The Slowest Snake

[@dorlirahmeti7576]

I am very happy your vacation got better from this puzzle. Thank you for the kind words and I hope you get a wonderful holiday. As always I really enjoyed the solve and hope to see more in future. Thank you and take care!

[@jardelelias5625]

The snake and the 6-cage in box 1 is pure genius.

[@davidrattner9]

Just again phenomenal and lovely from you!! Loved this!!

[@BeheadedKamikaze]

The setting on this one can only be described as genius. Well done Dorlir

[@heinosackmann5599]

With this puzzle you earned the world record of the slowest and longest thermometer possible. I don't know if someone else did this before - you should be the record holder. :)

[@sampathkumar-ej7xl]

Fantastic setting. Take a bow. I solved it with some guessing about the snake head and watchig simon logically determine it made me appreciate this puzzle setting even more.

[@martysears]

YESSSS! So happy to see this featured, this is indeed my favourite Dorlir puzzle, and one of my favourite puzzles I've solved recently. It's such an elegant thing of beauty. Simon said it all really; not only a brilliant idea, but the execution is masterful. The choices of the 3 grey squares was spot-on, to leave the deductions with the overlapping segments, which were probably my favourite part. The way the 5s disambiguate the 6 cage which in turn disambiguates the direction of the snake is also absolute perfection. Even the title was a fantastic choice - if I was naming it myself I probably would have chosen the same title if I'd thought of it :) Was very satisfying to see Simon approach and solve this in exactly the same way I did... although I struggle to think how else it could be done! I mentioned in the comment section of 'Everything In Its Right Place' that Dorlir was the person who thought of the idea for me to put a slow thermometer snake in that puzzle rather than a region sum snake (which would have made it a much less smooth puzzle), and I hugely appreciate that little contribution from Dorlir in putting the icing on that cake. I can imagine that the slow thermo snake idea brewed in his mind over the following weeks, and he decided to see whether he could make the longest, slowest snake he could. He must have been so satisfied when he managed the maximum possible. What a discovery. Happy Christmas everyone, And enjoy the rest of your holiday Simon 🎄

[@dorlirahmeti7576]

Thank you for the kind words Marty really appreciate it!

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 07:37 Let's Get Cracking: 10:41 Simon's time: 28m30s Puzzle Solved: 39:11 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! Bobbins: 3x (36:14, 36:21, 36:24) Three In the Corner: 2x (36:39, 37:52) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Snake: 37x (01:20, 07:33, 07:37, 07:59, 08:04, 08:10, 08:20, 08:33, 08:49, 08:53, 09:03, 11:08, 11:59, 12:22, 12:36, 14:08, 17:14, 28:02, 28:37, 28:45, 28:54, 29:12, 29:44, 29:57, 30:08, 30:08, 30:11, 30:13, 30:19, 31:55, 32:03, 32:25, 32:40, 32:55, 34:36, 35:08, 40:06) Ah: 10x (17:37, 18:54, 19:30, 28:54, 30:00, 30:26, 31:44, 32:12, 37:44, 37:44) Hang On: 7x (14:52, 19:37, 22:12, 29:29, 29:29, 34:51) Sorry: 6x (03:03, 03:54, 04:13, 07:24, 14:52, 22:15) Beautiful: 6x (01:06, 25:42, 34:47, 38:06, 39:18, 39:18) Obviously: 6x (00:44, 02:42, 03:42, 04:15, 13:14, 20:46) Shouting: 4x (03:01, 04:45, 05:28, 07:01) In Fact: 4x (11:47, 32:43, 37:02, 37:30) Nonsense: 3x (10:11, 23:08, 29:35) Brilliant: 3x (01:29, 30:26, 39:14) Whoopsie: 3x (16:39, 16:39, 16:39) What Does This Mean?: 3x (13:45, 15:12, 34:51) Naked Single: 2x (35:45, 36:36) Naughty: 2x (05:15, 05:18) That's Huge: 2x (26:20, 26:20) Cake!: 2x (03:06, 05:30) Weird: 2x (20:32, 30:36) The Answer is: 1x (37:49) Incredible: 1x (02:31) Ridiculous: 1x (09:35) Gorgeous: 1x (34:51) By Sudoku: 1x (35:32) Approachable: 1x (01:39) Surely: 1x (28:45) Unique: 1x (39:58) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Twenty Seven (8 mentions) One (55 mentions) Red (7 mentions) Antithesis Battles: Even (4) - Odd (0) Row (6) - Column (5) 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!

[@jay7nt]

I normally just watch the videos but finally plucked up the courage to give it a go. Solved my very first variant Sudoko. Thanks Simon for getting me this far

[@emilywilliams3237]

I figured out the principles of this before watching your video, and enjoyed watching you solve it - what a fun puzzle! And thank you so much for doing all that you do to bring us sudoku every day even when on holiday and during the holiday season. Thank you, Simon.

[@arturocaissut1071]

What a beautiful puzzle! The moment one gets the 5 and everything falls into place is truly satisfying.

[@margaretsinclair6697]

A well deserved holiday. Wishing Mark, Simon, and their respective families a very Merry Christmas and a brilliant New Year. ❤ I feel I’ve had three years of daily watching as a gift and real enrichment of my life.

[@Ardalambdion]

I hope Simon and Mark haven't spoiled important plans due to needy and greedy viewers of this channel, they too deserve some decent holidays. Having all this going on for more than 3 years shows determination and dedication.

[@sirenier]

from what i've seen most of the viewers are happy with the prerecorded videos because we want them to enjoy their holidays :) i'd honestly rather the prerecorded theyre still just as fun to watch and gives simon and mark a break, or even no puzzle at all that day i would still understand

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@sireniertotally agree!

[@confusedSoulof2010]

Simon has had a couple rushed ones prior to plans, but the last one of those I saw he was actively saying if he hadn't solved it within a few more minutes, he would pause it and resume after his obligation.

[@Tepalus]

Just under 10min for the whole snake and the cages. But I'm at 14:37 for the whole thing. It really helps to draw in all possible 3-length snake bits. There's basically only ONE path the sanke actually can take. :)

[@holliambria9870]

This was lovely -- both the puzzle itself and the solve! Thanks for sharing both, especially from your holiday!

[@longwaytotipperary]

What a delightful rule set and solution!! Simon, thank you for sending us a new puzzle on your holiday! You know even pre-recorded puzzles are new to us, so we definitely appreciate that you and Mark always provide for us. For instance - you have years worth of puzzles we can go to when we need a dose of Simon (or Mark)! I sometimes go back to watch puzzles which went out before I became a regular viewer. Does anyone else think the snake path resembles someone (wearing hair in topknot) performing the tai chi movement “snake creeps down??? “ 🐉

[@itssofluffyKC]

Thanks Simon. I am really enjoying learning all of the many sudoku variants.

[@anaayoung9142]

Very hard puzzle, could not even think where to start. Thanks for the solve! Enjoy your vacation time! 😊

[@Crutypus]

Got it in 27 minutes ! Quite simple once you get the initial deduction but still very fun ! Impressive construction

[@Kinada]

22 min. I credit another recent puzzle that had a restriction that made me realize that any slow thermo can have a max of 3 of any individual digit. With the restriction here that the snake occupies at least 27 cells you have to take 3 of every digit which isn't easy. I used colors to find where the paths could go and then when I found the patch filled it in with 19-28-37-46 and then the 5 bounced back and gave you the direction of the snake. Wonderful puzzle.

[@leefisher6366]

29 mins and 39 seconds, almost as quick as Simon himself! Very pleased to have got the right idea from the word go, and found where that sneaky snek snuck.

[@anthonyhastings5961]

Loved this. Very approachable. Enjoy the rest of your holiday. My girlfriend and I are just getting over COVID so I”m on a CTC binge

[@thiscat4426]

Solved this one in 20:11. Got lucky enough to land on the best way to solve it almost immediately. Beautifully elegant puzzle

[@Rubrickety]

Gorgeous puzzle, whose true beauty I couldn't appreciate until watching Simon's solve, as I semi-blundered my way to the correct snake in my own.

[@micheltordoir7734]

Wonderful puzzle, one of the best ever. And surely one I will remember. Congratz Dorlir

[@CauchyIntegralFormula]

19m46s. Cute! Teasing out where the snake had to be at the beginning was fun, and the rest of the fill wasn't too tough (which is what I like)

[@57thorns]

12 minutes, hard to believe this was a tea break puzzle for me. A beautiful puzzle as well,

[@hereharehere]

I only realised it had got dark at the end of the video. It gave me added fun sliding the time back and forth to see it go light and dark. Little things...Oh, great puzzle too!

[@RedBarchetta2019]

I knew this type of puzzle was coming after that other 3 snake video, which showed that the slow snake was the short snake. Therefore, that was a clue to this, and the "3" corners / areas where the same digit can appear in a row are 16 total - minus the the gray areas, minus one for each visit to box 5, and BAM! what a fun puzzle. Well done, and thanks Dorlir!!

[@ClintWebb]

Absolutely beautiful puzzle. Really enjoyed solving this.

[@sjm6280]

Thank you for giving us a new puzzle every day of the year without exception!!! And enjoy your stay in Tenerife

[@russellroberts4656]

I got it in 19:31. 1st time to beat Simon' time. Granted, I don't have to explain my thought process, but even though Simon needs to do this, I've never beaten his time. He's just that good at it.

[@Pwecko]

9:27. I started from the circle on the left and just followed the only possible path. After that, it was easy.

[@Daeroni]

Managed to deduce the only possible path after a few tries, an in the end got the solution in 20:34

[@siorac1147]

I opened the puzzle, put 1245 pencilmarks in the 6 cages and then... stared. I couldn't even begin to formulate the merest hint of the possibility that a vague inkling resembling an idea might consider thinking about crossing my mind. Seriously, I'm impressed by all the people who solved this. Certainly way beyond me to even start.

[@lizzyvv447]

🤣

[@tomgalli1188]

Love love LOVED this one! Such fun! It somehow reminded me of playing with Tinker Toys as a child. Final time was 20:42, but I restarted several times, trying to brute-force a path.

[@laincoubert7236]

really enjoyed this puzzle because it required a certain level of abstraction! which essentially turned the problem into connecting 9 strips of 3 cells each.

[@johnpauladamovsky86]

Tenerife of Spain's Canary Islands, located just off Africa's North-West Coast, is home to some of the best windsurfing conditions in the whole world. Enjoy the beaches and the action water sports...!

[@cjextreme]

Happy Christmas to you and yours. Thanks for the fun and education through the year👍

[@frankjiang1857]

Finished in 21:52. Very elegant solution. Once you figure out where the snake can be everything else follows from the cages and normal sudoku. Fun puzzle!

[@SCOMBAG]

I was able to figure out the direction of the snake pretty quickly, but messed up on the bottom cage, which I didn't catch until I was almost finished. I had to restart from where I finished the snake, fix the cages, then fill in the rest of the puzzle. All in all, I finished it in 52:02, which is not great, but I had a blast figuring it out. Fantastic puzzle, Dorlir, very happy with it.

[@stevieinselby]

If it's a slow snake, why isn't it a slow worm? 😎 Great puzzle 👍🏻 which took me just under 20 minutes. It helped that I had seen a previous puzzle with lots of 3-cell lines of repeated digits (although I don't think they were on a slow thermo) so I knew straight away what kind of diagonal sections we were looking at for the thermo. Then it was just a case of drawing all the possibilities in and using a bit of elimination and hand-waving to narrow down which lines were used and how they were connected together, and the 6-cages did the rest of the work.

[@SeeWeeee]

My god I love me a hidden snake. And this one was the hiddenest I've seen so far.

[@MrCheminee]

Very proud of myself to solve this one in 10:15, normally my solves are 2 to 6 times slower. I started with realising I could only get to 27 boxes if I used every digit at least 3 times (4 times is not possible), then I picked the only possibilities for the snake to get to these series of 3. And the rest was just a normal sudoku.

[@przemekmajewski1]

this was interesting, yet I found it easy and only needed some 15 minutes, it was quite straightforward to me that this is the extreme case of the snake

[@MrGarmzon]

Merry Xmas 🎄 from Sweden. And hope you and those with you have a slow and relaxing holiday

[@roberlucas]

Simon and Mark: you have the best channel ever on the world wide web; dont worry about the quality of the image and sound Simon, Im hoping Santa Claus or the three Wise Men will bring Mr Goodliffe a camera and a mic half as good as the ones on your laptop.... Merry Xmas you absolute legends!!!

[@ningeek212]

8:28 for me, felt very happy with the solve. Excellent puzzle as well!

[@KyleBaran90]

Played this the other day, and actively hoped Simon would do it. Excellent puzzle

[@mcalphax]

13:46 for me SPOILERS The 27-cell-snake restriction immediately told me we're looking for a 111-222-...-999-snake, where there's only one path the snake could go, which wasn't too hard to figure out by itself, as it has to pass through 3 different boxes diagonally for every digit. I entered all possible pairs (19, 28, 37, 46) and 5's on the snake. The cage in box 1 was restricted to a 24 pair, which solves the 46 pairs on the snake and gives its direction. The rest of the solve was quite trivial. Overall pretty approachable puzzle.

[@srwapo]

Exactly the same path I took.

[@xfklu9055]

It's getting darker and darker in the background 🌆

[@peaches760a]

Enjoy your holidays!!! Nothing wrong with pre-recorded vids to spend quality time with the fam. Loved this one.... lots of logic figuring out how it works, but easy to fill in once you do. Managed 14:30 with a little conflict checker aid.

[@boydegg]

Beautiful puzzle. Can't believe I cracked this in 10:44. Did I just get lucky? It's rare that I beat Simon's time, but I've beaten it with almost 30 minutes to spare!

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

9:09 for me. Weird break-in, but I liked it a lot. Great puzzle!!

[@basil8940]

I never heard you sing so well. Should leave all the thwee in the corner puzzles for the holiday laptop.

[@bertbergers9171]

Had to think hard to figure out the break-in (a few times even) and after that i could draw most of it in, but could not find enough cells for the snake (also a few times) then i actually got there and found out i had to start with 5's to determine the direction of the snake through the cages. After that i finished in 40 minutes, but had made a blunder early early on (2+5 = 6) and finally finished in a measly 52:15. But i got to do this fun puzzle twice this way, so i can't complain too much. Thanks for puzzle and video!! was lovely, and be assured, a) 2-videos a day is self-imposed and b) pre-recorded videos don't concern much!

[@BijickY]

Try this puzzle first - it is gorgeous!

[@azrobbins01]

Watching this is like watching a magician work magic right before your eyes, and even when they show you how they did it, you still can't believe it is possible! Amazing talent, and an amazing puzzle! How do people create puzzles like this?

[@amandaoshea6724]

Thank you for the birthday wishes even if a little late! I had a yummy chocolate cake with lots of frosting. It was delicious!

[@danielwollert3744]

Mark, Simon give yourselfs a break once in a while. Noone, absoloutly noone, would object. Merry Xmas to you guys and all who watches CTC.

[@emilywilliams3237]

I think they do take breaks, by working ahead. That is certainly how my job worked - and I loved my job, too.

[@easternbrown]

I ended up deleting all the digits off the grid, sketching in all 16 possible 3-cell chains and then rubbing out the candidates one by one knowing I needed to find nine remaining (beginning with the three that pass through the grey squares). It's maybe less efficient but it gives you a real sense of the geometry of the puzzle emerging from the fractal like shape which forms around the four corners of the middle box, and the organic logic which leads you to delete the chains - it felt a bit like a geometrical form of sudoku itself. It's then satisfying to put in digits very quickly and reach the solution.

21:14! I really loved the snake building part ❤️

[@markp7262]

14:42 finish. A nice puzzle, and easy to follow once you get the hang of the triplets. Fun!

[@srwapo]

21:57, took me a few minutes thinking about the rules before remembering a previous puzzle with diagonal lines across three boxes are the only way one could get three of the same digit on a line. I drew all the lines in and it took a while to get the shape of the thermo. I kept not seeing certain ways to connect the lines, saw the ones that ended next to each other orthogonally, had a hard time seeing where I could jump diagonally.

[@richbuckingham]

What a brilliant puzzle, I got completely stumped by not realizing how the snake could enter box 1, one I figured that was possible it came together. Took me 90 mins.

[@jibster5903]

I spent 17m13s today! Absolutely wpnderful puzzle

[@dariobarisic3502]

Absolutely beautiful puzzle!

[@LorisLaboratory]

I loved this! Such a unique puzzle :) Thank you!

[@user-kt9vr1wj6y]

Great puzzle and solving

[@trudain]

13 mins for me. Thanks!

[@joadbreslin5819]

"It has a feel that it might be finishing." It always amuses me when Simon makes this kind of comment with only a handful of cells (in this case 12) remaining to be filled.

[@bobbie0976]

Took me just under 17 min, I see some other quick solves in the comments. The path of this slow snake is soo restricted it’s fairly easy to find.

[@eddieharwood7788]

That was so frustrating. I was basically doing alright but when I drew in the possible line segments I accidentally transposed two of them.!

[@anjaschneider5904]

Greetings to Tenerife! I go there every year in November/December ❤

[@Yttria]

Definitely approachable and fun. Determining the path took me longer than it should have. 24:05 for me.

[@bait6652]

Any one who likes the KnightsRule puzzles should get.the snake in this one fairly easily...now to figure ou t the dirn. Whats nice about this design is the graphtheoretic(TSP or is it Euler) nature of the solve.

[@RichSmith77]

Mark's back to being the reigning Times Crossword Champion, I see.

[@francoisduez601]

Amazing idea! 🐍 🐍 🐍

[@psiphiorg]

I did draw in all of the lines, and made a mess of the board trying to find the right path through the maze. Simon's approach went much better than mine. My time today was 18:15, solver number 2186.

[@Rach881101]

35:56 for me. Beautiful puzzle!

[@grahamania]

00:15:11 for me. Wonderful puzzle for vacation time :) Kind Comment!

[@Robertlavigne1]

somehow I got this in 14 minutes. Feels like I cheated. I just started messing around drawing snakes and hit on one that worked in a few attempts. The rest of the puzzle was very straight forward. Excited to watch the video to see the beauty of doing it with proper logic.

[@SpeedyBozar]

Suggestion: Change the rule wording to "the snake is as long as it can be" instead of "it is at least 27 tiles long". I think it is more adventurous.

[@TurquoizeGoldscraper]

25:03 for me - took about 15 minutes to work out the snake, and it just falls into place from there.

[@RoderickEtheria]

Took me 16:44. Pretty neat puzzle.

[@wanderlustwarrior]

48:36 for me. That was more fun before I finished the snake.

[@dudbike]

Have a great holiday!

[@mudscuffer]

Screwed up the snake at the start costing me a lot of time. 42:15 in the end.

[@robertcousins2274]

9:57 for me

[@sydneycohen6605]

01:02:37 but WOW am i proud of myself for doing it on my own. SICK puzzle.

[@awebmate]

Well done. I started with a rule of thumb to always spend an hour of solving before i allowed myself to watch the video, and i am now able to compete with the video times. Not that times really matters. It is exactly that feeling of achievement having solved it that counts.

[@sonalita_]

First time I've ever beaten Simon! Only by 50 seconds, but I'll take it!

[@ericpraline1302]

Even when Simon's on holiday his brain is still on overdrive. He was on to this like a well-oiled rat up a drain pipe. Btw that comedian was Michael Redmond. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmPLp3doephkZsk

[@LednacekZ]

26:34 for me. it took me 22:33 to finally get the snake correct. horrible solve.

[@garfnob4832]

is it m or when making the line segments many options where not considered. I.E. r2c5,r3c6,r4c7. this could connect to r5c6 and r2c4 then go on. it wold not work as it was not the correct answer, but we did not know that when counting how many options there where. or did i miss a point that made the example obviously incorrect

[@RichSmith77]

The line segments have to pass through three different boxes, columns and rows to allow the same digit to repeat three times. Your example has two cells in box 2, so you couldn't repeat the same digit in those cells.

[@garfnob4832]

@@RichSmith77 :( i know that. must be more tired then i thought was not possessing. thank you.

[@RichSmith77]

@@garfnob4832 It's probably because Simon coloured those corner cells purple. Easy to think you just needed to intersect a purple cell. I think there was a point Simon was considering those options too.

[@thesatty]

54:31Fun puzzle! I still feal like I guessed when I worked out the snake.

[@Twiztedgoalie]

God damn it. After all your concerns for colorblind color squares, you made the lines red and green. Lol

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

17:48 for me. making the snake was entertaining.

[@ronjohnson6916]

Funny. Sound is indeed not good and my first reaction is nostalgia. Brings back memories of the early days of the channel.

[@arataya8706]

I haven’t watched the whole video yet (as I’m about a month behind on videos atm) but thank you for the birthday wishes! I am Jana, but as I’m from America, my parents have it pronounced with the hard J. Like Janice or Janet. But I answer to Yana too!

[@arataya8706]

Finally finished! Thanks again for the bday wishes, Simon. I love when you get a puzzle with 3 in the corner. You’re just so happy.

[@LillaJag]

When does the fog of war kickstarter puzzles come out? Next year?

[@CrackingTheCryptic]

Christmas Eve!

[@LillaJag]

@@CrackingTheCryptic Oh yeah. The day we celebrate Christmas here in Sweden! And I'm going to celebrate by myself so sudoku it is!

[@WimmekeVL]

Woohoo, I found a snake. 00:36:52 I wonder if Simon will recall Jesus Christ is having a birthday tonight and give the lad a shout out..

[@specialkalberta]

Amazing

[@theredstoneengineer6934]

12:56 for me

[@hargrim6892]

16:01 here

[@craigroberts7013]

14m 55s