An Absolutely Stunning Return

** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
It's been 9 months since we last experienced an Agent puzzle but tonight we put that right! Far Far Away is highly original and extremely clever. An absolute pleasure from start to finish - give it a try!
Play the puzzle at the link below:
sudokupad.app/9557h2w0uy
Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. Nine cells (one per row/column/box) are doublers, and have values equal to double their digit. Each digit appears in exactly one doubler. A value X in a cage points to a second value Y located X cells away vertically or horizontally. The number in the top left corner of the cage indicates the sum of X+Y.
Hopefully the rules above are clear but there are a couple of graphical examples at this link:
logic-masters.de/Raetselporta...
The intro today was (a hastily put together version of) So Far Away by Dire Straits :)
Jane Street's Bug Bytes puzzle is available here:
www.janestreet.com/bug-byte/
(Simon's solve of this puzzle is on Patreon.)
** NEW SUDOKU HUNT ON PATREON **
We're delighted to share with you a brand new sudoku hunt themed around snake egg puzzles by Glum Hippo. If you've never tried snake egg logic puzzles before, prepare for serious fun - these sudokus are outstanding! Finish by May 20 to enter the competition!
Other treats on Patreon include:
- the Sumgeons & Diagrams sudoku by sunnyjum;
- Simon's latest forays into the world of Islands Of Insight;
- Mark's video looking at the new OneUp puzzle from Rodolfo Kurchan;
- his solve of Region Geometry by Emre Kolotoğlu (3hr 36min long...!);
- and Mark's latest solve of The Times Club Monthly cryptic crossword
/ crackingthecryptic
** GET OUR FOG KICKSTARTER DELUXE & OUR BOOKS **
Check out this link for the kickstarter books and Fog Novella we've created over the years:
coffeebean.games/product-cate...
▶ 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
1:11 Steve Pemberton's crossword
1:31 Dungeons & Diagrams Stream
2:05 Patreon
2:14 Happy Birthdays etc
5:18 Rules
8:44 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.

[@ZeAgentboo]

Agent here, I'm glad to be back! Very clean solve as always. If you're reading I hope you enjoyed watching the video and/or solving this puzzle!

[@ZeAgentboo]

A bit of background on this puzzle: it was originally a practice round for a Speed Setting Championship on Discord, where I was encouraged to try out unfamiliar constraints. The puzzle you're seeing here is quite different from this practice round. I liked the break-in pattern with the 19 cages, and then the interactions with the 15/4 cages, so I decided to work on a polished version of the puzzle.

[@nicholaspenny736]

@@ZeAgentboo Please correct me if I'm wrong but the 1 in box 8 is unresolved in the solution as it should be doubled and accompanied by a 6 to sum to 8. If Simon's solution is the intended solution then I suppose just changing the cage to a 9 would suffice as a fix. Otherwise, I reached a point with all the boxes fulfilled but multiple sudoku solutions

[@ZeAgentboo]

​@@nicholaspenny736 The 1 in box 8 is satisfied by the 6 in row 6 column 5

[@theredstoneengineer6934]

I enjoyed both

[@giladooshlon]

I did a lot of doubler (and other modifier) puzzles, and this one felt very original! And I enjoyed it very much.

[@AngryKettle]

Simon checking the clues to see if he's done all the clues but skipping the middle box is a perfect recreation of the "not you" meme

[@angec9908]

I love yelling at Simon from the future. It makes me feel smart that I see something he doesn’t when, in reality, I don’t even know where to start any of the puzzles he does on the channel. 😂

[@Millenassang]

Yeah, and sometimes we re screaming at our screen but we re wrong and only figure it out when he does🤣

[@studgerbil9081]

right there with you but I could not restrain myself about that 10 clue in box 5. He hovered the pointer over it, said maybe he should check all the clues, then checked every single clue except that 10 in box 5. I was pulling my hair out.

[@joelv4495]

Every now and then I'll see something he doesn't and get the wild hair to start the puzzle myself... and then I'm immediately humbled.

[@olivier2553]

I used ti yell too, but I stopped because Simon is far, far way.

[@ouwebrood497]

Often it's so funny. I feel very proud when I see some very obvious thing Simon is overlooking for half an hour. At the same time I don't even know how to break in while Simon spots the difficult things with his eyes closed LOL.

[@bobblebardsley]

59:50 Always fun to see the old CTC adage in action: _Always look at the cell you've got selected at the moment you ask a question._

[@TheEasyRail]

And then he goes around all the boxes trying to find one which he has not finished but skips the 10-box 💩💩

[@paula-zzz]

i always love when simon plays the guitar :)

[@longwaytotipperary]

Ditto

[@NorkasLP]

13:38 These are the moments why it's funny to have done these puzzles and still watch the video afterwards. Simon ponders the puzzle and says: Yes, ahh... No, well yes actually, or is it? Yes, it is. Having done the same logical steps I was able to understand fully what he was thinking about even though what he said was completely unspecific.

[@emilywilliams3237]

"I have no memory of this place." Wonderful, Simon. A great solve and video, as well. Thank you!

[@Tsunami14]

I watched the whole video, and I still can't wrap my head around this cage rule.

[@Sujisan4]

Every noise that we can hear in the videos just means that many people are fans of the channel. Especially Maverick.

[@ravishah2255]

8 digits left in a sudoku and Simon is still just 'hopeful'. 1:06:41

[@evanbasnaw]

I always love when Simon reminds us that we're his favorite people should he get the chance to reveal the triangular number of the square of the second prime.

[@flwi]

I think my brain entered an infinite loop while trying to solve this. Chapeau that you cracked it!

[@RealCadde]

1:06:45 "I DON'T KNOW WHAT I HIT THERE" You hit the left mouse button twice, too close together. Doesn't matter that you did separate actions (selecting two cells) before clicking the second time. The operating system (with its double click speed setting) detected a double click and sent that information to the browser which the software interpreted as "select all green cells".

[@crashtextdummie]

I thought the logic in this was breathtaking. In a run of sensational puzzles, this one stands out.

[@chrisbaeyens4513]

1:06:50 Imagine a world without "undo" 😂

[@Mama2AWE]

Love, love, LOVE it when Simon opens with a bit of guitar! It gives a happy vibe and just makes my day.

[@legitimatebusinessman5537]

I propose that CTC hosts a party and we all talk to Simon about how certain interactions of numbers can be fascinating.

[@longwaytotipperary]

Is it possible to do a zoom with 1,000 participants??

[@MattYDdraig]

62:33 The 14/15 cages interactions with the 19 cages was a thing of beauty and the joy never stopped. Intriguing rule I hadn't seen before, but enjoyed and would love to see again.

[@user-gj5uc4yx3i]

35:34 Simon pointing out the relationship between r1c3 and r9c1 at this point had me thinking "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." I then went off on a tangent thinking about a recent workplace dispute between two co-workers recently. Sudoku is life people. Every so often I get the feeling that the numbers are alive and they are speaking to us.

[@MaierFlorian]

Had not the greatest day today, to stay polite, but knowing there'll be a cracking the cryptic video to watch before bedtime kept me sane during the day - already feeling better after just a few minutes into the video, thanks Simon ♥

[@77kaczka77]

For me watching CtC is every evening routine closing positive my day, too.

[@longwaytotipperary]

Glad to hear you’re feeling better!

[@helar2574]

I absolutely love how Simon solving this sudoku's, it's so lovely how he could see hardest itterations, but sometimes miss easier ones or when he jumps from clue to clue sometimes he forgets to return to half resolved ones and miss some digits.

[@lucy861]

I’m always so happy when you play Dire Straits!

[@Akatsuki69387]

Damn Simon is getting fancy with the guitar intros. You love to see it.

[@HunterJE]

55:58 “I’ve still got two clues that I haven’t investigated…” I’d revise that count… (The 10 clue in box 5 I think gets ignored here because it has a digit in it, but is still unfinished and indeed forced in a very useful way)

[@HunterJE]

AGGGH and then he rechecks “all” the clues but skips that one

[@studgerbil9081]

had me pulling my hair out on that one.

[@daleomiller]

That was my “shouting at the screen” moment for today.

[@anaayoung9142]

After some days without internet this was a nice puzzle to come back! 😊

[@stangerrits6712]

There was never going to be any overlap 16:54 If two of the 19 cages would share a doubler, they values in these cages has to be the same as well, otherwise the won’t both add up to 19. But these values wouldn’t be the same, since the distances between the shared doubler and both of the cages aren’t.

[@zelba20]

Loved the video. The 'shank' at the 1:06:55 mark was particularly entertaining. Great solve!

[@piarittersporn]

Brilliant and very exciting puzzle.

[@TheBaabKaare]

16:45 even if there had been overlap, the overlap position wouldnt be at an equal distance from the 19-cells. And since the cells sums to the same sum, the overlapping cell would therefore need two different sums for the overlap to work.

[@tonyawright6020]

Simon not realizing that he'd not finished that 10 clue was driving me bonkers... but made me feel better about my own mistake where I indexed the doubled 1 clue to make a 6 one square away instead of the proper 2.

[@efa666]

Hopefully the guitar intro is the only Dire Straits Simon got into today.

[@jonhansen9622]

Love the intro! Please play more often!

[@PathOfShrines]

Amazing puzzle! Fabulous logic all the way through. 93:00 for me.

[@jonnevitu4979]

i love when simon starts with the guitar, always reminds me of a chill game called polly bridge

[@crazypantaloons]

Fantastic puzzle! My favorite logic was at 38 minutes. It was the last tease before figuring out the double 5.

[@DanielVita]

Super cool puzzle! Interesting that the odd clues were so much more powerful than the even ones.

[@AngelWedge]

1:06:54 "I don't know what I pressed there" - looked like an accidental double-click to me. I do that a lot.

[@ysalas7631]

Double click while the color tool is active will select all of that color.

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

46:13 for me. Gosh that was tough, closer to 5 stars of difficulty imo. Glad I managed to solve it.

[@xeonrisq2919]

Nice puzzle Agent, and Simon's solve was fun to watch.. I didn't have any issues with the Remote Sums clues, until I had to think about the doublers which might as well be kryptonite. I keep thinking modifers will just click in my mind sooner or later... I enjoyed figuring out all the twists and turns in this one nonetheless!

[@iuriikononenko9238]

corner boxes 16-10-8 are magically connected to remove 2 from corner 123 marking, and it makes some impact!

[@galacticmechanic1]

Wonderful solve, I think you pressed ctrl+A to select all with the 6's there.

[@kolskit]

This is quite the cool puzzle! I really enjoyed the breakthrough.

[@57thorns]

1:02:00 was such a relief. And I belive the decutions around the 12 clue in box 6 was independent and necessary for the last flurry,

[@57thorns]

1:06:45 is as close to a jump scare I have seen on this channel. 🙂

[@Rubrickety]

Someone needs to construct a brilliant puzzle called Sultans of Swing to _really_ test Simon's Knopflerian guitar skills. 😉

[@frankjiang1857]

Finished in 94:38. Took me a while to go through all the possibilities down a branch and find the contradictions. Fun puzzle though!

[@longwaytotipperary]

Always ❤ a guitar opening! Just now practicing ukulele!

[@gab5692]

hi Simon, I just want to say when you start playing that guitar I get such a joyous feeling. Your videos are one of my favourite parts of the day and the best surprise when there’s a guitar segment.

[@ericpraline1302]

Very good puzzle, as ever from Agent, and I enjoyed this ruleset. I always find doublers to enhance any puzzle in which they appear.

[@shrutikakalra2624]

We have to tell Simon that Taskmaster is not a quiz show😊 TASKMASTER is unique and exceptional. Want a video “Simon reacts to Taskmaster episode”

[@unlikelyskymoo]

It’s not too late Simon, we always need inspirational maths teachers!

[@Rubrickety]

Fantastic puzzle, which it felt immensely satisfying to finally conquer. It took me a very long time to realize the implications of the high doublers for the middle box.

[@karsaanita]

It took me ages to notice the 15 cage but it felt so good when I finally did

[@iceberg54321]

Someone help me, I don't see why the 15 clue in the middle could not be a double 3, then it sees a regular nine. Did Simon get lucky?

[@1985elfy]

There isn’t enough space for it to be a double 3 - remember the value (not digit) in the cage is also the distance to the indexed digit

[@iceberg54321]

@@1985elfy Ah I see, thanks.

[@Paolo_De_Leva]

_"...but we could put [there] a _*_doubled_*_ 1"_ (Simon @9:54) Correct terminology 😏👍 _"One of the numbers must be 10 or greater and therefore it is _*_a doubler"_* (Simon @11:37) Incorrect this time 😜 Digits are *doubled* (modified). Cells are *doublers* (modifiers). I loved Jay Dyer's videos about his unforgettable sudoku hunt, themed on different kinds of modifiers, where this was made crystal clear.

[@Paolo_De_Leva]

@16:44 very nice use of colours to show there is _"no overlap between the four doublers"_ 👏👏👏 Of course, since no *orange* cell is in the same *row* or *column* as another *19 cage,* by symmetry the same must be true for each of the other three sets. Hence, it is not strictly necessary to colour the other three sets. However, it is nice to see them all. More importantly, it makes crystal clear that the *14 cage* needs a doubler. 😏👍👍👍

[@Paolo_De_Leva]

@25:07 Even more beautiful is using pencilmarks to show the only possible doubled digit that each coloured cell may contain. It makes Agent's logic machinery crystal clear. 👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@toms7114]

Anyone else kept asking Simon "Where can the double 1 go Simon?" for about 10 minutes?

[@Arcessitor]

Yes but it was quickly followed by begging him to look at the 10 clue.

[@johnnycashless4758]

1.01.14 simon highlights his specialised subject is NOT the bleedin' obvious for many seconds

[@AnaFromTheShire]

Oh heck yeah, that intro is great! Do you put the whole song up anywhere? Such a rockstar Simon lol

[@n0bl3hunt3r]

That poor 10 cage, ignored and solved and then ignored again.

[@DaveLeCompte]

I am here to remind you once again that the tiny tiny cursor on the example screen is terrible for pointing out "This cell here"

[@HunterJE]

39:45 “Should we just plot all the remaining positions for doublers?” I mean you already have, it’s anything not green or solid red…

[@TurquoizeGoldscraper]

81:55 for me - very tricky, but when I got the main logic of the puzzle, it was still slow to finish the Sudoku part.

[@sampathkumar-ej7xl]

Simon I did enjoy the intro but hope you dont mind me saying you could work a little more on on some of those notes.

[@dinidini4000]

i am alittle sad he did not notice round 36:40 that it did not matter where the double 5 goes the last 2 19 clues allways end up the same way that feels alot more beautiful then what he ended up doing

[@LednacekZ]

43:34 for me. quite tricky, especially if i did not want to bifurcate. Managed it with just logic.

[@srwapo]

welp, I'm giving up after 71 minutes. I thought I broke it when I got to the 15 cage and watched the video to be taught that I can use the same double digit for two different clues, I broke the solve somewhere in the middle and looked to see how much I had to undo (the 4 cage in the lower left), and I was told my solution was incorrect at the end. Looks like I put a 6 in r1c1 forgetting that the 4 in r1c9 actually had a value of 8.

[@michaurbanski5961]

48:02 for me, great opening

[@RecreationalCynic]

That was a great puzzle, but I spent an embarrassingly long time stuck because I believed 3 + 7 = 12

[@nataloves]

This is exactly why I only watch sudoku videos instead of solving them myself. I'm dyscalculic.

[@estherwestbroek]

Just Believe! One day.....

[@JoRo-hw8dl]

I didn’t completely understand why the 19 clues all have different digits due to non overlapping. Could someone please explain, so I get the logic behind that? Thanks in advance! Cheers 17:37

[@lordatog]

All of the numbers in the 19 clues must be odd. This is because of two reasons. 1: The doubled number must be in the target cell, not in the clue cell. This is because if the clue cell number was doubled, the distance to the target cell would also be doubled, which would put it outside of the grid. 2: Since the target number is doubled, it will always be even. Therefore the only way the sum of the clue cell number and the target number could be odd is if the clue cell number is odd. So given that, if you go through and highlight all of the numbers that could be target cells for each of the 19 clues, you'll find that there is no overlap. There are no cells that are an odd number of cells away from two or more of the 19 cells. Therefore, all 4 of them must point to different target cells.

[@jinkela7295]

47:59 placing 7 in r9c9 will make it impossible to place a doubled 1 anywhere

[@Keir-pn9ec]

Lol I was so confused why the 15 clue couldn't be a double 2 (4) with a 9, took me ages to realise 4+9 = 13 not 15🤣

[@scottgibbons1071]

I don't understand how the 10 cage in box 3 is satisfied. It has value 8, so there needs to be a 2 four spaces away, right?

[@coreycadile2585]

The doubler acts as a doubler for everything. So although the value written is a 4 it still acts as an 8 so it needs a 2 8 cells away which it gets in R1C1

[@scottgibbons1071]

@@coreycadile2585 Ah, right. Thank you.

[@blahfasel2000]

@@coreycadile2585 Simon kept mixing that up all the time as well though. Sometimes in direct succession, eg. when he checked the possibilities for R1C9 after determining that it was a doubled 2, 3 or 4 he looked for the 6 only 2 steps away (missing the doubling), then immediately after for a 4 at 6 steps away (as it should be with a doubled 3).

[@brianskeen1652]

Uh oh ... I landed on a deadly pairing at the end of this solve ... looks like there are actually two solutions to this sudoku. Anyone else encounter this?

[@brianskeen1652]

Never mind, I see my error. I was treating the double 1 like it was single.

[@zachnichols8642]

1:04:30 nice

[@puritan7473]

Anyone else shouting Look at the 10, Look at the 10 at around 56 minutes as Simon insists on going through the other clues first? Then as he checks all the clues to see if he has done what he can with them, and completely misses the 10 clue!!

[@piejie1]

The 2 in the 10 clue😂. Shouting didn't help r6c6

[@RoflcopterDX]

so far away :)

[@theredstoneengineer6934]

55:56 for me

[@Ardalambdion]

In most parties, I'd like to chat with Simon. The 3 in box 5 doesn't 'talk' to any cages?

[@chipsounder4633]

Confused, why cant the centre cell be a doubler 3 with an 8 in row 2 column 5? Why is that broken? I understand now.. another redundant rant 😂😂

[@orionSquared]

Yes I’m only 20 minutes in, but how is the center digit absolutely a 4, with a doubled 5 when it’s possible to be a 2 with a doubled 6??? They both make 14

[@orionSquared]

Also, the 4 cells he immediately said had to be a 1357 with a doubled digit doesn’t make sense because the cell itself could be the doubled digit with the 1357 existing outside of the cage.

[@orionSquared]

What frustrates me so much is sometimes it feels like he guesses or assumes something to be true because he either hasn’t seen or at least hasn’t mentioned alternatives. So he continues on with the assumption and yet it’s always gets solved! How could I ever learn to solve such a puzzle?? I won’t be able to make guesses or assumptions like this.

[@BrinaaSM]

@@orionSquared I feel like you didn't really listen to the video or you misunderstood the rules. Nothing about this is a guess, but I've seen a lot of people miss that the doubled digits also need to have double their distance, so you're not alone. The 1357 is correct, because if you double the cell itself it points to something outside the grid: Even if you were to point to something as high as 9, it would still need to be 10 (or double-5) away. The 4 is correct because each doubled digit only exists once in the puzzle. As you can see by the early coloring in the video the possible positions of the doubled 6 (which is required for the 7) of the 1357 quadruple and the doubled 6 of the middle cell could not overlap, which means the middle cell cannot take a doubled 6 as well.

[@RichSmith77]

You should probably rewatch Simon's explanation from around 11:10, paying particular attention to what he says from 11:50.

[@orionSquared]

​@@BrinaaSM Ah, I did misunderstand that. I did not realize that I had to double the length away from the doubled cell. So the cells HAD to be an odd number, because if it were a doubled even, it'd have to be 4 or less (because the max distance is 8) and then the odd digit would have to be an 11 at least, which obvi won't work. Gotcha, so it does have to be a 1357 quadruple. Which means it has to have a doubled 6, so the middle cell DOES have to be a 4 with a doubled 5. Ok, I get it now. I did remember that there could only be 1 unique digit per doubled cell, but it was the 1357 that was throwing me off, because I was convinced it didn't HAVE to be a 1357, but could be any doubled even digit with an odd number in the corresponding cell. But it can't. Thank you, that was really helpful. I appreciate it. :)

[@stevesebzda570]

There's that "in a moment or twos time," (instead of "in a moment"). Whose "time" is it? It's "twos time." Simon, just go back to saying "in a moment or two." That's all lol 😆

[@angec9908]

I always laugh at Simon’s indignation at having to do sudoku in a sudoku puzzle

[@angec9908]

I love being the zeroth like. I just hope it actually registers as a like

[@Dumpknoedel]

I... what

[@TimWalton0]

Sometimes the rules are too complicated and I find the solves less fun to watch :-(

[@tiktoktrending3298]

1:06:48 Phistomefel takes revenge from Simon