Randall Sets A Puzzle!

[@randall_]

Thank you so much for the feature! Brilliant solve, as always from you, Simon. I need to call out my very good friend @XeonRisq for the encouragement, testing, and suggestions on this one. He is too humble to take a naming credit for this puzzle - despite thoroughly deserving one. Thanks to you and Mark for the channel - it's a constant joy 🤩

[@JohnHazl]

Gorgeous Yin Yang! Big thanks to you and XeonRisq

[@ChocolateJesii]

Great puzzle, the logic flowed so nicely feom start to finish!

[@davidrattner9]

Just again wonderful from you! Never fail to disappoint! Loved this Yin Yang!!

[@xeonrisq2919]

Excellent puzzle Randall and very entertaining solve Simon. While I will admit I did assist, I would never presume to detract any of the spotlight where it is deserved, and Randall deserves the accolades here. (but tyvm for the shout out) This ruleset is quite clever and produced some enjoyable logic; the type of puzzle that's so fun that once a solver gets their foot in the door, can't put it away until it has been solved. I'm really glad this one made it to the channel and hope it inspires other setters to either use or push the idea further, would love to see more puzzles with this sum dots/yin yang hybrid.

[@WereDictionary]

As someone who has heard "the secret" and ying-yang rules what feels like an infinite amount of times before, the person who has been explaining everything to me has always been Simon. Its not a big thing but I'd just like to commend Simon for his bottomless amount of patience. I can but aspire to wield the sheer amount of patience he does every single video. Godzilla knows it would make my life a whole lot easier.

[@Cutifn]

One of the things I love about these 'challenge' sudoku boards is that they start off very slowly but then all the pieces fall into place, it's absolutely brilliant

[@jekoki01]

I just absolutely adore the birds in the background 🐦

[@DanielMorris1]

Yes. Took me a while to realize where the chirping was coming from!

[@yen-chewu1467]

This has recently become my favorite channel. Thank you Simon and Mark for everything. Looking forward to the 600k pack solving stream (or another Braid stream)!

[@pietrofiorelli8812]

When Simon said "Sunday's edition" I got scared because I thought I didn't realise weekend was already over, but thankfully it's not.

[@welcometogeektown]

"What in that sentence sounded like Alexa?" I'm going to go with "At least."

[@katiekawaii]

That was my guess too.

[@olivier2553]

I was wondering, is it possible to change Alexa by a more distinct word?

[@AWorldsEnvy]

As I've commented in past videos, it's the way he says "Ah". As in "Ah, we've got a...". Every time his phone pops up, it's right after he makes a deduction like that.

[@studgerbil9081]

@@olivier2553 you can use "computer" or you could just turn it off when making a video.

[@liquidjoe71]

I think it may have been the way he said “well that’s got” fairly quickly. Comes out as “wulatsga”.

[@boahnation9932]

There's nobody else that commentates a puzzle quite like you do Simon!

[@emilywilliams3237]

So enjoyable to watch you solve this, Simon. I had never heard of YinYang as a puzzle type before this channel, and I love watching you solve sudokus with that additional rule. Thanks for this video and all the great content!

[@davidrattner9]

Seeing Simon and Mark solve is so enjoyable and them teaching us yin yang has been something exquisite!!

[@neil2796]

I always find it interesting the things Simon doesn't see. One gray cell in box one had to be a 7 and it took him that long to notice.

[@jensschmidt]

Same on the 2 in row 1

[@Ferrastar]

We mustn’t ask Simon to do sudoku in a sudoku puzzle

[@neil2796]

@@Ferrastar It wasn't even Sudoku. It was the result of the puzzle constraint.

[@lcpholman]

1 cell adding to 7 is far too simple :)

[@ChocolateJesii]

It is amazing that some really complicated logic that I could never dream of seeing just comes to him like nothing, and then he looks right past the simplest things 😂

[@VonBlade]

I guess I'm of a certain age. I see "Randall" and think of Monroe, AKA XKCD, before the evil dude from Monsters Inc. Why yes I do have back pain :D

[@AngelWedge]

I thought that too; especially given that the latest XKCD is A Crossword Puzzle, and I was one of several people who suggested yesterday that Simon should attempt it.

[@jacobolus]

The film Monsters Inc predates xkcd by about 5 years. (Assuming you are talking about the comic; maybe Randy was using that IRC handle as a middle school student or so?)

[@Cthulhus_Mum]

Huh, you’re right - I was too old to see Monsters Inc in the cinemas, so I didn’t realise it came out when I was 17 - I’d have guesssd 25 or so (so, a couple of years post xkcd beginning, not before it). I was certainly at least mid-20s before I saw it myself 😆

[@codahighland]

He spells his name "Munroe" for the record.

[@pudifoot]

When i do yin/yang puzzles I always use green for shaded and grey for unshaded. This makes watching Simon’s solve very confusing to me! 😂

[@chocolateboy300]

I finished in 52 minutes. This was a cool ruleset with the Yin Yang. I really liked the break-in involving the 2, 4, and outer 12 cages. I think my favorite part was maneuvering the values of the two 9 cages in box 9. Great Puzzle!

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 01:57 Let's Get Cracking: 04:06 Simon's time: 39m39s Puzzle Solved: 43:45 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! The Secret: 2x (05:41, 31:46) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Ah: 10x (09:45, 11:41, 12:26, 14:24, 19:39, 22:51, 23:52, 33:38, 40:07, 41:19) Hang On: 9x (07:56, 10:49, 15:43, 15:43, 19:39, 19:39, 19:39, 19:39, 22:49) Brilliant: 8x (25:06, 25:55, 33:56, 33:58, 43:20, 43:23, 43:44, 43:47) Checkerboard: 7x (06:02, 06:34, 07:17, 33:50, 41:07, 41:33, 41:36) Sorry: 6x (07:54, 14:20, 16:13, 27:20, 27:20, 28:32) By Sudoku: 6x (24:43, 32:32, 35:07, 36:46, 37:39, 39:07) Lovely: 3x (10:40, 20:52, 42:44) In Fact: 3x (05:01, 10:21, 34:57) Pencil Mark/mark: 2x (26:42, 38:22) Weird: 2x (00:51, 17:36) Useless: 1x (37:54) Recalcitrant: 1x (39:21) Stuck: 1x (16:05) Beautiful: 1x (02:36) Shouting: 1x (01:11) Bizarre: 1x (11:55) Flurry of Activity: 1x (34:50) Think Harder: 1x (31:25) I've Got It!: 1x (22:13) Stunning: 1x (43:50) Whoopsie: 1x (38:04) We Can Do Better Than That: 1x (13:40) Alexa: 1x (11:55) Phone is Buzzing: 1x (07:56) Fabulous: 1x (43:47) That's Huge: 1x (22:51) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Fourteen (13 mentions) One (63 mentions) Green (60 mentions) Antithesis Battles: High (3) - Low (3) Shaded (38) - Unshaded (8) Highest (2) - Lowest (0) Row (9) - Column (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!

[@Swisswavey]

It's a very good puzzle, I'm starting to get the hang of yin yang now 😂

[@tBagley43]

1:40:58 very nice puzzle, love how the circles and yin yang rules work together

[@ryanrinaldo9147]

There is a nice bit of logic around the 16 circle in box 8. After you color the bottom 2 cells of the quad you know that you need to shade one or both of the top two and you cannot shade R7C4 alone (checkerboard), therefore R7C5 is always shaded.

[@MattYDdraig]

50:34 So many interesting elements to this. Absolutely loved it.

[@ThatUnfunGuy]

First time I've actually attempted one of the puzzles and I did it along with you. Pausing the video most of the time and only unpausing when I was completely stuck and had no idea where to go. Pretty proud that I managed to do it, eventhough I definitely needed some help :P

[@ericpraline1302]

"That was fun" was the thought that came immediately to mind when I finished this puzzle so that seems like a reasonable comment to make. Thanks.

[@Paolo_De_Leva]

This is excellent and innovative. Thank you Simon for always selecting the *best* puzzles. That is what made CTC great. Now, since most of what you feature is a great hit, probably the next book should contain only stratospherically huge hits. It should be called *CTC Cosmic Hits* and published throughout the universe❗️ I know a couple of galaxies where you have trillions of viewers on *Cosmic tube.*

[@piarittersporn]

What a brilliant and enjoyable puzzle.

[@MarkBennet10001]

Another fun puzzle - favourite clue the 20 in box 5 which does a lot of work. Another fine solve too.

[@Poet13xRatedRKO]

You are just incredibly good at these yinyang puzzles. I barely got a time under 100 minutes.

[@MHCreativeMedia]

Simon is giving Hermoine Granger. Anyone else? 😂❤

[@coryvanvalin3142]

The bird in the background sounds beautiful

[@Raven-Creations]

I really enjoyed this ruleset. You'll find it easier if you do sudoku in this sudoku.

[@Orenotter]

With grey and green tiles ever twinning, We start this great puzzle a-winning. Two by twos we avoid All the digits deployed We have found ourselves yanging and yinning.

[@yvibrrr]

Still find it hard to start ying yang puzzles. So I decided to save this puzzle for a time when I am better with this constraint and watch Simon's solve while having dinner. Unfortunately my dinner is not chocolate cake 😢.

[@myfyrmadocjones]

11:40 “Well that’s got” = “Alexa” ?

[@jeltzz]

28:26! Feeling very proud of myself on this one

[@uigrad]

31:34 for me! A very smooth and beautiful solve!

[@MarushiaDark316]

I feel like I must be getting a lot better at Sudoku from watching these videos as I've been noticing a lot more things before Simon does.

[@mudscuffer]

54:23 for me. Phew! Quite tricky, but still a great solve.

[@praematura]

Huh, I went to try this... and found out I'd done this one already! 😄 Completed in 29:34 (conflict checker off), I wish I remembered my solve path, but I do remember enjoying it greatly! Many thanks to randall for an amazing puzzle!

[@juliadefranco1130]

My husband and I might have found an unintended bend in the solve path -- at one point (before figuring out the twelve circle in box 6 or the 14 circle in box 4, but after placing a 9 in r4c9) we were trying to figure out what could be in r5c5, knowing that it was shaded and therefor contributing to the 20 circle and r5c6 was not. Initially we marked it as 56789, but realized that if it was a five, r4c5-6 would need to sum to 15 but couldn't be 96 (a 9 in the row already) or 78, because the twelve domino in r4c7-8 needed a a7 or an 8. But it also couldn't be a 6, because then r4c5-6 would sum to 14, but couldn't be 9 and 5 or 8 and 6, because there was already a 9 in the row and 8 and 6 would be two 6's in the same box. And it couldn''t be a 7, because then r4c5-6 would sum to 13, but couldn't be 9 and 4, or 8 and 5 (due to r4c7-8) or 6 and 7 because that's be two 7's in a box. And it couldn't be 8 either, because then r4c5-6 would sum to 12, but it couldn't be 9 and 3 (two 9's in the row), or 8 and 4 (two 8's in the box) or 7 and 5, because if it was 7 and 5 then r4c7-8 would be 8 and 4 and r4c2 would be a 6 and r5c2 would be an 8, causing two 8's to be in row 5. So it had to be a 9.

[@ryaneakins7269]

I was a little stuck, so I came back to the video. But with Simon's hint around the 16 circle, the rest fell into place quite quickly.

[@Kirbyfan87827]

Finished in 32:23 with help from the video.

[@frankjiang1857]

Finished in 38:14. I was dreading the puzzle, because I thought these were quad circles which I'm terrible at, but fortunately, it was an interesting new ruleset. Fun puzzle!

[@LeakyGuy]

They are indeed always listening. Imagine bugging your own home. 🤣

[@RichSmith77]

Do you have a phone? Then you're already carrying a listening device, so I wouldn't worry about it.

[@wordclover]

@@RichSmith77 Depends. I have a dumb phone that I'm reasonable sure does not bug me.

[@RichSmith77]

​@@LeakyGuyMy Dad still has a dumb phone. He lives with my Mum who has a smart phone though. If you live alone, and have a dumb phone, then okay, but you're probably then not having any conversations to be listened to anyway.

[@roccov3614]

OMG! That took me forever. Feels familiar. Is it an old puzzle?

[@Hakucho64]

We've certainly seen one very like it before, if not this exact one.

[@debblez]

38:23 for me. Very simple I like it.

[@RoderickEtheria]

Solved in 38:17. Very well done.

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

23:15 for me. I struggled with it for some reason, but still it was a very enjoyable solve!

[@tessabrisac7423]

Really slow by your standards, Gonzalo 😂😂 , what happened?

[@myfyrmadocjones]

Hopefully Hopkirk will set one too.

[@eve_the_eevee_rh]

27:15 fun!

[@LednacekZ]

25:18 today. quite easy for a yin-yang.

[@darthrainbows]

Nice one, solved in 42:36

[@HeroOfRhyme]

28:10

[@blunki_123]

Simon says “think harder” but I can’t think harder 🥲 31:27

[@nicocost33]

46.25 for me. Nice!

[@titirenee]

39:37

[@user-kt9vr1wj6y]

42:44 for me nice puzzle

[@rtheben]

Hello everyone

[@tessabrisac7423]

Hello!

[@violetfactorial6806]

43:10, was it "five therefore here" or "five there, four here" ?!?!?! :3

[@donaldsnyder1543]

Wonder what kind of bird 🐦🐦🐦🐦 is chirping in the background.

[@srwapo]

41:45

[@stephenmarseille5425]

"That's got to" is what triggered Alexa. Which is pretty sloppy.

[@six_5000]

79:02 on my 2nd attempt

[@bait6652]

When you get 77 of the 81 cells right...and still don't know how u DD wrong....sigh C89:5&3 swapped but don't know why and has 21 in 19... Wanted to put the 3 but my R9 wrong

[@derekjc777]

Does anyone else think the unshaded region looks a bit like Random from Monsters Inc.?

[@thesolarfutureenthusiast1102]

30:00 half an hour, bang on the nose 🙂

[@theredstoneengineer6934]

23:06 for me

[@titusadduxas]

1:12:21 - Gorgeous!

[@CyberTom1965]

Why does my solve counter say: (in 60.6 days) ?

[@RichSmith77]

He's probably on holiday and this is a pre-recorded solve. A big hint is that he doesn't do any birthdays and will often say "I haven't much news for you today" at the start. It was the same for the previous day's video. Interestingly, he refers back to yesterday's solve at the start of this video, so these two videos were planned to be released back-to-back when they were recorded roughly 7 weeks ago. Also probably relevant is that in the video before these, Simon said there would be delays getting the crossword video out this week, usually released on a Friday, because both he and Mark wouldn't be available to record it on Friday.

[@TurquoizeGoldscraper]

54:54 for me.

[@The_Omegaman]

Having the shaded cells be the sum total confused me the entire puzzle. Unshaded seems more natural to be the sum.

[@Ennar]

I don't agree, I think you might be biased by the choice of colors green and grey. Remeber that unshaded cells are not required to be colored, it's just that uncolored is natural choice for unknown, so we end up shading the grid in two colors. Actual shaded cells are those with some content, like a killer cage.

[@tessabrisac7423]

Goes to prove once again that ”natural” is a pretty subjective notion!

[@The_Omegaman]

@@tessabrisac7423 its 100% in my head but I think it was the fog puzzles that did it to me

[@randall_]

I think I have the name of my next puzzle… “Into the light” 💡 😋

[@angec9908]

The 5 stages of Simon’s sudoku grief: 1. Birthdays 2. Maverick 3. Alexa 4. Confusion/amazement 5. 🎶That’s 3 in the corner🎶 And I love them all.

[@jorgsiegel7307]

And don't forget the "my phone's buzzing" 😂😂

[@RealCadde]

12 minutes in and you are missing an important point. Only shaded cells count towards the total of a circle clue. The 4 clue in row 9 will have at least one shaded cell. Even if it's 1+3 or simply just a 4, your shaded region must cover the part of row 9 leading up to the 4 clue. In box 1 you also have a circle clue that wants a 7 total. Well, you only have one shaded cell to fill so that cell is a 7. Which would be your first digit in the puzzle if you just paid attention to what you marked/penciled in the grid. And also actually did what you were saying, I.E the same thing with the 4 clue as the 2 clue. EDIT: 15:24 FACEPALM!!!

[@adrianhead6272]

Too much waffle for a sub-25-minute puzzle.