The Cure For Brain Fog

[@Scojo486]

I can't tell you how much it means to me that you've taken such a liking to my puzzles. Because of today's feature, the total number of solves of my puzzles on SudokuPad has surpassed 100,000 since Sven implemented the counter. I'm incredibly grateful not only to you and Mark for featuring them, but also to every single person that has tried one of my puzzles. This is the first time in my life I can say that I really feel like I've found my people. Sappy rant over. You did a great job as usual with this puzzle, even without the use of the cipher box, which definitely would have saved you a bit of time, particularly in seeing that BIJ were a 234 triple, making DF a 05 pair. So despite playing the puzzle in hard mode, you crushed it! Thanks for everything 🙂

[@kathyjohnson2043]

Great puzzle!

[@SudokuConCarabet]

I’m so honored that you invited me to create a weekly stream with you. It’s been a blast!

[@Scojo486]

@@SudokuConCarabet Our streams are always one of the highlights of my week!

[@MattYDdraig]

No, no. Thank _you_!!

[@quoque]

Quite original. Beautiful puzzle.

[@HunterJE]

If it's still possible in the current version of the software might be nice to get the sidebar outside the solve area with spots to record known and candidate values for the letters that we've seen in cipher puzzles in the past, helpful both for solving and for following the solve...

[@jonhansen9622]

@ 47:45, that's classic Simon: It must be Sudoku, and as is often the case, the Sudoku in question is exactly where his mouse is sitting! Never Change, Simon!

[@kevinruggles206]

a suggestion for sven. add a scratch area for aid memoir purposes. Even if the guys can keep it all in the head, I can't

[@kicsilaci]

a bookmark option would be nice too. After Simon explained something (like phistomefel in the middle of the solve) going back to where he started it would make it simpler. The other would be the ability to lock cells, for when it is a puzzle in a puzzle that is also in a puzzle and you delete the no longer correct numbers.

[@leftysheppey]

I thought about this, but i had a couple of thoughts about it: If on your computer, you can use notepad/microsoft word for making notes. Ive just got a scrap notepad for making notes. I used to have a little whiteboard too

[@MattYDdraig]

24:16 Very approachable for an X-sum puzzle and I really like the cipher element. Using the version that included the letter tracker helped and reminded me that zero existed from the start. Yet, I somehow forgot part way through and ended up in a blind alley of my own folly.

[@ConradShaw1]

Any other Americans on here who log in daily at 330 ET to see the new puzzle and get the annual reminder that the UK switches to daylight savings time weeks after the US? It's a heart-dropping moment to cozy up to the comp all ready to sudoke only to realize you still have another hour to wait.

[@MWSin1]

There's a schedule?!?

[@RichSmith77]

I thought they did a good job in warning you in yesterday's videos.

[@olivier2553]

Being in Thailand, the puzzle always come in the middle of the night for me, so DST does not change much thing as I see the new video first thing in the morning :)

[@dukedragon28]

@@MWSin1 Yes, Simon always posts at 8:30pm UK Time, and I think Simon does it an hour later

[@darreljones8645]

@@dukedragon28 Correction: Simon does it three hours later.

[@emilywilliams3237]

My brain fog today has to do with the preposterous insistence on changing to daylight savings time. I never feel quite myself for several days afterwards! Thankfully, you are quite yourself, Simon, and have entertained me and enlightened me in equal measure with this excellent video of a very interesting puzzle. Thanks!

[@dolf370]

145:08. I guess I'm the slowest of them all. But the puzzle was quite out of my comfort zone, so I'm very happy that I managed at all. And I didn't really got stuck at any point, even if it took me a while to figure out the logic. I also had 2 occasions where my digit didn't clear the fog so I had to back up to find my incorrect assumptions in the logic. I actually like that with foggies, you get some "free" checking along the way so you don't make an error in the beginning and go along solving until it breaks in a very late stage.

[@debrabowen4276]

Watching Simon solve puzzles that are light years ahead of me is the most fun! I’d be embarrassed by this but it’s just too much fun.

[@annek3296]

BTW, the distance from St. Paul, Minnesota to Chicago is 399 miles, while the distance from St. Paul, Illinois to Chicago is 245 miles. Neither is exactly a short drive. I listened to the song, and was amazed when the couple stays at the Hyatt in downtown Chicago - pretty ritzy!

[@lexykj]

I always think it's kinda funny how Brits often assume things are closer together in the US than they actually are. I can see why, given the different country sizes, but it still makes me smile.

[@Zardoz37]

I started this puzzle at the end of a long day's work which followed on from a sleepless night. It really did cure my brain fog! Thanks, Scojo.

[@thomashjelm2928]

In the song, I think it's St. Paul, Minnesota. The lyrics at the end go "And all the way to Eau Claire she played with her hair. Came up on St. Paul and she was sobbing." Eau Claire, Wisconsin is between Chicago, Illinois and St. Paul, Minnesota. St. Paul, Illinois would be the wrong way.

[@Coyotek4]

32:57 ... having the cipher to fill in definitely helped Nice puzzle!

[@ddichny]

That was a lot of fun to solve, and each step along the way required a bit of thought but wasn't excessively difficult.

[@jasonveale8467]

I loved this puzzle. When I first started it I thought to myself 'how the heck am I going to get started on this one?' But the logic flowed so nicely once I started to think about which of the X cells were restricted.

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 01:37 Let's Get Cracking: 08:09 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! The Secret: 2x (35:03, 35:07) Bobbins: 1x (14:10) Knowledge Bomb: 1x (11:44) Three In the Corner: 1x (45:25) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Ah: 10x (12:07, 14:25, 15:13, 24:22, 31:04, 32:05, 32:05, 46:22, 47:02, 47:54) Sorry: 7x (04:02, 25:48, 30:13, 34:01, 35:32, 38:10, 42:18) Clever: 5x (19:48, 19:50, 32:08, 32:08, 33:13) By Sudoku: 5x (19:09, 26:09, 37:58, 44:57, 45:10) Hang On: 5x (05:48, 16:54, 16:54, 18:31, 39:00) Brilliant: 4x (00:46, 34:45, 49:08, 49:08) In Fact: 4x (12:03, 12:58, 29:23, 41:20) Incredible: 3x (03:39, 24:12, 24:12) Gorgeous: 3x (16:45, 16:54, 48:26) Bother: 2x (46:15, 46:52) Beautiful: 2x (18:26, 48:02) First Digit: 2x (09:13, 15:18) Deadly Pattern: 2x (47:29, 47:32) Hypothecate: 2x (22:58, 32:33) Obviously: 2x (02:44, 05:11) Nature: 2x (09:06, 32:15) Pencil Mark/mark: 2x (23:09, 35:55) Cake!: 2x (02:28, 03:21) Good Grief: 1x (48:09) What on Earth: 1x (17:23) Goodness: 1x (47:57) Stuck: 1x (30:13) Lovely: 1x (48:46) Come on Simon: 1x (33:30) Bizarre: 1x (47:39) Disappointing: 1x (19:33) Wow: 1x (22:14) Let's Take Stock: 1x (41:22) Fabulous: 1x (01:04) What Does This Mean?: 1x (25:14) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Twenty (9 mentions) One (83 mentions) Blue (2 mentions) Antithesis Battles: High (6) - Low (2) Even (6) - Odd (0) Lower (2) - Higher (0) Highest (2) - Lowest (0) Outside (2) - Inside (0) Column (9) - Row (8) 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!

[@BryanPlonk]

Hi! i’d love to know when he says “plonk,” “plonker,” or “plonk’d” because it’s my last name and it makes me laugh every time he says it haha!

[@emessar]

This one took me hours to do, spread out over the course of a few days, and watching parts of your video to get unstuck. But I'm also not used to the additional rules ... things like fog and cages and x-sums. So even just figuring those things out and how to use them was tricky. I commend your speedy solution.

[@Harry-sp3fz]

I am so happy I stuck with this and solved it with it without any help. It took me an hour and a half, I took about 20 minutes just to understand x-sums. Once I did, the break in was relatively simple but I got stuck after awhile before appreciating the beauty of IF. I broadly did everything Simon did although I got digits by knowing what the sum of IF must be.

[@Urutsini]

For those interested, we can pencil mark cells outside the puzzle. So we can corner mark the letter cells and add both letters and numbers in centre marks in empty cells.

[@pairot01]

There's straight up a version with a list of the letters and cells to put in your deductions, it's on the description.

[@Urutsini]

Yep. But even with that, it still can help to pencil mark so you can more easily see the values when scanning

[@xerodeus2337]

I love this type of puzzle... it's kind of tough but a very very fair tough... this was fun! So grateful for the SudokuPad having the notepad

[@agoristtaxadvice]

Absolutely loved this puzzle- fog puzzles are my preferred puzzles, but this one is fantastic.

[@bobh6728]

Was the EJ cage ruled out from being size 4? It can’t be, but I think he just assumed it was only 3.

[@marcomorinm190]

because the lowest number r5c7 could have been was 5 and the lowest the ej cage could have been in r4 was 11 (a 2 ,a 3, and a 6) and since 14< then 16 (5+2+3+6). I believe that this was the solution but could be wrong

[@ddichny]

I noticed that too. He neglected the possibility that the fogged r5c7 might have been a wing of the EJ cage.

[@bobh6728]

@@marcomorinm190 You’re right that the math doesn’t work, but he didn’t say that as far as I could tell.

[@johnnyw4life]

I also paused the video to see if anyone noticed this. Yes, it doesn’t work with 1 step, but it’s exceptionally rare for Simon to not walk through a piece of logic, so I assumed he didn’t consider it.

[@l3zl13]

It doesn't matter because he didn't use the pencilmarked digits to get any real digits until the fog was lifted to show it was really a 3 cell cage.

[@SolarEquinox]

Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs is one of my favorite albums too! I'm eternally bummed that Derek and the Dominoes never made another album oh yeah, cool puzzle too

[@incoxide]

42:30 How did Simon know that the EJ cage wasn't 4 cells including the still fogged r5c7?

[@mathguy_1243]

It doesn’t look like he deduced it, but you can rule that option out. The easiest way is to see that neither 1 or 4 can be in the cage and there is no way to make 14 in 4 without a 1 or a 4.

[@ericsjoberg8167]

I never in a million years thought that I could solve this, but it was surprisingly easy - 31 mins for me.

[@angec9908]

I always love Simon’s righteous indignation when he is forced to do sudoku in a sudoku puzzle

[@johnh2052]

Regarding column 5, the simple approach is just to notice that I and J are both selected from {3,4}. So, F must be 5. Then, since 45 is impossible for the xsum, I=3 and J=4. And _then,_ there's only one way for the xsum to work: R7C5 is 3.

[@boydegg]

46:15 ... such a beautiful puzzle and clever use of the fog rule

[@boydegg]

19:41 on second try :)

I figured out that A was 8 or 9 in the same way that Simon did, basically, but belatedly noticed a more elegant way that didn't involve manually ruling out the lower values. Once it's known that the 2 length values at either end of row 8 are a 2,3 pair, then twice the value of A will be represented by 5 unique digits in the row. Since the triangular number for 5 is 15 and the total is even, then 2*A must be 16 or more. Hence, A is 8 or 9.

[@simor2012]

what a wonderful puzzle! I missed it cause of my own brain fog, but better late than never. a pleasure as always, Simon

[@reidakted4416]

I was waiting for you to use your sudoku secret to get row 1, column 5! If the digit was a 9, then IF would need to be 45. We knew that IJ were a 34 pair, and F was a 5. The only options for cell r1c5, were 6 7 8 or 9. A 9 of course would have worked (to make IF=45), but you needed the 9 in the BD cage. The 7 or 8 wouldn't work because the 8 cells in column 5 add up to 45-2=43 (and F could not be 3) and the 7 couldn't work because the 7 cells would have had to add up to 38 (and F could not be an 8). Once you knew it was the first 6 cells in row 5, that forced a 3 in row 7 (3+5+2=10, which is 10 less than the secret). 😃

[@andybatts-vo2gx]

Delightful puzzle. Just over 20 minutes on my solve. Would have been quicker but I forgot that 0 was an option for the letters and had to backtrack quite a bit in the middle of my solve.

[@StKildaFan]

wow I made no such mistake and you still beat me by ten minutes

[@jordanbagwellmusic9540]

42:27 am I missing something or couldn’t the EJ cage haven’t been a 4 cell cage including both of the hidden cells? Seems like there might have been some luck in the solve here 😮 I love the videos, Simon!

[@kicsilaci]

no 1 or 4 can be in it.

[@titusadduxas]

1:06:48 - Took me a while to get going but once I did it flowed very nicely.

[@olivier2553]

Nice puzzle. May I suggest that the column for marking solved letters is made smaller so it does not eat so much space from the grid. For example, it could be made a single column with corner notations for the letters. And also maybe remove the empty column between the main grid and the column for marking the solved letters: there will still be an almost empty column with the clue letters separating the two.

[@stevieinselby]

Corner notations for the letters could get messy for people who want to corner mark numbers (eg, I corner marked a few letters with 0 to remind myself which letters _could_ be zero).

[@youresogolden_]

I have an exam in about 6,5 hours and I’m so nervous that I’ve come to watch the video now to hopefully help calm me down instead of watching it afterwards as a “reward” for myself and ideally having passed the exam…so I get why baby Quinn calms down with ctc videos 😅

[@ericslingerland5472]

Imagine trying to solve this without having a notepad open to jod down the cipher

[@SudokuConCarabet]

In the description there are links to two versions of the puzzle, one with a place to write the cipher numbers, and one without. So you can do whichever you prefer. P.S. Congrats on another fabulous feature, Scojo!

[@Raven-Creations]

Your start, considering all the possible values of A was very long-winded. What must the first digits be? They can only be a 23 pair. This means there's a 3-cell sum that doesn't include 2, so it's either 314 or 315 i.e. 8 or 9. But we can do better. All of the single-digit clues can only start with 123, and since there are three of them on each side, one on each side must be 1, and since E is the only one appearing on both sides E=1. Now, one of G or H must be a 3-cell sum, which doesn't include 1, so either G or H is a 234 9, and A must therefore be 8. Placing the 1s revealed an A cage, and it can't be a 3-cell cage, because it cannot reach a 1. A 2-cell 8-cage must include either 2 or 3, so G is not 9, H=9, R8C1=2, R8C2=6, R8C9=3 and R8C7/8 are a 14 pair. R2C9=2, which makes the A cage 35. The second digit of the G clue can only be 4, so G=6. C must have a second digit of at least 5, so it's at least 7, and 8 and 9 have already gone. This means C=7, R9C5=2, R8C5=5. I paused at that point to get a drink, and the timer was at 1:57. My final time was 19:47, but there was an interruption part way through, and I forgot to pause it. A really nice puzzle, with a lovely flow, especially at the start.

[@piarittersporn]

Wonderful and very adventurous puzzle.

[@skydnir]

thanks for the version with notepad. Took me 90 minutes even with it ( I forgot about one of the side-clues for a long time..)

[@ejgoldlust]

33:05 ! I know this isn't a particularly difficult one, and Simon has to slow down to show his reasoning, but this is the first time I've solved one faster than Simon, and I'm taking a brief moment to consider myself a genius

[@DarkChasm]

Very cool puzzle, not too difficult once the rules sink in, I did need a notepad 😶‍🌫 great stuff❤❤❤❤

[@darthrainbows]

This puzzle is an object lesson in following through on obvious steps. I spent an hour before I cracked the break in, all because I didn't take the obvious step of pencilling in 123's for the candidates of the first cells on the ACEGH clues (you can do this because the first cell of a single-digit X-sums clue cannot be larger than 3). 🤦‍♂Most of my time was spent proving through exhaustion that EGH had to contain a 1, when trivially the 123 triples in columns 1 and 9 reveal that one of the set of the set AEG and one of the set AEH must have a 1 in the first cell of the X-sums clue (and therefor that clue's sum is 1, and the letter is 1). The only common elements between the sets are A and E, but A cannot be 1 (because there would be two 1's in row 8), therefor E is 1, and the rest of the puzzle solves easily from there.

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

9:45 for me. the most approachable cyptic sudoku i played.

[@hewholimpsmartin]

Amazing puzzle, incredible solve A pleasure, as always

[@kobe11111]

42:52 how did you determine that the EJ cage didn't dip down to r5c7?

[@marcomorinm190]

because the lowest number r5c7 could have been was 5 and the lowest the ej cage could have been in r4 was 11 (a 2 ,a 3, and a 6) I think

[@cinemaker321]

The cage couldn't contain 1 or 4 so the minimum would be 2+3+5+6=16

[@welcometogeektown]

Although he didn't go through it, I can show you logic that proves it with the information given. We have that the cage sum is 14. If the cage did dip into r5c7, that cell would have to be 5 or greater from sudoku. At which point the three cells of the cage in row four would sum to 9 or less. However, we've already used 1, 4, and 5 in that row, so the minimum three digits would be 2, 3, and 6, which equals 12.

[@praematura]

Used the notepad version, and did get stuck very early on and needed to hear Simon mention the x-sums for G and H to start different which unstuck me and let me finish the rest on my own in 23:51 (conflict checker off). Very cool puzzle from Scojo, as always!

[@Llandari]

Mother's day was a month ago here in Norway. Always the 2nd Sunday in February.

[@dannstarrjp]

32 min for me! It’s been a while since I solved a puzzle faster than Simon, let alone by that margin. I didn’t think I enjoyed the letter puzzles but maybe I’m better at them than I thought 😅

[@markp7262]

24:28 finish. It was definitely easier to navigate with the chart matching letters and numbers. I think Simon would have had a lot less trouble had he used one.

[@roccov3614]

I managed this one. Very satisfying when I can actually complete it.

[@ariwizzard]

39:02, absolutely brilliant puzzle

[@pixllo]

30 minutes flat for me. I kept thinking we did not have enough clues to do this properly, then something clicked and it all flowed naturally from there. Very interesting puzzle

[@grahamania]

00:31:53 for me. Fantastic puzzle! Worthy of the day! Kind comment.

[@quillient7445]

47:52 "Probably means I haven't done Su-Do-Ku," he says, hovering his mouse over the exact digit he needs to use.

[@justarandomdood]

I'd love to see the old style of thumbnails again instead of this Generative AI style, the old ones were *infinitely* better :)

[@KeiFlox]

Canada and the USA celebrate in May, it's the 12th this year I believe :)

[@liiiinder]

"probably means I havent used a clue" *hovers over the number that will solve the whole puzzle* 47:43 😁👌

[@gregr28]

I was stuck for the longest time because I couldn't see that the cage in R7C3 had a J. After watching the video to that point, I had to just take Simon's word for it and go from there

[@puritan7473]

Shout out to Sven for the fantastic software and getting the notepad feature implemented so fast, it helped a ton!

[@techie_nerd_au]

The slightly quicker way of identifying BD=20/D=0 is that J is 3/4 and I is 3/4, so D is then limited to 0.

[@Antanana_Rivo]

Because 25 is too big for the 3 cell cage and 0 is the only digit left. Exactly how I got there as well :)

[@psiphiorg]

Very nice puzzle! I used the version with the aide-mémoire, and solved it in 31:29, solver number 1618.

[@LednacekZ]

17:42 today. i am really happy with the solve. i think i got all the things in the correct order almost right away.

[@Xiuhtec]

Took me 36:47 but was very fun the whole way through! Seemed like the breakin would be impossible at first but it was so beautiful once I saw it.

[@AWanderingSwordsman]

26:08 for me. I feel like I could have gotten some stuff faster but I had fun.

[@wanderlustwarrior]

41:26 for me. I wasted a couple minutes forgetting that 0 was an option because I didn't read the rules carefully enough.

[@wanderlustwarrior]

17:49 this time after reading the rules carefully, but I already knew what to look for.

[@leco4529]

I was so confused about why there was no fog when I opened the puzzle. Then I realised that I’ve already done this puzzle.

[@angec9908]

I’ve been yelling “I” at Simon while he’s trying to figure out which letter is 3. Which is how is figured out what IF represented. 😂

[@jasono8783]

19:35 for me today! Very very fun puzzle.

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

10:20 for me. Great puzzle, very enjoyable!!

[@jdkemsley7628]

I'd love to buy Simon a little steno pad to write down the already discovered ciphers XD

[@ServantOfSatania]

18:24 for me, this one felt fairly simple but very pleasant nonetheless

[@siorac1147]

28:32. Surprisingly simple, considering the video length.

[@robert-skibelo]

Why is Simon not using the sidebar (shown in the thumbnail) to record the values of the letters? That would seem to be a normal and sensible thing to do.

[@srwapo]

35:53 after making a mistake with the EJ cage where my sudoku was correct, but the checker told me that I wasn't meeting the rules.

[@Kinada]

Fun puzzle, not too hard, very enjoyable.

[@frederf3227]

43:10 any reason that cage is 3 cells? Why not four in a tee shape?

[@Rach881101]

23:10 for me. Nice puzzle!

[@PathOfShrines]

Nice puzzle. 28:48

[@EelcoWind]

20:35 for me, but I did use the cheat sheet version ^^ Nice puzzle!

[@Max16hr]

Crazy that I was able to solve this :D 54:21 at the end :)

[@pairot01]

This was wonderful! Took me 29:53, the notepad version really helped. This is exactly why I love FoW puzzles, the less information you have the more you know where the next breakthrough must be, and you can solve a bit more complex problems if you already know where to look.

[@penningmeestercgkdelft9159]

Solved it in 47:45 :-) Nice!

[@AndreAy1975]

Solved it with help from the video.

[@stangerrits6712]

If only there was an actual cure for brain fog… The related symptoms like headaches, ammesia, lack of concentration are for me the most persistent and annoying effects of suffering from post covid syndrome. Three years and counting… Luckily I discovered CtC, watching two videos a day appeared to be a very pleasant way to pass time without getting too tired and worsening the symptoms. And believe me, there is a lot of time to spend each day if you’re not able to work…

[@leefisher6366]

35:45 - Showing Eight Can't Realistically Enter Topmost. (This was easier than the first time!)

[@spatulamahn]

I loved fog-of-war puzzles because I only had to focus on right where its clear - but this one throws that all up in the air and the first clear cell doesn't resolve until 1 minute before the end of it! Nooooo! Don't follow suit, fog-of-war setters!

[@5t757]

16:25 for me, found this nice and approachable.

[@TheSudsy]

you need a pen and paper for these Simon, old school stuff !!!

[@frankjiang1857]

Finished in 21:54. Lovely logic in figuring out the cipher. I particularly liked the A cage forcing G to not be able to be a certain number which forced another number to be a certain number :). Fun puzzle!

[@yannisairlines]

Hi, does anyone know why fog puzzles imported from the link in description to the Sven’s Sudokupad are always missing the fog ?

[@leco4529]

In sudokupad there’s an option to turn fog on or off. It might be that you have that turned off.

[@yannisairlines]

I’ve checked that and there’s no fog option.

[@HunterJE]

Feel like it's not necessary to go through one at a time to rule out options for A, since it can't be 1 the minimum size of the run is 2, but since the runs can't both be length 2 without repeating the 2s in the index cells your sum needs to have a way of making it in 2 digits and a way of making it in 3, which on its own rules out anything under 6 (you can indeed go further than that one-by-one but 5 and less can be can be done in that single bit of logic)

[@gibbbon]

i got stuck for such a stupid amount of time because i forgot to write down the 6 in column 5 XD good brain teaser tho

[@ddichny]

I can't believe you didn't bother at least jotting down the known letter/digit pairings.

[@林老師-i5d]

41:21 for me nice puzzle

[@chocolateboy300]

I got 46 minutes. It always feels good to beat the video's time. I decided to challenge myself with this one by doing version 2 without the notepad of letters. It was really fun trying to keep all the information in my head. It wasn't too challenging and I recommend it for anyone trying to build the skill of holding thoughts in your mind. Maybe me playing chess also helped with this puzzle as it uses the same kind of skillset. The puzzle's logic was really nice as well. Fog seems to be my favorite on this channel. Fun puzzle!

[@Grammulka]

solved in 25:20, and to be honest on the first glance it looked unsolvable to me

[@kevinshride1575]

Ok, didn’t Simon make a mistake from the beginning? Couldn’t the 1-2-3 triples also have been 4’s due to the inclusion of 0’s?

[@BijickY]

The X sum clues there only had one digit each, therefore 10 was not possible.

[@danmar007]

Trepanation?

[@TurquoizeGoldscraper]

25:50 for me.