One Of The Most Astonishing Sudokus Ever

** NEW PATREON SUDOKU HUNT JUST OUT **
We've just released our December monthly reward - The
Cryptic Scriptures Of The Secret Snake Society - a sudoku hunt featuring nearly 20 puzzles by some of the greatest setters on the planet. Anyone who solves them all gets shoutout! Remember that patrons gets access to their own special channel on the CtC Fan Discord server - where you can find hints ;)
/ crackingthecryptic
** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
We can honestly say that today's puzzle - Balanced Chaos by fritzdis - is one of the most incredible creations we've seen. It's astonishing that this has a unique solution and just so so clever.
Play it at the link below:
app.crackingthecryptic.com/su...
Rules:
Divide the grid into 9 regions, each containing 9 orthogonally connected cells. Fill every row, column, and region with the digits 1-9 once each. A few region border segments are already given. Blue lines are "region sum lines". ie For a given line, the region borders separate the line into two or more segments with equal sums. Distinct segments within the same region are not summed together.
** NEW GAS PACK IS OUT **
The new GAS pack is out on Steam for PC here:
store.steampowered.com/app/21...
It's already out on Android and App Store. 60 original puzzles by Sam Cappleman-Lynes, Clover and Philip Newman!! Earn party hats and dinosaurs with these brand new puzzles!
We've also released a FREE app full of handmade puzzles to celebrate reaching 500k subscribers - simply download the Cracking The Cryptic app on Android, Steam or App Store and then select the 500k pack. We're streaming a playthrough of this app and you can watch all seven episodes
▶ 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'.)
▶ SUDOKU PAD - Our New App ◀
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”
**************************************************************
▶ 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
@crypticcracking
Instagram (for how to solve daily clues from The Times): crackingthe...

[@ElysaraCh]

I definitely laughed aloud at "That's E in the corner", it's insane that it happened to work out that way by pure coincidence

[@EnjoyPA]

Of course, he could just as easily have sung about C, D, or G in the corner.

[@ElysaraCh]

@@EnjoyPA E looks like a backwards 3 which is why it works so well

[@bobblebardsley]

I am the very model of a puzzle-solving gentleman I'm quizzical and cryptical, a very modern mental-man I know the rules of Sudoku, of Killer and of Equal Sum And where, on German Whispers lines, the digits 4 and 6 can come I'm very well acquainted too with matters mathematical, I'm often asking questions, whether real or rhetorical About Sudoku's secret I am teeming with a whispered line For every row and column and the sum of digits 1 thru 9 I'm very good at knowing sums if numbers are triangular I like my puzzles square (although I'll try them when rectangular) In short, in solving puzzles which no ordinary mortal can I am the very model of a puzzle-solving gentleman. (In short, in solving puzzles which no ordinary mortal can He is the very model of a puzzle-solving gentleman.) When solving's slow, I'll let you know a lengthy Poe quotation Or tales of Thomas Snyder and his system of notation While Pencil Mark loves pencil marks, mine are not so prodigious (And when it's in the corner, number 3 is not religious) No cells belong to Schrödinger, no contents are ambiguous No 2x2's or checkerboards, and colouring's contiguous The filler in a killer has to match the clue at top-of-cage And don't repeat a digit or I'll greet you with a lot of rage At Christmas you may find me solving with my Santa hat on But rarely am I jolly if I spot a deadly pattern For bonus monthly puzzles come and follow us on Patreon 😉 I am the very model of a puzzle-solving gentleman (For bonus monthly puzzles go and follow him on Patreon He is the very model of a puzzle-solving gentleman) My logic skills are on a par with all the Cambridge college dons (I prove this claim quite commonly with cryptic-cracking knowledge bombs) For swordfish and for jellyfish I'll frequently go fishing (How can this puzzle ever solve? A clue is surely missing??) My vocab and vernacular's as pure as Mary Poppins' With rarely any utterance more vulgar than a 'Bobbins' I'm fond of explanations when a novel puzzle has a trick But not so fond of noisy interruptions caused by Maverick I know the squares and central ring of Phistomefel's Theorem I read aloud the logic of my solves so you can hear 'em I'm gracious with my gratitude for every KZbin channel fan I am the very model of a puzzle-solving gentleman (He's gracious with his gratitude for every KZbin channel fan He is the very model of a puzzle-solving gentleman) (*edited to add verses 4-9)

[@robinbrown6530]

This needs to grow to fill the whole song and Simon needs to perform it for a video. IDC if it goes on Patreon first as long as it gets on the channel at some point. Upvote this and lets make it happen!

[@longwaytotipperary]

Wonderful adaptation of the Major General’s song! 👏🏻

[@miriamberg3948]

This is very good 🙂

[@bobblebardsley]

@@robinbrown6530 I've added the other six verses 😅

[@BigAsciiHappyStar]

This is wonderful! Perhaps I should be the one learning from you 🙂

[@towellight9400]

It always blows my mind how Simon manages to keep values for letters in his head without using a notepad or something to write down his possibilities.

[@PeterJavi]

Suppose that does come in handy in accounting

[@Jimbles_Notronbo]

Yeah, once I got all the coloring (no letters on the iOS app yet) of each cell figured out, I had to do algebra to actually find what the numbers were. The mental math and juggling things is astonishing on the part of Simon.

[@nathanmays7926]

I wrote down all the equations and straight up did algebra to solve this one.

[@hamishwatt2475]

It took me longer to do that step on paper than it did Simon to do it mentally. Brilliant.

[@shawnward6607]

Do a course at uni for higher level statistics( and a logic semester; which i did to help me understand how to prove or "un prove" statements... it helps alot at Sudoku... and via maths accounting... you get used to using letters and numbers and LARGE spread sheets... (and get darn good at scanning your spread sheets; which might overlap with scanning Sudoku. ) I am still amazed how simon does arithmetic faster than i can ... and i am not slow... simon is a materclas of maths... no wonder he went into accounting and finance... and here we are solving puzzles daily!!! CHEERS shutters still thinking of GIANT spreadsheets i developed in college to automate my homework... my engineering prof's hated me.

[@ruthphelps1440]

If Simon had "clicked tick" at 1:28:45 and said thank you and goodnight, I wouldn't have blamed him at all. 😄

[@PotmosHetoimos]

change 9 to "J" and say "the mathematics is left as an exercise for the viewer"

[@kim-hendrikmerk4163]

@@PotmosHetoimos the mathematics is trivial and therefore left as an exercise to the viewers.

[@ibaianerperez2274]

@@kim-hendrikmerk4163 Well they were just a bunch of 5 simple equations with 5 unknowns, it was doable by a secundar y school kid. The astonishing part was doing all the previous steps and doing it without paper and pencil jajaja

[@jackbrooke9682]

Simon working out those simultaneous equations in his head that used 8 different letters without resorting to pen and paper was very impressive even if he did keep mixing the letters up

[@izzyizzy2spd158]

Agreed... I try to stay ahead of him in videos (obviously pausing because my brain doesn't work as fast as Simon's) and I had to write out each equation and list the letters and corresponding numbers. It is 2AM for me right now... but I don't know that I could keep track of all of that on a good day.

[@tadlis5987]

I would certainly write these equations on a paper. This was inhuman and proves that Simon is a computer !!!!

[@DaniErik]

Insane. I’m glad I deleted the coloring after the regions were done and did color sudoku so I could pencil mark the options.

[@giansieger8687]

For me it was followable (at 1.5x) but it‘s still very impressive to spot what you need to look at. Ig it was „easy“ (more like doable) to follow bc I just recently finished highschool and I quite enjoy algebra.

[@MarushiaDark316]

"That's E in the corner ..." God bless you, Simon.

[@longwaytotipperary]

😄

[@DonYagamoth]

You know, one of my favorite things about Simon is, that he says "this is beautiful/astonishing/fantastic/astonishing" fairly frequently - but you can tell he really means it every single time :) Thank you for the pleasant content, and the brainteasers

[@keyaanmatin4804]

I'm gonna run out of popcorn at this point!

[@CrackingTheCryptic]

I'm sorry for another long one. This is an astonishing puzzle though so I think it certainly deserved a video.

[@hhjk4]

@@CrackingTheCryptic I'm pretty sure they meant it in a good way

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@hhjk4 agree! And ditto on running out of popcorn! 🍿😁

[@davidrattner9]

@@longwaytotipperary ..so much for something new...lol..ditto again🤣

[@davidrattner9]

@CrackingTheCryptic never have to apologize for long videos. You always showcase puzzles that are extraordinary set, mind blowing masterpieces, whether they are 2 hours 30 min or 30 minutes.

[@imjoshellis]

It's wild to me how long it took Simon to figure out that col 2 had to have a single cell 9 on the line

[@nickgoddard1687]

I've been sat here, as he is saying could it be 6 or 7, and I'm shouting it's got to be 9 otherwise where else are you going to put 9, in exactly the same way as I did for column 1 lol

[@tspawn35]

On a normal killer sudoku he did recently it took him an agonizing amount of time to realize a cell was a naked single. I some times think he ignores the easy stuff to find the impossible stuff.

[@kehtabpeg]

Raging at this didn't help my sleep 😂

[@superdan2593]

For me it was the 9 in row 9 at 27:28. Had to forward to 42:17.

[@oregonexpat]

IamtheverymodelofamodernmajorgeneralYouaretheverymodelofamodernmajorgeneral

[@BeheadedKamikaze]

Simon, don't you dare apologise for the length of this video, every step of it was amazing. Well done mate

[@haydenwolf935]

Being able to use letters in addition to numbers makes videos like this (math-y, palceholder things) so much easier to understand, albeit they are a little less colourful. No longer do we have to see triple-flashed colours symbolizing it's three possibilities, we can actually see the different types of marks to know what it means. It also makes these videos (more) followable for colourblind people, which is never a bad thing. Great video!

[@bobblebardsley]

I have thought it before but not sure if I've suggested it, but now the software supports multiple colour palettes (and as you've always been careful to be colour-blind friendly) it would be very cool if any colour-blind viewers were to create their own 9-colour palettes using colours that are easily distinguishable for their type of colour-blindness. There could be a Protan and a Deutan, or even just one general 'colour blind' palette if there are 9 good colours that work regardless of type. I feel like that would be an awesome thing to have programmed in as a palette you can just choose, without having to customise it.

[@JohnADoe-pg1qk]

It's probably a bit more complicated because there are many different monitors with different settings for brightness, color temperature, etc. that render the same RGB code as a (slightly) different color. And depending on the puzzle and how to solve it, you may need more than 9 colors.

[@bobblebardsley]

@@JohnADoe-pg1qk True but it might be worth a try. All of that is already true but Simon still has this mental checklist of non-conflicting colours he sometimes tries to use. Plus you can tweak the colours now so if there was a general "colourblind friendly" palette, people could adjust it if any of the colours were ambiguous on their screen. (You are right, I use Night Light mode on Windows 24/7 so my colours are always less blue and more orange.)

[@kathyjohnson2043]

@@JohnADoe-pg1qk I am not color blind but Simon's colors that he can see or not never match up with what is readable on my screen. Also, there are different kinds of color blindness that might also cause difficulty, but it would certainly be helpful if it could work

[@BookofAeons]

The original nine color pallete is the general 'color blind' palette. There's four colors that are mutually distinguishable for all varieties of color blindness, and each kind of color blindness only struggles with one or two pairings. I haven't simulated the new palettes to see how they fare, but hopefully they were generated in the same way as the first.

[@mccoyn6144]

I believe there is also a video codec problem that happens somewhere along the line (guessing KZbin) which shifts some of the colors. I see more contrast on the app or web-app than I do on the videos.

[@SandraTheatre]

When Simon said the second big line was at least 7 to allow for three ways to make the total, I knew it was actually 9, because the yellow region has its own domino and needs a 4th way of making the total. However, getting to that point in the solve is above my capabilities. Amazing logic. Thank you, Simon)

[@zealot2147]

And even if it was 8, the yellow would have to be 4 or 9 which are both impossible

[@brianmcadam443]

There's a much easier way to determine the total of that line. You have to put a 9 in the column, somewhere. It *must* be the single-cell segment, otherwise you have a region total of 10+ and the single-cell segment is broken.

[@euan3976]

came here to say the exact same. always get frustrated when I work out one thing and it takes him a bit longer but then I'd never even know where to begin with the rest of it!!

[@ellabarrett3257]

I knew it was 9 because in a line, you have to get every number and there was no way to subtract so the single digit had to be a 9

[@morismateljan6458]

Was anyone shouting at him to use that 9 sum triple when he deduced ratio of F and D from the first horseshoe? That could have spared him a lot of mental arithmetic at the end.

[@Pigeon0fDoom]

me, completely astounished to just being able to understand Simon, then he says, "i'm not a clever individual". Simon be nice to yourself!

[@crystalgehrt8861]

I actually stopped just a couple of minutes into my solve to text a friend and say how amazing it already was, and found that he had just texted me the same thing. Brilliant.

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 01:12 Let's Get Cracking: 10:20 Simon's time: 1h25m49s Puzzle Solved: 1:36:09 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! The Secret: 5x (04:41, 13:55, 14:52, 14:58, 14:58) Bobbins: 1x (1:02:45) Knowledge Bomb: 1x (32:14) Phistomefel: 1x (05:01) Nori Nori: 1x (1:16:44) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Hang On: 16x (14:22, 19:20, 21:07, 55:32, 58:23, 1:03:50, 1:04:10, 1:05:15, 1:13:18, 1:15:43, 1:26:01, 1:26:01, 1:26:05, 1:29:36, 1:33:12) Ah: 13x (11:14, 21:07, 40:31, 45:54, 51:07, 1:06:07, 1:06:46, 1:13:35, 1:17:40, 1:18:22, 1:18:41, 1:19:21, 1:26:01) Clever: 11x (02:46, 05:54, 11:20, 11:22, 18:26, 1:06:42, 1:06:46, 1:15:30, 1:24:07, 1:27:03, 1:36:26) Goodness: 8x (04:50, 28:15, 34:36, 42:26, 59:21, 59:36, 1:01:29, 1:09:12) Sorry: 8x (43:55, 45:39, 49:20, 55:00, 57:51, 1:09:01, 1:31:07, 1:37:30) The Answer is: 6x (15:25, 48:19, 57:44, 59:09, 1:03:35, 1:08:33) What on Earth: 5x (19:11, 35:19, 37:22, 55:16, 1:01:52) Nonsense: 5x (21:55, 21:55, 55:27, 1:09:30, 1:21:14) Pencil Mark/mark: 5x (42:03, 45:31, 1:03:07, 1:21:14, 1:23:26) Incredible: 4x (00:18, 28:17, 28:17, 1:01:55) In Fact: 4x (11:14, 17:35, 29:07, 1:11:32) Obviously: 4x (10:52, 1:11:38, 1:14:00, 1:23:26) Cake!: 4x (03:40, 03:43, 03:55, 04:36) By Sudoku: 3x (56:59, 1:22:28, 1:28:22) Magnificent: 3x (06:41, 12:47, 1:24:07) Progress: 3x (19:44, 29:11, 29:15) Wow: 3x (18:26, 58:48, 1:36:14) Fabulous: 3x (1:36:17, 1:36:45, 1:36:45) Good Grief: 2x (07:07, 56:27) I Have no Clue: 2x (00:55, 39:11) Stuck: 2x (55:00, 55:00) Brilliant: 2x (03:39, 04:19) Deadly Pattern: 2x (1:11:02, 1:27:47) Surely: 2x (51:33, 1:33:52) Whoopsie: 2x (31:38, 1:17:40) What Does This Mean?: 2x (16:42, 43:52) What a Puzzle: 1x (1:36:45) Out of Nowhere: 1x (1:35:56) In the Spotlight: 1x (1:18:56) Lovely: 1x (24:50) Beautiful: 1x (1:37:01) Break the Puzzle: 1x (11:42) Hypothecate: 1x (24:31) Shouting: 1x (1:08:14) Unbelievable: 1x (04:57) Snake: 1x (04:41) On the Cusp: 1x (1:02:47) Nature: 1x (1:09:24) Unique: 1x (10:02) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Ten (6 mentions) Nine (133 mentions) Green (52 mentions) Antithesis Battles: Low (3) - High (1) Even (13) - Odd (0) Black (3) - White (0) Column (43) - Row (10) 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!

[@blacksarlacc91]

Rules are 6:54 ;-)

[@peter0288]

Jo,pp,p,p,p

[@peter0288]

Jo,pp,p,p,p

[@sskar9390]

I wonder which letter was the most mentioned. My vote is for G

[@TaohRihze]

By the Powers of Sudoku you have done it.

[@ecripps]

Thanks for giving my son a birthday shout out. Theo and Katelynn were both very happy to hear it.

[@phueal]

And to think when I was a teenager I thought that simultaneous equations would never help me in real life!

[@kathyjohnson2043]

Exactly, you DO need algebra in real life

[@longwaytotipperary]

😄

[@Pomodorosan]

1:29:50 we also see at the bottom left that G+H=F+D+H, since F is 2D, then G is 3D. 1:31:45 Later we see that G is 2H, so G is divisible by 3 and by 2

[@tremkl]

Excellent puzzle. Simon always sings praises of how genius the puzzles are, and truly they are all genius, but this one is definitely particularly special. A gem among gems. Fun fact on the second line. Very early on, you said it had to be at least 7, because the pairs spilling over from column 1 had to be 3 different ways of making the number. However, since all of those pairs would be looking down at the yellow cell, there must be a 4th way of making it, therefore it had to be 9.

[@NiennaNeryam]

For the last break in I did the following: we have the equation D+E=F+H, add D on both sides, we get 2D+E = F+D+H which equals 9 in the bottom row. So we get 2D+E=9. So E is odd and a 5 or 7 and D is 1 or 2. This makes F a 2 or 4 and C a 7 or 8. Now we also have the equation B+D=C+H which now reads B+(1or2)=(7or8)+H. With a maximum of 8 for B, H can never be bigger than a 3. And now our F+D+H=9 can only be made up of digits 1,2,3,4, so it is 234, which let's you fill the whole grid almost instantly.

[@AyaAlef]

I love the color harmony on this one! Well done Simon. Also appreciate your realization at 1:09:10 regarding the nine in column 2, I see lots of the comments mentioned that but those of us who have not realized it themselves were very glad to finally discover that with you! My own frustrasion was actually about the "B" deduction, but it's always so easy shouting from the balcony, not so much actually doing the thing! Thank you for another great puzzle :)

[@AyaAlef]

The song for E in the corner in 1:18:50 got me smiling from ear to ear. And of course you spotted the B thing a couple of minutes after I left the comment! What a fun puzzle to (watch you) solve :)

[@AyaAlef]

It's a bit disappointing it didn't turn out to be a three in the end. Oh well..

[@AyaAlef]

And the modern major-genaral's song in 1:21:40! Wow. Always so entertaining and horizon-expanding :)

[@AyaAlef]

1:28:55 - third time I find myself laughing to myself during this video. I love this channel!

[@cylewhipple7442]

Not only was this puzzle brilliant in it's set up, but it was also Brilliant in color. Thank to Fritzdis for the puzzle, Sven for the app. , and Simon for an amazing video. I really don't mind long videos when the content so so great.

[@kevinyoung796]

Imagine how short this video would've been if he realized that the sum of the second line had to be 9 much earlier than he did. It was available for some time.

[@Roblilley999]

Gilbert and Sullivan a fond memory of my father who sadly passed away 11 years today

[@kathyjohnson2043]

G & S has very fond memories for me. I conducted a wonderful production of it many years ago where one of the actors is now a lead in a current TV series.

[@moonsinne2992]

I got a great laugh out of "that's E in the corner"! Well done.

[@CISMarinho]

1:25:19 when Simon come back to this point (R5C7) I really hopped that he could spotted the fact that this number/letter couldn’t be F: if it is F, E+F = 9, but then we know, at this point, that D+C =9. But R4C8 can’t be C, therefore R5C7 is H.

[@ejvalpey]

That was so satisfying. I can’t imagine attempting without both the pen tool and multi-coloring in Sven’s app

[@Nikjak592]

If only he updates the app...

[@maxgreve7856]

Another fantastic puzzle! I know I don't speak for everyone but I really like these more intricate, longer videos. Thanks again, Simon!

[@MaierFlorian]

Loved the fact that E in the Corner got a Song ♥

[@longwaytotipperary]

Ditto!

[@BigAsciiHappyStar]

Congrats Simon on getting a quadruple song - four different letters in the corner cells all rhyming with 3. These are truly great times for Sudoku! 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@UndeadFil]

Absolutely astonishing puzzle, and I even managed to solve it a whole minute faster than Simon! ;) I loved how the solution emerged out of seemingly nowhere. I made a few assumptions at the start that I was only 95% sure were true and didn't bother checking thoroughly, but as soon as I found the classy diagonal of soon-to-be 1s, I knew I was on the right track. Very fun from start to finish, not even a single bit of frustration on my end.

[@GoldenredDragon]

Oh my gosh, I got it in 02:21:25. With two occurrences of help from you. Starting to look at letters in the grid was the first breakthrough, second time was that horseshoe on the right. I'm so tired. This was absolutely amazing. (Oh, and the time doesn't include the half hour I spent doing the system of 8 equations and 8 unknowns on paper, just for the heck of it... I'm rusty it seems) Beautiful puzzle, so many thanks for featuring it! (Where's my afternoon gone?!) Edit: watching the end, and I'm quite frustrated by how easy it actually was to divine the relationship between G and H, immediately solving their respective digits...

[@cyberrb25]

15:12 There's an interesting property on 9s. We do know 9 can be split in 3 numbers as either 126, 135 or 234. But however you do, you actually take 3 of the possible 2-number 9 sums.

[@timbeaton5045]

"I've got 8 cells of grey...." "At least, Monsieur Poirot!"

[@timbeaton5045]

After this, I'm just waiting for someone to do a hexadecimal sudoku....

[@acdettwiller]

You and Mark have been solving nothing but bangers this week and I'm loving it

[@EDtheIII]

I love how in this puzzle, the first "letter" you fill in is the last one you solve. But not only that - the first number you find are all of the 9s, and you end by finding all of the 1s. Crazy design.

[@kevinmartin7760]

At 59:42 Simon started to realize the line total for the second line (the one dominating column 2) but I found this was easy as early as 29:35. It had to contain a red domino, a pink domino, and another domino and a single (green or orange, not sure which) and two other singles (yellow and grey) at the bottom with the yellow single being smaller that the line total. This means the total must be representable as a pair total three ways, so it must be 7, 8, or 9. You can also figure this looking at the max total of 17 for the bottom two cells giving a min total for the rest of the column of 28, which must be four times the line total. But if you try 7 or 8, you find that the digits in the bottom two cells of the column must be 8/9 or 4/9. 8/9 is just too big for the line sum in the grey region. 4/9 also doesn't work because neither number can add to another to form 8. Thus the line total must be 9. The two bottom cells of the column are a pair that also sums to 9, and R8C3 equals R9C2 because they both add to R8C2 to form 9.

[@noetics02]

I think this is my favorite puzzle I've ever seen, and given the constantly amazing quality of puzzles on this channel, that's saying something!

[@Ardalambdion]

Simon tries to get in Guinness Book of Records for the longest consecutive videos in a row at youtube.

[@glen83]

OMG what an incredible puzzle. This is the hardest one I have ever solved without needing to refer to the video to cheat. Took me a long time with a pen and pad to figure out the differential equations, came here to see how you got on only to find you breezed right through them! But just a magical puzzle, and hats off to Sven's software for the alpha keys and the extra colours, came in real handy! Love these kinds of puzzles that make use of geometry so well. Kudos fritzdis!!

[@user-gy7hc6pi7h]

I made a system of 8 linear equations based on digits sums and used Gauss method to solve it for A-H. Now I'm watching to the end of the video to check myself Edit: and I solved it correctly=)

[@myverypersonalstuff]

Igor, how do you usually crack nuts? With a hydraulic pump? A diamond-typed drill? Or just an ordinary sledge hammer? Seriously, did you use Mathematica or Maxima or are you such an accurate calculator that you don't get lost in an 8x8 Gaussian elimination exercise? I admire your adroitness and your high nerdiciy coefficient 😎

[@user-gy7hc6pi7h]

@@myverypersonalstuff I did it on paper, I love math. In fact elimination was not so hard because there was a lot of zeros in matrix, it was almost 3-diagonal

[@carlossosa2907]

"I've got the seven Cs" This channel never disappoints 🤩

[@bevobexley4087]

This continues to be one of my favorite solves on the channel. I've watched it probably 5 times because it is all logic that, until the end, doesn't really center numbers. I recently introduced a friend to the channel and this was the video I sent over

[@theactuarialdatascientist]

1:37:27 "I'm so sorry if I have taken a lot of your time this evening" .... You clearly don't understand why many of us are here... a pleasure as always :)

[@myverypersonalstuff]

If anytime you get frustrated, Your mind by dark times feels deflated - Then just spend an hour To see the sheer power Of a brain that gets hypothecated.

[@squircular54]

Laughing with joy at Simon's keyboard accuracy when (just about) placing the letters at 1:37:00 possibly makes me a terrible person. However, I think Mark would approve of my joy as it was only the day before that Mark joked about catching "Simonitis" (the inflicted of which show strong symptoms of keyboard inaccuracy)! Simon I'm sure that some of those efforts were about 5 keys away from the one you wanted 🤣

[@myfyrmadocjones]

Might be a long video but i am following the logic more easily than the 16x16 the other day - that was extremely difficult for a mere mortal.

[@markmichell6015]

Just wow! That is pure unadulterated diamond - hard, but the light still shines through. I can't remember a more beautiful puzzle on the channel. And I can imagine actually doing this, if I had a month on a Bali poolside.

[@krakensgirl4391]

This really blew my mind! I’ve only recently started watching and I’m really learning a lot. You are truly fantastic!

[@KeiraNinasDad]

What a wonderful puzzle! A pleasure to watch.

[@m0rt433]

1:06:50 The logic here is kind of reversed, the only place green can get its B is from r1c8 (can be seen from the not yet worked out pencil marks in the other regions). So Simon got lucky that he thought the pencil marked B's in r1c8 / r2c7 were the "gray B's". Still an amazing puzzle, very entertaining to watch you solve it Simon! :)

[@bobber0001]

But couldn't r1c8 and r2c7 just switch colors, and the puzzle would still be solved? This is bugging me!

[@RichSmith77]

I don't think he got lucky. Grey could only get its B from the ninth, as yet unidentified, grey cell. This has to be either r1c8 or r2c7. However, green's B can only be in row 1. So it's not possible for grey's B to also come from row 1. So it has to be in r2c7. (He may have confused the issue by seeming to say green couldn't get its B from r1c8, but it's not really relevant where in row 1 green gets its B. The B in row 1 will be green, wherever it is. So grey's B cannot also be in row 1).

[@RichSmith77]

@@bobber0001 r2c7 couldn't be green due to the given boundary line between r1c7 and r2c7.

[@bmccarthy9]

that is what he pencil marked though - the only potential places for B in that grey region were if it extended into one of those cells. The fact that it ended up being the case that the one that wasn't in the region was also B in green was just coincidence.

[@kenmolinaro]

He used an incorrect conclusion to place the final grey square which means he essentially guessed. Sure had he realized his error he would have seen the right way to deduce that that was the right place for the final grey square, but he did not.

[@matt5075]

30 minutes in: “wow Simon is flying through this puzzle!” *Sees time remaining* “Oh” 😅

[@stevieinselby]

Quite amusing to see Simon making heavy weather of breaking into c1 ... there's a single cell region so the sum can't be more than 9. And there has to be a 9 somewhere in the column, and therefore it can't be part of a region sum of more than one cell. So the 9 goes between the given walls. And then doesn't consider the same point on c2, which (because we know it has a single cell region somewhere along the line) must also have a region sum of 9.

[@stevieinselby]

"How will we ever know the quantum of anything?" Simon asks, while highlighting the one and only cell in the grid where he could write a digit in 🤣

[@SilverEchoes]

What a magnificent puzzle! The logic flowed so smoothly, and it didn't feel nearly as difficult as some chaos constructions do, even though it was, undoubtedly, a challenge.

[@NickMartin604]

Loved how you had to switch to letters rather than numbers on this one. Great logic and deduction. Thanks for the entertainment, Simon!

[@thongvu9047]

This is actually one of those long to solve puzzle but really approachable. Highly recommended as it's very satisfying.

[@Roundtablist]

A brilliant solve of a brilliant puzzle. Fritzdis - that was amazing, can't wait to see more from you. Simon - watching you solve this was a genuine pleasure - as always.

[@bertbergers9171]

Great solve and beautiful puzzle!!! Thanks to you both!

[@ashnikchauhan9103]

This is a pure joy to solve. Coloring and lettering bonanza. Amazing setting Fritzdis. Keep on cracking.

[@wearwolf2500]

"I don't know what the numbers are but I know where they go"

[@AngelWedge]

I've been trying to make a puzzle with this ruleset since the first time I saw you do a region sum lines puzzle… but couldn't make the bits of logic stick together. Congrats to the setter for elegantly putting this one together.

[@jamesfitzpatrick9607]

The title on that puzzle is so fitting, it was a joy to watch unfold.

[@martysears]

Spectacular - a work of art. I would love to know the story behind how this puzzle was created by Fritzdis. What piece of logic or concept was the inspiration to start creating this? Was it the idea of having a puzzle that ends with using algebra, meaning you pretty much have to fill the grid with letters first like Simon did, before you can do the algebra using the blue lines? I also found it staggering how the staircase formation of the regions seemed to build itself, and then how that allowed the A to propagate diagonally down across the regions, and then the other letters. There was always just one thing to solve which disambiguated the next thing. It all seemed so beautifully linear, but involving so many abstract insights. Being a puzzle setter myself, I know that the process often involves what feels like "luck"... discovering things and almost solving it yourself as you create it. Harnessing the luck and the happy accidents and then building them in. With this, it seems like there must have been so much luck, because I can't fathom how some of those intricate chains of logic could have been planned. Amazing and thoroughly entertaining

[@fuipig]

This one is in my top 10 for this year. I really loved solving this.

[@Bonehead777]

Yay. Another long solve (which I really like) and well worth it.

[@Robert_H.]

1:29:00 1. We know because of yellow and gray that E + F = F + D + H = 9 and therefore *E = D + H*. 2. Due to the horse shoe in orange and pink follows E + D = F + H and therefore 2D + H = F + H, whereby *F = 2D* follows. 3. Going back to the sequence of three in gray, we notice that F + D + H = 3D + H = 9, which makes *3D = 9 - H*. 4. By the horse shoe in gray and dark green follows D + G = E + H and therefore D + G = D + 2H, whereby *G = 2H* follows. 5. By the horse shoe in pink and red follows B + D = C + H and therefore *B = C + H - D*. 6. By the first three relations, it follows that D = {1,2}, F = {2,4}, and H = {6,3}. However, because of condition 4, the number H can no longer be 6, so *H = 3*. It follows: *D = 2, E = 5, F = 4, G = 6*. 7. Logically: *C = 9 - D = 7*. Therefore because of condition 5: *B = 8*, which makes *A = 9 - B = 1*.

[@chitraagarwal8259]

Just an incredible puzzle... Saw the first 20 mins or the video and then decided i would try to do it myself.. took me over 2 hrs over the whole day with breaks in between but was so satisfying to get this done at the end! Goals for next year - to have the stamina like Simon to keep at a puzzle continuously for more than 90 mins - its really incredible

[@philc2729]

Phenomenal puzzle and solve. You kept us entertained.

[@Rammkard]

This might be my favorite puzzle for the year or so I've been watching

[@pg5200]

That puzzle was astonishing. I got it in 81:15, hard but not too hard, very very enjoyable ! Now I get to watch your solve :D Thank you !!

[@patricepederson9211]

This is probably my favorite sudoku ever. It has everything I want-squiggly regions, colors, letters, and awesome nonsensical-sounding problems like H + D + H = D + G (yeah, I had to write out the whole thing to figure out what Sinon did in his head. Legit it was the first time I have done algebra in 25 years!) I was pleased with myself for spotting the 9s in row 9 and column 2 ages before Simon did. But it wasn’t painful to watch because he kept making other awesome deductions most of the while. I haven’t had time to watch much sudoku lately, and a 90 min one right before the holiday seemed insane. I figured it would take me months to find the time just to finish watching. But this was so compelling that I neglected important things to knock it out in three days. That is all just a long-winded way to say wow. Well done!

[@DrSticktrick]

I cannot believe that I was able to solve this. Way above my paygrade. It took me 362 minutes. Getting the Regions right was not too bad but then I got stuck for what seemed like forever. I ended up creating a "lineares Gleichungssystem" (linear system of equations?) to figure out which number is which (I used numbers as Placeholders... didn't know you could use letters which would have been way easier). Crazy puzzle. One of the best I ever solved. Absolutely blows my mind how someone could come up with this.

[@Seth0326]

After filling the grid with letters and 9's like Simon, I decided to see if wolfram alpha could solve all the math equations on its own. So I plugged in all the equations and it gave me the answer straight away! I know that's not how you're supposed to solve it, I was just curious how it would turn out.

[@MatthewBouyack]

Have no doubt, Simon, you are quite clever! But we were pulling our hair out a bit while you pondered whether the total for column two could be '8'!

[@dragonspight]

I wish I could send you hints from the future, such as "Where does 9 go?" or "I wish you would have just placed A and B instead of corner-marking them"

[@spubbler]

25:07 -- the excitement and anticipation knowing that Simon is going to have to choose a new colour!!

[@PaulO-mv6ku]

Utterly brilliant problem solving. Well done.

[@LeonardoBerstein]

At 1:01:44, the moment you place B in grey and green, you have actually defined B in red: it can't be in columns 1, 2, 4 nor 5 because all those already have B. It can't be R6C3 because it's A, and it can't be 9. So the only option is R5C3. That only leaves 2 options for B in light green, both on R1, which prevents B in upper grey from being in R1, which in turn forces grey to take R2C8 and defines the region borders.

[@HMDHEGD]

PUT IN THE NINE! oh, he did it, finally. Seconds later... PUT IN THE NINE.

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

40:34 for me. What a fantastic puzzle, that was incredible!! And now I'm only missing one more video to be up to date again!

[@matthewread9001]

42:00 with that red 9 you can look at what squares can’t be reached by your leftover regions and you can build half of the 9th region easy.

[@longwaytotipperary]

I thought I left a comment earlier, but I don’t see it so I’ll try again - this was an astonishingly amazing puzzle and Simon was equally astonishingly amazing - not the least of which that he remained charming, upbeat and clever (I disagree with Simon on this - he is spectacularly clever) for over 1 1/2 hours! 👏🏻👏🏻

[@davidrattner9]

Astonishingly amazing...said twice!!! You always bring something new and I anticipate with glee what you will be saying during every one of his solves. 😃

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@davidrattner9 thank you, David. You have brought warmth to this cold, dreary, rainy night!

[@adamholland9034]

Just finished this one, at a little over 2 hours. Just about to watch this video to see Simon make what I imagine is short work of it and to see how close my solve path got to the master, but I have to say right now I'm just sitting here looking at my finished, very colourful grid feeling very proud that I managed to get this in a semi-reasonable time for me. Two years ago there was simply no way I'd even think to attempt a puzzle of this calibre, but watching this channel to the point that my inner monologue while solving is Simon's voice rather than my own has allowed me to complete every beast I've attempted from this channel in recent times. I even sit back and feel somewhat smug for a little (but only until I watch the video and see Simon or Mark glide through logic I battled for, of course).

[@blandon93]

I spent 90 minutes to figure out oddity. Then I couldn't decide whether 2+4+3 or 2+6+1 are bottom left three block, I just tried first scenario on the right 4 blue line and it worked. Didn't know how to do it better, but the puzzle is amazing! First time I was able to complete painting sudoku.

[@titusadduxas]

I finally finished it unaided! I like these build your own puzzles and always felt I was going to be able to do it despite Simon’s time which would normally put me off! I restarted it twice after the first two efforts broke, but finally managed it on my 3rd attempt. Hugely satisfying in the end.

[@AutumnsRequiem]

What an incredible puzzle and an entertaining solve!

[@AshrZ]

that was the most beautiful puzzle I have ever seen!! Definitely got a bunch of laughs, some yelling at Simon, and quite a beautiful solve :)

[@jpsy422]

An absolute gem of a puzzle and solve. Wow.

[@hebleblew4476]

Even though Simon's solves make me feel like a braindead caveman, I still love watching these videos. I would've opened the puzzle and just closed it immediately. Great work!

[@BarryKort]

That was utterly astonishing.

[@al129]

Once Simon started with the Letters, if he put full size letters in definite locations, it would have helped, as I he clearly wasn't able to separate the definite and the possibles ,,, and a minute after I type that whilst watching he finally does it

[@victoriam6569]

What a gorgeous puzzle! I enjoyed it through and through :) It kinda flows, I've never felt that I really stuck. Though my time is twice higher than Simon's, lol. It uses all kinds of logic. Sooo interesting! Thank you!!!

[@carljacobs1287]

Whew 170 minutes! That's quite a task! Not unapproachable, just slow and steady.

[@AdamShsp]

01:08:37 Thank you, Simon! I feel ao much validated. That was the only deduction I was able to get. You are a very clever guy, getting it as an afterthought like that.

[@snuggie12]

I kept waiting for Simon to say something like "the only way a single cell could be less than 9 is if we combined the 9 with a negative number and that's not allowed so the single cell must be 9," and it just never happened.

[@markjacobs1086]

The realisation that 9 is the value for the 2nd long line was a highly entertaining one 😉. It's probably why I love watching these videos so much!

[@Lockemenos]

I enjoyed that Simon used the secret and some math to prove that r5c1 needed to be a 9, but you can deduce it before even dividing the line. If you put any number that isn't 9 in that position, wherever you put the 9 in the column will be on an equal sum line that adds to something less than 9, and without negative numbers, that would break the line

[@Lockemenos]

Also, I just got to 55:11 and it seems that the placement of the 9 for column 2 is what you might have missed

[@giladu.6551]

You know it's about to get real when Simon busts out the letter tool. In all seriousness, solving this was a blast, and I even beat Simon this time! 84:13 to Simon's 86:02. Probably because of my mathematical background. This puzzle is something else, man. Can't believe it reduced to a system of equations at the end. Props to fritzdis

[@nochsta]

Simon last week: won’t say “***-poor” because of the “naughty word”. Simon today: “Where’s the F n’ H?”