Hi everyone, Knickolas here! I'm so happy to see this puzzle featured! The title is correct, I first had the idea for this puzzle forever ago in November of 2022. After some working about, I found a lot of really interesting logic revolving around the 4 "rugby ball" thermos, but I was never able to find a way to resolve it that did the break in justice. So I would take a break, work on another puzzle, come back to it and keep getting stuck. This cycle lasted for 2 years and saw a lot of failed iterations, until 1 day (after not thinking about the puzzle for about 5 months) where I set the finish within 10 minutes of opening it back up. It's funny how something so elusive for so long can just suddenly reveal itself on a whim like that! Hopefully this can serve as a testimony to not admit defeat when you get stuck on something, because maybe it just needs a little more time :) Thanks for the feature! It's always a joy watching you solve!!
@robinbrown65305 күн бұрын
Tis the season for a puzzle from good ol' Saint Knickolas! Even has a Christmas theme with Simon's Coloring.
@NickCombs5 күн бұрын
Wow, isn't it funny how often the way to solve a problem is to let it go for a while! Congrats on a really great result!
@adammorse7104 күн бұрын
Beautiful (and very challenging) puzzle. I always love it when Simon takes on a really challenging puzzle like this one.
@bluerizlagirl3 күн бұрын
Simon should have given it the obviously clickbait title of "Phistomefel DISPROVED!!!", as it has been said by some that only Phistomefel could put a 9 in the bulb of a thermometer ..... and obviously, you have proved the contrary!!
@Paolo_De_LevaКүн бұрын
Goal achieved 😏👍👍👍 You did it justice 100%❗What an awesomely awesome creation. You started from a *cosmic-class* break-in and obtained a *cosmic-class* puzzle. Double-brained *Hiuztwaetiukaians* from the *Eptagalactic Federation* are talking about you on *Cosmic Tube.* I solved this gem in about *6 hours* and it was totally worth it. Unforgettable epic experience. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
@HunterJE5 күн бұрын
Anyone else chuckle when Simon pencil marked 578 on three cells of a thermo and proceeded not only to not use the thermo to disambiguate their order but resolved those three digits last of all using sudoku?
@AnnaVahtera5 күн бұрын
I laughed aloud, because that's quintessential Simon there.
@Anne_Mahoney5 күн бұрын
@@AnnaVahtera You know it!
@leefisher63665 күн бұрын
Simon, historically: 'You can't put nine on the bulb of a thermo' Knickolas: 'Hold my doublers'
@esti3695 күн бұрын
Can we start a petition to get Simon a good light for his room for these long British winter nights? 😀
@A_CC_K5 күн бұрын
Saw the title, clicked on the video as quick as possible
@vasilesorin63775 күн бұрын
I saved it for when I go to bed
@AdblockAccount5 күн бұрын
Yeah, he is good at making clickbait.
@rose-annelafrance64225 күн бұрын
Same here
@livedandletdie5 күн бұрын
It felt like a hammerblow to the face, but in a good way. Then a period of recuperation, until the next blow, a very striking puzzle, that truly tests ones deductive abilities. Each step was like searching for the stepping stones over a rushing river in complete darkness. Probably the best puzzle I've managed to solve in the past 2 months.
@ChrisBTBass5 күн бұрын
I like how the room gets darker and darker as the video progresses
@HunterJE5 күн бұрын
49:00 Has Simon forgotten his earlier logic about the doubled digit in the two-thermo boxes needing to be from 1234 here? 7 is never going to work on any of those bulbs regardless of what else is around it because a 7 in the bulb would need at least a 10 value at the tip and a doubled 1234 at most gives you an extra 8 value...
@57thorns5 күн бұрын
At 25:47 it is possible to green the bulbs and the non-thermo cells in box 2, 4, 6, and 8. We can't start with double 5 ever, and the lower doublers are all spoken for. That is a lot of green missing in the grid for 25 minutes.
@chocolateboy3005 күн бұрын
I finished in 307:17 minutes. This seems to be what doublers do to me. They make me run marathons. They make me do gauntlets. They try to mess with me. However, I persevered and made my way through my own personal nightmare. I kept getting stuck in a cyclical loop of trying to solve one part to end up looping my logic. I spent so long on the bottom boxes and I was finally able to make progress by first asking if r7c789 could be doublers. The answer is no as this forces 789 into r7c123, which it can't be. I then asked a similar question about whether r9c789 could be doublers. The answer is also no, but for surprisingly the same reason as the one before, although much harder to see. Doing that required to look at the 12 cage. The 28 pair was easy to see. The 36 pair was much harder, but did end in the same logic. That was super cool. Then, my nightmare began as I struggled to make progress for...a...long...time. After eternity, I finally asked a right question being if 1 could go in r7c8. This surprisingly breaks through a long chain using row 5. It would force 2 into r2c7 and r9c5 along with 1 forced into r5c2 and 4 into r5c1. This 4 forces a 2 onto r3c2. This now breaks as 2 has no place in box 2. I know that this is probably not the intended, but after going so long with no progress, I take what I can get. It still wasn't over, though. Another eternity passed, until I asked if 35 could be in the 8 cage. The answer was no, also because of row 5. I was so close to the end now. I had one more breakthrough, figuring out which one was 3 between r3c8 and r7c8. This shocked me again as the answer was row 5. If 4 was in r3c8, then 1 and 3 both have to exist in r5c2. Finally, I was free from my torment. This puzzle was really excellent and it is a shame that I found such crude solutions to it. The puzzle definitely deserved better than me. However, I am oddly proud of my dumb logic pathways. I am very excited to see how it should properly be done. Great Puzzle!
@mayankverma1145 күн бұрын
I spent 20 mins on the puzzle and could only figure out which cells in box 3 can't be doublers. Worth the 90 mins I spent watching this video.
@michaelpdawson5 күн бұрын
“Doubler doubler, nori nori”? No, it’s “Doubler doubler, toil and troubler”!
@mattconco5 күн бұрын
I like that it says values may repeat in a cage only for there to be no doublers in them in the end 😂
@tank20455 күн бұрын
I should have known some setter would find a way to break the maxim "You can put a '9' in the bulb of a Thermo"
@johnh2052Күн бұрын
At 1:05:48, Simon notes that the "high digit" must be at the end of the thermo and pencils it into box 8. He then says "that does nothing," but he's wrong. That means the next digit down the thermo can't be 789, so it's a 56, and the next one's a 45. You can combine this with the end of the other thermo being a 456. So, the second and third digits of the bottom thermo in box 8 are from the set 123, where one of them is the doubler. This must be a 3 and a doubled 1 or 2. Going further, that bottom thermo can't be 2, 3, double-3, as there'd be no place for '4' in box 9. So, the thermo starts 1, double-1, 3. (And there can be no more ones in any bulbs.)
@wokkawicca3 күн бұрын
This puzzle melted my brain. Kept thinking the lower bulb had to be doubled on its own thermo for some reason, and went down just about every possible incorrect path. 4+ hours to solve.
@MicroYeti5 күн бұрын
58:44 I think you could’ve done this doubling logic a lot earlier - box 4 and box 7 had an x wing style set of pencil marked ‘doubler’ digits, meaning the doubler for box 1 was definitely in r2c2 - and this would probably have made the logic at the bottom a little easier once you remove a lot of the pencil marked doublers around the grid
@eckberthighwater25552 сағат бұрын
I quickly got the 1-double 1 location from the doublers in box 1,3 5 taking away other possibilities. I then came to a screeching halt and watched Simon solve.
@kosumi68Күн бұрын
Wonderfully set puzzle. Very hard, I thought, even after getting to grips with the rugby balls. I forgot options and constantly had to refer back to notes in order to not go astray. But none of that matters: the fact that this puzzle has a unique solution is quite remarkable. Kudos! And thank you Simon for your steadfast logic, it really helps.
@moby41775 күн бұрын
Oh xmas 3 ohxmas 3, how lovely are your cages You’re green when splitting nines and eights When set in string, a purple makes Etc.
@gabrielbenamy52705 күн бұрын
I'll never be clever enough to be properly useful in these kinds of puzzles, even if I were to win one of the Patreon competitions, but I do hope that whoever wins helps Simon with his scanning.
@monicaarnett25275 күн бұрын
I love watching Simon’s brilliance with breaking in a puzzle until I can follow the logic. That said it was painful watching him validate that 1234 doubler had to go on a rugby ball and the 4 could never have been in box 3 when trying to determine which of the two options pencil marked was the doubler in the box. He sorted it out at 59 minutes in a much more complicated way than lower level solvers would have.
@Paolo_De_Leva5 күн бұрын
No cage requires doublers. It is difficult to imagine how to even start❗ 🤔 Very interesting challenge‼😏👍👍👍
@vedrankordic91614 күн бұрын
Hey, Simon. Around 53:00 you decide that 8-7 cannot be 2, however it seems it could be 2 if the other bulb is 3. Then there would be a 3 in 7-6 and a doubled 2 in 9-4. It does break the cage in box 9, though.
@Ibrahim-jl6hi3 күн бұрын
I think he is using the fact that he already knows that R8C3 is the doubler in box 8 (because it's on its own thermo by sudoku) to rule out a 2 in R8C7 being doubled in that same box as well
@stevenape3775 күн бұрын
Simon. If you can't do the puzzle, then OF COURSE you don't have to do all those messages again! Just make a cut, I'm sure nobody will mind at all. And actually, we *want* to hear about any failed attempts - you could even link to the puzzle that you got stuck on to give ambitious viewers something to chew on!
@agoristtaxadvice5 күн бұрын
This puzzle was ABSURD. And absolutely brilliant.
@raghardeishi9724 күн бұрын
Well, if there is only one doubler in the cell then if there is doubler on lines on position where it matters it can be only in 4 places, and there are only 4 pairs of lines. In addition doubler would be unlikely at the start of that lone additional line, because it would break principle of only one doubler per box. I wonder if the should state that "sums in cells are not affected by doublers" Simon wouldn't be forced to run around in circles.
@darrenhundt5 күн бұрын
why does simon keep forgetting his rule he brilliantly discovered that boxes 2,4,6,8 can only have low number doublers :) !?!?
@Sinisest11215 күн бұрын
In end was very interesting Simon pencil marked 3 digits on thermo and then solved them by sudoku. When he knowed actually they are all normal digits and thermo forces their order so no sudoku needed there :D.
@nmappraiser99265 күн бұрын
Yes, it's really frustrating that Simon refuses to pencil mark thermos, which leads to all sorts of detours and failures to see some pretty straightforward logic on his part.
@RichSmith775 күн бұрын
At 1:20:00 there's a useful 45 pair in box 4 that Simon overlooks. That stops r4c1 from being 4, makes it a 3 with a 2 below it on the thermo. I solved it in just under four hours, either side of a night's sleep.
@Gonzalo_Garcia_3 күн бұрын
66:52 for me. What a crazy puzzle, really enjoyed it!
@biaberg34485 күн бұрын
Did you see the room turning darker and darker?
@chipsounder46335 күн бұрын
Sunset
@JustinEngels5 күн бұрын
Didn't Simon get lucky on this solve? At the beginning of the puzzle Simon asserts that the bulbs of a rugby ball thermo must have unequal value (A must be greater than B); even though one bulb could be a ONE doubler and the other bulb could be a TWO natural, which means the bulbs are of equal value. He went on to use this (invalid) assertion to then assert any doubler in a Rugby gall 3x3 must be along one of the two bulbs. And this second assertion was then used to make the third assertion that a rugby ball bulb cannot be a doubler. Is this a flaw in the logic of the puzzle? Did Simon get lucky? Am I missing a piece of logic that corrects for my misunderstanding?
@grubbzor5 күн бұрын
If a bulb was a 1 doubler, where will you put the 1 in that box?
@lanye27085 күн бұрын
regarding the second assertion-each row, column, and box contains exactly one doubler, so if a doubler was on one of the bulbs, the doubler inside the box between them must fall along the length of either thermometer, and never in the middle
@JustinEngels5 күн бұрын
@@grubbzor Ah, perfect! Thank you.
@leefisher63665 күн бұрын
🎶Simon's dreaming of a three... cornered... Simon's dreaming of a three... cornered. All he's dreaming of the whole video long is a cor...nered... three. Marty Sears' themed idea follows. I can flesh it out if people want me to: 🎶 OH... Officer Kropki, I'm down on my knees, trying to whisper in German and get cornered threes, We're not Schrodingered killers, for that idea stinks, deep down inside us we love Finkz, (we love Finkz...) (We love Finkz, we love Finkz, we love Finkz, we love Finkz, deep down inside us we love Finkz...
@solfeinberg85912 күн бұрын
Monkeyed with it by myself for awhile. It's somewhat interesting - but I think if I could solve it in 2 years that would be a reasonable mathematical accomplishment. I'm sure I'll watch the video for a couple seconds and Simon will ask the perfect question or explain something and then newly armed with some piece of logic the puzzle will unravel in a couple hours.
@nmappraiser99265 күн бұрын
Honestly wish Mark had done this one instead. Simon's obstinate refusal to pencil mark thermos made him unable to see so many scenarios that were actually pretty straightforward.
@raghardeishi9724 күн бұрын
I'm not sure if I'd prefer Mark solving it under 23 minutes. Watching Simon going in circles until I saw sunrise was interesting.
@roccov36145 күн бұрын
I can't believe how hard it is for me to stop thinking the digits sum up to the value of the bulb because I'm so used to arrows.
@piarittersporn5 күн бұрын
What a challenging puzzle. I made repeated mistakes for an hour before I was able to enjoy progress.
@danagritz5 күн бұрын
Absolutely incredible to watch. Probably would have taken me 7 years to solve
@MaxPower27195 күн бұрын
15:59 “Let’s say that A is greater than B”. Perfectly logical in Simon-world, where water is yellow and land is blue 😂
@hedesonpeter84714 күн бұрын
x wing to find where the doubler is on box 1 right? 50:31
@stangerrits67125 күн бұрын
Is there a reason why a thermometer is in front of any cell colouring, but the bulb isn't?
@olivier25535 күн бұрын
At 49:49, I don;t understand why Simon limits R6C3 to 1234. Why not including 56 too?
@mattconco5 күн бұрын
R8C3? It's identified as being in the bottom of box 8 by sudoku. That means it's on its own arrow. That means that has to be doubled. Simon's earlier logic was to identify that boxes 2,4,6,8 contain 1,2,3,4 doubled.
@mattconco5 күн бұрын
Just to clarify more. The lowest of the 2 bulbs has to allow 6 values higher than it to appear on the 6 thermo positions in the box between them. This limits the max to 4. Also, the lowest of the 2 has the be the one that is doubled. It cannot go in its own row, and it cannot go in the other thermo because it would be lower than the bulb we've just said is higher. It has to repeat on its own themo. That geometric logic maps to all 4 such boxes. Once you identify the doublers to exist in exclusively one row or column in these boxes you can always pencil in 1234 to the linked bulb.
@markp72625 күн бұрын
@@mattconco I can't remember if it was disproved or not, but there are a few situations where the doubler could go on the opposite thermo of the rugby ball. If it was a 2-3 on the bulbs, the doubled 2 could go after the 3, and the 3 could go after the 2. The same is true for 3-4, 3-5, and 4-6, all of which are potential bulb pairs.
@olivier25535 күн бұрын
@@mattconco Oh, I got it now, because the thermo could not contain 789, the bulb is certainly 5 or 6. I was not awake enough I guess.
@RichSmith775 күн бұрын
@@markp7262This ends up being the case in all but box 8. The doubled bulb digit ends up being on the opposite thermo. (This caught me out during my solve because I wrongly assumed they had to be on the same thermo.)
@richardpayne4 күн бұрын
Our little planes have engines, and therefore heaters ;)
@denisdodelin-m1e3 күн бұрын
I was telling Simon some sudoku stuff, then I stopped because I realised he can't understand me, I was speaking in French 😅
@savanbanan515 күн бұрын
Not gonna lie, you lost me on this one Simon. Just couldn't keep up. Still had a great time though!
@wanderlustwarrior5 күн бұрын
Yeah... I'm not getting this by myself any time soon.
@leefisher63665 күн бұрын
Gave up on BooglelgooW (as it was given, I think with 'L's not 'I's)... as my head couldn't realise that the line entering the fog and the line exiting it were not the SAME line. Spoiler is on here, not the actual puzzle.
@PaulWilkinsNZ5 күн бұрын
It’s more of a violet than dark blue. Dark blue is indigo, instead of violet.
@thejankyard-anashesreborns35735 күн бұрын
O Christmas Three, O Christmas Three! You’re sitting in the corner. O Christmas Three, O Christmas Three! You’re sitting in the corner. It is the spotlight that you’re in You’ve lost all of your religion O Christmas Three, O Christmas Three! You’re sitting in the corner.
@jesseirwin26075 күн бұрын
Does anyone have a link for how to edit colors in sudokupad; to customize your palette?
@RichSmith775 күн бұрын
I know on mobile (Android) you need to press and hold a colour until the input panel changes (colour buttons get a white outline), then touch the colour you want to amend. That brings up a pop-up window that allows you to adjust that colour. On PC I think you have to double-left-click a colour (?), but I'm not a PC just now to confirm.
@Squishy37575 күн бұрын
I’m seeing perhaps both versions of Phistomefel coming into play.
@rockoob5 күн бұрын
Simon can we get some more tapa puzzles. It’s been a while
@leefisher63665 күн бұрын
19:25 - Recall that Piet Mondrian artwork he showed us at the start of the video...?
@katiekawaii5 күн бұрын
Wow, that _was_ a hard one.
@leefisher63665 күн бұрын
I got past the secret age corner digit song years ago. Just thought of that.
@kyliad5 күн бұрын
Am I going crazy. Isn't that dark blue actually purple?
@ouwebrood4974 күн бұрын
I started 4 times and 4 times a went stuck because I was not strickt enough with scrutinizing the possibilities. The 5th time I managed to solve.
@petermaisey5 күн бұрын
Good evening
@sanfransam89545 күн бұрын
Looks like someone created a 6 out of 5 star sudoku.🤪
@brianskeen16522 күн бұрын
And this song of mine In three corner time wishes you and yours the same thing too
@robertcousins22745 күн бұрын
ok not getting this puzzle...
@Moolers5 күн бұрын
Why can't I see cage values in dark mode anymore? It just shows a white square instead of the number.
@markthompson28745 күн бұрын
Spent a half hour treating the thermos as arrows and thinking that since the minimum in boxes 2, 4, 6, and 8 was 21 that there had to be doublers on one for each of boxes 1, 3, 7, and 9. Should probably read more carefully!
@Sinisest11215 күн бұрын
covid19 was started somewhere near to 2020 beginning so it is nearly 5 years already