Can You Solve a 600 IQ Puzzle?

[@PuzzleQodec]

An oldie from December 2020! This one has a little backstory. This was the first time I live streamed setting a puzzle on the CTC discord server. Some people had expressed their interest and I thought it would be interesting to try. Ben almost immediately joined and was there the entire time, Trevor joined us for about 3 hours I think, and he had some very significant contributions while he was there, the 19 cage in box 8 for example was his idea. All in all it took us about 15 hours over 2 days if I recall correctly. We didn't keep the recording. (Really, it would be very boring to watch, setting just isn't that glamorous.) So first we discussed the setup for the entire puzzle, which is based on a certain heavily obscured SET. This SET isn't part of the actual solve path, but it adds some sharp tension to the puzzle that we could use to our advantage. We spent hours and hours on trying to make it work and put in some pretty deductions without degenerating the puzzle into a singles-only. It was only when Ben came up with the 22 cage in boxes 5-2-3 that the puzzle really took off and we were sure we could make it work - and we did! For me it was a very satisfying experience, and this video with this crisp and precise solve makes me want to try again, so thank you!

[@pouletbelette]

Thank you Qodec for the backstory and congratulations for yet another great puzzle and enjoyable feature on the channel.

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@pouletbelette ditto!

[@d4r4butler74]

Thank you for the wonderous puzzle and the fascinating story behind it. So Ben came up with the 22 Cage that Simon found to be pivotal. ^_^ Setting might not be glamourous to watch, but hearing about it is interesting.

[@davidrattner9]

Indeed..another beautiful puzzle from you qodec. Thank you for the cool backstory.

[@BenKarcher]

This was a ton of fun to set, thanks for letting me be a part of this! I really wish more collaborations happened on the server. Also I still think the SET is a cooler and simpler break in to this puzzle. Simon spent a lot of time finding the upper right part of the sun cant be 7 which is given immediately by the tight set.

[@vctrsigma]

11:52-12:32 was a rather complicated way of saying 456 is never 789. But Simon overcomplicating things is part of the fun.

[@brianj959]

One of the best Simon-Moments ever!

[@istvanmagi473]

The thing is that Simon never pays attention to his pencilmarks (or to given digits), unless he actively forces his brain to "do sudoku".

[@sjm6280]

This should definitely be in a compilation of Simon's most absurd moments

[@saedhmidat4764]

"There is a legend who lives in south Kensington who will pencil mark every cell in a sudoku to its nth degree"😂😂😂

[@bibliopolist]

Since the legend does that all the time, he has also gained a great skill in reading and interpreting those pencil marks at a glance, while a certain other legend quite often does not know how to scan them efficiently...

[@AvatarBowler]

At first when I heard this, I was like “ooh is it some British lore we’re getting 😲” then I was like “oh he’s just roasting Mark again 😂”

[@jordylont1879]

The inside joke about the secret always gives me joy

[@masterv2041]

It makes me immensely angry. It's like pandering to stupid people.

[@longwaytotipperary]

@Jordy Lont - me too! I look forward to hearing it!!

[@emilywilliams3237]

@Tejesh Patel I agree with you. It is very helpful to newcomers as a fact of sudoku that can be used to solve puzzles,, and it is also part of the "inside lingo" of CTC that anyone who has watched a few videos recognizes. It is kind of like a secret handshake that tells each of us that we "belong" - very charming, I think, and very much part of the reason that we all like watching these videos. I like it, and look forward to Simon or Mark mentioning it in practically every video.

[@SnowTheJamMan]

Love when you do just normal killers, about as basic a ruleset as you can get (classics aside) but there's soooo many incredible logical possibilities

[@JLujan4492]

I'm a biology and physics professor, and usually after my lessons, I will pull up recent videos and some students and I will solve some puzzles featured in the channel. We typically use the GAS puzzles. Although, I am able to do some of the more difficult ones, I do the GAS mainly, so the students aren't overwhelmed. The point of my comment is to really say that I'm happy this channel exists, and it's very fun to solve the puzzles and see the solves.

[@sanfransam8954]

Been looking for an opportunity to post this. When Simon says (no joke intended) "I am turning into a Pencil Mark" I want to make some observations on some of the older sudoku posts that I have been sampling from 2017 and 2018. Simon is an entirely different person. He is incredibly strict on his Snyder notation. No more than 2 numbers in a cell. No numbers across boxes. He calls the boxes A, B, C, etc. Haven't found when he changes to 1, 2, 3... His persona(?) is so serious he almost comes off as surly. No little secrets. No bobbins. No oopsies. Although he does say oops. Also I guess it was function of the software but he doesn't do the entire puzzle in one shot. He edits out the boring the stuff. Mechanical filling in of Snyder early in post. And the mechanical solving at the end is at high speed with no comments. It's really somewhat amusing. His first coloring of cells shows up in June 2018, Compare then to now and he has really grown into the role of the channel.

[@emilywilliams3237]

I have noticed some of this too in watching some of the older videos. I really like that Simon and Mark have both become more comfortable and more willing to display their personalities in the videos. It is part of what make the CTC videos and viewers feel like a community of people, not just another KZbin channel.

[@cornycornsnake]

It’s a little hard to tell how much of that is tied to doing specifically a classic sudoku puzzle and how much of that is personality and “comfort in front of the camera” developing over time without current Simon doing a couple of pure classic sudokus.

[@emilywilliams3237]

@@cornycornsnake Very true - they have said that the Snyder notation of two corner marks in a box to show two possible places for a particular digit is for classic sudoku, and they both, even back in the day, occasionally use corner marks for three places in variant sudokus.

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 02:32 Let's Get Cracking: 03:15 Simon's time: 36m53s Puzzle Solved: 40:08 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! The Secret: 3x (03:30, 03:35, 03:43) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Ah: 13x (10:02, 10:46, 10:46, 13:20, 16:30, 16:30, 18:22, 19:40, 20:08, 26:49, 28:12, 35:15, 39:01) Good Grief: 6x (08:14, 17:15, 21:03, 30:57, 35:18, 37:48, 40:02) Obviously: 6x (04:59, 05:46, 07:46, 17:46, 24:48, 40:20) Clever: 5x (01:09, 17:15, 40:33, 40:54, 41:37) In Fact: 4x (06:53, 08:39, 24:05, 25:17) Beautiful: 3x (21:17, 35:15, 37:48) By Sudoku: 3x (08:17, 23:33, 34:56) We Can Do Better Than That: 3x (06:45, 11:57, 11:59) What on Earth: 1x (14:10) Goodness: 1x (37:20) Sorry: 1x (13:38) Bother: 1x (18:04) The Answer is: 1x (08:14) Stuck: 1x (34:51) Horrible Feeling: 1x (13:47) Shouting: 1x (00:52) Hang On: 1x (28:12) Magnificent: 1x (40:50) Corollary: 1x (05:57) Chromatic: 1x (01:39) Wow: 1x (21:57) What Does This Mean?: 1x (28:34) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Fifteen (23 mentions) Nine (89 mentions) Blue (20 mentions) Antithesis Battles: High (33) - Low (5) Even (2) - Odd (1) Highest (2) - Lowest (0) 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!

[@smylesg]

Anyone for "have a think"?

[@Zacht1980]

Please people, like and comment on this post! These stats are so funny.

[@laugechristophersen9913]

Really good day for high digits

[@francescopetracca374]

Well, I hope that legendary person in South Kensington is living a Goodliffe!

[@federicocucc7852]

I didn't think you would ever do this old masterpiece! It is probably one of my favourite sudoku!

[@RoderickEtheria]

32:18, at this point, knowing magic square composition is very helpful. The only way for a region with three different 15 cages to be drawn without repeating a digit using only the digits 1 through 9 is to use groups signified by the rows or the columns of a magic square. A 1 and a 3 looking down into b7 therefore forces the digits 1358 into the cages into b7 and forces the digit 2 into c3 in b7. The 2 will either be partnered with a 49 or a 67, and given the possible digits in r3c3, you can rule out 249. This means the outside column of b7 is 267, and the cages are comprised of 159 and 348.

[@TheFrozenfish]

@39:20 Simon: "7 comes out of this cell." Me: "And the 6 of course" Simon: "…and there's almost a 34…" Me: "…the 6! Don't forget the 6! :O"

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

26:36 for me. What a beautiful puzzle, I loved so much all of that logic. It’s awesome how every little deduction eventually leads to making big progress on the puzzle, such a clever construction. Again, I loved it.

[@svenas22]

Conclusion to this puzzle is Simon's IQ must be at least 601

[@Swisswavey]

That was nice. Good to have a conventional puzzle again! Just under 30 minutes for me but I do love my killers 😁

[@Coyotek4]

I was able to clock in in just under an hour (59:23) ... considering how poorly I fared yesterday, I'm glad to have bounced back with this one. Tough puzzle!

[@th.nd.r]

Nice setting and solving once again! Loved that you got to get out and experience the outside works for the first time in a while, that’s so good :)

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

50:26 for me. Took it slowly, and i liked it all the way through without using any pixel of color. edit: it resulted that i accidentally guessed the 45 pair on the 9 cage

[@57thorns]

8:20 I did it the other way around, there can't be a 1 in any of the 13 or 26 cages. So when i found the 12 in box 3 I knew it was a 2.

[@addeleven]

Absolutely in love with the logic at 12:00

[@allendracabal0819]

38:17 - "Orange was 7 after all this time." And Paul was the walrus.

[@elainedenning]

By adding up the cage totals in boxes 4 and 7, and deducting them from 90, I established very early on that the empty cells in those boxes were missing a 9, putting a 9 in the 26 cage. I impressed myself, lol.

[@laugechristophersen9913]

I'm quite simple, I just love when you guys use colours ;)

[@justinpreston4152]

whenever Simon does a sudoku - I'm constantly screaming at the screen saying why are you starting THERE - look at the whole puzzle 1st - OMG

[@1fosters]

Don't forget you can turn Large Digits off in the pad settings to stop pencil marks from occluding the cage totals.

[@therocknrollmillennial535]

Just over an hour for me, but I seem to leave these fantastic puzzles until 1 or 2 in the morning (just ticked over to 2 am for me now) and they help me hyper-focus so I can calm down and sleep. So, thank you to the brilliant constructors! And thank you to Simon (and Mark) for helping me through great sudokus and this really trying time. :)

[@phyjob]

Set theory could be useful to start: I took the difference between rows 1-4 (orange) and columns 1, 2, 8 and 9 (blue). Then, I removed the cages that sum to 52 in orange, and same in blue, at the bottom of columns 8-9. What's left of orange sums to 61 max, with r5c3+r6c3=3, and what's left of blue sums to 59 min, with r5c8+r5c9=3. The interaction on row 5 then leads to only one degree of freedom on r5c3=2 or 3, and to r1c4+r4c4+r1c7+r4c7=33...

[@andrewnelson2525]

I used the same Set comparison, and I usually go out of my way to avoid Set. This is the first puzzle I can remember that I used it that Simon didn't.

[@phyjob]

Why avoid set? It's perfectly legitimate.

[@andrewnelson2525]

@@phyjob It's not a moral choice. I have tried set often enough to little use when the break-in lied elsewhere, that I don't resort to it until my progress has completely stalled.

[@BenKarcher]

Oooh thats interesting. Thats a different SET than the one we used while setting. The puzzle was actually based around (R56+C89)-(B2356) To compare all the high cages 26,26,13,13 with all the low cages in the moon. This is also why Simon noticed that the primary logic was related to the middle rows cutting with the tower on the right as these together formed a very tense SET.

[@phyjob]

@@BenKarcher so it was a litteral break-in, not using the design key... Thanks for sharing setting details.

[@topilinkala1594]

It's so funny when Simon says: "How can we do this?" and the answer always is: "Do sudoku!" Why does Simon forget that these are Sudokus?

[@jasond4084]

Can I solve it? The Magic Eight-ball says “Check again later”

[@cae13yt]

It's also my birthday today (but I am 63 already...), so I took a little bit of your wishes for me, too - thanks, Simon! 🌷😉

[@PuzzleQodec]

Happy birthday Cornelius!

[@ArtemensiaK]

26:05 "I am not such a pencil mark" 🤣 I think I laughed for a solid 3 minutes

[@SmartHobbies]

“I hope you have a really super day, and lots of cake.”

[@elinevandam4332]

Killer sudoku's without set 😍. Thought the day would never come 😆

[@BenKarcher]

We actually SET this Sudoku to work with or without it. Most of the early logic about how the bottom right interacts with the middle three rows is just another way of describing the logic of set (R56+C89)-(B2356)

[@HeyRyanLetsPlay]

Doesn't like the Yellow and the Orange together but is completly fine with the Blue and the Purple together. This hurts my colorblind brain

[@RichSmith77]

I'm not colour-blind, but I know from reading a lot of the comments that blue/purple should be a no-no. I'm surprised Simon hasn't cottoned on to this fact yet. It's not that he's not trying to be considerate - he even rejects his first two colour choices as not being distinct enough. Then settles for a combo that I just knew would be a problem for a number of viewers.

[@HeyRyanLetsPlay]

@@RichSmith77 Each Colorblindness is different, so I know for some people Blue and Purple can actually be okay. But for me, my issues with their color pallet si that the shade of green and yellow are too close together and the shade of purple and blue are too close together. If they made it a darker green (which could cause issues with Red then for some) or even a poppier yellow, that could fix that issue. Not sure how the Blue/Purple fix could work though as they are distinct on the options, just not on the board.

[@LednacekZ]

took me over 50 minutes, because i had to restart 2 times as i made an error with markings. This one was quite hard, but I enjoyed it.

[@Nekromant05]

I love it, when you do not use the fact, that a cell that is already proved to be a 4, 5 or 6 cannot be a 7, 8 or 9 but instead tell us some other logic, why it cannot be a 7, 8 or 9! 😁

[@robinisomaa]

After almost an hour, I was forced to admit that my IQ is, unfortunately, below 600.

[@julieannmyers8714]

Great puzzle! Nice logic, Simon. Wish I could have those number combos at such instant recall as you.

[@TheFormerTeam]

Your voice is so soothing, puts me right to sleep. Feel slightly bad because I pretty much end up only watching videos with you in them.

[@brettaspivey]

Honestly, these guys n\must have 600 IQ each, total brilliance

[@anubisbling]

What a great babysitter

[@kimberlypreston6204]

Thank you! :) Jonathan really enjoyed the shoutout. I had cake and ice cream waiting for him after school today.

[@chipsounder4633]

Trick in column 1 and 2 uncaged cells had to add up to 19 so it could never have a 9 in it as it breaks box 7. Elegance is an understatement❤️

[@virtualdream_]

26:00 "pencilmark" that's a cool nickname, lol

[@flsal27]

This is a gem from Simon: @12:00 R9C8 is not blue just because 456 is not 789!

[@alaa3271]

It can be solved using sets, r1-5 is a set, and c (1,2,3,,8,9) is the other set. Then you will have that cells r1c4+r1c7+r4c4+r4c7=26 + r5c3+ r6c4+r5c8+r5c9. There will a one degree of freedom. Try it plz.

[@emilywilliams3237]

Very fun and interesting. Thanks for this video and all of them. And about your get-together last night - isn't it wonderful to see people in three-dimensions instead of just two? Glad you and Mark and the others were able to get together.

[@PurpleSidewalk1]

It seems that in the description Qodec has been autocorrected to Qodex

[@pouletbelette]

Maybe the autocorrect knows something we don't!?

[@waterfrodo4304]

Colors can be removed at 25:20

[@nagranoth_]

The secret is something he only tells to his 451000 closest friends 😀

[@michaels4340]

Nearing 454545 subscribers to the channel :o

[@PathOfShrines]

Neat puzzle. Not happy with my solve; I had a lot of trouble making a leap in the middle. 79:49

[@marklindsey1995]

At first I thought this was Rangsk's stream set puzzle Streamlined. Turned out it was Qodec's stream set puzzle Skyline!

[@stevesebzda570]

92 mins [Following along sort of] Okay, Mathy Simon, lol. [Jeez,!? ] :)

[@tedg1278]

At roughly 15:10 he says of R4C4, "that must be blue or orange". I can't find the supporting logic for that statement. As I follow the logic and also approach from another angle I can see that the cell is restricted to 789 and one of 789 must occur in the top row of box 4. Can anyone help me find what the logic that creates that particular linkage?

[@Fernandes36]

Funny how i understand absolutely nothing but here i am, watching the whole thing

[@scragar]

For 3 people to have an combined IQ of 600, they should each average 200, with a standard deviation of 15 and a mean of 100 by definition they're all 1/26 billion brains(6.67 sigma means about 1/13 billion is outside the interval, so half that would be above). Since there's not 25 billion people IQs that high are simply meaningless numbers. Even then IQ is relative to peer group, so really we only really think of IQs within an age-group and country/geopolitical region. It's simply not meaningful to compare to people with vastly different cultural experiences, values and life experience. Anything beyond about 5 sigma(25-175) is outside reasonable measurement and becomes heavy guesswork.

[@David_K_Booth]

Cattell uses a standard deviation of 24. On that scale, 200 is just over four standard deviations above the mean, which is a more modest one in thirty thousand.

[@kathyjohnson2043]

Well, I think he was being an economist and was rounding up!

[@ericpraline1302]

Guys, your IQ is showing. This one really worked me over, but I got there. Incredibly tricksy puzzle.

[@jonnybolton4659]

At around 22:56 Simon places a purple in the top left of Box 6, however doesn't he overlook the fact that the 2 in Box 3 could be purple?

[@jonnybolton4659]

Ahh, just rewound to 19:49, he says that purple is the one that isn't the 2

[@NiennaNeryam]

@CrackingTheCryptic Let me share a little secret with you that I found out a while ago: Three cell 15 cages are either completely comprised of middling digits (456), or comprised of exactly one low digit, one middling digit and one high digit!

[@RoderickEtheria]

A little secret for you, three 15 three-cell cages in the same row, column, or box will always be either in the groupings (159, 267, 348) or (168, 249, 357).

[@1Ferus]

Titles like Toast ;)

[@wanderlustwarrior]

Alas, I couldn't get this on my own and needed quite a bit of help. I guess my IQ isn't 600.

[@kathyjohnson2043]

In the US, feeling the math is taught as number sense..

[@abj136]

1hr 45min. Wow, that was hard.

[@abj136]

Ah here’s a trick I missed. I failed to spot tho 29/47 sees into the 29 on the right. Just never noticed, so I was stuck searching another way to resolve box 8.

[@Raven-Creations]

Why did you spend a half a minute explaining why a 456 cell can't be 789? Why did you even colour it in the first place? At 17:44 - had you done like me and pencil-marked 1 into the 5 or 10 cages (it can't go in the 19 cage, and it can't go in the virtual 11 cage), you'd realise that it had to go with 4 or 9, so the 19 cage can't be 469 or the 1 would have no partner. The 19 cage is therefore 567 resolving the 89 pair in box 2. Also, there's one 789 to go in C7 in box 6, but we also need one in R4 in box 6, therefore R4C7=89 (there's already a 7 in the row). The 26 cage in box 4 must be 4679 or 5678, so it always has a 6. In box 9, the 7 must be in a 13 cage, with a 6 which must be in C8, this pushes 6 into R5/6 in box 6 aligning with the one in the 26 cage, so in R4 6 is in the 22 cage, which must therefore be 1678. After that, apart from a bit of combination juggling to resolve box 7 it's simple sudoku - nothing like the 24 minutes left in the video. I see shouting in my near future.

[@peterkelley6344]

Sitting here listening to Simon; AND wondering how that 8 year old fan is interpreting all of this. Wonders if Simon can explain a solve to a 8 to 10 year old step by step??? Simon complains about the IQ's on the other side of the scale; while at the same time he forgets all the Soduko Championships he's been in. Me thinks the scales are pretty balanced.

[@anybrody]

done

[@jeffreyvannieuwkoop6809]

Welcome everyone. Dave are u out there?

[@davidrattner9]

My good man. How been doing?

[@jeffreyvannieuwkoop6809]

@@davidrattner9 aai aai! I got your name wrong, but never forgot you! Finally Finally for the last 2 weeks better. Seems like we Finally found the correct medication for my epilepsy and i am not free of any attacks! More time for sudoku again now. How are you? Just to make u understand. I have 5 attacks every day for 3 until 12 minutes long.. now 0 for 2 weeks! I celebrated it today with a big IPA glass.

[@davidrattner9]

@@jeffreyvannieuwkoop6809 so great to hear you that you are not experiencing those anymore. Can't imagine what went thru. Been doing well and tons of soduko indeed. Always been a joy to see and talk with you on here.

[@maxrobinson9553]

My answer = no.

[@keyaanmatin4804]

hi

[@0Clewi0]

158 minutes, long time but it's time

[@james_g_walt]

8765 (309)

[@WeeTurtles7]

404

[@Lantalia]

You would have had an easier time if you actually pencil marked things rather than commenting on what they can't be

[@ypsehlig]

hi bot

[@masterv2041]

Everytime you talk about "the secret" I turn the video off and downvote it. I swear to god it's ridiculous pandering to stupid people. We all know how sudoku works.

[@nukedragon442]

Funny enough, this is just ridiculous complaining about an inside joke that’s been on the channel for a long time. Just let people have fun watching this video.

[@pouletbelette]

Please, think about viewers like young Jonathan for a minute. I'm pretty sure you are not as stupid as to think Simon is convinced he is actually giving us a valuable piece of information that we ignore every time he mentions the secret. It's a joke. You might find it boring and not funny, that's ok too. But don't insult Simon or his viewers, please. Thanks!

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@pouletbelette amen!

[@PhilBoswell]

I think we found the downvote bot 🤦‍♂️

[@longwaytotipperary]

Some of us look forward to being reminded that we are in the inner circle of knowing the secret!