryptic crosswords do you think you have completed in your career?

[@Munjoz11]

How many breads have you eaten in your life?

[@littleschnitzel8226]

@@Munjoz11 583 breads + 19764 bread rolls with a tolerance of 2.

[@violetasuklevska9074]

I went in to try to solve it and soon realised that the center 5 doesn't play much of a role so I erased it and got to the end where all that was left was the 5-7 doubles and that's the only role the 5 served in the puzzle. So really it was like there were only two givens.

[@ByronIgoe]

Q: Have you tried any puzzles by Māyā of Auckland? They are cryptic and themed! I forgive her for the occasional NZ trivia, and I struggle with some Britishisms (I'm American), but they are lovely. I get the AcrossLite versions in the alphacross Android app, but it looks like they are also available via mayaofauckland.wordpress.com or thehobsoncrossword.wordpress.com/author/myrthaofulwie/

[@thepimentninja7340]

1 hour 40 wow what a puzzle!

[@peterskilton1382]

isnt there a mistake in line nr.2: where it says: 268 in the last block and there is a 2 outside but you can only see the 8 skycrapper or am i wrong?

[@macmitch1234]

Peter Skilton you can see the 9 skyscraper as well since it’s taller than the 8. So the 2 is correct

[@theohill2521]

it could never 'only see the 8' the 9 is in row 2 column 2 which can be seen

[@liiiinder]

You see the 8 and the 9...

[@ragnkja]

Peter Skilton The highest number is _always_ visible in a skyscraper puzzle.

[@christopherg2347]

Just recently there has been a breakthrough in Graph Theory. And apparently, you can represent a sodoku as the "color a graph" problem (and most other problems, for that mater): kzbin.info/www/bejne/ip_YkIqpbLGfpZY

[@DougCube]

You say "maybe I'm not using sudoku logic enough" (14:10). So here... Just after 12:08, notice that the only candidate for 8 in row 1 is r1c6 (a hidden single).

[@raiynen]

I want to see a puzzle like this where are the numbers on the outer ring follow one to nine

[@meko750]

16:20 This was so frustrating…Simon could’ve locked the seven in r2c1 because the other seven couldn’t be there without the clue being even. He was right there and just kept looking at the wrong seven. 18:00 Never mind, he gets it on the other symmetrical one. Crisis averted. 😛

[@flying_horse]

I haven't solved any skyscrapers sudoky before but this seems wrong to me At 10:14 the 9 he puts at R8 C8 is the highest skyscraper seen from the left so the Hight is 2 then imidiately he puts a 9 at R6 C7 and calls the hight also 2 ? even at the end when the numbers are all filled in you can spot hights that are feel not right Can someone confirm if this is the correct solution ?

[@flying_horse]

the very first digit I put was the 9 at square 6 my logic was " it must be in the bottom row " and " hight must be even number " so I obviusly put it at R6 C8 apparenlty my logic is flawed as that just breaks the entire puzzle . but why ?

[@n_mckean]

The "Check" function throws and error and my puzzle is identical.

[@commandurrazor]

The 3 on the leftmost column and 4th row should be a 1?

[@kuroganeyuuji6464]

@@commandurrazor no, it is a 3(6 8 and 9 are visible), Simon did say at end that the check doesn't work because of how the app works

[@yossi379]

I don't get it. First row outside 5 can't see only 4 buildings. Second row number 2 outside only see 1 building(8). Column 1 number 3 outside only see 2 buildings(7). . . . And a lot of more. Can you explain that

[@kuroganeyuuji6464]

this isn't like the other skyscraper he showed on the channel, on that one the rules for 'seeing'(how the clue outside works) where special, on this you have to look at the whole row or column, so the 9 for exemple can always be seen, and the clues outsides say how many you can see for row 1 you can see 5 skyscrapers from the left to the right, 2 5 7 8 9 on this order, you can't see 4 hidden behind 5, 6 hidden behind 7 nor 3 and 1 hidden from the moment 4 apeared for row 2 from the right to left, it doesn't matter how far the 9 is it can be seen, thus 2 as clue column 1 from top to bottom, same thing it can see 2 7 AND 9, not 8 after 9

[@Max_Griswald]

I went into this one after my only other skyscraper puzzle being a "hidden" skyscraper puzzle from this channel, and it really fucked up my attempt, I could not understand how the 9 could be in C7R6 because the outside number had to be even from the right, and I could not figure out how to have an even number of skyscrapers before the first "hidden" one.

[@chaotix37]

Q: What is your least and most favorite variant of Sudoku?

[@overclockofficial6669]

I played along with you and paused paused whenever I felt I could do some on my own. I finished the puzzle and did check and almost the whole board lit up red. I was so sad until you said that would happen lol

[@edensaquaponics1941]

If you fill in the skyscraper numbers using pencil marks, then only those show as red when you hit check.

[@yossi379]

Sorry to tell you but this puzzle is not right. Could u please do it again? Thanks

[@truthteller4689]

It's strange watching these after you solve it. Because you think your logic is unique but turns out it's the same as everyone elses

[@Jaxom35x]

Is it just me or is this puzzle broken by it's own rules? You have a nine in several places only 2 spaces away from the edge and the outer number is a 2 because of it and it fits into the proper gray box. But then you also have several nines 3 spaces away from the edge and still put a 2 in the gray box. By it's own rules wouldn't that have to be a 3 and a white box and not a 2 in a gray box?

[@JaggerG]

Only if both of the previous 2 buildings are visible. In all those examples, the second number is smaller than the first, so you only count the first and third digits. For example, if it’s 739, the 3 is hidden by the 7, but the 9 can be seen , since it’s taller than 7.

[@EndlessMystify]

33 minutes = "ages". I must be really slow, then :-P

[@dylanlenn7836]

once you have a nine aren't you then able to fill in the corresponding number on the outside?

[@needlermasta]

@UC_F_1bjMirqCXuGdIzCiWpw So the skyscraper number equals the number of squares until we hit the first skyscraper that obscures another, not the number until we see the peak skyscraper?

[@needlermasta]

oh i think the person I replied to deleted his response.

[@clcallag]

Not necessarily; Let's say we have a row of 829157634. Then on left we would have a 2 because we can "see" the 8 and the 9, but not the 2 as it is obscured by the 8, and from the right we have a 4, because we can see the 9, 7, 6, and 4, but the 1, 5, and 3 are all obscured by taller buildings. Does that make sense?

[@nightwishlover8913]

@@clcallag That makes sense... I mistakenly thought the number on the outside referred to the FIRST high skyscraper before any hidden ones - i.e. in your example I would have thought we would have a 1 for the 8 which hides the 2?

[@clcallag]

Gotcha. I think Simon's example Skyscrapers grid being 3x3 makes it tough to get a full understanding of the rules of a Skyscrapers puzzle.

[@Lord_Volkner]

Your logic that the upper left hand box has to be symetrical to the lower right hand box because that's how this guy makes his puzzles is pretty cheesy. That's not really logic, actually, it's more like cheating. If you didn't know that this is what that guy does could you still solve the puzzle?

[@JaggerG]

He didn’t strictly use this info to solve the puzzle. He only used it to think about the next step he should take. It might have just taken him an additional 5 or so minutes if he didn’t consider that and put off the opposing corner blocks. Then again, the symmetry is clearly apparent due to the coloring pattern.

[@PuffyOne1898]

54 minutes!

[@lemeeadams4455]

Does anyone actually know how scyscraper puzzles work or all they just making it up, cause I'm not following whatsoever

[@ominousjorts]

The skyscraper clue (e.g. the 5 for row 1) tells you how many numbers in that row can be "seen". 9 will always be the last number seen, because it is biggest. So you count all ascending numbers from the one next to the skyscraper clue until the nine. So if you have 3, 1, 8, 4, 9, the skyscraper clue must be 3 because the 3, 8 and 9 are the only visible numbers as they are in ascending order. The 1 and the 4 cannot be seen because a larger number blocks them from view, and so they're not counted. Hope that helps.