Sudoku Man Shares His Secrets

[@ChrisNeffshade]

ChinStrap here. Thanks so much for the great solve! My first yin yang and I really loved the combination. I think Simon is warming up to the index line idea now.

[@林老師-i5d]

what a lovely puzzle

[@dominicsymes9189]

Thanks for the puzzle ChinStrap! The way the indexing drove yin yang was sublime! ❤

[@electricmaster23]

This was the one on Olli’s stream, right?

[@ChrisNeffshade]

@@electricmaster23 yes

[@emdiar6588]

Excellent. I give the first few deductions a 3/5 for difficulty. That's probably just me, getting used to combining the rules but I was wondering how LMG could give it a just a 2. After that though, it was a smooth and highly enjoyable 1 or 2/5 amble to the finish. Exactly what I needed today. Please make more of these.

[@spreekstem]

“Oh Christmas three, oh Christmas three” 🎵

[@wypmangames]

This needs to be it 100% ❤

[@MichaelGraham1980]

"Your placement here delights us" 🎵

[@kn1tt3r]

We might even be rockin' around the xmas 3...

[@blumousey]

I will concede this is better than mine :) love it!

[@martysears]

Brilliant combination of Yin Yang with Index Lines, the whole thing had such a nice flow to it.

[@gdc42]

ChinStrap made an excellent 6x6 pack of index lines puzzles with a lot of variety (S-cells, loops, CC, lots) a few weeks ago and when I saw this puzzle in testing I knew it would be huge. Very well deserved feature. Also shoutout to marty sears for inventing index lines - it has sparked a lot of interesting puzzles.

[@sudeaksarai]

simon was so happy to see the snow 😁

[@jonh6585]

Was hoping Simon would pick this one up. I had been stuck a couple of days. But the minute I learned the secret of they come in pairs it clicked, I paused the video and went back and completed it easily

[@MaierFlorian]

I'm pretty sure the dark blue and yellow will work perfectly for all sorts of colerblind folks because one is very dark and the other is very light - and brightness is something all seeing people can differentiate

[@yadiracamacho499]

I have issues seeing color in one eye (due cataracts, it's like tritanopia) and I can't distinguish that yellow from white though that eye, so that combination might not work for everyone

[@MaierFlorian]

@yadiracamacho499 oh, I forgot about the yellow/white thing, you are absolutely right

[@Voldotcom]

I have very good vision and the dark blue clashed with the blue of the pencilmarked numbers

[@MaierFlorian]

@@Voldotcom yes, i wrote that before he had pencilmarks in dark blue cells - this is the reason why Simon switched to light blue later on

[@esti369]

🎶The corner’s where 3 should go… Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! ❄️

[@callumvlex7059]

Must say I love the new blue, and I feel you could experiment with new colours every now and then simply to delight yourself.

[@zauromarow2566]

The determination of this man to not do sudoku in row 8 is amazing

[@blumousey]

I came up with 'Rocking around the Christmas Three, and the three is in the corner'.

[@brspies]

Very fun, one of the more approachable yin-yang and index puzzles I've tried so far. Love how the logic played back and forth, one informing the other from time to time but never always one direction. Fantastic puzzle!

[@brspies]

Also it helps me tremendously to label the lines with pencil marks. Makes it much easier to see which parts of the line cannot be allowed to self-reference, and much faster to match indexing pairs when trying to find valid placements.

[@chocolateboy300]

I finished in 46:15 minutes. The combination of the Yin Yang with the indexing line feels like such a natural fit. I really liked the way the break-in worked, which also propagated for how the rest of the puzzle went. I kept forgetting that the indexing was doing work once I got a value in the dark cells. Every time I got stuck, that was always the solution. I think my favorite parts were figuring out which one on the line, if any, had to be self referencing. It created such cool logic with the Yin Yang. I had a real fun time solving this. Great Puzzle!

[@emilywilliams3237]

I loved this video and I really think I can do this puzzle! Thanks to your excellent demonstrations and sharing all of your secrets over the past years. Thanks, Simon!

[@davidrattner9]

Did you end up doing the puzzle ? If so how fare with it?

[@Musicdoctor-jw5]

🎵We 3 kings in the corner we are 🎵(Christmas version 🎅🏻🎄)

[@artyheartylife8588]

Losing religiosity ...

[@chitraagarwal8259]

My first thought exactly

[@mmmmmmmatssss]

Wow, sometimes i feel like I'm watching a Dora the Explorer episode but for logic because Simon explains something and then asks a question to test our understanding and I'm just more than happy to answer. And also i just want to tell him sometimes like no look over there! Anyways a very nice video as always and I'm excited to see which Christmas edition song the three will get.

[@debrabowen4276]

I love Simon’s tangents!

[@rigeborod]

38:46 And also 8 is just in it's correct position. :)

[@sethlgoodman]

I'm very new to sudoku puzzles and been trying the occasional CTC featured puzzle myself. This was the first one that I completed, and I absolutely loved it!

[@j.wellens5660]

'Snow is falling....In the corner....Because Simon. Placed a Three'

[@SeeWeeee]

Sudoku man, sudoku man, does whatever sudoku man does!

[@chrismcdonald6195]

Solves a grid, any size...

[@quententhomas7583]

Yin and Yang will hypnotise. Look out! Here comes sudoku man.

[@yadiracamacho499]

00:35:02 for me. Thanks for the puzzle and the video, today I really needed the distraction

[@A_CC_K]

A Ying Yang puzzle, a rule set I don't fully understand but enjoy watching.

[@TheBlackZodiacGhost]

Easy choice for a Christmas 3 in the corner: "Rockin' around, the Christmas 3 Have a happy holiday"

[@Mephistahpheles]

Good choice! A few options, but I like yours!

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 07:06 Let's Get Cracking: 11:53 Simon's time: 35m23s Puzzle Solved: 47:16 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! The Secret: 7x (11:57, 12:04, 12:04, 12:18, 14:21, 14:24, 14:25) Three In the Corner: 5x (08:35, 08:53, 15:13, 26:07, 46:06) The Bot: 1x (38:20) Cooking with Gas: 1x (44:30) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Ah: 13x (15:15, 16:59, 21:00, 21:00, 25:09, 26:26, 26:46, 26:46, 28:35, 38:03, 39:42, 43:40, 45:17) Checkerboard: 8x (12:40, 13:25, 13:55, 18:15, 22:41, 31:23, 41:36, 41:40) Pencil Mark/mark: 8x (15:08, 16:42, 17:45, 29:25, 29:27, 32:22, 34:18, 44:54) Beautiful: 6x (32:31, 38:06, 47:14, 47:21, 47:52, 48:15) Hang On: 6x (08:37, 10:03, 21:22, 32:02, 34:37, 37:01) Lovely: 5x (27:09, 43:40, 47:12, 47:14, 48:10) By Sudoku: 5x (16:13, 27:23, 35:14, 41:27, 43:44) Obviously: 4x (02:04, 16:10, 17:25, 20:17) Sorry: 3x (29:05, 30:27, 39:33) Brilliant: 3x (08:50, 17:22, 27:02) Cake!: 3x (03:10, 03:42, 05:47) Take a Bow: 2x (47:19, 48:16) Surely: 2x (38:59, 38:59) In Fact: 2x (14:32) Good Grief: 1x (27:09) Bother: 1x (42:57) Naked Single: 1x (43:51) Nonsense: 1x (45:14) Clever: 1x (27:46) Stuck: 1x (26:21) First Digit: 1x (23:57) Going Mad: 1x (32:14) Gorgeous: 1x (47:27) Approachable: 1x (01:31) Unbelievable: 1x (04:52) Whoopsie: 1x (16:52) Wow: 1x (47:14) What Does This Mean?: 1x (07:24) Weird: 1x (47:42) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Thirty Seven, Sixty Nine, Seventy Eight (2 mentions) One (73 mentions) Blue (57 mentions) Antithesis Battles: Even (8) - Odd (7) White (10) - Black (0) Row (4) - Column (2) 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!

[@mauombo3423]

Tune “let it snow” Finding the digit was frightful but working it out, delightful! We now know where the 3 goes… Let it snow, let is snow, let it snow

[@carstenkruse8527]

🎵🎵🎵 "That's Christmas Three in the corner" 🎵🎵🎵

[@Кристина-е2в1ю]

Wow, its my sleep time, bit i'try to watch till the end without falling asleep)

[@Kirbyfan87827]

Finished in 29:32 with help from the video and after two resets due to the timer glitching out for some reason. Great puzzle!

[@Musicdoctor-jw5]

🎵”It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, numbers everywhere, but the prettiest sight to see is a corner number 3, in sudoku square” 🎵🎄

[@bradmclean4988]

this was easier than I expected at first, but only because of Simon's amazing yin yang solves

[@Aliessil]

Finished in 36:37, liked the yin-yang/index lines combo, they're a good fit together

[@st3phgr1ce]

Really loved this rule set full stop. Love to see more and maybe with the new fog? Feels like a lot of opportunities with knowing the composition of the lines

[@markp7262]

30:00 finish. A fun idea, and some nice logic! Excellent!

[@compiling]

Solved in 17:38. A lot of nice logic in this one, which tend to have a lot of follow on effects since knowing which cells on an index line are and are not self referential is quite powerful.

[@alikassam5403]

Every once in a while I feel so proud when I resolve a square or 2 and Simon hasn't yet.

[@Urutsini]

4:05 I particularly love Bear McReary's "All Along The Watchtower" from Battlestar Galactica.

[@piarittersporn]

Fantastic and very approachable puzzle.

[@PaulWilkinsNZ]

The new colour is much more of a violet colour than blue. Thank you for returning back to blue.

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

12:51 for me. Fantastic puzzle, loved it!!

[@paula-zzz]

i‘m always so happy about a three in the corner :)

[@paulpieralde1653]

So happy you changed your blue. It's a nice color but seeing the numbers underneath is a struggle. Nice solve!!

[@titusadduxas]

40:41 - Loved it!

[@eddieharwood7788]

That was brilliantly set

[@rmjarvis]

Very nice. I like these (relatively new i think?) index lines. 22:40 for me. Flowed very smoothly mixing the indexing and yin yang. I chose green for the digits in the correct place, which ended up being a nice mnemonic throughout.

[@srwapo]

71:12 with help from the video. I needed help with the five cell line in column 9 having at least one correct digit, and then later I saw I royally screwed up my set theory with the nine cell line in the bottom of the grid and basically restarted. Flowed well once I learned that there needs to be an even number of (or zero) incorrect digits on every line.

[@HunterJE]

37:00 Interesting, I saw the same result for a slightly different reason, since one of the two remaining uncolored cells in row 8 must be an orange one, the 8th position on the line must be blue to allow the blues to connect...

[@HunterJE]

Oh hah minutes later Simon does just this, apparently forgetting that the 8 on the line gives the shading in and of itself?

[@Myclutchisgone]

Loved the index lines! Although once you fill them there's really no point in continuing the coloring

[@Slydaa7]

this puzzle is top tier

[@tBagley43]

42:24 an appropriate finishing time for a yin yang puzzle. pretty fun :)

[@Paolo_De_Leva]

Highly recommended puzzles are always wholeheartedly welcome. The new sudoku hunt on *Patreon* is really interesting and innovative, and each pair of puzzles contains magnificent logic gems. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@Coyotek4]

33:13 ... a slow start but a nice finish, I feel Nice puzzle!

[@praematura]

_faceplants_ Oy... nearly broke this a few times, got stuck and started watching Simon's solve a few times before realizing what I missed. Was able to finish in 33:07 (conflict checker off), but I feel like a futzed this one too many times. 😛😅 Still, many thanks to ChinStrap for a wonderful puzzle!

[@Mephistahpheles]

Some rules, like the index lines, I think are a little too powerful. Makes the puzzles almost trivial. Palindromes, knights moves and fog as well. They all eliminate (or significantly reduce) the "where do I look?" aspect of Sudoku. Granted, some such puzzles are still crazy hard, and some are still a lot of fun (like this one). Selective use, interactive (between rules) use or misleading use is best.

[@richardtittle351]

I like to think of the out-of-position pairs as two swapped digits

[@vorahsa]

Solved the sudoku in 14:35. The yin yang coloring didn’t look solvable until I reread the rules and noticed the bit about squares separated by a white dot having the same color…

[@ChicanoryIsMyName]

Im just so inept when it comes to understanding index lines and how to solve. Off to watch the video

[@postedonmyiphone]

Love the title, Sudoku man is giving new super hero in the Avengers

[@nicocost33]

30.03 for me. That was fun!

[@AppelmoesArtandPhotography]

The blue and yellow color combination gives me certain Swedisch furniture store vibes 😅😂 and two of the index lines reminder me of a sail boat.

[@nonyobisniss7928]

20 minutes. Loved this one. I solved it without using (or reading) the kropki dots being the same colour rule. Can anyone confirm if (besides the colouring) the sudoku is indeed solvable without that rule?

[@daanperelachaise]

It's solvable without the rule indeed, but the coloring isn't.

[@m3rrys0ngstr3ss]

This is Katie Splendor, aka NotSoMagnifique - I *did* have a happy birthday, though to be technical, it was red velvet cake I had, not a classic chocolate torte.

[@danielszanto2955]

The best Christmas song is still Valhalleluja, but needs some tweaking to get the number 3 in there.

[@5t757]

25:59 I managed, loved this!

[@Askovsende]

Not using the rule of white dots have the same color - I'm screaming :D

[@douglasmagowan4918]

I beat Simon today!

[@JamesStocks]

@45:18 is it a mistake to put a 4 there? The 4 could also have been in row 4 column 1

[@giblindmusic]

Creature of habit here. I'll sing, "That's freeze in the corner..." and continue to annoy my wife with it. 😂 Maybe still finish with the same second half with 3 in the spotlight...

[@57thorns]

What really bugged me here was Simon not cleaning up pencil marks and colours immediately, especially along the lines. It makes for a much smoother solve if you do that,. I have all the lines done before even finishing the colouring.

[@debmil22]

three french hens, 2 turle doves and a partridege in a pear tree perhaps :)

[@RealCadde]

28:07 What you are missing is sort of plain old sudoku paired with index lines. Where is the digit one of R9C1 in box 9? By sudoku, it's either in R7C7 or R8C7. But by index line logic, if it were in R8C7, then R7C9 would have to be a 4. Which it can't. This means it has to be in R7C7 and make R6C7 a 2. And of course be orange. We can do the same with the four in box 7. Where does it go on the index line that starts in box 9? Exactly R7C4. Which means R8C7 is a 9. And R7C4 is therefore orange. And while you haven't really missed the other logic completely, you haven't used it to its full potential at this time. The five in R8C6 cannot go in R5C6 on that particular index line, so that's an orange cell. And finally, where is the 5 in R8C6 in boxes 7 and 9? If we start with box 9, it's in the 9th row of the grid. And it can't go on the sequence dot, because it can't be adjacent with a 3 or 4. So it has to go in R7C1.

[@Stratelier]

Interestingly, I was able to solve all the digits but was then left struggling with the yin-yang coloring.

[@bennypmo]

Oi, I was able to solve it would the solve the yinyang. I forgot the rule about white dots needing to be the same color, but you don't need it to solve all the numbers. Then again, the yinyang is part of the puzzle, so technically even though the solver said I solved it 39:07, spiritually, I needed to fill all the colors in.

[@yashmehta9299]

45:39 Cool rules, but the latter half is just sudoku solving, with no need to complete the colouring, which is a shame cuz the rest of the colouring is quite fun

[@sw1sha442]

does the coloring have to be completed to consider the puzzle solved? i got all the digits in before getting stuck on the colors and rereading the instructions and picking up on the same-colors-across-dots.

[@user-sv7bx6gn8n9]

23:55 for me. I made a mistake, and it should be done within 20 min.

[@danosman-kansasrepresentat3858]

Did anyone else correctly solve this while not finishing the yin-yang mapping? I'm stuck with three uncolored squares in box 4 (positions 3, 5, and 8) with what appears to be at three seemingly correct coloring options. Going to watch the video now.

[@danosman-kansasrepresentat3858]

Watched the video. Never mind! I miscolored a box in 7 which screwed up the pathing.

[@coreycadile2585]

I did finish the sudoku before I finished the pathing. I then sat there and figured out the rest of the pathing but it was not needed. Really the only important part of the pathing was to determine the index of the number on a line. Once all lines are completed, the pathing becomes irrelevant. I guess to that point it would be nice for the pathing to have a little more of a purpose so you have to complete it in order to complete the puzzle, but great puzzle nonetheless!

[@mlloser8318]

00:38:53

[@westonmarkham1294]

The "#fog" tag doesn't appear to be applicable to this puzzle. Is it there because you're also plugging the new app?

[@howardhughes2937]

Have you ever considered giving awards? They could be the Crackies. If so, I nominate Chinstrap for Best New Artist!

[@林老師-i5d]

39:32 for me nice puzzle

[@Matt-bh6yp]

am i the only one confused when simon chose purple as "blue"??? or am I finding out at 28 that I am colourblind?

[@damm7123]

Wait, is that not purple?? 7:30

[@robertcousins2274]

17:52 for me

[@LednacekZ]

23:53 for me. should have been better. i flapped a lot.

[@roccov3614]

This was a bit too hard. Nearly gave up a few times. Needed a bit of help from the video to find the boundaries, Things I should have realized but were hard for me to see.

[@exa2993]

Hey Simon. May I suggest you delineate between when you are giving hints and when you are solving? I watched too much of the solving part and felt like you basically did it for me

[@easternbrown]

Very satisfying solve, though I feel the puzzle raises fundamental questions regarding the philosopy of variant sudoku. It's possible to complete the sudoku without the rule about cells on dots being the same colour (as I discovered by forgetting to use it). This rule actually serves to avoid multiple possibilities for the yin yang, and as such it feels slightly unsatisfying that this rule is included, because it does make the sudoku solve easier than it needs to be, and so potentially stops the solver appreciating the full potential of the other rules. The question might arise, why is final disambiguation of the yin yang necessary anyway? If the purpose of sudoku is to enter the unique array of digits in the grid which the rules allow, why can't the yin yang rules be taken as simply requiring the *possibility* of forming light/dark interlocking areas as described, rather than the *necessity* of doing so in a unique fashion? What matters more, the visual aesthetic of the coloured grid, or the logical aesthetic of generating a beautiful solve experience with the "purest" possible ruleset? Somehow I would have prefered the latter - but I also understand that setting a puzzle with an unresolved yin yang on completion could be highly controversial among the sudoku fraternity.

[@Vivo-cp2rb]

This one was painful to watch

[@ready2killi]

Go to 7.00 for start of the vid