"I Wish I Could Do Puzzles Like This Every Day"

** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
Unusually Mark tested today's puzzle, Qi Manifest by Xendari. To say he enjoyed it would be an understatement and so, in this video, Simon has a go at it. Let's just say it's awesome!
Play the puzzle at the link below:
app.crackingthecryptic.com/su...
Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. Shade the grid using two colours, such that all instances of each colour are orthogonally connected, and no 2x2 area is completely one colour. Blue lines must have an equal sum N within each colour they pass through. If a blue line passes through a colour multiple times, each individual pass sums to N. All lines must cross colours at least once. Two digits separated by a black dot have a ratio of 2. Not all dots are given.
** ORDER OUR UPCOMING BOOK HERE **
www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
** NEW CONTENT ON PATREON **
As well as the Phistomefel and Jay Dyer extravaganzas, Simon's solve of Magnus Josefsson's puzzle Castle Wall Yin Yang #1 is now available as a bonus video. You can play the puzzle at the link below (and the logic-masters link contains an example):
app.crackingthecryptic.com/su...
logic-masters.de/Raetselporta...
Joining us on Patreon costs as little as $2 a month.
Remember that patrons gets access to their own special channel on the CtC Fan Discord server - where you can find hints ;)
/ crackingthecryptic
** 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 - 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”
**************************************************************
▶ 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...

[@xendari13]

Thank you for your solve! :) Your solve path was spot on. I agree with your statements at the end that this would be a far harder puzzle without knowing the secrets of Yin Yang - it’s only because of the popularity of YY x Sudoku hybrids (shoutout to Agent’s excellent Killer series!) that I was able to list this as a 3 star puzzle lol.

[@chironchangnoi]

What a great puzzle, thank you so much!

[@EuroRama95]

Finally found out why I never was able to solve this... I understood from reading the rules that all lines needed to have the same sum N (not that each one have a different sum N applicable to them separately) within each colour they pass through and that made it impossible to solve because of Box 1. It's not super clear to me but maybe it's because English is not my primary language that I got it wrong.

[@sampathkumar-ej7xl]

An absolutely fantastic puzzle and a great solve by simon. In the instructions "All lines must cross colours at least once" the colours being a plural was key. It would have been clearer to me if it was something like each line has to pass through both colours at least once or some such.

[@lvkid7]

It's amazing how Simon sometimes remembers a similarity from a puzzle (as well as who constructed it) from months back, but he forgets logic that he did just seconds earlier

[@MadMetalMacho]

Yeah, working memory vs long term memory are very different!

[@bobh6728]

I loved how Simon finished the shading. He colors the 123 green and asks what is the problem with that. Well, obviously the 2x2 green in box 3 is the problem. But no. It is the poor grey boxes that get stranded. I was actually able to solve this one.

[@laurenseale9683]

I have been playing sudoku with my dad since I was little, and following you guys for over a year, but am only just now starting to attempt sudokus with more rules than your normal ones. It makes me feel like an absolute genius when I notice something in one of these puzzles that can be resolved before one of you sees it, but I also know there are COUNTLESS things you see and resolve before I could even hope to get to it. But, I’ll keep learning and practicing! Thank you guys for the content and keeping me on my toes as I try to get better!

[@davidrattner9]

Great to hear that lauren!! This channel brings amazing content and education to us daily.

[@mrvndr]

19:28 "Come on brain, I'm trying to buy you time!" 😂 Such a likeable guy and this comment made me laugh wholeheartedly

[@DwarfInBlues]

Perimeter investigation for color swap in box-1 is easier on the horseshoe, because if it is one color on the corner, avoiding 2x2 creates 1-cell segments on the line.

[@yaboyJJJJJ]

yeah that start hurt to watch. espcially him stating those 3 cells have to sum to the last one. Which is just not at all how the rules work. c'mon man

[@KNT_awesome12345]

Glad to see this featured, certainly one of the very best approachable hybrids I have solved. Xendari is a great up-and-coming constructor, I expect very cool things from him in the future!

[@mremumerm]

agreed, that was lovely and not too scary (if only i could add it would have been much easier)

[@balkthor]

40:44 This may be the cutest thing I've ever seen Simon say in three years watching this channel.

[@Tiger21us]

Yes! That was great ^^

[@novemberdag1127]

I always get happy when Simon says I'm one of his favorite people :)

[@Jonas.Nilsson]

Always puts a smile on my face :)

[@emilywilliams3237]

Rarely am I in the doldrums, but this afternoon I found myself so, and what a great pleasure it was to watch you solve this wonderful puzzle. Yes, the region sum lines being based on the yin-yang coloring was quite novel and very interesting. Thank you for this video, Simon, and for all that you and Mark do to bring such enjoyment to all of us, twice a day no less (plus Wordle, of course).

[@myverypersonalstuff]

I hope you steer clear of those doldrums.

[@myacky5887]

I hope tomorrow is a brighter day!

[@emilywilliams3237]

@@myverypersonalstuff Thank you!

[@emilywilliams3237]

@@myacky5887 Thank you!

[@davidrattner9]

Always take care of yourself Emily.

[@th.nd.r]

That is just incredible. So fun. Great setting and solving. Love the fact that we’re getting two beautiful empty rectangles near the ends of puzzles in two days.

[@FrancisFjordCupola]

At 1:00:18 it's not just that you get an island of grey cells, you also get a green 2x2 (with the 8, 5, 1 and 2). But that would just be too obvious to spot.

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 05:05 Let's Get Cracking: 08:09 Simon's time: 52m36s Puzzle Solved: 1:00:45 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! The Secret: 11x (08:16, 08:22, 10:38, 11:23, 11:36, 11:50, 13:02, 45:33, 45:33, 45:36, 45:37) Maverick: 2x (23:51, 23:51) Three In the Corner: 1x (41:21) Phistomefel: 1x (02:49) Nori Nori: 1x (36:11) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Checkerboard: 15x (08:26, 09:17, 10:17, 10:31, 10:34, 24:58, 25:37, 26:37, 35:31, 36:14, 36:22, 36:44, 38:09, 45:20, 46:34) Beautiful: 9x (54:06, 54:22, 56:44, 56:47, 57:35, 1:00:36, 1:00:36, 1:01:45, 1:01:48) By Sudoku: 8x (29:13, 33:20, 41:34, 56:01, 56:50, 57:25, 58:47, 59:18) In Fact: 8x (23:02, 28:42, 32:07, 36:04, 38:14, 42:32, 47:34, 54:39) Lovely: 6x (28:29, 30:27, 38:22, 38:27, 42:01, 56:33) Whoopsie: 6x (29:52, 35:37, 35:37, 35:37, 35:37, 57:20) Ah: 6x (13:57, 14:13, 37:43, 38:22, 46:29, 54:06) Sorry: 4x (19:08, 25:25, 53:38, 53:50) Gorgeous: 4x (25:43, 26:24, 27:23, 43:21) Obviously: 4x (02:37, 11:30, 13:22, 48:51) Clever: 3x (30:29, 39:33, 56:37) Brilliant: 3x (00:39, 02:38, 03:47) Deadly Pattern: 3x (22:38, 59:02, 59:50) Hang On: 3x (05:29, 11:23, 14:48) Surely: 3x (44:47, 46:52, 58:31) Wow: 3x (19:16, 38:22, 57:35) I've Got It!: 2x (59:57, 59:57) Good Grief: 1x (36:22) What on Earth: 1x (21:03) Useless: 1x (19:34) Goodness: 1x (36:46) Naked Single: 1x (58:17) Missing Something: 1x (52:35) In the Spotlight: 1x (41:25) Stuck: 1x (31:15) Off to the Races: 1x (33:33) Break the Puzzle: 1x (05:53) Fascinating: 1x (21:45) Take a Bow: 1x (1:02:22) Masterpiece: 1x (02:52) Phone is Buzzing: 1x (54:50) What Does This Mean?: 1x (37:29) Pencil Mark/mark: 1x (27:40) Cake!: 1x (02:28) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Fourteen (7 mentions) Two (100 mentions) Green (86 mentions) Antithesis Battles: Low (4) - High (2) Even (7) - Odd (2) Shaded (2) - Unshaded (0) Black (6) - White (0) Row (6) - Column (5) 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!

[@quothacreations3465]

my brain kept trying to make the sum lines reference the 3x3 boxes instead of the yin-yang colors, which made the solving much longer than it needed to be. but well done Xendari, wonderful puzzle. Simon, you are a very good youtube friend, and I suspect an even better one IRL, thanks for the consistently entertaining videos.

[@Raven-Creations]

You could have used the secret on box 1 at the start for a tiny bit of information. Both lines must contain exactly two segments, so they sum to an even number. Therefore R3C3 is odd. In box 3, the straight line must have different coloured ends, so we know approximately where one boundary split occurs. R1C1 and R2C1 must be different colours, so there's the other split. It was weird that you could see that the boomerang had to have different coloured ends, but not that the same applied to the other line in box 1 (and also to the one in box 5). I had originally commented that you'd missed the 39/49 logic in box 9, but you spotted it later. This puzzle was full of nice little bits of logic like that. Thank you Mark for suggesting it. A good solve from you today; I only shouted a couple of times, but you quickly resolved them. I'm surprised it's over an hour, but I suppose you did do a lot of nori nori while explaining. I think you owe that kropki dot an apology. You maligned it early on as merely a disambiguator. It was mighty.

[@Coyotek4]

31:05 ... I really enjoy yin-yang sudokus such as this; adding the equal-sum lines was also neat Wonderful puzzle!

[@andersosterholm2538]

A wonderful puzzle! I really like when you keep using all the rules throughout the solve.

[@piarittersporn]

After I listened to Simon's explanations and followed him for a few minutes, I completely understood the rules and was able to make progress myself. A truly amazing puzzle.

[@missioncardiac7599]

Thanks for the shout out, and yes I did have a great time and chocolate cake of course.

[@karlmortenlunna2417]

Loved the puzzle. Nice flow all the way. Finished it in 21:02

[@blobz-1]

This is an excellent puzzle. Congrats, Xendari!

[@Slydaa7]

One of my favorite puzzles!

[@davidrattner9]

Wonderful puzzle from you Xendari and panache solve from you Simon!!

[@coreydixon9713]

I love puzzles with this kind of flow. It’s like a fog-of-war without the fog.

[@stevieinselby]

Great puzzle 👍🏻 - completed in 37 minutes. I'm definitely getting better at yin-yang ☯ after all the practice on here! The Ↄ-shaped line in box 1 has exactly the same restriction (and indeed any 4-cell line where all cells see each other), that it can only be divided into 2 pieces and not 3. Not sure whether Simon missed that it was not a full circle when he was first looking at it because he seems to be suggesting that you could split into 3 pieces.

[@danielszanto2955]

That's how I did it as well.

[@pavva317]

20:38 Rarely is there a puzzle with such a nice and consistent flow.

[@Bazzo4492]

This has been a part of my evening routine for a good year now. Let’s go! 🎉

[@RoselynTate]

Managed this in 37:55! I absolutely loved this -- the logic all flowed so beautifully, and once I found the break-in, I never got stuck trying to figure out what to do next. It was honestly a bit like a fog of war puzzle for me, which have become my favourite kind of puzzles in recent months, because I felt like I always I was being clearly shown where I needed to be looking next to figure out the next step. Really beautiful. Very much enjoyed watching how Simon came to the same conclusions from rather different angles. And I'm honestly so proud that I was able to immediately spot what was going on with the line in boxes 6&9, and without having to use placeholders! That kind of looking several moves ahead isn't something that I usually feel able to do, but in this instance it felt obvious, and it's honestly entirely thanks to this channel and the wonderful community that I've learned enough and picked up enough tricks to be able to do puzzles like this on my own. Thank you so much!

[@ztszebra]

I had so much fun with this puzzle!

[@crystalgehrt8861]

Absolutely gorgeous.

[@richardpette]

Soo fun Sudoku!!! I want more Yin Yang Sudoku now!!! And I did it almost without any help! I'm getting better at it for every video I watch from you guys! Thank you! 🙏

[@Tepalus]

48min for me. What a solve! If you get the logic and keep all the rules in mind, it realy is a rush! Loved it. ❤

[@coralfeatherstone7019]

This is a beautiful puzzle.

[@ServantOfSatania]

22:47 For me, spotted the perimeter division fairly soon, got stuck on row 8/9 line for a bit because I can never get sudoku calculations with repeats into my head

[@tangrybird04]

I am very pleased with myself. I managed to solve this one in 58:00...which is very rare that I finish under an hour when Simon's video is OVER an hour....but I am a little bit upset...around 28:00 when Simon was figuring out what was going on in column 3, I got stuck and broke the puzzle because for some reason I assumed digits couldn't repeat on lines, and figured that row 8 column 2 3 and 4 were all the same color...but obviously they weren't...I went to Simon's video for help to see where I went wrong, and when I realized where my mistake was that row 8 column 4 can, and is, the same digit as row 9 column 7.....but other than that little mishap, beautiful flowing puzzle, as always

[@srwapo]

I made the same mistake!

[@koenth2359]

once you realize that any blue line of length three or four, that is contained within a box (or row or column) must have different colours at its endpoints, that makes life much easier.

[@happinesswins]

Lofi sudoku vids to sleep to

[@HunterJE]

35:23 Fascinating, I saw that ruled out by a checkerboard as well but by a different one! (r7c5 must be green to avoid checkerboard but that would leave a one-cell grey region with a massive sum at the end of the line)

[@Rach881101]

47:59 for me. Lovely yin-yang hybrid puzzle!

[@ericpraline1302]

NIce, thanks. I seem to be getting slower at solving puzzles, even if I invariably get there in the end. I'm happy to leave it to the young bucks to brag about their amazing speed solving skills.

[@Hakucho64]

I love how Simon can spot the amazing breakthrough at 54:00 but continually misses basic sudoku and pencil marks. It's like his mind has left this level for the next one.

[@spudd86]

14:36 Simon instantly forgets part of the rules! If r1c1 r1c2 r2c1 are all the same colour, then as he says r2c2 is the other one, but r2c1 and r2c2 would need to be the same number because of the colour changes since the sums are for each time the line enters a colour.

[@HunterJE]

18:50 Simon dismisses the big line at the bottom here a little prematurely -- with the perimeter and corner coloring you can shade at least one more cell. The grey cell in r9c3 is bounded by green and so is a single digit total, which means the green section that follows must extend at least one more cell to avoid having two of the same single digit sum in box 7...

[@BryanLu0]

The horseshoe shape is quite powerful in ying yang equal sum lines

[@stephenbrownca]

42:52... I'm getting better slowly. The break in is always the hard part, but this one seemed genuinely approachable.

[@grahamania]

47:25 for me. Mark was right! Fun, logical, not too hard, not too easy. Very enjoyable puzzle. Kind comment.

[@roosmary6662]

I was expecting a nori-nori kinda yin-yang video, but it was grey! .. I mean... great!

[@praematura]

31:43 for me. Almost goofed with the one of the lines, but figured out what was wrong and thankfully didn't have to unwind the rest of my progress at that point. Whew. 😄 Very wonderful puzzle!

[@Paolo_De_Leva]

_"Let's just say it's awesome"_ Agreed 😏👍. Thank you CTC.

[@Tiger21us]

Nori Nori! 💙 36:10

[@mcg6762]

Yohoo! 40 minutes for me. First time ever I've been faster than Simon!

[@pg5200]

Super great puzzle ! Enjoyed it very much :) 20'20" for me

[@HunterJE]

1:00:11 "If they are green these greys are stranded" not to mention the green 2x2 that'd put in the corner

[@markp7262]

39:54 finish. I was able to get the border (minus the one cell) quite easily, but after finishing box 1 and column 3, I struggled to get the long line along the bottom to work (I miscolored a cell, which broke everything. Eventually I got back on track, but it took a while to spot what I had missed. Excellent puzzle!

[@reecec626]

Must say I preferred the 'garish' colours, but what a fantastic solution path!

[@Shurtugal1427]

One sudoku a day, keeps the sadness away!😂

[@myverypersonalstuff]

Amen

[@Roblilley999]

45:45 - use of the secret

[@sc2cooptutorials679]

Surprised that I made it in 28 minutes and the video is a lot longer. Nice puzzle, the flow is really smooth.

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

17:40 for me. What a beautiful puzzle, I loved the solve path!!

[@Tepalus]

I mean, how?! Your time is crazy. Seeing all the logic without the sudoku stuff I could have a similar time, but have you even had time to think between rushing this? lol

[@CrankyOtter]

49:35 Another way forward here is to note the 9 in box 3 has to be in r1 or r2, but on a divided 3 cell line in a single box must be on its own, so it’s r1c9 & r2c9 becomes grey.

[@RichieDcik]

A lot of the smaller lines (3&4) in these puzzles, their ends must be different colours if they are in the same box/row/column

[@EelcoWind]

40:33 for me. This was a very nice puzzle throughout, not too difficult but certainly not too easy either. Edit: Quite Interesting, I should add :)

[@myfyrmadocjones]

62 minutes - a short video for Simon today! 😀

[@bait6652]

Very nice ez puzzle. Very Unique yinyang version whereby the sudoku soln finished before the YY soln(or rather the YY soln dep on the sudoku soln. Very nice. Most YYs finish midway into sudoku solve it seems.

[@bait6652]

Those 4-digit sums wer e unexpectly pleasant

[@olivier2553]

I *think* that at 51:17, when you start considering where the 8 would go in box 6, either way you end up with 3 in R6C3. Though I am not sure if that helps for the remainder of the solution. I am at a stage where I don't know where to look, but if you point at the next place of interest, then I can see it quite clearly.

[@uncgoalie]

37:04... this was a beauty

[@TurquoizeGoldscraper]

33:07 for me - I'm starting to get the hang of these shading puzzles.

[@brittnie0_o]

At 45minutes and 45 seconds Simon says 45. Pretty cool!

[@GQSmoos]

Got this one is 57:02. Got a bit stuck down in box 8, but I think I’m overall happy with my time.

[@jamesblanton3744]

Great solve but I would have preferred the bright colors

[@srwapo]

41:55, though my time should have been shorter if not for a stupid mistake (figured out that r5c9 and r6c9 had to sum to either 3 or 4, so I penciled in 1,2 and 1,4, d'oh!). And I did have to see what I was doing wrong with the line (mostly) in Row 9 (I didn't realize that digits could repeat on the line).

[@Prince_Markus]

I'm always so surprised when you do the birthdays- me and my boyfriend always feel so young because we're 18 lol!

[@Stumdra]

89:56 for me. Not too bad. I really like colouring puzzles.

[@KinkyTurtle]

I finished faster than Simon? Ooo! Now I really get to feel smart!

[@titusadduxas]

1:37:59 for me. Lovely puzzle.

[@janavanrossum6174]

45:40 "In the 45th minute of the video, we are using the secret" That's the 46th minute 😜

[@jinchaoz]

Im early today. Looking forward to another fantastic Video!

[@koocnaed]

I love the fact that Simon coloured the last cells and commented "Thats brilliant, what a way to end the puzzle" when they could have been coloured 10 mins into this video 😂

[@RichSmith77]

I don't see how? Even 30 minutes into the video, I don't see why the line couldn't be coloured (starting top right) green-grey-grey-grey, or grey-green-green-green?

[@koocnaed]

@Richard Smith it needed to be the same colour (grey-grey or green-green) otherwise it would have the same value in box 3. It couldn't be green-green because of the rule that no 2x2 box can be the same colour... therefore, as soon as he established the perimeter was green, those 2 cells in box 3 were known

[@RichSmith77]

@@koocnaed Why would different colours in box 3 make them the same value? The line could stay the same colour as r2c7 for r3c6 and r4c7, making those three cells need to sum to the same cell value as r2c8.

[@LednacekZ]

34:57 for me. even with a quite big mistake I had to backtrack.

[@meredithnavin1358]

Anybody else yelling about the grey cells in row 2, columns 7 and 8 for about 30 minutes? Because I was. Lovely solve Simon! It was a delight to watch you do this. Despite my yelling, I know I would never have had a hope to even break into the puzzle. Thank you for being a wholesome channel.

[@laszloliptak611]

Very fun puzzle, and after thinking that it is almost impossible to start it, one can make surprisingly quick progress at times. Solved it in 53:10.

[@rmartin1759]

DAD!!!! I SOLVED IT!!! 81 MINUTES YEEETT!

[@kookeekwisp]

Not only does he bring up the secret on minute 45, but he SAYS the number "45" at 45:45

[@MegaAndywright]

Can someone clarify a rule for me? If a line passes diagonally between 2 boxes of the same colour, are they part of the same sum? Thanks

[@theredstoneengineer6934]

28:34 for me Edit: Fun fact, we had the exact same shading just inverted. Also funner fact, Qi in Chinese and East Asian culture is a vital force of any living entity, and it is viewed as one's life energy. The yin yang symbol is used to symbolize the balance in the human body as well as nature. Yin and Yang and Qi are two of the most popular Ancient Chinese beliefs, which is why the puzzle is called Qi Manifest (I'm guessing)

[@sunriselg]

I'm proud to say I found the break-in very quickly. But then I got stuck.

[@goldcobraarima9819]

#favoritepeoplegang

[@williamwoodside4694]

Title reminds me of pineapple express when seth Rogen goes "Hey, you DO have that job!"

[@badw01f23]

Oh lord the green and orange was so hard to differentiate. Haha thought i was going crazy but no. Im just colorblind

[@Breush]

I spent a very long time assuming the rules said that all blue lines had the very same N, before eventually resigning because it created a contradiction top-left box. Sigh.

[@petemagnuson7357]

I feel like after enough region sums, he would know that 4 length lines in a single region must have exactly 1 color change along the length. Otherwise you end up with multiple 1 cell segments that see each other

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

20:27 for me. another ying yang solved

[@shadowturtleyinyang]

at 14:34 you say that three digits would add up to another but there is no connection between 2 of them and the third which would have given 2 digits equal to each other on the same box which breaks the puzzle and would have given you what you were looking for a fact you use 5 minutes later at 19:50

[@jaeusa160]

@16:40 I always find it bizarre that Simon hates such a rich minty green. I find it much nicer looking than the default green, which is still fine.

[@HunterJE]

I feel like he's overcautious from before Sven silently added the white lines around clue elements, it used to be hard to read some clues against darker colors like that but that's no longer an issue...

[@fangas47210]

I don’t have a comment to the puzzle at hand, but a question. We all know that the boxes 1-9 each contain nine digits, totaling to 45, could anyone think of another box of nine cells in the existing grid whose total would be also 45. An example, could R3C3,R3C4…..R5C4,R5C5 sum up to 45 as well? I hope someone can answer my question.

[@stevieinselby]

Yes. In a trivial case, take a marked 3×3 box. Now draw a 3×3 cage shifted one cell to the right. Take the digits that were in the left-hand column on your original box, and put them in the right-hand column of your new cage, in a different order. That is perfectly compatible with the rules of sudoku. I wouldn't like to say whether _every_ valid sudoku grid has an additional non-box 3×3 region adding up to 45 though! I suspect not, but if you allow digits to repeat then it definitely increases the chances.

[@f.b.jeffers0n]

Just fwiw in the future, dark green + orange are nigh indistinguishable to me, a colour blind watcher...

[@jessevennard2640]

If he solves this correctly without realizing the individual pass rule, I quit

[@grimsqueaker5333]

3 gets a song🥰

[@DamianBrownIsCool]

Where does the channel get these psychedelic thumbnail artworks from?

[@myacky5887]

Simon answered in a comment a few days ago which program specifically, but they're AI- generated

[@erickehr4475]

I think that the instructions here are a little misleading. By saying the blue lines sum to N in each colour, I would interpret that as meaning that the sum is the same for each line.

[@caiodavi9829]

i solved this puzzle some time ago, and i understood the rules exactly as you described. took me some minutes of intense frustration to realize i might have misunderstood the rules

[@stevieinselby]

The rules explicitly say "If a blue line passes through a colour multiple times, each individual pass sums to N"

[@RichSmith77]

​@@stevieinselby I don't think that's the issue. They're saying that the rules don't clarify that N can be different for different lines, and it doesn't have to be the same total across the whole grid. Equal sum line rules will often say the total doesn't have to be the same for different lines, but that's missing here. It appears to assume some familiarity with standard equal sum line rules.

[@mjm3091]

the next line pretty much specifies it though.

[@RichSmith77]

@@mjm3091 Where? I don't see a line in the rules that says N can be different values for different lines. I can see how it could be interpreted as a single value N applying across the whole puzzle.