Can You Finish A Sudoku Set By A Schoolboy?

** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
Can Erturan is a Turkish phenom. He is one of the world's best sudoku solvers and setters and yet he is still only 15 (maybe 16?) years old! We love his puzzles and tonight we try his latest: Half The Digits, a regular killer sudoku.
Play the puzzle at the link below:
sudokupad.app/mqrdnrGFb3
Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. In a cage, digits cannot repeat and the digits must sum to the small clue in the top left corner of the cage.
** NEW SUDOKU HUNT BY PAWS RELEASED 1 JULY **
We've just launched a brand new competition - a sudoku hunt by Paws featuring lots of smaller-sized sudokus. It's intended to be a bit easier than usual as July is a holiday month for many of us so do have a go, especially if you're new to variant sudoku!
We've also got a new series of linked sudokus from rockratzero just out!
/ crackingthecryptic
Other treats on Patreon include:
- The Lord Of The Rings Sudoku Hunt by Blobz (and Simon's solve videos)
- Simon's solve of Sky-Skyscraper by Phistomefel has just been uploaded for our patrons.
- Mark's latest solve of The Times Club Monthly cryptic crossword
- Mark's latest series of solves of Connections, the daily New York Times puzzle based on the Only Connect wall game.
** BRAID STREAM **
You can watch our recent stream at this link:
kzbin.infoWcqUhQkwUSY
▶ SUDOKU PAD - Use Our Software For Your Puzzles ◀
You can input classic sudoku puzzles into our software and help support Sven, the programmer responsible for the wonderful user interface we all use to play these puzzles everyday. The app also comes with 12 handmade puzzles from us:
iOS:
apps.apple.com/us/app/svens-s...
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/17...
Android:
play.google.com/store/apps/de...
ALSO on Amazon: Search for “SudokuPad”
▶ Contents Of This Video ◀
0:00 Theme music & puzzle intro
1:49 Our Killer Sudoku App
3:12 Rules
5:39 Start of Solve: Let's Get Cracking
▶ Contact Us ◀
Twitter: @Cracking The Cryptic
email: [e-mail]
Our PO Box address:
Simon Anthony & Mark Goodliffe
Box 102
56 Gloucester Road
London
SW7 4UB
(Please note to use our real names rather than 'Cracking The Cryptic'.)
**************************************************************
▶ CTC FAN DISCORD SERVER◀
/ discord
▶ OUR BACK CATALOGUE - ALL CATEGORISED WITH LINKS!◀
tinyurl.com/CTCCatalogue
▶ NEW CRACKING THE CRYPTIC MERCHANDISE◀
teespring.com/en-GB/stores/cr...
▶SEND US PUZZLES TO SOLVE/CONTACT US◀
[e-mail]
▶FOLLOW US◀
Twitter: @crypticcracking
Instagram (for how to solve daily clues from The Times): crackingthe...
We also post the Wordle In A Minute videos on TikTok.

[@cane_puzzles4203]

Thank you for the solve Simon! It was an impressive solve, you found the important deductions really quickly. Really fun to watch! I actually turned 16 a month ago :) Also, the puzzle is called "Half the Digits" because the killer cage sums only include the digits 0-4.

[@olliepeacock]

Happy belated birthday!!! Brilliant puzzle btw

[@davidrattner9]

Another beauty from you!! Great simple killer !! How your mind works is astonishing!!

[@myacky5887]

Happy belated birthday! Amazing setting as usual 😊

[@Anne_Mahoney]

Happy birthday! Very nice puzzle -- I love a good killer sudoku.

[@thendcomes]

Wickedly clever and delightful! I look forward to your future puzzles

[@erichvereen1988]

I love how I feel so much like a brainiac while Simon works the puzzles on the channel. I will go “yep, that goes there’ before he says it and I feel all smart, knowing that I can’t find the starting point to these things if I had maps, hints and a giant arrow pointing to it saying ‘Start Here with this number’ Thank you, Simon! 😁

[@debrabowen4276]

You are not alone. I don’t know where I get the nerve to fuss at Simon when he misses something I see, when I couldn’t do most of these puzzles if my life depended on it!

[@tremkl]

Every single time Simon solves a puzzle rated either 3/5 or 4/5 difficulty, he is shocked it isn’t easy. 😂

[@angec9908]

Yet another thing to look forward to every day: the CtC videos, Maverick, Alexa and the odd wasp and, of course, Simon forgetting to put on the correct glasses. And there’s Alexa 😂

[@Playmaker6174]

Yay I'm happy to see another neat puzzle (pure killer too) from Can over here, a great young setter and solver indeed! If you're wondering about the title, it comes from the fact that only the digits from 0 to 4 were used in the cage totals, hence 'half the amount of digits' only :) {*0,1,2,3,4*,5,6,7,8,9}

[@RichSmith77]

If this is Simon with his correct glasses, I'd hate to think how he'd be with his incorrect glasses. "Conflict checker on, it says it right there!... No, there. ... You've scrolled past it twice!" 49:07 "What do you mean the 3-6 are unresolved! There's a 3 right there!" Sorry. Couldn't help but observe. 😂

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 03:17 Let's Get Cracking: 05:44 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! Bobbins: 5x (02:39, 20:27, 23:05, 26:49, 49:46) The Secret: 3x (21:30, 21:37, 21:45) Three In the Corner: 2x (45:27) Knowledge Bomb: 1x (11:41) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Ah: 13x (05:06, 07:52, 10:40, 14:07, 16:48, 24:26, 27:49, 30:39, 36:08, 43:09, 45:27, 49:31, 51:08) Pencil Mark/mark: 9x (04:53, 13:46, 18:21, 35:19, 36:58, 42:13, 42:18, 42:43, 46:00) Sorry: 8x (04:34, 05:12, 17:09, 20:51, 26:38, 31:13, 40:12, 46:31) Brilliant: 7x (32:29, 51:17, 51:43, 52:39, 53:00, 53:10, 53:19) By Sudoku: 5x (07:29, 12:23, 22:35, 30:27, 32:08) Hang On: 5x (03:38, 19:18, 32:25, 33:27, 40:54) Nonsense: 3x (14:51, 14:51, 14:57) Bizarre: 3x (28:54, 33:15, 34:13) Obviously: 3x (25:30, 43:04, 48:53) Good Grief: 2x (12:50, 51:43) Clever: 2x (00:51, 53:02) Lovely: 2x (01:34, 15:16) In Fact: 2x (22:09, 34:38) Alexa: 2x (34:11, 34:13) Wow: 2x (35:31, 51:17) That's Huge: 2x (48:19, 48:22) What on Earth: 1x (31:02) Naked Single: 1x (51:00) The Answer is: 1x (15:33) In the Spotlight: 1x (45:33) Beautiful: 1x (12:50) Break the Puzzle: 1x (08:30) Fascinating: 1x (37:49) Extraordinary: 1x (01:01) Disconcerting: 1x (41:08) Shouting: 1x (20:54) Epiphany: 1x (43:16) Of All Things: 1x (32:22) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Thirteen (14 mentions) One (116 mentions) Green (35 mentions) Antithesis Battles: High (3) - Low (1) Even (3) - Odd (1) Row (18) - Column (12) 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!

[@statusquo8958]

Good job bot

[@aleksapupovac]

The last bobbins should be a second earlier

[@aleksapupovac]

The first secret is also late

[@studgerbil9081]

Looked at this simple puzzle and was floored by how long it took to solve. This is the finest example of this style of puzzle.

[@wordclover]

Teetering on the brink of unsolvable - there does seem to be only one path through, and the necessary deductions are brutal. I'd be interested to know how one goes about setting such nearly impossible puzzles and keeping track that they are in fact only barely solvable.

[@alexonstott4954]

@@wordclover probably starting with the major tricks that you come up with first. Setting a solution then starting it yourself and making sure there's a definitive path by adding clues when you determine there's an impasse. They might miss something, but the point isn't to make just one path, only to ensure there's at least one path.

[@ronjohnson6916]

Can't tell you how much the way Simon explains X-Wing has helped me. So simple and so easy to apply. And yet other explanations I had seen before always left me struggling to spot and make use of them.

[@grimsqueaker5333]

I saw an older vid of Simon this week about the empty rectangle, and I'm starting to understand it and look for it in sudoku. This is after learning the Phistomefel ring and proof, also from Simon. Small ways in which Simon and Mark make my life better.😊

[@ronjohnson6916]

@@grimsqueaker5333 Yup. And his explanation of Y-Wing was similarly effective. Doesn't come up much these days, but if you're wrestling with a tough classic there's a good chance that there will be a Y-Wing.

[@davidrattner9]

Being part of Simon's solves every day is such a special treat! Seeing puzzles set by someone who is 16 is just remarkable for how much logic and beauty is put into it!

[@philpoulin9675]

Don’t usually comment but that was a fun puzzle to solve, great setting Can Erturan.

[@marijazugic8172]

Ive been binging your content and didnt even realize this uploded only an hour ago. Great solve simon love wathing this channel im hooked❤❤❤

[@MaierFlorian]

Classic Simon, deduces something, puts in pencilmarks, than deduces something else for the same cell and just deletes all old pencilmarks, leading to missing information that would have come handy later on

[@CraigBeere]

Why does he even corner mark things?

[@emilywilliams3237]

Yes, Can is a phenom in solving, currently running in 32nd place in the Sudoku Grand Prix. That's rarefied air up there for a solver. This puzzle demonstrates that one does not need to use complicated rulesets to produce an interesting puzzle. Thanks for solving it, Simon - I loved the video.

[@OUdarling]

Simon, Alexa activates occasionally when you put emphasis on the word “exactly”.

[@paulwright13]

Loved every second of this puzzle and how the clues all interlinked. In awe of the setting skill

[@skiesofarcadia4885]

Çan can set a puzzle! I found this very difficult but really enjoyed it. Didn't know it was a 4-star puzzle until after solving, and it definitely felt like one to me, but was very satisfying

[@yvibrrr]

Killer sudokus are one of my favorite. This one I found quite hard, took me about 70 minutes to solve it. Enjoyed every minute of it. Now watching Simon's solve to see what I missed and learn a few new tricks.

[@michaelmatter1222]

A dazzling puzzle, a beacon of light shining through the mist! Bravo!

[@ulrikbrndsted9891]

Every time you say "a 1 and a 2" it sounds like you are counting in your band 😂

[@philwheatley5057]

Simon is an EXTREMELY lucky boy that the 7 in box 5 that he forgot to delete was actually correct! I was waiting for the puzzle to break followed by 5 minutes of frantic back pedalling. 😂

[@praematura]

This was tough for me, I did need 3 small nudges from Simon's solve to finally get through, and while I finished in just 28:23 (conflict checker off), I suspect without Simon's little hints (I always stopped the video as soon as I realized what he was about to say to go try it on my own) it would have taken me much longer. :) Amazing puzzle from Can, many thanks to him!

[@JohnLagrue]

Unlike Simon I can't live without the conflict checker!

[@10prozenthimmel]

Brillant Puzzle, lovely solve, I did get a boost of confidence for spotting a tiny deduction that Simon missed (there had to be a 3 in the bottom row of the 13 cage so box 9 could have resolved earlier), ignoring the fact that I would never have made it this far through the solve on my own, as usual. Only thing that was really missing: Did Maverick take the day off? How dare he miss Simon filming? Somehow this video feels incomplete without the interruption by Maverick or at least a buzzing bee.

[@MarkBennet10001]

The apps are also nicely varied in terms of logic and solution techniques, and graded for difficulty from easy to tough. I started with the early apps on a rainy camping holiday and learned a lot. Things which prompted the thought "how would anyone ever think that way?" I now don't think twice about. Mind you, I took longer than I should have done on Can's puzzle today - looking in all the wrong places mid-solve.

[@MarkBennet10001]

Specifically the situation at 26 minutes or so - mind you I was distracted solving as usual, but I was so annoyed it took so long.

[@joethornton5321]

I'm more discouraged by length of rulesets than length of video, so this was a pleasant surprise.

[@granite1482]

Alexa is always listening!😅

[@wanderlustwarrior]

38:25 for me. That was a fun challenge! Happy late birthday, Cane!

[@piarittersporn]

Great puzzle. I love those puzzles that have a short and simple rule, but are still very challenging. Unfortunately I had a mistake in my eyes today and for a long time I mistook the 3-cage in box 6 for a 7-cage and had to restart after an hour. Then everything worked fine.

[@davebreslow1956]

Simon… Thank you for the reminder that I am one of your favorite people🥰

[@adamseddon2533]

50 minutes into my solve and I've broke it so time to watch the video

[@statusquo8958]

I’ve been a lurker on the channel for only a few months and I was inspired to start doing sudoku on my own. I quickly progressed through the difficulty and I’m proud to say I completed my first hard mode sudoku on the NYT app! I might not be on your level but thank you for what you do ❤

[@RhiannonAgutter]

In case you didn’t know the nyt sudokus are all imported into the sudoku pad app if you want a better interface than they have on the nyt site/app

[@qazwiz]

1:47 the "cage geometry certainty refers tp the 23&24 in opposite corners and likely will play with the low digits in cages 3,10,12,22, and both 13's almost all require 1's 2's and 3's to fit the field

[@brettaspivey]

Brilliant puzzle, he is the Magnus Carlson of Sudoku

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

21:56 for me. That was absolutely fantastic, loved it so much!!

[@ericpraline1302]

In answer to your question, only just. Think I looked at parts of this puzzle so long and hard that I couldn't see what was right under my nose.

[@Mindown5383]

At 31mins, the placement of the 7 in box 5. Is that incorrect logic?

[@frantri3246]

Yes, it's incorrect. Was a leftover when he played with the 7 in r7c5. After disproving the placement he deleted the 7 in r7c5 but left it in box 5. He got very lucky there, as usual ;)

[@joelwagg8314]

@@frantri3246 Hardly lucky, he fixed it a couple minutes later and deduced it with valid logic.

[@socalzaps2848]

Who would have expected Elvis Costello to have a second career doing sudoku on YT

[@srwapo]

Took me about 70 minutes. I didn't see how to go for like 20 minutes, looked at the video, and realized I miscounted the 22 cage in the middle as being 4 cells large, not 5. Was able to solve it (with a lot of work) after that.

[@therealAQ]

I noticed the cages that step into box5 add to a total of 45, so the non caged digits in box5 add to the same total as the prongs of those cages.

[@joelwagg8314]

That's what I used too, it's beautiful setting.

[@AndersHaalandverby]

Hats off to young master Can , you beat me here , so difficult for me, i gave up. 😂 Sorry

[@Hakucho64]

Took me over two hours (!), but got there in the end. I suspect I missed some clever deduction, because it felt like brute force at times.

[@katiekawaii]

That was _tough!_

[@Sohum]

you are such a good person simon

[@jonathancard4466]

At around 41:00, I thought this was going to be a very different video. Lol

[@warren_r]

I struggled with seeing the obvious today, so my time was 73 minutes. These advanced puzzles with simple rule sets are usually my favourite types and this was no exception!

[@clawtooth35]

I somehow got the three in the corner far earlier than you through some logic about the 12 cage but I don't remember how exactly. That made the latter half of the puzzle far easier but it MAY have been flawed.

[@JohnRandomness105]

26:40 I'm stuck now, but I've taken one further step. Consider R3C4 in the 22-cage, with 347. At minimum, it can't be 3. 40:40 I've finally finished the puzzle. The final thing that cracked open the puzzle was the gray 10-cage. If the part in block 5 is 45 or 46, one gets 12 or 13 in block 8, both of which break the 12 cell in column 1. Therefore, 1 must be in block 5 in the cage. (BTW, block 5's 2 is in the 22-cage.)

[@RoderickEtheria]

35:36. Not bad at all. I didn't catch the 12 pair restriction in c1 around 23:15. What I caught was the question "How many of the 567 set must be inside the 13 cage in b5?" There just is no way that you can avoid putting a 567 in that 13 cage in b5, and that has huge ramifications throughout the grid.

[@RichSmith77]

Simon eventually spotted he couldn't put a 7 in the 13 cage at the top of box 8 because the 1234 quadruple it led to in box 5 broke the 10 cage. Unfortunately, he didn't realise the same argument could be made for 5 and 6.

[@RoderickEtheria]

@@RichSmith77 it's so much more obvious from b5. There can only be one 567 in the 10 cage, there is only one cell besides this and the 13 cage in b5 where a 567 can go, and you cannot put two 567s in a 4 cell 13 cage.

[@RichSmith77]

@@RoderickEtheria You're no doubt right. I think it's because, in my solve, I originally made a mistake early on that I only discovered because it led me to putting a 7 in the 13 cage in box 8. That then broke box 5 and was what led me to discover I'd made an error earlier. After rewinding and fixing my initial mistake, I was conscious that 7 in that area could cause problems later. I then also realised the same happened with 5 or 6, restricting their placement in row 7 too.

[@Jesthers]

Made it to 23:15 on my own before feeling absolutely stuck, gonna watch Simon for a bit and see what's going on. Edit 1: Stuck again at 39:07. Felt so easy at the beginning with the 8-9 pairs, just slowing down to a snail's pace on this one all of a sudden. Edit 2: Finally solved it at 43:17 once Simon pointed out that the 2 in the 22 cage must be in box5. Enjoyed this one. A little tricky, but probably wouldn't have been that bad if I had known where to look.

[@Unbounded7]

Solving it without realizing that there cant be a double 12 in the middle box in middle cage is insane

[@malvoliosf]

(49:12) “Apparently that’s not resolved.” Yes it is!

[@megaminxpll]

Just save your settings & reload them if things like this happen ...

[@frankjiang1857]

Finished in 34:07. Lots of coloring involved leading to a satisfying resolution. Fun puzzle!

[@MattYDdraig]

16:02 Such an elegant puzzle. So many twists and turns and connections for so few rules and clues. Beautiful.

[@alanclarke4646]

Simon: that's 2 times 3, in the corner??

[@DungeonRutan]

(I drank) i am genuinely baffled by Simons ability to keep over 3 numbers in memory while searching for weak calls. I understand it's a skill issue and that's why I'm impressed

[@smylesg]

13:21 take us to eleven.

[@thearcadio]

If we have the app on Steam, how can we add these puzzles?

[@AndreAy1975]

Solved it with help from the video.

[@guytoner2975]

I’ve been using Chrome on an iPad to view and solve these puzzles. In the last week, it’s not working with digits disappearing from the grid randomly even though they are still there! In today’s puzzle, the 10 clue in box 2 was hidden. Is anyone else having these issues?

[@awilliams1701]

speaking of your apps, you've updated all the android apps, but not the steam apps. The android apps use the CTC interface. The steam apps use the old interface. I would love to have the CTC interface on all of them. Also neither classic nor sandwich have smart hints on steam. But they do on android. Honestly I would love it if you would re-release all the old apps as DLC for the CTC app. Then I can have all of them in one place. And the empty stars feature is really nice as well. NONE of the old apps have that even on android.

[@erikbreathes]

took me about an hour and a half. in my defense, it is quite late and i am a little tired. had to run through a couple thought processes multiple times before it clicked. was a nice satisfying puzzle to solve though, and all told, not excessively tricky

[@jakeharrison7840]

at 49:39 onwards was that sound chimes or your door bell or what?

[@tBagley43]

56:50 one of the coolest killer sudokus I've played on the channel

[@y_prime]

solved in 24:58 - very nice killer, didn't feel messy anywhere

[@stonytina5177]

My answer to the question is a short and simple "No, I can't". smh

[@user-kt9vr1wj6y]

46:28 for me nice puzzle enjoy it!

[@kevinsnyder4658]

It’s the Sudokupad acting glitchy for anyone else? It’s deleting a lot of my progress randomly throughout a solve

[@Kirbyfan87827]

Finished in 23:14 with help from the video.

[@Poet13xRatedRKO]

Solved in 61:20. Yes I was slow.

[@RichSmith77]

The remarkable thing is, Can Erturan (a.k.a. Cane_Puzzles) was being featured by Cracking the Cryptic back in June 2021,and has been featured fairly regularly since then. No reference to his age was made back then. Are we sure he's still only 15? Edit: Okay, I just saw his comment where he said he turned 16 a month ago. It's still impressive that he's had so many excellent puzzles featured at such a young age.

[@brycecrux2730]

No crossword today??

[@RichSmith77]

In yesterday's sudoku video he announced they'd be putting out the crossword video on Saturday this week. Both too busy today.

[@brycecrux2730]

@@RichSmith77 ok thanks. I haven't seen the sudoku from yesterday yet.

[@Raven-Creations]

@@RichSmith77 Thanks, I didn't get notified about last week's crossword, but it did show up in my recommendations. I thought the same had happened this week, except there was nothing in the recommended videos either. I'll just go cold turkey for a few more hours.

[@TurquoizeGoldscraper]

61:34 for me.

[@robertcousins2274]

30:40 for me

[@Avenida47ps3]

Simon‘s solves just make me feel so stupid.. the colouring is just so confusing for me

[@theredstoneengineer6934]

45:14 for me

[@LednacekZ]

30:05 for me. not a good solve. i have been stuck on those 13s too long. I am too good at killer sudoku to fail so bad. Should have done it in 20 minutes. I am disappointed with myself.

[@Ardalambdion]

Congratulations to all the young, brilliant minds out there. I noticed lots of software issues. Do you want to make a short video where you take us to the most important settings there, what's your preference and why?