The Second Best Arrow Sudoku Ever

** Today's Sudoku **
One of our testers views this puzzle as the second best arrow sudoku of all time. (He knows Simon would never agree that any puzzle is better than his favourite - can you guess which puzzle that is?!). Tonight's puzzle is called Scorpion and it's by udukos. And it IS absolutely sensational. Give it a try at the link below:
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Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. Digits along an arrow must sum to the digit in that arrow's circle.
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[@roobk17]

hello ctc! i havent watched you guys for a long while as i actually turned to you when i was at a lot lower point, recently some things have happened and i just wanted to thank you guys for still posting and for helping me ground myself! im thinking of joining the patreon now i have a job and can afford it!

[@CrackingTheCryptic]

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this comment, it means a lot to us and we're delighted if we've helped in any small way.

[@keenannorton9012]

This is so wholesome. Love to all you guys

[@bucherrabemittendrin9344]

Congratulations to your new job 👏🏼

[@physicsnerd02]

42:50 This may be the first time I've heard "hella clever" in a British accent. Incredible puzzle. Kudos to the setter to create a puzzle that appears rather basic but requires so many different solving techniques that stretch the difficulty gamut.

[@MrMusAddict]

14:22 what you could have done is to turn the arrow blue and remove the color from the bulb. That would have meant that orange needed to be the sum of 6 digits. And since 5 of them were in column 6, you could minimize them to 12345, and then have a either a 1 or 2 repeating in R4C4. That would have gotten you the 789 you were looking for in Orange quicker :)

[@AhsimNreiziev]

Exactly what I was thinking.

[@physicsnerd02]

Same :)

[@Chiny_w_Pigulce]

I'm surprised Simon completely missed this

[@britlion]

I'm halfway through video yelling at screen as it were :) And now I find Simon didn't see that. I'm the guy that takes 3 hours on a GAS puzzle. O_O

[@michaels4340]

oh, Simon :P

[@rayclayton4786]

I only recently found this channel and it is now my night time obsession, much to the chagrin of my wife! Many thanks for my future plentiful hours of viewing due to your extensive historical library!

[@dubtak4976]

My two theories on the title "Scorpion": either because it has a 'sting in the tail' or because the X-wing kind of forms the scorpion's claws, making some of the upper arrows its tail. Or both. Or neither. Great puzzle and solve!

[@oscartouw]

The scorpion is the 4 arrow clues in the centre box, the 1 length clue is the head, the 2 length clues are the claws and the 3 length clue is the tail.

[@happy_labs]

21:18 "7+1+2 is at least 10" made me chuckle! Great solve and video as always.

[@th.nd.r]

The fact that all of this can be done out of a simple arrow sudoku is incredible. Hats off to udukos and Simon!

[@jimdavis2683]

I thought the opening was a little clearer, though of course the exact same result, by slightly different initial application of SET, essentially combining Simon's 2 steps into one: 1. color box 5 blue 2. color row 6 and col 6 orange 3. eliminate common cells 4. eliminate colored circles (blue) and associated arrows (orange) This leaves r4c4 + 45 = (r6c1 + r6c9) + (r1c6 + r7c6 + r8c6 + r9c6), which essentially gets you to 21:19 in the video (for the cells in the equation)

[@bristolrovers27]

Excellent puzzle, beyond me,I couldn't even get the break in after Simon showed us

[@Alvarin_IL]

I would so enjoy a maintenance troubleshooting session done by Simon on a complex machinery...

[@tobeseve4020]

Not particularly related to this sudoku, but I'm currently trying to learn how to crochet, and one of the things I really want to make is a patchwork blanket based on a sudoku puzzle. Mostly to prove the concept that, most of the time, sudokus aren't math, the numbers are place holders. Unless they're killer sudokus, which ironically are my favorite, or something like this with special rules, but. You know. Still debating whether I should pick my actual favorite sudoku, a miracle sudoku you did a while back, or if I should make ~the most famous sudoku in the world~ which, coincidentally, is the first video I watched from this channel and what got me really into sudokus in the first place.

[@Elias-pr3cf]

i love this idea. very excited about the idea of getting to pick better highlight colours than the software provides!

[@laszloliptak611]

Beautiful puzzle. Solved it in 24:19 using a slightly different version of SET. I compared rows 6 and 8 with columns 4 and 5. After removing common digits and digits that appear on arrows, one can move the digit in r4c5 to box 2, giving 8 digits there. This will give a minimum of 36+1+3=40 for the digits remaining in the columns, and a maximum of 17+24=41 in the rows, giving one degree of freedom. Then a 1 in r4c4 would force 1 in r7c5 and into r2c6, making r4c9, r6c1, r8c2 all 9s, putting a 9 on the arrow in box 3 in column 1. So r4c4 is 2, removing the degree of freedom.

[@velinnakov6443]

Exactly the same here, i just solved it for 30min. and couldn't believe my eyes when i saw the length of the video. Haven't watched the video yet, but this sudoku seemed very straight-forward to me, at least for SET which we should take in consideration searching for break-in. After that 2 in r4c4, we locked several other digits and the puzzle itself start showing its way out. Wondering which SET Simon took in consideration when going for break-in? Time to find out... Great puzzle btw, arrow sudokus becoming my favourites...

[@chemdent421]

Same here, but it took me a couple hours :)

[@seriously00wtf]

Much easier with a different choice of sets. Columns 4&5 vs. Rows 6&8, then remove the overlapping cells and the equal arrows/bulbs, then add in the arrow in box two and remove it's corresponding bulb from box 5. Then you can take the max value of one set vs the minimum value of the other and get a degree of freedom of only 1. Not too hard to work out from there. Absolutely cannot believe I spotted that set on my own and it seemed to be easier to work with than Simon's set. Must say, feeling pretty pleased with myself right now. :)

[@bibliopolist]

This is good. Simon's first set was good, too, but he should have used that same arrow in box 2 that would have made the minimal sum 16 (instead of 15), with 5 digits in a column + another one at the left.

[@LednacekZ]

very interesting. I was expecting some sort of crazy set theory for this one but simon did not use it. nice to know it exists.

[@TheSonicPerson]

I actually managed to solve this puzzle without using SET. The way I did it was by using some really clever arrow tricks and coloring. I don't remember my exact solve process but I did use row 6 and box 5 arrows for much of it.

[@ammarabuobead1529]

1- Highlight C5 & C6 with Green and R6 & R8 with Purple 2- Remove the duplicated color and the circle arrows with their tail 3- for R4C5 replace the circle with its tail 4- Highlight Box 2 with Purple and remove duplication with green ( now purples + 45) = Green 5- you will have 6 Purple (R1C6, R6C1, R6C9, R8C1, R8C2, R8C9) and 3 Green (R4C4, R7C4, R7C) 6- as Purple is 45 more than green if you max out purple you will have 50, and if you put the minimum for green you will have 4. 7- difference is a margin of 1, Since R4C4 cant be 1 (as it will trap the 9 in box 1 in (R1C3, R2C3) which impossible as its arrow tale.

[@tedg1278]

@@ammarabuobead1529 Thank you for the highlight list. I found the result to be 50 max for the marked purple, minus the 45 gives a 5 as the max for the marked green. After some careful consideration of the instructions and logic. The final marked green were R4C4 and R7C5. The accurate logic for that is those 2 locations sum to 5 and are a bound pair. I kept them marked and proceeded to solve the puzzle. Anytime the numbers on a set don't add exactly then you know you did something wrong. There is no margin of 1, if your logic has a margin then you are not marking a fair accurate comparison.

[@ammarabuobead1529]

@@tedg1278 the Green should have been 3 not 2 (R4C4, R7C4 & R7C5) it seems you missed R7C4 for some reason( since R4C4 cant be 1 (as it will trap the 9 in box 1 in (R1C3, R2C3) you end up to have R4C4 as 2 and R7C4 & R7C5 as pair of (1,2). and here you go puzzled solved.

[@linforcer]

I wonder if Simon not always scanning well is the the same reason he does not see "the scorpion" (the 4 central circles are the body, the 2 length arrows are the pincers, the 3 cell arrow is the tail and the 1 cell arrow... well... I suppose the 1 cell arrow will need to be interpreted as mandibles,the head or else maybe ignored)

[@selenasilverstep7981]

"Did I say FOUR nines? Please tell me I didn't." This is my favourite Simon quote so far.

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 02:59 Let's Get Cracking: 03:35 Puzzle Solved: 42:14 Simon's time: 38m39s What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! Phistomefel: 2x (02:24, 02:27) You Rotten Thing: 1x (19:09) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! By Sudoku: 12x (22:57, 26:22, 27:10, 28:09, 33:49, 33:56, 34:20, 34:48, 38:00, 39:47, 40:15, 41:37) Hang On: 9x (04:58, 10:41, 10:47, 13:15, 13:15, 17:21, 17:21, 21:00, 26:50) Sorry: 6x (07:38, 15:18, 15:18, 27:16, 38:04, 38:16) Beautiful: 5x (21:08, 21:40, 25:30, 30:28, 32:38) In Fact: 4x (17:01, 19:07, 30:42, 39:06) Wow: 4x (34:13, 34:14, 42:14, 42:16) Secret: 3x (13:40, 13:50, 33:38) Clever: 3x (32:51, 42:53, 43:15) Lovely: 3x (23:31, 37:42, 41:59) Obviously: 3x (07:12, 14:03, 16:20) Good Grief: 2x (32:40, 35:15) Syzygy: 2x (04:24, 04:40) Going Mad: 2x (13:25, 26:58) Surely: 2x (19:52, 19:57) Goodness: 1x (06:18) The Answer is: 1x (31:11) Nonsense: 1x (27:18) Brilliant: 1x (00:33) Incredible: 1x (00:20) Ridiculous: 1x (30:17) Come on Simon: 1x (40:58) Approachable: 1x (01:38) Facetious: 1x (31:07) Witty: 1x (02:33) Stunning: 1x (42:32) Corollary: 1x (32:13) We Can Do Better Than That: 1x (04:05) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Ten (10 mentions) Nine (94 mentions) Blue (43 mentions) Antithesis Battles: High (5) - Low (2) Even (6) - Odd (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!

[@gameboiz1]

How tf did you type that fast

[@georgeebberson6]

@@gameboiz1 if you read the FAQ at the bottom of the comment, it's a bot.

[@Nathan-hl3bp]

"I normally only tell the secret to my favorite people but actually today that includes you." Don't think Simon realized what he was saying there hahahaha xD

[@tessabrisac7423]

Good catch!

[@BozoTheBear]

I had a completely different break-in, which I think was a bit simpler. Colour Rows 6 and 8 green, and Columns 4 and 5 purple. Remove cells with both colours. There are four arrows whose circle and arrows are entirely contained in opposite colours, so these cells can all be removed. Finally, also replace r4c5 with r2c6+r3c6 in the purple set. This leaves 11 purple cells with the same sum as 5 green cells. After this, it's easy to check that the maximum sum of green is 41, while the minimum sum of purple is 40. So there is one degree of freedom, which allows you to severely limit the value of many cells, and proceed more-or-less as Simon did. I'd be interested to know if this was the intended break-in! Either way, it's such a great puzzle - thanks, and well done udukos!

[@BozoTheBear]

OMG!! What an amazing puzzle - thanks udukos!! It fits together so beautifully, and was "approachable" enough that I was able to solve it on my own, of course using several tricks this channel has taught me. Now to watch Simon's solve - the steps were all so natural, I assume our solves will be quite similar.

[@imcaetano]

I watch you every night and I'm always entertained The puzzles are awesome Both Simon and Mark are marvelous! Love it! Cheers from 🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@zegres]

Awesome Sudoku Udukos, Kudos to U!

[@pardox28]

This is a truly historic day for me as for the 1st time ever I've solved a sudoku faster than Simon & the total time of a CTC video! 34:03; not as good as some of the time ppl are posting, but astonishing for me - not the best solver. I've paused the video upon seeing the instructions, so I've no idea of the method of Simon's solve. I used Set which I only know because of this channel.

[@pardox28]

I just watched Simon figure out in a different way than I did the that r4c4 is a 2. I used columns 4 and 5 in Set theory & played them against rows 6 and 8. I then basically had in blue: box 2 minus r1c6; r4c4; and a pair of squares on row 7: r7c4 & r7c5. I had in orange: the two ends of row 6 (r6c1 & r6c9) & the three in row 8 that Simon eventually discovered had to be a 789 triple: (r8c1, r8c2, & r8c9). Through math I figured out that if I maxed out the oranges to 89 and 789 in rows 6 & 8; and put r1c6 as a 9 as the outlier in box 2, then I had 1 degree of freedom as orange's max as 41 and blue's minimum was 40. I used Simon's phrase as "why can't this square be a 1?" and figured out that r4c4 could not be a 1. If it were a 1, then it forced my 1/2 pair in row 7 to have the 1 in r7c5, which then put the 1 in box 2 at r2c6. This put a 1 in row 1 in box 3, making the NE arrow have to be a 234=9 arrow, which forced r6c1 to be a 9 and r8c2 to be a 9, which then put a 8 in box 1 on an arrow line, which we can't have. Thus r4c4 could NOT be a 1; it's a 2! It's a more elegant starting set though I small bit bifurcate-y. But my mind is not able to see the numbers as well as Mark & Simon can, so I have to use the software to pencil in my thoughts.

[@dontmindme2844]

That's what I did (box 2; rows 6 and 8 v columns 4 and 5). Noticed this forces a 9 in the set in column 9 as if it didn't there is no place to put a 9 in box 1 column 3. This means column 9 circle is not a 9 so has a 1. And putting a 1 in r4c4 leaves no place for a 1 in box 2 row 1.

[@pardox28]

@@dontmindme2844 Nice, that's definitely a better, more simplistic way of figuring out r4c4 is not a 1. Well done.

[@britlion]

If there is an easy obvious way and a difficult complicated briiliant genius way to see a thing, Simon always takes the road less travelled...

[@pipedreambomb]

"You don't hide an x-wing halfway through an arrow sudoku": you might if it had a sting in its tail, just like a... "Scorpion"!

[@crystalgehrt8861]

I'm very glad I didn't try this one. I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to solve it. Brilliant setting and brilliant solving!

[@johncrotty169]

took 72:43 for me. After I finished I knew I'd had to watch Simon's joyful journey. What a pleasure

[@AndreAy1975]

Solved it with much help from the video.

[@jamessweatt985]

28:40 Simon wonders aloud whether 798 (or 897) can go in r2c1-3. Obviously not, because that little blue cell would have no value. Great puzzle and great solve. I couldn't get going on it, but enjoyed watching the expert do it.

[@fanyaugusts9760]

There are puzzles to try and puzzles to watch. This one belong to the second category. Amazing!!

[@k.c.8658]

19:56 Anyone else have the temptation to tell Simon “And don’t call me Shirley!”?

[@slurpleslixie]

Does anyone know of any 'generally' approachable SET-based puzzles? I appreciate it's really quite an advanced concept, but while I do understand how it works I have absolutely no intuition for spotting useful sets, which then makes it very difficult to practice it, which makes it hard to *get* that intuition and I'm stuck in something of a vicious cycle.

[@markbennet9058]

Completely agree that it would be great to have the setter's perspective on this one. I think I know which arrow sudoku counts the greatest and that one is still well ahead in my view (it will take a lot of beating).

[@therocknrollmillennial535]

39:00 for me. I can understand and intuit the easy-to-intermediate stuff, and some of the difficult stuff, about these puzzles, but the thing that lets me down, time and again, is my scanning. I had a relatively easy-to-spot conflict in column 6 that I missed resolving for around 10 minutes while I was busy making the most minor of deductions. This was a really fun puzzle! Thank you, udukos, for the puzzle, and thank you, Simon, the presentation of this greatness!

[@GolfhausYT]

"Hella clever" has given me new life on this day.

[@SnowTheJamMan]

Is it Bowser's Castle? Cause that video is titled "The best arrow sudoku" haha. Although my favorite is TotallyNormalCat's "Wave Particles" that's the video of yours that made me realize how incredible Sudoku can be

[@Leyrann]

My mind immediately went to Syzygy.

[@gatlygat]

Syzygy entered the CTC lexicon as soon as it was featured. So that is my guess too. (And a worthy winner if true)

[@khwang0]

I root for wave particles where syzygy is also very very good indeed.

[@psssht8998]

as soon as simon found the x-wing on 9 in row 6 and 8 i saw you could place the 9 in box 1 since the small stubby arrow mirrors itself in box 1 and 4 and since we placed the 9 in row 6 or 8 there was never going to be a 9 in row 4 coloum 1 and therefore not in row 3 coloum 2 :D

[@jonhansen9622]

Yes, udukos, a setting video, please!

[@markp7262]

37:56 finish. I went one step further with the set theory, which made it a bit easier to see. I compared row 6 and column 6 to box 5 and box 8. After canceling cells and sums, you are left with r6c1 + r6c9 (max 17 pair) + r1c6 (max 9) = six cells in box 8 (min 21) + two cells in box 9 (min 3) + one cell in box 5 (min 1). This gives a minimum of 25 and maximum of 26, for only 1 degree of freedom. But before this, I also compared box 5 to row 6 by themselves. After canceling, I shifted r4c5 to its arrow, giving five cells in column 6 (min 15) + r4c4 (min 1) = r6c1 + r6c9 (max 17). This gives only 1 degree of freedom, meaning that the five cells in column 6 are a max of 16. Since r6c8 is on a three cell arrow, it is max 6. This gives a 7-8-9 triple in r6c1/c7/c9.

[@cornycornsnake]

Doesn’t the cluster of circles in the middle box look a little like a scorpion (in the way the constellation Scorpio looks like a scorpion) with its longest arrow that breaks its diagonal symmetry being its tail?

[@SzanyiAtti]

I think instead of your logic with yellow, you could have simply replaced the head of the arrow in blue with its two cells, leading to the same conclusions.

[@Wecoc1]

Thought the same thing, but it doesn't change much 😆

[@GuilhermeCarvalhoComposer]

wow, I went about it with a quite different equivalence: c4+c5 on one hand, box2+r6 on the other, remove common cells, remove equivalent arrrows-circles, and then start exchanging arrows with their circles keeping colours (which keeps totals). You end up with 3 cells in one set (r1c6, r6c1, r6c9) and 1+2+6 cells in the other which add to at least 25. Only one degree of freedom and we're off. Well, I say "we're off"... still took me a while to get the rest of the steps :P This was a great puzzle, I really enjoyed solving it!

[@Xiuhtec]

I found an interesting use of sets by highlighting rows 6 and 8 and columns 4 and 5. After canceling arrows and shifting some circles and arrows you can find r6c1 r6c9 r8c1 r8c2 and r8c3 (max 41) have the same total as the entirety of box 2 minus r1c6 plus r4c4 r7c4 and r7c5 (min 40). Only one digit of freedom forces 89 into r1c6 and 789 into the r6c1 r6c9 pair as well as 123 into the stragglers of the second set.

[@khazidhea790]

That's the same process I used! Might've bit a bit of bifurcation, but I removed that degree of freedom when I focussed on the r3c3/r4c4 digit, and what would happen if it was a 1

[@Varksterable]

My use of SET improves exponentially every time I watch this channel. I did go off on a bit of a tangent here, but I think it's an interesting one. If you highlight the rows 1-9 of the puzzle in _blue_ then put scrabble tiles corresponding them into a blue bag, you know that in the blue bag you have exactly 9 sets of the digits 1-9 (in some order). Now highlight the columns 1-9 of the puzzle in _orange_ and put them yada yada orange bag norinori exactly 9 sets of the digits 1-9 (in some order). So if I was to remove a tile corresponding to a cell highlighted both blue and orange from each bag, then we still have identical sets of digits in both bags. Here's the clever bit. You then do this for _all_ _cells_ in the grid; except for R1C1. Because of the above argument, the tiles in both bags must _still_ be identical! But here's the _really_ clever bit. Instead of R1C1, we could have picked any cell in the puzzle to leave untouched! And thus I have proved that every cell on the grid is _exactly_ what it is!!!! Blimey! Considering how long it took Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell to prove 1+1=2, I consider this an incredible demonstration of the power of SET. Another wonderful puzzle and solve as always; thank guys!

[@bluerizlagirl]

Somebody needs to make a 3D printed set of orange and blue numbered tiles of differing thicknesses, that weigh their corresponding number of grams, and a little orange bag and a blue bag that weigh the same as each other. Then if you were to do it in real life and take out digits that added to the same amount from each bag, the two bags would still weigh the same; and you could even read the total directly from a digital scale, as long as you zeroed the display with an empty bag first.

[@BlakeMcCringleberry]

At 30:15, it was almost quaint to see a good, old-fashioned X-wing make an impact.

[@Swisswavey]

43 minutes here, I enjoyed that, it was a very nice puzzle. Good to have a simple set of rules!

[@sampathkumar-ej7xl]

Thanks for the excellent puzzle udukos. I feel using a successful SET theory break in removes a lot of the complexity involved in considering the distribution of the arrows across the grid and how different values impact one another.

[@azpcox]

The fact I’m seeing exactly what Simon is doing and missing tells me I’ve been paying attention in CTC University.

[@kenross4453]

@ 13:00 an easier way to come to this conclusion is to ask where Row 5 C4/5 can go in Row 6 - they cannot repeat in box 5, nor can they appear on their own arrows.

[@RichSmith77]

I mean it works out that way, but you do also have to show the lower of the two cannot appear on the other's arrow. Not quite as simple.

[@johnm.runyon3682]

@@RichSmith77 I initially thought the same thing, but Ken is right. We know if R5C5’s circle is 9 - 9 can’t go on the other arrow. If it’s 8, you can’t put 8 on the other arrow with 1 to make 9 due to the 8 in the circle needing a 1 on its 3 cell arrow. If you make the circle a 7, it’s arrow will be 124 and 7 can’t go in the other arrow due to the 12 being already used. If you’d try 6, you get the same result since the 6 arrow has to be 123. The ⭕️ in R5C4 can only be a 6 if it’s gonna go on a 3 cell arrow. This doesn’t work either. If 6 is on a 3 cell arrow, it must be 126. How can you make 6 in 2 cells without 12?

[@RichSmith77]

@@johnm.runyon3682 Don't get me wrong. I agree, and that's basically the logic I used too. I just felt it was missing some of the subtleties, to say digits in the circles cannot appear on their own arrows. Perhaps what you wrote was what Ken meant, but it sounded a lot like the simpler deduction that's often made, that a circle digit cannot appear on its own arrow. As you demonstrate, there's a bit more thought required for the two arrows working together.

[@bigben0012]

@@RichSmith77 It's a bit easier than all that actually. The 5 arrow cells collectively add up to the 2 bulb cells. If one of the arrow cells is in one of the bulb cells, that means that the other 4 arrow cells collectively need to add up to the other bulb cell, which is impossible because 4 cells sum to a minimum of 10.

[@RichSmith77]

@@bigben0012 Good point. I hadn't thought of it that way, although I do remember a similar argument being used in other puzzles now you mention it. Thank you.

[@OoooShinyful]

I made a novice mistake by somehow taking the 'minimum fifteen' of the two central arrows to mean 'exactly fifteen'. Delightfully, this large mistake actually started me onto a fascinating high-low parity puzzle that was totally unintended but quite fun until I started getting the inevitable errors. New puzzle idea!

[@michaels4340]

28:50 you can't actually put 2,7 on one arm and 1,8 on the other because r3c3 is a 1 or a 2

[@slurpleslixie]

I'd noticed basically that earlier, mistakenly thinking it ruled 8 out of R2C2, but having already had the 1,2 restriction of R3C3 in my head made that immediately obvious when he was thinking about putting 7,8,9 in the middle row of box 1. I'm not yet sure what ruling a 7,8,9 triple out of the middle row there impacts, or if Simon is going to notice that, but I'm glad someone else pointed it out

[@jamesandrewes9640]

Udukos ... Udikos ... Udicos.... Ludicos ... Ludicrous

[@tedg1278]

At 11:13. Simon: I will remove this digit from this position and I''ll replace it with this digit here. (empty cell with no information) Me: I will remove this Buckingham Palace from this position and I''ll replace it with this big tent you can't see inside. I am pretty sure Simon would scream that doesn't work.

[@oldinion]

Simon has such a mental block about using the vertical arrow in box 2 I do get really frustrated, but also entertained. You can just remove the circle and add the arrow into the blue set.

[@dmdeemer]

I need a reminder. What is Simon's favorite arrow Sudoku?

[@glenjamindle]

I'm pretty sure Syzygy is the top of his list

[@BookofAeons]

After solving this one I can well understand the praise. The break-in is extraordinary, but that's not even the full extent of the extraordinary logic in this puzzle.

[@BigAsciiHappyStar]

so apparently solving sudoku is now the second oldest profession #yesiknow :D

[@icepyrox]

At 14 minutes before you used yellow, you could also say that blue is on the arrows. Later that would have made box 5 solve a little faster, but I'm really not sure if that would do anything else. Given how convoluted the solve was I would also like to see if that really was the intended break-in

[@solfeinberg437]

Had to watch Simon to get the 789 in row 8. Had everything else. Just needed to ask that question.

[@alienrenders]

28:22 is my time. A little on the easy side, but really nice puzzle. The way the 789's and lower digits interacted was lots of fun.

[@RL-gl8qg]

Sudoku kudos, udukos. That puzzle was strangely appropriate from someone whose name is sudoku spelled sideways.

[@anjaschneider5904]

"Bluegability" is the Word of the Year :)

[@pouletbelette]

Amos Wittenberg hasn't appeared in a while, it seems. I hope he's alright.

[@longwaytotipperary]

I've wondered about that also. Also hope he's ok. 🤔

[@PuzzleQodec]

Good catch. I hope he's okay too.

[@GotG113]

Yes, I miss his comments.

[@stagesol]

The Easiest beginning I could find was: box2+45 = col4+5 and remove the arrow/bubble. that leaves me with r1c6 +45 = part of col4/5. Now after some arrow tricks I get: (7cells in row6 = min. 28 + 2cells in row7 (min 3) + 6cells in row8 (min 21) + r4c4 (min 1) = r1c6 +45 // 53 = 45 + r1c6. One degree of freedom which made the solve much more straightforward.

[@masu33]

Were you tired, Simon? :) What you have been doing was more complicated than what I was doing but complemented it well... :D I used the minimum value of the blue for example. Still, kudos for the good video and for the mindboggling logic.

[@jamesheath2173]

I found the solution to the puzzle (I think), but I would not describe my methods as logical or elegant. Hopefully I will learn something watching the video that will help me do better with the next puzzle like this.

[@stevesebzda570]

Simon: "Your comments make me smile.." Nice [I told just told a story on another of your videos to make you smile though, THINKING it was THIS ONE] YOU'LL SMILE THOUGH SIMON. LOL COOL ;)) 😂😎☕☕

[@stevesebzda570]

[[Oh, about "Buy for Kate." , Mark saying possibly, Simon, lol. 😂😎☕☕

[@TwirlySocrates]

Does anyone know which one is the "best" arrow sudoku? I want to do that one. I loved this puzzle.

[@IrishChappie]

For arrow sudokos, I would not be surprised if we saw sudokoexplorer's "trail of arrows" soon appear and challenge for a top spot :)

[@ericpraline1302]

Rather pleased with myself at solving this and finding the correct set or at least one not a million miles away from Simon’s.

[@michielgerretzen9777]

Why not asking where to put digits R5C4 and R5C5 in row 6........ Obviously not in box 5, not on the arrows, so only R6C1 and R6C9 are left over........... However, you need Simon's beautiful logic later on!

[@Jodawo]

I don't think Scorpion is the right name for this puzzle. I would think Anaconda or Boa Constrictor would be a better name. The puzzle starts you off pencil marking and then it squeezes those numbers down until you're getting pairs. It is definitely one of the best Arrow Puzzles you will find. Simon did an excellent job not only solving the puzzle but keeping us from getting lost in the solve. Kudos to Udukos!

[@dontmindme2844]

Very fun one...nice to have an easy one for a change.

[@Coyotek4]

36:42 ... one of my better solves IMO, and a much better attempt at SET than my failed solve from a few days ago. Nice puzzle!

[@andrewgrant6516]

It's called Scorpion because it kills Simon halfway across the river.

[@spudd86]

@ 19:47 I feel like an easier way to get to the same place would be to swap that second circle in blue for the two cells on its arrow. Then you now have a lower bound on how much blue adds to of 16, but blue is still the same as orange so the one cell that repeats in this new blue would have to be 1 or 2 getting you the value of stubby arrow.

[@AussieJohnny]

I did it like that too.

[@nairit4600]

41:30 when Simon started the rapid disengagement of digits, yes. that speed was scary

[@wossaaaat]

Agreed, but have you met Mark? He does that without pencil marks, heh

[@nairit4600]

@@wossaaaat hahaha definitely. the ferocity is unmatched tho

[@chiarabookworm4482]

Surely you get to the same conclusion about where 6789 goes in row 6 by seeing that boxes r5c4 and r5c5 can’t go in anywhere else in r6 apart from those two positions, or have I got my logic wrong?

[@TG4164]

There is one frame of another puzzle at 0:12

[@PathOfShrines]

Superb puzzle! A bit of an adventure to disprove 16 after the initial break-in, but well worth it. I got a little caught on the 89 reasoning, for reasons that I cannot explain. 49:16

[@PathOfShrines]

Oh, my break-in was subtly different from Simon's and quite a bit simpler. Rows 4 and 5 together sum to 90; now substitute each arrow head for its arrow; now subtract boxes 4 and 6. You now have five cells in column 6 plus one cell in column 3 equalling two cells in row 6, which therefore must sum to at least 16.

[@SourceOfBeing]

14:31 - I've paused the video so I'm assuming Simon finds a more elegant way, but this is what I think I see. 9 and 8 definitely can't go in the blue cells as they'd make them add to a minimum of 19 and 18 respectively. If 8 and 9 were in the white cells of box 5, then 6 and 7 would be orange but that would only add to 13 and 14 respectively, which is too low. At least one of 8 or 9 is in the orange cells. If; Orange sums 15 (9, 6 or 7, 8) -> Blue = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Orange sums 16 (9, 7) -> Blue = 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 Orange sums 17 (9, 8) -> Blue = 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 or 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 1, 2, 3 always have to be in Blue. Then, R4C5 has to be 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7. It can't be 3 as you'd have to put 1 and 2 in R4C4. It can't be 4 as you'd have to put 1 and 3 in R4C4. If; R4C5 is 7 -> 6, 1 or 5, 2 R4C5 is 6 -> 5, 1 or 4, 2 R4C5 is 5 -> 4, 1 R4C4 has to be 1 or 2.

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

29:52 for me. Really weird puzzle, but I did enjoy solving it a lot.

[@viemarimyyra]

This is bananas.

[@shteevuk]

What's Simon's favorite puzzle?

[@anjaschneider5904]

Which is your favourite? Syzsgy?

[@MrMarcLaflamme]

4:10 Can someone explain the logic behind setting the second circle to 6789? I don't understand what Simon meant and why they needed to add up to the triangle of 5? And what's a Scissor G?

[@Djaian2]

In row 6 you know all digits must be different. Now 5 of these digits are on an arrow (R6C2, R6C3, R6C6, R6C7, R6C8). The minimum these 5 digits can be are therefore 1,2,3,4,5 (in any order). So the sum of both arrows must be at least 1+2+3+4+5 which is fifteen. So the number in both circles must also add up to at least 15. This is only possible with digits from 6789.

[@MrMarcLaflamme]

@@Djaian2 after reading this I think I get it. Which is essentially the same thing Simon said but slower 🙂. Thanks!

[@collapsiblespork]

I have my own favorite arrow sudoku, but I can't remember the title of it or even who solved it. Which is really irritating, since I have a friend who's starting to do a deep dive into this channel and I wanted to send him the link. Perhaps someone here will know which one I'm talking about and be so kind as to provide a link? It's the puzzle where there are at three or four arrows, but you treat the values along the arrow as two-digit numbers, and the "bulbs" include a 4-digit pill and one or two 3-digit pills. At first glance, the puzzle looks unsolvable, but once you figure out the break-in, it's a wonderful solve.

[@cgstreet08]

I used a different set to break in: 1. color orange: boxes 5 and 8, row 1 and column 9 2. color blue: box 3, rows 6 and 8, column 6 3. eliminate common cells and doubles 4. remaining blue cells: r3c7, r6c1, r8c1 and r8c2. Maximum values are (in same order): 9,9,8,9 = 35 5. remaining orange cells: r1 c1-c5 and r1c9, r4c4, r5c9, r7c4, r7c5, r7c9 and r9c9. Minimum values: 21+9 (r1 + c9) and 4 (r4c4+r7c4+r7c5)= 34 6. 1 degree of freedom 7. Box 1 eliminates degree of freedom because 9 can only of in column 2, which eliminates 1 degree of freedom in r8c2 8. only place for 9 in row 1 is r1c6, pair of 7,8 in r1c7 and r1c8. Place other 9s...

[@willemm9356]

I don't understand how you're getting 9 for c9 in your count. As far as I can tell, the minimum is 6 (r1c9 is already being used for the 21 and could be as high as 6. Were you assuming it to be a 1?), and the minimum total for the orange cells is 31.

[@Raven-Creations]

@@willemm9356 Yes, I did the colouring over the top of my solution, and the C9 cells in question are 1, 4, and 3, with 2 in the corner. The group supposed to add to 4 also add to 5 in the solution (which explains why the three cells in C9 need to add to 8, not 9). It would be interesting to try this from scratch taking into account the greater degrees of freedom. Nevertheless, it was an interesting and inventive idea. I just hope setters don't start creating puzzles requiring such an obscure combination of sets for the break-in - can you imagine how much hand-waving Simon would have to do?

[@RichSmith77]

@@willemm9356 Yep, I could also only get a minimum of 31 for orange. 21 in row 1, 6 in row 7, 3 in remaining two cells in c9, 1 in r4c4. (Further, that requires row 7 orange digits to be 2,1,3 in that order). Interesting approach though.

[@glum_hippo]

whenever Simon says "Come on, Simon, use your brain" - better advice is just to turn off his brain and do sudoku. But that too is not a criticism :-))))

[@kathyjohnson2043]

I agree

[@edwardlafferty8796]

How long till we hear "There is now a technique known as the Scorpion"?

[@fulltimeslackerii8229]

second best? what was the 1st?

[@alarictaqiarentza9451]

24:24 solved for me. So much beautiful logic throughout the puzzle!

[@adsoyad2607]

Excuses if this is off topic, can someone spell out the word in around 4:11 for me? Sounds like ~"sizergy" to me and that is obviously not a word, auto-generated captions do not help either. (not a native speaker)

[@BexEdmondson]

syzygy! it's one of the most weirdly spelled words in English, so it's very understandable that you wouldn't get it right away :)

[@kathyjohnson2043]

I assumed he was saying 'synergy' but I agree it sounds like sizergy. I am from the US and I know we pronounce quite a few words differently than in the UK. Anyone else care to help us out?

[@adsoyad2607]

@@BexEdmondson Wow, that could be my new favorite word for a while! Thank you very much. I've started to learn new words from almost every video of Simon, he really uses some very peculiar words sometimes

[@adsoyad2607]

@@kathyjohnson2043 I thought that may be the case too but the z sound really scratched my head

[@kathyjohnson2043]

@@adsoyad2607 I have now found syzygy. a conjunction or opposition, especially of the moon with the sun, or a pair of connected or corresponding things.

[@parkerbond9400]

Wait, which is the best arrow puzzle?

[@cyrelemoune1181]

Anyone else sad that Simon said nothing bout the 3 in the corner?

[@4evafcn]

EDIT: seems my idea doesnt work :( wait i got a more beautiful break in than simon (and faster)?! the sum of the middle box is 45, remove the 3 long circles and add there arrows in for it (counting R6C6 double now, still summing to 45) and you get 7 cells in R6 (minimum 28), 5 in colum 6, (minimum 15; R6C6 is now counted once in colum and once in Row)+ the single cell in R4C4 (minimum 1)= minimum of 28+15+1=44; 1 degree of freedom to get to 45 now what can the double counted digit in R6C6 be? it has to be a 1, because with a 2 you would get 46. and now whats the minimum for the single cell? its 2, because 1 is in R6C6, using our 1 degree of freedom. and now you have to minimize the rest (2345 quadruple in C6 from R2-5, and a 1-7 septuple in R6 C2-8, with the 1 in R6C6).

[@RichSmith77]

I'm not sure your logic for r6c6 being 1 is correct, is it? You're counting it twice in the minimum for the seven cells in the column (28) plus the minimum for the five cells in the row (15) whether it's 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. You're not increasing the total to 46 by making it a 2. It's still the original 45, surely?

[@4evafcn]

@@RichSmith77 shit i think you are right... trying to find an easy workaround now, because the solution felt so good :)

[@RichSmith77]

@@4evafcn I had to think hard about it. After all, it does end up being a 1 in the solution. You almost had me convinced. Sorry to dash your idea.

[@ZBostOneR]

I think the assumptuon that blue and orange add to the same number and its 15 or more was wrong becuse you cannot have 12345 in the blue cells becouse the arrow of the middle bulb is 2 long and sees 3 blue cells from that column so it cannot be 15. Im not sure wich is the minimum value but is greater than 16 for sure

[@RichSmith77]

To be fair, it's not an incorrect deduction that blue sum to at least 15. It's just a weaker deduction than the eventual deduction that can be reached, and which Simon does reach later (by an overly complex method involving the yellow in c6 - simpler to move the blue from the arrow bulb onto the arrow in box 2, c6) that the blue must be 16 or more. (If blue is 16 or more, then it's also still true to say it's 15 or more. 🙂)

[@ZBostOneR]

@@RichSmith77 well, you are right hahaha

[@adrianhead6272]

Completed in 24m17s

[@HiMyNameIsColdguy]

Could you in the future darken the arrow lines, it is very hard for me to see it and was difficult to follow along.

[@RichSmith77]

Have you tried adjusting the contrast on your display? They show up fine for me.

[@hapawn]

I would guess Syzygy

[@PriffyViole]

Got it at 30:13.