Imagine Having A Brain Like This...

[@GregJonson]

This video made me realise and appreciate how the great setters such as Zetamath construct their puzzles. When I make Sudokus, I start with a conceptually filled grid and then tweak the details until there's a path that fits the given clue distribution. When Zetamath makes Sudokus, he makes sure every digit and every miniscule logical deduction have to be earned and cherished. What a time to be alive to watch these remarkable constructors at work.

[@tremkl]

Zeta has live streamed a few settings, and it’s really quite incredible. He’ll usually go in with a kernel of an idea, some shape that strikes him as interesting. (In this case, it’s certainly the whispers), and then looks for the smallest clue to provide the biggest constraint. It’s rather like solving a Sudoku, but so much harder because you can’t see the clues until you make them. 😂

[@zegres]

I would highly recommend watching the setter videos on this channel. There is no wrong way to set a puzzle, but I think that if you really do set the way you describe, it would help you. Cheers!

[@BijickY]

Eva from Aalen here. Thanks for the birthday wishes, I actually had some chocolate cake. And you got the town's name exactly right. We truly love your videos, Simon.

[@clocksturnclockwise]

Happy birthday!

[@BijickY]

Oh, that's sweet. Thank you,@@clocksturnclockwise .

[@nathanmays7926]

happy 45th birthday :)

[@longwaytotipperary]

Happy birthday!

[@BijickY]

@@nathanmays7926 How do you know that?!? 😉

[@uigrad]

"Let me know if you had a go...." Yes, I did, and yes you are right, that was a jaw-dropping puzzle! It is certainly one of the best I've seen on this channel, and that is saying a lot!

[@stevieinselby]

I got the 5 in r1c1 fairly quickly ... then started in bemuselment for half an hour before giving up and watching the video. At the point where Simon notices the magic with the renban in box 4, I paused the video and managed to complete the rest of the puzzle from there. What a phenomenal puzzle 👍🏻👍🏻

[@srwapo]

Yeah, I also stared at the puzzle for way too long after immediately getting that 5. Was annoying!

[@nakorbluerider]

Right with you, pretty much the exact same. Truly is a great puzzle, but I needed a bump to get past that connection between the upper renban and the whisper lines.

[@emilywilliams3237]

This is totally amazing as a puzzle and as a solve. Simon, I agree, Zetamath is a genius and this is a wonderful puzzle full of surprises. But watching you solve it was entirely pleasurable to me, and you are also a genius. Thank you for this great video!!

[@longwaytotipperary]

Totally agree!!!

[@davidrattner9]

Simon has such respect for setters like Zetamath!! Just a joy to see the love in his solving of beauties like these!!

[@davidrattner9]

​@@longwaytotipperary zetamath has a reaction live stream solve of this from yesterday. Watch it with live chat replay on. 😃

[@cathybryant5119]

I absolutely loved this puzzle. From beginning to end, the deductions were so smooth and so clever. It took me about 40 minutes. Simon's solve was wonderful as well. What a perfect matching of puzzle to solver. Simon and Zetamath - each take a bow. 🙇🙇‍♂

[@arturocaissut1071]

This one was a great challenge while still being doable. I loved going back and forth between the different constraints and finding the hidden links among them. Zetamath really is a great setter.

[@gabrielgonzalez6841]

One of my favourite puzzles I've seen on the channel. I love its flow, the minimalistic grid, the originality of the rules (without these rules being too peculiar), and the fact that it's not monstrous to solve :)

[@longwaytotipperary]

After a challenging day, I get a wonderful present- my Greatest Hits Volume 2 arrived today!!!! ❤❤❤❤ Always enjoy puzzles by Zetamath!! We had beautiful weather today - sunny and 70 degrees F but storms are forecast for tomorrow.

[@davidrattner9]

Way to go that it arrived finally for you!! 💙💚

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@davidrattner9 yay!!!😀❤️❤️❤️

[@tattoocyborg1480]

Amazing! I kept having moments of thinking that surely I was stuck but then something else would reveal itself. A top-tier exercise in how much if-then logic one can hold in one's head.

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 06:05 Let's Get Cracking: 09:18 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! The Secret: 8x (02:56, 04:25, 14:34, 14:36, 14:44, 17:36, 18:27, 18:29) Knowledge Bomb: 1x (37:59) Three In the Corner: 1x (38:10) Phistomefel: 1x (02:02) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Beautiful: 10x (00:42, 01:28, 14:29, 25:18, 26:19, 26:26, 29:15, 31:58, 32:01, 50:05) In Fact: 9x (01:43, 06:43, 08:18, 21:06, 25:23, 31:42, 36:19, 38:24, 46:00) Ah: 8x (21:33, 23:34, 23:34, 29:39, 30:51, 32:18, 48:24, 50:01) Weird: 8x (23:38, 23:56, 25:04, 25:18, 29:11, 29:15, 37:52, 49:03) Clever: 6x (26:31, 32:51, 51:41, 51:41, 51:44, 51:46) By Sudoku: 5x (15:29, 15:34, 16:56, 28:54, 38:10) Hang On: 5x (21:02, 30:51, 33:47, 40:51, 41:04) Lovely: 4x (27:55, 32:39, 34:51, 47:52) Gorgeous: 4x (01:25, 28:15, 52:34, 53:21) Whoopsie: 4x (19:41, 19:41, 19:41, 24:04) Pencil Mark/mark: 4x (11:38, 12:45, 45:13, 49:09) Cake!: 4x (04:33, 05:49, 05:54, 50:09) Bother: 3x (43:36, 45:02, 46:52) The Answer is: 3x (27:13, 37:39, 43:41) Sorry: 2x (18:57, 35:16) Naughty: 2x (12:03, 39:03) What Does This Mean?: 2x (15:51, 39:16) Unique: 2x (00:37, 09:56) Triangular Number: 2x (10:01, 35:58) Goodness: 1x (26:31) Nonsense: 1x (22:40) Stuck: 1x (45:10) Brilliant: 1x (01:09) Incredible: 1x (02:08) Take a Bow: 1x (51:34) Shouting: 1x (04:30) Disappointing: 1x (31:06) Doesn't get a Song: 1x (14:31) We Can Do Better Than That: 1x (10:23) Pregnant pause: 1x (38:58) Jaw-dropping: 1x (53:27) That is Sick: 1x (26:23) Symmetry: 1x (16:22) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Fifteen (7 mentions) One (116 mentions) Green (29 mentions) Antithesis Battles: Low (11) - High (9) Even (6) - Odd (1) Higher (5) - Lower (2) Black (9) - White (0) Column (9) - Row (6) 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!

[@martysears]

Another masterpiece from Zetamath. those two renbans and German Whispers were the gift that kept on giving! This ruleset is begging for sequels

[@Butchermb_]

Great and elegant puzzle! And doable after over 3 years of CtC training 👌

[@realoik]

what a wonderful puzzle from zetamath! was a pleasure to watch as for streaming, i would recommend doing at least one more stream of the case of the golden idol! the story and logic really pick up after the couple of intro puzzles that you did. maybe it'll grow on you guys (i hope it does)

[@chris5619]

With the 123 triple near the end, the 3 having to be in one of r4c4 or r2c6 also eliminated a 3 from r2c4, making that cell a 1, and placing the 123 bulbs. Solves easy from there as well.

[@RoselynTate]

It was so interesting to watch Simon's solve of this, because he approached so many things in this puzzle just differently enough from the ways that I figured them out. For instance, the way I spotted the final disambiguation wasn't using R6C6, but R2C4, and noting that if it was a 3, then 3 couldn't appear on any of the thermos, and therefore it had to be a 1. It's essentially the same deduction in the resolution it provides, but I love that you can have a puzzle as elegant and clever as this that still has multiple ways of looking at the logic, and all these slightly different paths to get to the solution. Bravo once again to zetamath for the construction!!

[@paulwright13]

Loved this puzzle, as with all zetamath puzzles. Logic flow was beautiful

[@Chislevs]

That reduction from the 123 in the bulbs to the 5 in r6c6 was so good, took me quite some time to see but I'm happy I found it :D

[@Swisswavey]

What a genius puzzle and, surprisingly not horribly difficult. 45 minutes for me, but it was thoroughly enjoyable.

[@frankjiang1857]

Finished in 46:42. The logic of trying to figure out what could be where for each clue kept tricking my mind. I was finally able to just think what happens if I put certain digits on the german whisper lines. Fun puzzle!

[@camdenwalker252]

Hey Simon, I just wanted to thank you for these videos. I watch you play sudoku every night because something about your voice gets me to fall asleep within minutes of the video starting. I really don't even have much interest in sudoku, but if I see a 2-hour video from you guys and it's late at night, I will always click. Thanks!

[@andrewgrant6516]

Dogs can't have an MRI, but catscan.

[@David_K_Booth]

However, some dogs can have a Lab report.

[@BozoTheBear]

ZM never disappoints!! Totally genius puzzle. I'll have to watch the solve, as my solution involved a bit of a case-bash on column 9, eliminating all the possibilities for the vertical arrow in combination with the black dot.

[@martincollins11]

Great puzzle. The thermo logic at the end was so satisfying after a tricky break in 😊

[@katieellis1893]

Loved this one! After watching for over a year, I actually found the german whisper break-in easily, which is a first for me. With 8 different digits you just consider the restrictions on 3 and 7 to get the correct sequences. I'm amazed by the brilliance of both Zetamath and Simon.

[@whatsleep17]

When you got to the red digits, I looked at row 2 column 4 - it was a different but equally beautiful option!

[@anaayoung9142]

Great puzzle. After the logic at the renbans I was able to try it. Thanks for the solve 😊

[@raynedzel8662]

Zetamath does it again!

[@annek3296]

KUDOS-U, ZetaMath, for the brilliant setting, and Mark, for the elegant solve!

[@Qazqi]

I was so mad at myself when I gained lucidity for a brief moment to see the actual break-in after fiddling around with the arrows, renbans, and whispers for so long knowing zetamath doesn't like doing a bunch of mental work to slowly whittle down possibilities. It's incredible how quickly the puzzle collapses after that, like 10 minutes from the time I saw the real break-in and restarted, though I had the benefit of some other logic already being familiar from my fiddling.

[@MattYDdraig]

31:51 Exquisite crafting. Thank you Zetamath! Astonishing that you can make something like this.

[@williammorris7279]

I am going to wait in the hope that Zetamath will do one of his usual reaction videos, which are just a joy. I presume you let constructors know? (I do appreciate that you have a huge number of comments, but I have asked this question a couple of times, although I suspect this is a QTWTAIN.)

[@FleckerMan]

many setters have commented about being pleasantly surprised so I don't think they usually give a heads up :) Stream is scheduled so zeta react is a go!

[@williammorris7279]

@FleckerMan Yes, that is my impression, too. Thanks for the info about the stream: I do subscribe to him, and am watching out for the notification. I am not working tomorrow, so will stay up whatever time it starts. And I just got the ping! Over and out.

[@life.with.sabine]

kzbin.infojjnkSP_D-MU?si=vasSk9tFgrbzyY7n

[@R..O..L]

On the topic of streaming games (something I'm far more qualified to talk about than Sudoku), I'm tempted to encourage you to stick with 'The Curse of the Golden Idol'. Alternatively there's 'Escape from Mystwood Mansion' or in the worst case just solving a monstrously hard sudoku for a couple of hours. The real problem is how unplayable 'The Talos Principle' is, even with anti-motion sickness settings, as I think it would otherwise be a brilliant game for you and Mark.

[@wossaaaat]

Ooooh! TNC's broken secrets coming out soon? Get in. Thank you Simon.

[@sampathkumar-ej7xl]

Another great one from Zetamath. I was impressed by simon's ability to quickly spot the naked single 5 in R1C1 amd his - Mouth dont write cheques that the brain cant cash was a classic.

[@ericpraline1302]

Another beauty from Zetamath, it bodes well for the year ahead.

[@johanwedin4669]

Yes please, long solves!

[@MijnheerMichael]

Although the 5 in the corner did not deserve a song, the "it has 5 on it" actually does

[@LiquorStoreJon]

What a mind-bending looking puzzle!

[@chocolateboy300]

I finished in 73 minutes. As soon as I started, the arrow seemed the most interesting, so I beelined for that. I spent a good while on it, narrowing down the possibilities. That is, until I noticed how restrictive the renbans are on the german whispers. Combining those made me realize that my two cell renban was limited to the edge case. From there, it went quite well. I like this concept for a ruleset a lot. Great Puzzle!

[@MyriamTT]

BEAUTIFUL PUZZLE !!!!

[@NinjarioPicmin]

For Suggestions on streaming games i can HIGHLY highly recommend the fantastic We Were Here Games, there are a bunch of them now, and each one keeps getting bigger and better in my opinion, but basically you need _exactly_ 2 people to play and for most of the game you are separated and only see partial information about puzzles and have to solve them by communicating what each of you sees. Would be an absolutely amazing treat to see it played by avid puzzle solvers like you two! You can definitely start with any of the games in the series, it's pretty much up to you, if you want to play all of them i would for sure start with the first one and go from there, but if you only want to check out one of them i'd go with the latest one We Were Here Forever.

[@scorix_]

At 50:18 there was an alternative additional icing on the icing on the icing of the chocolate cake :D The "23" at row 4 column 4 must be a 2. Box 2 has a "13" pair, so the "23" cell will always see the 3, whether by row or by thermo rule

[@Mephistahpheles]

Yours is more traditional way to resolve it, but the "Ψ wing" Simon used was rather cool.

[@BakingFiend-rl7mo]

Man i cant believe thats what zetamaths brain actually looks like!

[@fanyaugusts9760]

Just beautiful

[@andrewgrant6516]

A Monster's Expedition Through Puzzling Exhibitions. It's top down so no motion sickness, mostly pushing over trees and rolling the trunks around to make pathways. It's incredibly charming, scattered liberally with jokes, and an all around fun time for all.

[@randomusername6]

Great suggestion!

[@AnmoDejo]

This puzzle was so good. I need to understand how to build sudokus. Is there any article I could read?

[@RedBarchetta2019]

This was a great one - and I thought I solved it just a week ago - but apparently it was before Christmas! Holiday brain knows no time. Anyway Great puzzle! It's like a disjoint ruleset but better!

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

17:33 for me. Great puzzle!!

[@piarittersporn]

Fabulous puzzle.

[@markschaal6050]

Brilliant puzzle

[@johanwedin4669]

Zetamath rules!

[@farbiarnarrr4767]

Hey i really like the thumbnails! Are those done with the help of Image generating AIs? Love the Content btw 😉❤️

[@MarcusTheDorkus]

Excellent puzzle! I made 2 dumb mistakes that cost me a ton of time unfortunately.... For some reason I treated the renbans as white dot sequences which had me place 2 digits that I shouldn't have (one of them just happened to be correct but the other broke eventually). The other mistake was me somehow constantly overlooking that I could resolve the central black dot with the no repeat numbers constraint. I don't know why I was going around to every other clue and applying that constraint but for that one I just didn't even think to.

[@deniz5566]

What a lovely puzzle and solve!! As for game suggestions, there is a murder mystery game called This Bed We Made, set in a hotel in1950s Montreal, where you try to find clues in the guests' rooms. It's a fun solve, also your actions or inactions have consequences on the game ending.

[@Mephistahpheles]

Psi-wing? @50:20 (Ψ = Y with the extra branch.) Seems appropriate to be introduced by ZETAmath. 🙂

[@phoenixaki3458]

Regarding the stream talk at the start: I strongly suggest exploring the settings in Talos Principle to ease the motion sickness, because it seriously would be so insanely up your alley in my opinion...worth mentioning as well is that the sequel (Talos 2, released just a few months ago and could be played standalone if needed) has a direct setting in the game for motion sickness accessibility. Hexcells is incredible regardless :)

[@Ycesugho]

Please do at least one more stream of the case of the golden idol! love the game, and love your stream!

[@briancouchman5658]

At the end when you mark three cells red and talk about them forcing a 5… I think a better way to do that is to ask what r4c4 is if r2c6 is a 3 or a 1… in both cases it’s a 2 (either because 2/6 is a 3 or 2/6 is a 1 and 2/4 is a 3, that fixes the whole grid too and feels more elegant to me.

[@justinec3294]

My break in was different, Question1: Where does the arrow bulb in C3R6 goes on the green line - Row3 Column 1&2 - Row1 Column 4&5 Deduction 1: the arrow bulb doesn't appear in either Renbans in Boxes 4&6 Deduction 2: Based on the available positions of that digit on the German Whispers lines, it cannot appear on the Renban in box 2 The Digit needed to complete a set of 1-9 in the Renban constraint is the arrow bulb in C3R6 (aka, all those digits MUST be unique) ;)

[@deszeldra]

So good. I enjoyed it immensely but I made a stupid but lucky assumption about the german whisper lines that helped but probably reduced my appreciation of how very, very clever the puzzle was. Though I especially enjoyed the finish.

[@davidrattner9]

All..Zetamath having a live stream reaction video on his channel to this solve at 4:45 pm central standard time, 5:45 Eastern standard time and 10:45 pm Uk time , so in about a half hour.

[@theashen]

pure genius.

[@giladooshlon]

Very nice puzzle. Done in 27 minutes.

[@Yttria]

Quite difficult but beautiful. Figured everything out except the location of 8 in box 1. (Timer stopped at 117 min)

[@slovakio223]

Please upload broken secrets, im dying to see it

[@bossdoorpodcast]

I tried so hard to solve this and could barely get started. I can't imagine how Simon sees the things he does.

[@derekjc777]

Seen the Numnberphile videos. They’re brilliant! So funny seeing Simon pretending to be a Maths professor…

[@achad1607]

In retrospect, after not finding it initially, the break in was quite simple. 1) Five unique digits summing to the two arrows must be at least 15, so r6c3 was from 6789. 2) The renban in box 2 cannot be all low, or all high, else all digits cannot go on the Whisper lines, so it has a 5 on it. 3) R6c3 cannot be on a renban by sudoku for two, and the fact that putting r6c3 on the renban in box 2 would break the two whisper lines. 4) The renban in box 4 must be 123, and box 2's 456. This eliminating 9 from r6c3 [c1 is 9-4]. Eight removes both 8 and 9 from the renbans, while 6 removes 6 and either 7 or 9 from the lines. So r6c3 is 7, and, the two-cell renban is 89. 5) 7-34, and -8-125 are thee only possible arrow possibilities.

[@pimanrules]

Most people are suggesting puzzle or detective games to stream, but if you want to try something different I think you might enjoy Rhythm Doctor. It's a music-based game with a campaign and a story, but unlike a lot of rhythm games it doesn't rely so much on pressing buttons really fast but rather appreciating the rhythm and keeping time with the music. It's a simple premise with lots of fun and surprising twists and it's not too long either.

[@nathanmays7926]

If you’re looking for a game to stream, may I suggest the original Myst? It’s a super old, moderately difficult puzzle game with beautiful scenery. Might bring some nostalgia for your viewers. :)

[@SnDAvenger]

If you’re looking for suggestions on games, my girlfriend and I have just finished the we were here series. Puzzles in that series were amazing fun, especially in trying to convey the information in front of you. Would absolutely love to see your take 😊

[@jessevennard2640]

Got really stuck convincing myself I needed to open box 1 with set. It was such an interesting set, it just had to be…

[@Itstoearly]

I now you tried Real Myst and got motion sickness, but maybe the original Myst will work for you? The original is a series of still images instead of a 3d environment.

[@specialkalberta]

Amazing

[@57thorns]

50:31 And here I was looking at r2c4...

[@srwapo]

58:01, wasted like twenty minutes looking at the arrows before looking at the green and purple lines and figuring out how they affected each other. Just kinda slowed from there, though I forgot to continue the high/low pattern on the green lines for a bit and spun my wheels.

[@LednacekZ]

26:39 today. i am quite happy with the time and the solve.

[@maggieelliott5896]

That was delicious!

[@DjurslandsEfterskole]

131 - got there in the end 💪🏻

[@maxx-er3fj]

49:50 the R4C4 must be a 2, becouse it sees both the R2C4 and R2C6, it sees R2C2 becouse of sudoku and R2C6 becouse of a thermo, and it is 13 pair, so therefore it must be a 2. It would solve everything beautifully

[@tonyawright6020]

It always gets me how Simon will forget the logic he only just stated a moment ago. "There is only one place on the thermos where 8 can go. If there is no 8 on the thermo in box 8, then every other digit must be on a thermo and there is only one place for the 4." Five seconds later, places a 4 which removes the last possible 4 option from the thermos. Apparently already forgot the logic he just stated which should tell him that the 8 now goes on the thermo end in box 8 and moves on to other things.... fortunately it didn't take him too long to get back to the thermo logic, but still...

[@gJonii]

The thumbnail for this video is scary. I don't usually mind AI-generated images, which I assume this is, but this is horrifying. Like a fever nightmare.

[@MyriamTT]

8:44 Simon does see blue digits, but sometimes ignores them on purpose.

[@asbjrnfossmo1589]

So... who else is waiting for Potatohead and Phistomephel to make their idea of a puzzle based on this ruleset? :D I have to say, this idea for a rule is.... well... now that I think about it, I don't have strong enough positively charged adjectives in my vocabulary, so maybe I can't say after all.

[@benjaminrealy5661]

41:40. Spent too long not realizing the bulb in box 5 couldn't be a 1 or 3 because it would cause another bulb to be the same digit (if solving using sudoku), therefore breaking the rules

[@DaemonWorx]

At 38:07 he marks a 3 as being in either column 3 row 8 or column 3 row 9 and he could already find which one it has to be via sudoku rules but I’m currently at 43:55 in and he still hasn’t seen it lol Edit: I can’t believe it, I accidentally paused and then commented right before he realized it!

[@Squishy3757]

Just started watching. Will Simon conclude a 5 immediately goes in the top left corner?

[@Squishy3757]

Eventually

[@Squishy3757]

But where do 4 and 6 go…

[@Rach881101]

45:33 for me. Very interesting puzzle!

[@bait6652]

Now thats disappointing, u need the given to resolve the last 10 cells. Nice rule set

[@jussikuusela7345]

Play Head Over Heels live... I think the best version is for the C64 but you could configure an emulator to be more playable, with a SixaxiS style controller so you could avoid cumbersome keyboard controls (or mixed joystick/keyboard). There is a remake for Windows, but it is old of its own right already, might not work on a current Windows setup, and it has some edges that hinder smooth gameplay. Those didn't exist in the C64 verision at least, and I don't think the other vintage versions had them either. I believe this is something the coders of the remake didn't take into consideration.

[@AWanderingSwordsman]

55 minutes for me. I didn't have a digit until 29 minutes. I feel kinda dumb for not seeing the high low polarity in box 4 because of the arrow circle. I even figured out it had to 6 or higher right at the start of the puzzle. Could have saved myself 25 minutes or so if I wasn't blind.

[@derekjc777]

Have you seen the Monument Valley games? If you like MC Escher you’ll like these isometric non-Euclidean puzzle games.

[@voltrakkon659]

I'd love to see you two battle on hexcells but unfortunately you'd need the mod my friend built to turn hexcells into a multiplayer game. You get time penalties for errors and battle for the best time on the puzzle. It adds a whole other dynamic to hexcells!

[@mikedonnan6541]

"Virtuosic" - OED ✅😆

[@Anne_Mahoney]

I was taught that this is a barbarism: the adjective is "virtuoso," taken directly from Italian. Of course, I'm pretty old-school and the professor for whom this was a major, serious pet peeve was even older school! 😺

[@theredstoneengineer6934]

62:00 exactly for me

[@erickehr4475]

15:03 for me. A very clever puzzle. The break-in was hard, but not too hard. After that it went very smoothly.

[@ingiford175]

41:18 "lets do this by a complicated method"; Um, your orange has to be 4/9 from box 3. So that gives you the orange in box 1

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

37:31 for me. the break in was long, but i coud make it.

[@vpr0]

Please at least try portal, it's not too bad for motion sickness