Blackadder: The Sudoku

** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
We are on the most incredible run of absolutely extraordinary sudokus and we've found another one today with udukos' latest, titled "Blackadder"! You will need a cunning plan that is very much NOT a la Baldrick to have a hope of solving this one :)
Give it a try at the link below:
tinyurl.com/2p85dfpe
Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. The cells with a clue in the top left corner represent one end of a snake. Each clue belongs to a different snake. The value of the clue gives the sum of all the digits that lie on a snake. These snakes behave as region sum lines. As a snake passes through different 3 x 3 boxes, digits on the snake have an equal sum N within each box it passes through. If the snake passes through the same box more than once, then each individual segment within that box sums to N separately. The snake must pass through at least two 3 x 3 boxes. If '?' is given as a clue, then its value has to be deduced. The snakes can't touch themselves orthogonally or diagonally. Two snakes can't share a cell together.
The example puzzle can be found at the following link:
logic-masters.de/Raetselporta...
If you manage to solve this one and want more sudoku then give this puzzle from Sam Cavnar-Johnson a try:
app.crackingthecryptic.com/su...
It's a classic sudoku with a very cool trick. On Patreon we've released a solve video showing Mark's solve (not knowing the trick) and then Simon's explanation of how to go about it differently :)
For those of you interested in the puzzle Adventure by Jon Schneider (mentioned in the video) there is a video here:
• The Hardest Puzzle Eve...
** PATREON REWARDS JUST OUT **
Join us on Patreon to participate in the two new competitions! We have two amazing sudoku packs from Panthera, TheAsylum and grkles themed around Japanese Sum Sudoku (which make pictures in the grid if you solve them correctly!).
We've also got Mark's Platinum Jubilee Sudoku and a video on how it was made.
Just $2/month here:
/ crackingthecryptic
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[@DronesClubMember13]

"Baldrick, I have a sudoku so cunning you could stick fur on it and call it a weasel...."

[@understoodish]

I don't know about anyone else, but I honestly get excited when I see a long Simon video because I know that we're going to see some world-class experience and reasoning.

[@chiepah2]

Simon: "I hope it's a 3 in the corner so we can sing a song about it." Also Simon: *Puts a 3 in the corner with out a song* Me: :( Also also Simon: "That's 3 in the corner, didn't get a song I didn't see at the time someone will be very upset with me I'm sorry, um, it seems a bit late to give it it's song now." Also me: :'(

[@peterkelley6344]

Simon get over it .... the entire Soduko is a SONG! I am actually surprised that Simon did not do the Black Adder theme as a cover for CtC.

[@bartoszstaniow2919]

Hi, It's Bartosz here. Thank you for your birthday wishes, to say that it made my day is to say nothing. I would love to solve todays puzzle myself to memorise the whole experience even better, but after I saw the length of the video and rules I thought: there's a link under the video, now Simon gets to play, let's get popcorn. Best wishes to you and Mark, your work is truly amazing. PS. If it comes to me I love the couch and popcorn videos and I'm really glad that there are more and more of them on the channel.

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 05:11 Let's Get Cracking: 10:03 Simon's time: 1h16m08s Puzzle Solved: 1:26:11 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! The Secret: 3x (18:04, 18:06, 18:12) Three In the Corner: 2x (47:54, 1:23:37) Bobbins: 1x (46:31) Goodliffing: 1x (43:24) ​Scooby-Doo: 1x (1:06:52) Maverick: 1x (21:10) Diddly Squat: 1x (1:19:03) Wally: 1x (39:21) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Snake: 123x (05:18, 05:24, 05:29, 05:37, 05:39, 05:50, 05:53, 05:58, 06:00, 06:09, 06:18, 06:31, 06:40, 06:54, 06:57, 06:58, 07:12, 07:15, 07:22, 07:22, 07:29, 07:31, 07:32, 07:37, 07:54, 07:58, 08:19, 08:26, 08:41, 08:45, 08:55, 08:58, 09:23, 10:24, 10:54, 11:03, 11:43, 12:10, 12:19, 13:45, 14:06, 14:36, 14:48, 14:52, 15:14, 15:16, 15:19, 16:32, 16:44, 17:27, 21:21, 21:29, 21:55, 22:50, 23:14, 23:24, 23:29, 24:34, 24:58, 25:49, 27:18, 28:21, 29:33, 29:56, 30:04, 30:09, 30:26, 30:41, 30:51, 32:22, 32:51, 33:41, 36:30, 38:57, 39:32, 39:57, 40:17, 40:29, 40:48, 40:59, 41:08, 41:52, 42:01, 42:07, 42:23, 42:26, 42:48, 44:27, 44:42, 45:11, 45:17, 45:41, 45:46, 46:55, 47:07, 47:13, 49:45, 49:53, 49:56, 50:15, 50:23, 51:38, 52:39, 59:01, 1:01:16, 1:14:04, 1:14:16, 1:16:33, 1:16:35, 1:16:54, 1:16:56, 1:17:00, 1:17:02, 1:17:04, 1:17:09, 1:17:14, 1:17:17, 1:21:45, 1:25:13, 1:25:18, 1:25:34, 1:26:04, 1:26:33) Ah: 19x (17:22, 24:52, 29:18, 35:27, 36:20, 38:31, 41:22, 47:40, 47:43, 51:11, 53:46, 55:49, 1:12:43, 1:12:46, 1:16:51, 1:18:44, 1:20:25, 1:22:30, 1:23:30) Beautiful: 10x (29:24, 37:45, 37:47, 1:02:23, 1:02:27, 1:20:57, 1:22:30, 1:26:45, 1:26:45, 1:26:47) Hang On: 10x (19:30, 19:36, 31:41, 34:24, 35:53, 36:10, 39:51, 46:06, 1:17:22, 1:21:51) Sorry: 9x (21:10, 32:02, 35:27, 39:23, 51:29, 1:16:47, 1:19:33, 1:23:42, 1:26:51) Touch Itself: 9x (06:31, 06:36, 06:48, 12:13, 21:21, 26:44, 40:59, 1:14:04, 1:14:07) By Sudoku: 9x (41:37, 1:04:10, 1:04:12, 1:15:25, 1:15:29, 1:17:32, 1:17:42, 1:22:57, 1:24:17) Wow: 6x (07:03, 1:04:16, 1:04:19, 1:18:43, 1:21:27, 1:21:29) Brilliant: 5x (00:45, 02:26, 02:52, 04:38, 04:51) In Fact: 5x (08:48, 30:58, 39:01, 1:20:18, 1:25:16) Goodness: 4x (20:00, 39:54, 1:15:46, 1:25:54) Bother: 4x (53:43, 1:11:41, 1:11:41, 1:18:10) Nonsense: 4x (28:32, 32:05, 52:39, 1:03:08) Clever: 4x (11:35, 36:20, 41:55, 1:12:49) Pencil Mark/mark: 4x (48:29, 1:08:31, 1:11:48, 1:18:49) Good Grief: 3x (09:39, 1:03:55, 1:25:56) I Have no Clue: 2x (20:19, 1:06:47) Lovely: 2x (39:54, 47:50) Incredible: 2x (04:48, 1:27:05) Extraordinary: 2x (00:21, 1:26:51) Surely: 2x (24:02, 1:24:58) What Does This Mean?: 2x (55:19, 1:00:05) Nature: 2x (01:54, 41:30) Naked Single: 1x (1:23:51) Break the Puzzle: 1x (1:01:00) Deadly Pattern: 1x (1:24:19) Gorgeous: 1x (1:03:55) Shouting: 1x (02:49) Magnificent: 1x (00:48) Alacrity: 1x (37:20) Disappointing: 1x (53:25) Progress: 1x (1:23:08) Have a Think: 1x (14:24) Cake!: 1x (03:08) Most popular number(>9), digit, colour and box this video: Twelve (30 mentions) Two (114 mentions) Red (19 mentions) Box 8 (2 mentions) Antithesis Battles: High (4) - Low (2) Even (12) - Odd (4) Black (11) - White (11) Row (14) - Column (13) FAQ: Q1: You missed something! A1: That could very well be the case! Human speech can be hard to understand for computers like me! Point out the ones that I missed and maybe I'll learn! Q2: Can you do this for another channel? A2: I've been thinking about that and wrote some code to make that possible. Let me know which channel you think would be a good fit!

[@masheroz]

Good bot!

[@susanollington5257]

I think one time I saw that the bot records “Ab initio” but it didn’t this time, so I would guess it missed that one :)

[@omribena]

I love both shorter videos (up to 40m) that I know I can solve , and the long ones to admire your work. thx for the great content! :)

[@flobiish]

For anyone irritated that Simon didn't include 6 as an option in r7c1 @45:21, I've been paying attention and he never used that pencil mark for anything before he got a 6 in box 7 to rule it out @1:12:51.

[@kalebrhea5822]

Thank you! That was going to bother me for quite some time

[@AllenBaranov]

Yeah, I was wondering about that until I saw it was ruled out later. The other thing is that Simon didn't rule out the light grey snake extending into box one. It is impossible but you'd have to prove that. Also... no song for the 3 in the corner.

[@listey]

I was more irritated that he didn't acknowledge 3 being in the corner until after the fact.

[@mremumerm]

@@AllenBaranov i wondered if i was the one that tried to do another 19 on the grey snake in box 1.

[@robert-skibelo]

Yes, I found that distracting too. But tidy-minded people have to expect plenty of distractions in a Simon solve: all those out of date pencil marks and unnoticed sudoku eliminations, for example. Not to mention today's mispronunciation of "contribute" and misuse of "weird" for things that are not at all weird. Somehow it's still all very entertaining though.

[@richardfarrer5616]

If you're willing to spend the time, I'm certainly happy to watch it. Love these longer videos, even if I rarely get anywhere by myself.

[@user-ox9oo6wp6d]

I have finished this puzzle within around 80 minutes, and every time I did a deduction, I kept praying I didn't make any mistake!! But the excitement couldn't stop when I finally solved the puzzle by myself!

[@dariobarisic3502]

Right. I drew in the big 49 snake path at the start by discarding all other possibilities, but for the entire solve I was worried that I drew it in wrong, especially because it took me a while to make progess at some steps.

[@christophstahl8169]

Love this one a mighty lot. When you realise 49 is 7x7 and 12 must be 2 x 6 and then you can just colour in the 49 snake and then the 20 snake. Every little deduction felt like a small surprise gift. The amount of times i went "oh this is just forced now" alone was totally worth the puzzle. We had puzzles that make you work hard to get a digit but rarely there are puzzles that really reward you and I feel this is one of them. You deduct something or find some cool contradiction and then you get a bonus digit, like can't be 2,4 here so it must be 5,1 there - oh that gives me a six in that box. Lovely puzzle, well crafted, great fun.

[@danielauto3767]

Simon, don't apologize for the long videos. Some of us actually prefer to watch one long video than many short ones. I don't watch videos shorter than at least 30 minutes. I can't take the time to watch the short videos when there are so many wonderful, hard sudoku to get to :)

[@bryanroland9402]

Yet another amazing puzzle. If it fills a 90 minute video, then so be it. Wouldn't want to miss puzzles of such quality.

[@LittleBallOfPurr]

My drama teacher taught Rowan Atkinson. When casting me in the school play, he gave me the role of the foolish servant, saying I reminded him of Rowan.

[@NotElusivePanda]

I’m super duper sick today and my gf is at work. Simon gets to keep me company. Thank you ❤️

[@williamnathanael412]

At 32:25, Simon could've disproven that route by remembering we cannot put 124 in box 4 due to the 12 clue.

[@chitraagarwal8259]

Simon and Blackadder.. already a superhit

[@angec9908]

I love when Simon and Mark reference each other. Simon doesn’t like overly pencil marking and calls it Goodliffeing and Mark doesn’t like overly coloring and refers to Simon when he does.

[@captainpi9724]

Long videos are perfectly fine when witnessing a masterpiece such as this

[@emilywilliams3237]

Lovely. I enjoy watching you do the space-defining puzzle types, because you seem to enjoy them so much. Thanks, Simon. CTC is truly the best place on KZbin.

[@asbjrnfossmo1589]

Finishing this one without starting the video gave me the most serious nerdgasm I've ever experienced! That was WILD!

[@DanJS]

MORE LONG VIDEOS please. We do love them.

[@akhos9876]

Usually I have not watched listened to these to fall asleep but after starting my job in early distribution, the videos really help me fall asleep after a night at work. Love these videos, keep up the good work!

[@jonathanharsh7434]

49:36 for me. That was…wow. I was convinced I wouldn’t be able to figure out the break-in, but after like ten minutes of finicking with the 12s and the 49, I finally picked up the pace. Expect no less from udukos, really.

[@vi369]

Absolutely incredible. I love watching these, both mind-blowing and calming. Please don't feel guilty about the long videos either, especially for masterpieces like these. Keep it up!

[@RichSmith77]

Another incredible puzzle from Udukos. Just mind blowing that those few clues could lead to a unique solution. I managed to solve it without any hints from the video, although it took me 128 minutes. Only significant difference between my solve path and Simon's was that I asked where 8 and 9 could go in column 5 at around the 1:02:00 mark. That gave me an 8,9 pair in rows 1 and 8, which simplified the deduction that the green snake could only take one cell in box 8. Although Simon also got mileage out of knowing the yellow snake was limited to two cells too, which took me longer to work out. (I also restricted 8 to row 5 in box 6 earlier somehow, by thinking about the two ways of making 19, one on the blue snake and one off it. Every combination seemed to have 8 either in r5c7 or r5c9).

[@perladel95]

45:20 Could that digit be a single 6? It wasn't important because Simon never used that snake until he got a 6 in the box, but still I have this doubt

[@allanbagg777]

True. And at 56:00 R6C3 could have been 7

[@HunterJE]

Yeah again think he got lucky

[@thesinistermobs1564]

@@allanbagg777 R6C4 is the head of the green snake, so if it goes left the sum would need to be only 3 or 4, not 7

[@alistairsanger3111]

@@thesinistermobs1564 Thank you, I missed that.

[@Hephaestus_God]

@@allanbagg777 Luckily even though it could have been a 7 it was impossible to actually make it there. Since the ? box is the end or start of a snake it couldn't have both the 3-4 pair and the single 7 in it's line. Had to choose a path and it couldn't go from a 3 or 4 into a 7

[@robertoanelli7057]

I absolutely love the long videos and all the effort you make to solve the puzzles that are very hard (at least for me) trying at the same time to explain the way you are doing it. Thanks a lot for that!

[@Thexscha]

Fully off topic, but the way Simon said "does anybody else* at 14:20 tickled something in my brain. I had to pause the video and figure it out. Turns out it was super close to "does everybody else" from TISM's "Everyone else" and now I'm singing that loudly in my head while watching the rest of the video. Thanks for the nostalgia kick, Simon!

[@peterkelley6344]

Great ending with a encore of the Blackadder theme.

[@maralenenok]

The long videos are fun but those puzzles are so far beyond me that I just have to watch and appreciate. I really get excited about 30-minute videos because I can actually give those puzzles a go!

[@andrewnelson2525]

Love these long puzzles. Got it done in under 3 hours when two years ago it would have been six hours and resort to the video for a hint (this one was hard!). But I have to admit, when I see a 30 minute Simon video I breath a sigh of relief that I might have some more free time that day.

[@GrahamRSteele]

@56:00 Could R6C3 not be a "7"? Thereby making it equal sums. *Edit - Nevermind. Maybe because then the snake's head would be in the middle of its body. DUH. Apologies to all of those that were shaking their head while reading that.

[@RichSmith77]

To be fair, this seemed to be a mistake Simon himself was making too. He definitely claims the snake region would sum to 3, 4 or 7 (wrong), then that it couldn't sum to 3, 4 or 7 in box 4 (also wrong). In this case, two wrongs did appear to make a right. 😂

[@jorschefo]

Thank you for figuring this out! I was wondering the same thing.

[@sjm6280]

Don't know about south London, but here in Madrid we may reach 45°C anytime... not time for a thermo sudoku

[@shellmichael9665]

I must be slow. I just now realized (after having watched this channel for almost a year and seeing countless Udukos puzzles), that Udukos is an anagram of Sudoku.

[@Flotube444]

Does anyone else want a series: "Simon reads classic poems" ? Just me?

[@longwaytotipperary]

I'm in!!!

[@leojs5673]

I often come back to the video where he read The Raven, one of my favorite poems

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@leojs5673 I gone back several times to hear that as well!

[@ericpraline1302]

There were times solving this when I felt my brain had departed for more habitable climes, but I did eventually get my eye in. Thanks for a thorough workout.

[@raistlin_dourden]

The king "Fight you with us on the morrow?" Edmond "Oh my no! I rather thought I'd fight with the enemy." The king "You're not putting him anywhere near me are you?"

[@Matsokune]

1:07:50 I just spotted this while watching, the 12 snake in box 8 with column 6 offers a little more. You know the head/tail of the 12 snake is 1 or 2, and goes one of two ways; if it goes into column 6, it sees the 1 4 pair and forces r9c6 to be 4, which means r9c5 is 2, r2c5 is 1, r2c6 is 4, puzzle's broken, so that snake must go to the left.

[@MatthewBouyack]

Simon, please don't apologize for the long videos! Whenever I see one I grab a nice glass of wine, make myself comfortable, and settle in for a pleasant evening of sudoku!

[@zprmscorner1769]

For the 6 total in box 8, Simon could also have observed that 2/4 toward the right would have put double 1 in box 2. So it needed to be 5/1 toward the left.

[@G4M1L]

Quite an extraordinary puzzle - and solve! I had some ideas about the geometry of the snakes when I started, but without the help of the video, i do not know if I could have found the break-in, at least not within reasonable time. The only thing missing for me in the solve was the proof that the snake starting at r2c8 did not continue into box 1 (or further). It's not that hard, but not exactly obvious at first glance either, at least it wasn't for me.

[@jrpstonecarver]

The long videos are great!

[@3very]

another video to pass the evening, fantastic

[@rjamesstephens]

I love these long sudokus more than movies no joke

[@dicecupmerlin6756]

"A sudoku video is never too long, it is exactly the length it means to be" - Gandalf probably

[@nickm5977]

Hey Simon, have you ever considered using eye tracking software during your solves? I’ve always wanted to see how you scan and what parts of the grid you’re looking at when trying to find break-ins.

[@victusinambitus]

What a fantastic idea! I too would love to see anything like this too Simon!

[@HeroDarkStorn]

It's been suggested at least three years ago :D Personally, I think it would be little disappointing and very "bad comment" provoking. Disappointing, because a lot of the stuff Mark/Simon "see" is probably in their head, sort of remembering how the puzzle looks more that looking at specific digit (sort of like blind chess). Also, 90%+ of the eye movement will be looking (repeatedly) at things that lead nowhere. Speaking of which, it would definitely show them looking at "the 8 digit that is next to 8 pencil mark", leading to "how did you not notice" comments to become... more of what they already are. You can look up "cognitive blindness" if you are curious about people looking at something and somehow not seeing it (usually while busy).

[@piarittersporn]

What a puzzle! I didn't want to try it at first because it's so complicated, but my ambition got the better of me and I actually did it. I better leave it unmentioned how long it took me. It was definitely very exciting and fun.

[@tombenizrilevi4803]

My favorite part of these videos is when Simon makes a little reference to something and I get it

[@angec9908]

“I love solving sudoku” except when I have to use sudoku to solve it😂 Simon: finds 1-2 pair in box 1 and then immediately forgets it when placing possible 2s in box 4. That’s so Simon.

[@zackrobat]

Seriously, the long videos are better than almost anything one might see in the cinema. By all means, if you want to make short videos, I'll watch them. But if it's only because you're afraid the long videos are too long, please be reassured!

[@Raven-Creations]

The easy way to see how the 12 at the bottom resolved was to ask what happens if you put 2 in the 12 cell. The 12 and 14 at the top mean that the cell to the right would be 1, and not a 4, so the 12 could never go right. You need the non-snake cells to sum to 12, and 39 and 57 are out, so they must be 4 and 8, making the 12 snake a 15, and R9C6 is 4 (it cannot be in one of the snakes, and it can't be 8). The setting to allow the placement of the 49 was sublime, and the way it interacted with the 20 clue to force its tail to extend was lovely. I agree that it was hard, but I do think you make this type of puzzle harder by considering absolutely obviously impossible situations. You can't possibly fill a 9-box snake with 2s, so why even consider it? The same goes for four runs of three where the 12 snakes would have to take three cells to get to a third box. Towards the end, you considered the 11-snake taking 123 vertically, when there's a 2 immediately above it. I realise that, if you have mentally ruled them out, you would want to explain why, but you appear to be actually considering them, not just explaining. If you have ruled them out as ridiculous, just say that. If anyone in the comments requests clarification, one of us would be only too happy to do the explaining (I may be hard on you, but I'm always kind to beginners :) The problem is that, by entertaining nonsense, you're losing focus, and in a puzzle like this, you really need to stay focussed.

[@olivier2553]

I find the rules quite straight forward and simple to understand. Unlike in some recent GAS puzzle (my level) where the rules contains some language trickery like saying that one cell must be a must be a multiple pf another. with the hidden meaning that the cells could be equal, with one as multiplier/ Even Mark was thrown off by such a rule a week ago.

[@shukryal-hilal3932]

Thanks for your efforts It's long solve... But it worth all the time i spend in watching Actually i like the long videos coz i have the time to think with you dear Simon ❤️

[@LittleBallOfPurr]

Lovely outro of the Blackadder themetune!

[@Coyotek4]

Another day, another hour-plus solve (1:20:38) ... I'm starting to think composers are playing a game of 'Can you top that?' Yeah, another one for me personal file. Just another astounding puzzle!

[@charliemcadams07]

i love the long videos

[@a09nton]

Awesome!

[@perritohiker]

Bravo!

[@HunterJE]

Always love it when Simon says "this can't be X because" and I think I know what's coming after the because and then he gives totally different also right reasoning (e.g. 53:03 - Simon is right that 9 can't take 3 cells in box 6 because that would block in the 38; it ALSO can't take 3 cells in box 6 because the 7s line is already using 124, and there's no way to make a 3 different digits add to 9 without a 1 or 2...)

[@coreyredmon5611]

1:13:00 The other way to see that the orange snake goes left is that if it went right, it would have to be a 2-4 domino in box 8, but then there wouldn't be anywhere for a 1 in box 8.

[@thurst3224]

I really like the puzzles that are roughly 30 minutes.

[@danielwcrompton]

I love watching longer videos, I like to do all the puzzles on the gas video and some of the 30 minute videos. The long videos are my version of Netflix. 😉

[@mostman]

Simon without his glasses - careful, they might grant his powers!

[@kevinmartin7760]

at 1:13:20 an easier way to show the orange goes to the left is to just try sending it to the right and consider the consequences. It would have to be a 2 and a 4, which would force two 1's in row 2. Mind you that doesn't give the stronger conclusion from Simon's logic at this point...

[@stumbling]

I'd love to see the GAS team put together an approachable version of this.

[@hazujh7]

Personally, I love the long videos c:

[@stumbling]

15:52 "Elevensworth" has a nice ring to it :)

[@bobh6728]

I just watch them at 1.75 speed. That way the 1 1/2 hours goes down to 50minutes without missing anything. 2X seems just too fast to follow must of the time.

[@DaleKingProfile]

You could have figured out the direction of the orange snake in box 8 more easily, because to go right it would have to be 24, but that would force two 1s in box 2

[@BookofAeons]

Solved in 1:20:50. That break-in was brutal.

[@jaredgudnason4400]

damn... 220 minutes, and having to watch Simon for the 56 hint in box 6 near the end.. couldn't spot that for the life of me.. But i will say i got the long snake break in at least.

[@koegerli]

I JUST LOVE SNAKE SUDOKUS ❤❤❤❤

[@annik9645]

If you truly are suffering from OCD, I feel for you. That is like living a nightmare that you cannot escape from. But please don't call perfectionism or orderliness OCD.

[@Moolers]

1:06:24 - THANK YOU! I spent the entire video being annoyed at that green line.

[@crownedraven1587]

The ? in the bottom right serves only the purpose of uniqueness as in box 9 the blue snake could have been the 4,6,2,7 or the 4,1,5,9 and the ? requirement meant that the 4,1,5,9 would be unavailable. Great solve none the less.

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

1:10:44 for me. by almost figuring the 49 cage, looking for a hint, getting broken again, looking for a second hint, and guessing few times into the end, i can say that the time i spent on that sudoku was worthless.

[@adamelliott3694]

I came here for the theme song, stayed for the sudoku.

[@JackFate76]

I love long videos.

[@nwdreamer]

Since you asked, saying I avoid the shorter videos should tell you everything you need to know! 🙂

[@G.Aaron.Fisher]

Because of the way that KZbin changed the description box layout, it would be really nice if the link to the puzzle appeared before the preamble. Otherwise it can be a pain to get to on some devices.

[@aceroadholder2185]

Even Mr. Spock would admire the duel between these two logicians.

[@KestrelQ]

I've been on another run of CTC videos recently, and my time to watch them is around midnight when I go to bed. I'm not as young as I once was, and the white background can become a little harsh on the eyes. I wonder if it is possible to add a "dark mode" for these videos somehow?

[@chrisj50]

Sunglasses?? 😎

[@mhelvens]

Or a blue light filter. (Either in the screen or from some orange tinted glasses.)

[@nonyobisniss7928]

I doubt they will do this, as it's quite a lot of extra work, but I share the sentiment. Ideally KZbin would have a dark mode that switched colours in videos to be less bright automatically, without the uploader having to do anything, but it would be a hard task to have an automated system that darkened the grid and kept it readable. There are add-ons for some browsers that invert the color state, but they don't always work for full screen videos.

[@gordonglenn2089]

If you are on a Windows device, the Windows Nightlight feature reduces blue light and increases the warmer, redder colours.

[@SilverEchoes]

Most operating systems (desktop or mobile) have a blue light filter option that reduces the bright white light and makes the screen warmer and often dimmer. The oranger screen can make it a bit more difficult to distinguish colors in the grid, but it's worth it for the relief to the eyes in the dark. If you can't find a "night mode" on your device or if it isn't as robust as you'd like, you can look into getting a software that will handle it for you - I've used f.lux for years and love its flexibility and customizability.

[@niklassoderberg2168]

Great puzzle, top snake can't go to box 1 but it should have been checked.

[@1a2s3d6a9s5d]

I have no idea why you didnt pencilmark the 6 as an option for grey even though you do mention it when you get there one hour later and thats okay .. but for the life of me i can not think of a harder way to put that 7 in box 4 than what you did there haha .. fantastic solve Simon as always !

[@Artoooooor]

The right digit in the wrong place can make all the difference... in the sudoku

[@Mitrasmit]

I love the long video's, although I do think you should sometimes have

[@NabsterHax]

I was in pain around the 1:10 hour mark when sudoku was forcing a 1 into cell 8 and 9 of box 8! Also, in box 7 before you found the 6, couldn't it have been joined to the snake starting in box 4? I was afraid that pencil marking was going to cause issues.

[@Tahgtahv]

Not sure what you are asking exactly. The dark grey could have been a single 6 in box 7, but Simon didn't consider that possibility. (Nor did he, for completeness sake, consider whether the light grey snake could take a 3rd box. [It can't btw])

[@NabsterHax]

@@Tahgtahv technically if the light grey snake could’ve taken a 3rd box there wouldn’t be a single unique solution, though.

[@adamheywood113]

Some of us are Baldricks, some of us are Blackadders, and some of us are the George, Prince Regent

[@kyriakosbagatelas9604]

Deny everything Baldrick...

[@efa666]

I feel like Baldrick trying to do this one!

[@paulhelm971]

But which Baldrick? If its from the first series as suggested then your better Baldrick from later series

[@efa666]

@@paulhelm971 admittedly I've only seen the series during the war lol

[@zimmicks3170]

Never forget that had Baldrick never met Prince Edmund, he never would have given him the name Black "Adder". The good Prince Edmund would have kept his original idea, The Black Vegetable.

[@jamesdreyer602]

43:21 Is that a compliment or a dig on Mark, when he filled in all the possible numbers for rows 2 and 3??

[@gordonglenn2089]

The intro guitar solo by Simon starts out sounding to me like America the Beautiful, because June 14th is Flag Day in the USA? But then it goes down when I expect it to go up in some places. What song is it?

[@Jaxom35x]

At 45:20 the gray box could be a 6 all by itself and not be multiple boxes adding to 6.

[@RichSmith77]

I noticed he missed pencilling a 6 option too (although I have no right to complain, since I missed the possibility of a 3 and it being a three cell 1+2+3 region). At least he didn't rely on the pencilmarks. He even made a point of mentioning it couldn't be a 6 at 1:16:10, when he got around to completing that snake.

[@Scanlaid]

Nibble Pibblies status: vanquished

[@slapusillydawg]

i wish there was a better way to represent the rule that "a snake can't touch itself diagonally". As written, it isn't accurate. That's because any snake that turns at ALL will touch itself diagonally. When a snake turns, the cells on either side of the corner cell are touching each other diagonally, are they not?

[@RaghavendraBommaraju]

At 56:03 isn't it possible for green to take r6c3 as 7 to fulfill the snake? Simon says it isn't possible and solves under the assumption that it can't go into box 4 at all. Also at 45:24 r7c1 should be able to be a solitary 6 as well but I don't think this factors in the solve as much. Lovely solve nonetheless. Thanks for all the content! :)

[@davidmonnerat8598]

I wonder why not more commenters on this. It shortens the solve considerably

[@RaghavendraBommaraju]

@@davidmonnerat8598 I just read in another reply that because r6c4 is the head of the snake, it couldn't take just r6c3 as 7. That makes sense

[@davidmonnerat8598]

@@RaghavendraBommaraju oh... I am so dumb 😄 I solved the puzzle on my own, but that completely escaped me. Thanks for the follow up

[@MarkyMark8484]

The instructions for this one seems even more complicated than the puzzle itself. Even reading it gave me a headache lol.

[@maverickstclare3756]

You could be Baldrick from series one where he was the problem solver.

[@WhammeWhamme]

was that hard? YES. Every step of the way. Few puzzles are that hard to the very end.