THIS Makes The Miracle Sudoku Look Easy!

Today we feature a new puzzle by the man behind The Miracle Sudoku, Mitchell Lee. Be warned... this is one of the hardest sudokus we've ever featured and this video is something of a miracle! See how Simon fares and do give the puzzle a try at the link below:
cracking-the-cryptic.web.app/...
Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. Along thermometers, the digits must increase starting from the bulb.
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Miracle Sudoku, our new app, is OUT on Android, Steam and App Store.
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/13...
App Store: apps.apple.com/us/app/id15273...
Android: play.google.com/store/apps/de...
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Our Patreon page has lots of extra content! Our solve of Cosmology by Bobuardo Da Vinci is just out and we've just released our Tour De France September video! Coming soon (1 October) is a new puzzle hunt (which includes sudoku) by Scott Strosahl.
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▶ABOUT US◀
Hi! We're Simon Anthony and Mark Goodliffe, two of the UK's most enthusiastic puzzle solvers. We have both represented the UK at the World Sudoku Championships and the World Puzzle Championships. We're also "cryptic crossword" aficionados. Mark is the twelve-time winner of The Times championship and Simon is the former record holder for most consecutive correct solutions to The Listener crossword. We hope we can help your puzzle solving while also introducing you to some of the world's best puzzles.
Thank you for watching!
Simon and Mark

[@SWebster10]

How I watch Cracking The Cryptic: 1 Open puzzle 2 Stare at puzzle blankly for 10 mins 3 Watch video until Simon spots some clever logic 4 Copy said logic into my solve 5 Repeat steps 2 - 4 as required 6 Tell myself *I* solved the puzzle.

[@nightwishlover8913]

Yeah - been there, done that...

[@alibabapirce9782]

realy? i dont watch videa until i solve puzzle. and i watch it only to check how much faster i did it and if he maby found some logic that if i used i might done it even faster

[@yashasvikalra3224]

Totally relatable 😂

[@prahas777]

LOL. How I watch: If total video time is less than 20 minutes, basically do what you said. If greater, pop open a beer, sit back, and watch with awe.

[@peterhowitt3861]

@@alibabapirce9782 Me too - Simon is so sluggish at times finding the bleeding obvious... (😏)

[@sykesmason2325]

For once Simon and I were at the exact same point after 25 minutes: no digits in the grid.

[@kimberlypreston6204]

hahhahha, BEST comment. I can relate.

[@Crocodile_Appreciator]

Love how this is humbly named "Thermo Sudoku." As if it's not one of the most genius puzzle constructions we've seen.

[@CanadaJarod]

It's a good name though

[@megatennepster3833]

It kind of reminds me of how one of the strongest characters in Tekken 6 is just a fat guy named Bob

[@erikbreathes]

Its like Beethovens 5th being known as merely "Symphony No. 5"

[@th484953]

45:25 Simon: It's a 4,5, or 7 and I can't see how any of those are ruled out! Me: The 5 in the column! Man, Simon is dense! Also me: stares at puzzle for hours and can't put a digit in without Simon's help

[@Bombsuitsandkilts]

That sums up every puzzle for me, feeling so smart for seeing the thing Simon doesn't but also being crushed by the reality of how hard these are every time I start a puzzle.

[@matushorvath]

This is a good example why pair programming works. I could not even start this puzzle, not even if I had a week, but there were times now and then where I found a way forward way faster than Simon, just because I looked at different things. Two people together solve problems much faster than two people each on their own. The 9 in box 8 for example, I am very proud about finding that quickly. In fact I think I am just as proud about that as Simon is about solving the whole puzzle :D

[@rewrose2838]

@@matushorvath Yeah so true 😂

[@charlie9761]

“Ta daaa🤷🏻‍♂️ that’s absolutely useless but it is quite interesting” 😂

[@Eisgod]

My parents when I was born

[@idklol3333]

@@Eisgod same brother

[@ZachGatesHere]

Me after staring at this puzzle for half an hour: "Those thermometers all look like open staples :V "

[@richardcranium0]

that's further than I got in 30 mins...;)

[@arturslunga3415]

Simon: I am so stupid! Me: That's where you're wrong, kiddo.

[@Coldheart322]

He is stupid, he doesn't realise how smart he is... Can you be smart and stupid at the same time? Sorry, I'm not smart enough to work that out :-p

[@andrewnelson2525]

Can't tell you how many times I've had to explain that people who go around saying "I'm smart, I'm very smart" are NOT. And how smart people are constantly feeling stupid because they're so used to seeing the answers that when they miss something, they think or say "I'm stupid".

[@conexant51]

@@andrewnelson2525 Reading that first sentence, funnily one particular individual who likes to use social media a lot springs to mind.

[@Thebiggestgordon]

@@Coldheart322 I think that’s called the dunning Kruger effect, he has such a grasp of logic puzzles that really hard things seem super intuitive to him, so he subconsciously assumes that everyone could do it and therefore feels less confident about himself.

[@Qazqi]

What the hell is this break-in. That is the most insane break-in on the channel by far despite being like half the length of the "Movie" puzzle.

[@pfote65]

it bothers me to admit that i dont get the break-in. This minimum/maximum difference - two times seven is 14 - "i got it, I got it, this must be 1 and 9" is beyond me

[@Qazqi]

@@pfote65 Given that the purple and blue squares must total to the same number, the pattern he finds is forced. Only boxes 1 and 9 have purples that are bigger than blues while the other seven boxes have blues that are bigger than purples. This is because the bulb is less than the second cell on the thermo and the third cell is less than the end. In order to have them all equal out, the two boxes with purple>blue must have purple be MUCH bigger than blue and the seven boxes with blue>purple must have blue be BARELY less than purple. What he showed is that if you make boxes 1 and 9 as big of a purple>blue difference as possible and the blue>purple differences as small as possible, it barely works, with no wiggle room. To make the purple>blue difference as big as possible, you have 1 on the blue bulb and 9 on the purple end. The other two cells are blue>purple, so you make that difference a minimum (1) because they're working against your goal. Altogether, that leaves the purples in boxes 1 and 9 being 7 more than blues per box, times 2 boxes is 14, and that's the biggest possible purple>blue difference you can get for the whole puzzle because none of the other boxes allow for purple>blue. To make the blue>purple difference as small as possible, you make each blue in those boxes be only 1 bigger than the purple before it. That's a total difference of 2 per box, times 7 boxes, which is also 14 across the entire puzzle. Remember blue and purple need to equal out. If you make the purple>blue difference any smaller, the blues will total higher than the purples no matter what. If you make the blue>purple difference any bigger, the blues will total higher than the purples. Feel free to try it out until you see why it can't be done because there's nowhere to make up the extra difference. You can't make the purple>blue any bigger because we just found that 7 per box is the best you can do. You can't make the blue>purple any smaller because we just found 2 per box is the smallest you can get. Putting the two together, purple = blue + 14 for boxes 1 and 9 is the biggest you can get and blue = purple + 14 for boxes 2-8 is the smallest you can get. Any smaller or bigger respectively and you can't make purple and blue equal overall. But because 14 both ways leaves no wiggle room, it MUST be 14. And to achieve that 14, you need 1 and 9 on the ends in boxes 1 and 9 with the other two being 1 apart, while you need the (1,2) and (3,4) thermo pairs to be 1 apart in boxes 2-8, so that's what he works with for the rest of the puzzle.

[@pfote65]

FF Fanatic now i got it, thank you VERY mich

[@nathanokerlund9063]

Q: How is Simon like Catwoman? A: They specialize in "impossible" break-ins.

[@confusedSoulof2010]

@@Qazqi jesus christ that's a thought process. Thank you for explaining it in language I could understand!

[@thethug1946]

I'm hearing that the break-in logic for Mitchell Lee's next puzzle requires the calculation of the eigenvalues of the 9x9 matrix

[@BigAsciiHappyStar]

I heard that Mitchell Lee's next puzzle hunt requires knowledge of cryptographic hash functions to convert a solved sudoku into given digits for the next puzzle in the chain

[@Thebiggestgordon]

I heard that to solve the puzzle he’s making after that involves proving for the non trivial zero values of the topological analytical continuation of the Riemann Zeta function over the complex plane. Sounds fun

[@BigAsciiHappyStar]

At least we know that 45 is always an eigenvalue of any Sudoku with corresponding eigenvector of [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1]^T :)

[@Thebiggestgordon]

@@zhg4485 *“I’ve solved a famous last theorem that has baffled mathematicians for decades!”* _proceeds to die before writing it down_

[@minastaros]

I just heard that Chuck Norris has solved all those puzzles while he was jumping the parachute.

[@bbkobudo]

Most times I watch and think... "I can do that". Not this time... not this time. Truly well done!

[@2011z4]

After the break-in, there's a trick that helps speed up the rest of the solve. Once you know there are two blue 1s then you know there are two purple 1s. But each of these must be followed by a _blue_ 2 on the thermo. Therefore, there are two _purple_ 2s, and each must be followed by a blue 3. So, there are two purple 3s. Etc. Since there are 18 blue and 18 purple squares, they must consist of exactly two of each digit, which provides a bit of a restriction. More importantly, this means that the nine _green_ squares contain each digit exactly once.

[@RichSmith77]

I don't think there has to be a 3 after every 2? The thermos don't have to be consecutively increasing. Edit: ok, I see now you were correct and I was mistaken. Although the whole thermos are not consecutively increasing, the blue cells are always consecutive to the purple cells. Good spot!

[@ljcapsicum]

Dayum, cudos for spotting that. This entire puzzle is just blowing my mind, even after knowing the intro this is still genius!

[@renedekker9806]

Yes, noticed that as well. It feels like you are doing kind of a reduced sudoku with just the blue and purple cells.

[@facemash]

As soon as he highlighted those 9 green squares I wondered if they would form their own set of 1-9 but I had no idea how I would come to the conclusion.

[@stefaniadjelebova]

Also in all boxes besides one and nine the sum of the start and the end number equals the sum of the middle numbers. For example in box 2, 5+3=6+2=8

[@KlyeTan]

A 6 column restriction? Surely that has to be called a hex-wing? ...I'll see myself out >.

[@gameglitcher]

oof

[@nightwishlover8913]

There's probably a reason it hasn't got a name - who in their right mind would use something like that? Apparently not even Mitchell Lee!

[@sunriselg]

The reason why it has no name, is because you can just look at the vertical swordfish instead. 5/6/7-fish are irrelevant, because there's always a perpendicular smaller fish to find.

[@paulcook2961]

@@sunriselg Yes I painfully realised something equivalent to this earlier this year. Looking for a 5-way "fish" only to eventually realise that if there is one then there must be a 4-way "fish" too and that would have been easier to find. I just googled the names: Xwing (2x2) Swordfish (3x3) Jellyfish (4x4) and the 5x5 is called "Squirm-bag" (even though its existence implies a jellyfish and thus perhaps isn't needed). I guess it's possible you might spot a squirm-bag first and then use the implied jellyfish. Not found any name for the 6x6 equivalent.

[@remigregoire2219]

@@paulcook2961 That's called a douche bag.

[@Chimppy]

Simon’s pure giddiness after completing this puzzle gave me second hand pride. Just watching this brought my pulse to 120 as we were hitting the home stretch.

[@andrewbieny4564]

That might be my favourite video this channel has put out. Hard to think of yourself, yet easy to follow when explained. The puzzle looks like modern art and solves in a purposeful, linear path. Nothing here was solved before Mitchell Lee wanted you to solve it.

[@Tiger21us]

Very well said!

[@Jodawo]

After seeing him solve this, I would be curious to see the puzzles that never seen the light of day because the video could not be made. I wonder if they keep the footage it might be good to see a blooper reel.

[@stevieinselby]

Wow, there's no way that I would ever have found that! But just a point about the new software - the thermos and the bulb circles are too dark, and make it really hard to see pencil marks. Could they please go back to the old grey before it's released?

[@Rubrickety]

I also really liked that the old ones actually looked like thermometers, as a nice reminder of their function.

[@bibliopolist]

Yes, the numbers are unreadable on my TV screen.

[@biggiemac42]

It is truly remarkable how the very common rule of thermo sudoku, can be paired with such an elegant construction which naturally appears symmetric in the way you would expect from a "cute" setting, to lead to this. A parity restriction that perfectly min/maxes adjacent pairs, leading to a new puzzle on these sort of diagonal dominos. A masterpiece, thank you Mitchell for the setting and good work Simon on making the video!

[@benjamin_lee]

The level of smarts that some people can reach is disgusting.

[@ervins775]

That shit made me burst out laughing. The most disrespectful compliment ive ever witnessed

[@thesundancekid123]

A thumbs up for the intro

[@hai-mel6815]

What is it?

[@efa666]

@@hai-mel6815 it's usually called Spanish Romance or Romance D'Amour

[@hai-mel6815]

@@efa666 Thank you!

[@odin-eliottodinson7330]

@@hai-mel6815 I think that piece is called "Romanza". A beautiful classical piece of spanish origin. Simon's playing it really well.

[@smylesg]

@@efa666 That may be, but I only know it from the arcade game Phoenix.

[@chiarabookworm4482]

I love just how excited he gets when he makes progress. Like a kid on Christmas 🎄

[@smrqunofficial]

I did it!! I solved it in under an hour!! (With 16 seconds to spare, lol) I felt like I had a bit of an advantage in this puzzle because a month ago I set a thermo sudoku with a lot of the same initial ideas: (nearly) all 4-length or shorter thermos, which are disambiguated by a variant Phistomefel arrangement. So as soon as I saw all the short thermos, that was the first thing I thought of! That puzzle got sort of ignored on Discord-- I think it was probably too hard, and certainly nothing like this puzzle in minimalism and elegance. So I have to say I am more than a little jealous of how that idea, which I thought was so clever at the time, is only just the *start* of Mitchell's total idea with forcing adjacent pairs to be one apart. It's really incredible how he practically forces a new variant rule just by pure geometry.

[@matushorvath]

This was really two masterpieces in one. The puzzle and the solve both.

[@backpacking_trombonist]

A year later and I just keep coming back to this masterpiece of a puzzle. I maintain that this is the most elegant break-in of any puzzle Simon or Mark have ever done on this channel. How often does a break-in provide you with an extra unwritten restriction needed to solve a grid? Here's to hoping Mitchell Lee has another puzzle for CTC to tackle sometime soon.

[@azpcox]

I love unwrapping the logic presents with Simon along the way, occasionally catching a digit just slightly before he does. Thoroughly enjoyed this solve and the incredible logic behind it!

[@MattGriffiths81]

I'm so happy I managed to solve this from "What if I try colouring in only these 9 squares". Admittedly that's a massive hint to start, but I'm proud nonetheless. So happy to see Simon's elation when he realised he was going to do it.

[@RaimbetteLB]

I was looking at the grid at the start, wondering what king of restriction we would need to solve this. Now I know it's a normal thermo sudoku. My reaction : Is that a joke ?

[@RichSmith77]

I tried for 20 minutes, realised I was getting nowhere and had no ideas. Gave up. Watched the video up to 21:30, where Simon colours the three columns and rows. Paused the video. Managed to solve it from there. Pretty pleased with that, but I don't think I would have ever thought of that break-in by myself. Genius. 👏 👏 👏

[@laurv8370]

Taking the hat off and bowing, for both the puzzle designer and the solver! This was indeed a brilliant puzzle!

[@crzyltlman]

I like when there is a new concept discovered, like Phistomefel’s theorem and its variations, because the master setters then go back and combine it with all of the previous tricks to create whole new sudoku “chemical compounds” which have a new set of magical logical properties.

[@markayzenshtadt7200]

What a brilliant idea! I skipped the first 25 minutes trying to go limit some of the choices myself, but when I got back and saw Simon trying to figuring out the pattern, the logic was almost obvious! A real genius of a puzzle.

[@calebtadlock5956]

Absolutely phenomenal solve for an equally superb puzzle. I am beyond impressed at both Simon and the setter.

[@glennmelven3414]

Simon says now the Sudoku gods are going to be mad at me. Then he proceeds to rule the Sudoku gods.

[@andywilson5000]

After this, Simon is the Sudoku God

[@britlion]

Simon, watching a genius at work on something like this is wonderful. As someone who can take hours on a GAS puzzle (while accusing the creators of lies!), you vastly outclass me. But it's awesome to see the maestro solve something that appears impossible. Well done Mitchell Lee for dreaming this up!

[@boman2000]

Waking up after passing out from utter brain exhaustion to see Simon solve such a seriously seditious sudoku, giddilly. Completely fabulous. You have raised the bar once again sir. My hat is truly off to you.

[@Vivo-cp2rb]

26:24 the joy when you are onto something AND the numbers "magically" match your theory. i love this moment

[@jeremybatterbee3613]

Simon, you are a brilliant solver. I hope to one day be able to spot such bits of logic as you. The only critique I have of you is your row and column scanning, which is something I have heard you acknowledge yourself. Your channel has inspired me to try and focus my attention on sudoku puzzles to excerise my ability to stay focused, pay attention to details, and get better at logic. I have downloaded two of the sudoku apps, and strive to solve all of the puzzles. Thank you for your contribution to my mental health!

[@Tsevion.7]

After banging my head on this one for like an hour and half it's somewhat satisfying to see Simon 15 minutes in and going down the same paths I did.

[@Kuraudo_VII]

That initial break in is amazing. Never thought about it that way. Once you pointed that out, the rest became so easy. Amazing puzzle.

[@kdziolak]

Amazing puzzle, personally my favorite so far, and I think I've seen everything on this channel. Just stunning. Fun fact: Every purple is followed by a blue that is 1 greater, which holds true even in the two inverted boxes (modulo 9). Also the purple and blue sets are equal, which can only be true if every number (1-9) in the final solve appears in two purple and two blue cells. Consequently green cells need to be unique. This observation, available as soon as the nature of thermoses was discovered, would be marginally useful in trimming some of the branches down.

[@ColonelRPG]

There's no way in heaven I'd ever be able to solve this thing, what a headwrecker!

[@kolosmenus]

Oh, hey dude, love your vids

[@ColonelRPG]

@@kolosmenus Thanks ;)

[@mceajc]

I broke into applause at the end. That start is mind-bending.

[@williamnathanael412]

11:12 Simon says that there's no place to put a 1 in box 5, but isn't the orange boxes where the 1's are supposed to be?

[@tzampini]

Yes, you’re right. there are 4 places to put a 1 in box 5.

[@DavidNayer]

Well done Simon! I am inspired by your seeing the equality of the total of differences. Spectacular. There are three lemmata there you compressed to one intuition.

[@victormanjarinsala2253]

I don't think there are words in any language that suffice to describe this gorgeous monstrosity, so I'll just say HOLY F.

[@Marius5]

That was a fantastic puzzle and a great solve, hats off to both Mitchell Lee and Simon

[@slashclaw14]

Love how happy you were solving this! Absolutely crazy break-in. Mitchell does it again!

[@wilde1909]

I usually get bored in the middle of really hard sudoku solves because I know the solves are totally beyond me, but this one kept my interest because the logic involved in the solve was so different and didn’t require doing complicated arithmetic which I’ve never been able to do in my head.

[@danparsons1423]

Ive only watching these for a few weeks but this is the most impressive solve Ive seen yet, simply genius.

[@jaldinsicon]

i love that to have this type of symmetry between the purple and the blue, it forces the green to have all the numbers 1-9 also

[@inediblenut]

Simon is so brilliant he can ignore obvious things like digits being ruled out by another in that column, until he can find a way to use a quadruple to reach the same conclusion. All hail Simon. HAIL!

[@nimbletim]

the breakthrough logic was beyond amazing xD

[@DubioserKerl]

This is a truly marvellously constructed puzzle!

[@zoltankalovics7910]

10:50 why can't there be a 1 in the middle box if there are no 1s on the bulbs? weren't the cells that you highlighted in orange possible positions for them? cause you had 4 orange cells in the middle box.

[@juanalbertovargasmesen2509]

I'm glad he didn't end up using that faulty logic (I mean everyone makes mistakes, it's nothing much really). But instead he used an ironclad and beautiful argument.

[@thatpuzzleguy]

OK, good; I thought I was going insane.

[@FloydRinehart]

Zoltán Kálovics I thought I was losing my mind as well....

[@mohamedabdelgafar6180]

I had to watch it twice I thought I was the only one I guess it was just a result of wrong logic maybe ?

[@ervins775]

Can you explain in detail where his logic is faulty? Would you argue that he could put ones in either row 2 column 5 or row 8 column 5 ? Whats the argument, i dont see any flaws in his deduction

[@Piatato]

Wow! I love this idea! It's obviously insanely hard to spot, yet it's very clear and understandable once you know about it. Such elegance and beauty!

[@confusedSoulof2010]

I feel better! After waiting through the break in (because God only knows I couldn't do it before his break-in, I saw a couple connections faster than he seemed to, but my time only beat it by 3 minutes, and I wasn't having to think my moves out loud for people to understand... All in all, I feel accomplished even if I needed Simon (and someone to explain more in the comments) to tell me how to get myself started

[@vakilian]

I've watched a lot of CTC videos with great admiration.. Simon, this is your best ever solve.

[@bassamestfan6711]

I got my first pair after 5 minutes and first digit after 9. Of course I reset the puzzle and stared for 30 minutes before coming to watch like a good student. A marvelous setting and brilliant solve. Always enjoy watching Simon interact.

[@ljcapsicum]

I love solving these but this, this is by far the craziest opening to a puzzle I've ever seen

[@dreamsolutions3037]

"Tada! That's absolutely useless, but it is quite interesting." 😂

[@alvaropallete]

Apart from the wonderful setup, I'm very surprised how Simon is always so clever that he can spot hidden logics, as difficult as this one, within not much time in a live solve. I'm wordless this time 👏

[@maverickstclare3756]

and do entertaining commentary !!

[@itsonlyjoe42]

Mitchell Lee, this is incredible! Incredible sudoku! I wish I had thought to use that theorem (but even then I don't think I would have had a hope of solving it). Beautiful puzzle and well done Simon for finding the break in!

[@kimberlypreston6204]

I always liked puzzles. Simon, your channel turned me into a puzzler! I actually was excited watching the whole hour. So happy you made it through.

[@skyepotter9912]

Well done Simon, glad you got to finish this one... The logic in it was wonderful to watch

[@WessonSnyder]

This intro was one of the first songs I learned on guitar myself... Thank you for bringing back these memories.

[@gengar678]

Brilliant. Just love it when he discovers something and gets super excited

[@alarictaqiarentza9451]

Managed to solved it after 29 minutes in to the video. But i have to say that the break-in was absolutely brilliant! This is the best sudoku so far that i ever seen!

[@TrulyCrackd]

I honestly don’t know what’s going on but I find it so mesmerizing watching you complete these puzzles

[@TrulyCrackd]

Its just mind blowing seeing this❤️

[@wombatbreath]

wow - took me 93 minutes and not even embarassed - that was tough.

[@pmarmite947]

How did you break in? Same as Simon?

[@specialk6984]

Well done mate that was hard. I only finished it after cheating the first few numbers from Simon.

[@paulchapman3427]

Brilliant! Well done to Mitchell and to you. Awesome.

[@jonfbanks]

Sees the thumbnail: "Yay a thermo! I love thermos." Sees the runtime: "Looks like I'm gonna watch Simon do this one!"

[@danielepicone1480]

What a fantastic puzzle. One of the very best, if not the best I saw on this channel.

[@omardengel4498]

I just love your enthusiasm sooo much

[@karissajohnson7961]

What a stunning puzzle and one of your most entertaining solves, Simon. I almost teared up anticipating your "YES" at the end. {And I actually understood the logic straight away and the whole way through!}

[@Arvendui1]

I love this channel, and they feature some incredible puzzles, but this today might be the greatest of them all. Absolutely beautiful construction and explanation, and well beyond my pitiful capabilities. Stunning.

[@ursulamoney203]

Simon, you being excited about this incredible solve is the equivalent of someone else finally not burning the toast: I'd have been ecstatic!! Brilliant solve, very well explained and a whole new tool to our arsenal. AH-MAZ-ING darling. And I so love that both halves of your brain are equally developed, the logical and the creative: your intros are a real treat.

[@Baer1990]

I love how 3 seperate times there was a number (2 and later 3) blocking by normal sudoku rules, and he just goes wild with the thermometer why it can't go there by insane logic. Just beautiful, I cannot comprehend how you brain fits inside your skull

[@damienmcfarland7267]

Smiling ear to ear for the last 50 minutes, i knew you would crack it, well done Simon

[@davidhughes7174]

I agree, what a puzzle. It was hard just watching you solve it Simon, thank you.

[@HalfBakedLunatic]

Absolutely incredible. I could ponder over that for a year and not crack it! Very nicely done.

[@craigjessup5190]

Coming back to this one after 9 months, this is still a top 5 break ins on the channel

[@JCShort61]

I've picked up sudoku after stumbling across your channel 2 weeks ago. Thanks for all the tips! I'm able to complete hard puzzles in about 20 minutes. However, I need to work on my pencil marks. I mark everything and my board looks messy until I see the patterns. I will continue to watch your process so that I can more effectively spot doubles & triples to keep my workspace a bit cleaner. :) Thanks again! I love the content!

[@dominiclohry1782]

Simon, you are absolutely brilliant! What a stunning puzzle

[@andremess3336]

Awesome! Absolutely brilliant setup and solve. Always a pleasure to see you (Simon) being excited like a 5 year old the day before christmas when getting close to crack the puzzle open. :-)

[@genevieve4679]

Wow! This was absolutely brilliant!! Watching this solve is a great way to start a day.

[@RECTmetal]

It made me kind of happy when you got excited at 26:36 haha. Absolutely genius solution! Great job!!

[@ImperialKneazle]

Brilliant solve, and a real pleasure to watch too. You deserve to be proud.

[@dahulkbrando]

When you need a PhD in sudoku logic to solve a puzzle... My caveman brain was not ready.

[@nv915]

There is a saying in russian "talanted person is talanted in everything". Love the guitar solo at the behining!

[@JohnWalker-hk5pg]

10 minutes in and this one of the best yet!

[@krytolandros1775]

The fact that Simon wonders whether he'll finish the puzzle and is in suspense the whole time but we know he does finish the puzzle because it has been uploaded makes for such an interesting narrative framing. We get to cheer him on, knowing he will finish, because he is *destined to*, and while he struggles with doubt and uncertainty we get to focus instead on the pure logic of the solve rather than the anticipation of finding out whether he solves it or not. It's like having the ending spoiled, but that means we can focus more on the story's content, not distracted by the uncertainty of how it will end. The question for the viewer that keeps us watching is of *how* he will solve it, not *whether* he will solve it. And I think that makes for a more relaxing and enjoyable watch.

[@cyndisision]

The tension! The drama! The catharsis!

[@tagcoins1]

Fantastic solve! Yes, genius puzzle construction. Also genius level break-in! Kudos!

[@alienrenders]

Took me over 2 hours to understand how to start this puzzle. Took 1h15m more to finish it. It's so obvious when you see it. I could have finished the rest faster, but I was so happy I found out how to start it that I didn't want to make a mistake.

[@krispe2512]

Wow, never commented before but I have to bc this was great entertainment. Also thank you Simon for keeping the 3 rows and columns colored bc it helps keep track of what's going on.

[@StefanPettersson]

Solved it in 30:51 as in 30 years and 51 weeks. What a monster. Well done Simon!

[@colleenscottcarmello5103]

You're A freakin Genius Simon! Also, if you ever make a video with just you playing guitar, I would be interested in that. It is sooo relaxing listening to you play..

[@JayEmSea]

Wonderful! A joy to watch

[@philm5872]

Thanks for your videos! I've never been able to do Sudokus before and now I just did an "expert" level one on my phone in under 10 mins!

[@impishlyit9780]

I love that you played the intro music for this one! Seems you have more than just a talent for puzzles.

[@QemeH]

With all the warnings over difficulty, I think I'll make myself a nice cup of Earl Grey and enjoy watching you struggle :) For me, the "sudoku professor" arrow puzzle yesterday was sturggle enough...