Two Sudokus Are Sometimes Better Than One

[@jacobchristophe1453]

Thank you Simon for featuring another puzzle of mine ! Being part of that Zodiac Project was an honor and a real challenge for me. When I was given that set of circles to work with, I quickly realized it was not in my setting habits to work with that kind of constraints. Usually, when I set something with S-cells or modifiers (doublers, mirrors...), part of the solve is about locating the cells containing these modifiers. Therefore, it took me quite a while to find what I would like to do with those circles. I needed a trick to get some ambiguity about the nature of those circles. And that's how I came up with the thematic idea of the gemini puzzles, which allowed that kind of ambiguity. I actually think that concept of "twin" grids could be used with some other constraints/modifier and lead to very cool puzzles. Also, get well soon ! 😀

[@crab0traps0now]

That was a fantastic puzzle. The most fun I have had on this channel in a long time! Not too difficult, but challenging enough!

[@AdmiralVortex]

Lovely stuff! I wonder if something like this could be designed with the intent of being solved by more than one person... 👀

[@AnyaJoPilling]

I’ve lost track of the number of times my husband and I said “oh that is so clever” while solving this one. What a brilliant puzzle!

[@davidrattner9]

Just incredible from you!! How you came up with this is mind boggling.

[@katherinemoseley6457]

I love this puzzle, the way that the original grid has two solutions which need to be solved simultaneously to find is just genius. It's the ultimate Schrödinger, each circle being both doubled and not doubled and seeing all the options, depending on which reality it's in. Love it

[@johnnyrobinmorgan]

Anybody struggling to see on the phone, you can zoom and pan the video to just contain the grids. Unfortunately you can no longer see Simon's lovely face...

[@saedhmidat4764]

Not seeing Simon is a high price that I can pay😂❤

[@akostoth2461]

I do this on every video. Only i've never seen a grid ever

[@ab-ky2rj]

I can't even see is on a laptop 😞

[@patrickgass787]

ViKingPrime checking in here - so happy to see this featured and so happy to see another puzzle by Christounet (one of the greatest sudoku setters of all time, for those who may not be familiar; like Simon, I'd been wondering when we would hear from him next). Just to explain a bit about this "Zodiac Project" - it's a sudoku chain letter. That's actually it. I set a puzzle to kick things off, using a disjoint set of the digits 1-9 (meant to resemble a constellation) and then handed off a grid with a new layout of disjoint cells to the next setter, who just happened to be the illustrious Marty Sears. In fact, his puzzle was featured on this channel as well! along with a few others, such as one by Florian Wartmann. A lot of phenomenal sudoku has come out of this series, some of the best I've seen. I've no doubts we'll be seeing more entries up in lights, given the consistent calibre of setting this series has kindled. So yes, you nominate a setter, you hand them a predetermined disjoint set and tell them to make a puzzle, with no other constrictions. Once they're done, they do the same, and on and on it goes... I believe MaizeGator has been tapped to set the next one, quite excited to see what they do with it!

[@davidrattner9]

Love this series from you!! So glad you got this started!!! Much respect for you!!

[@Jukka70]

loved the way that these sudokus worked off each other. Always love seeing something new

[@HunterJE]

What a setting accomplishment to make something with this ruleset that not only works but solves pleasingly too

[@aksela6912]

Absolutely genius setup, and like how the logic is simple enough that I can actually follow Simon's solve.

[@emilywilliams3237]

I started watching this a couple of days ago, and each day when I have such a wealth of material from you guys, Simon, I have to decide just what I am going to watch. I knew that I absolutely had to watch this puzzle get to the finish because it is amazing. Thanks so much for doing this, and by now I hope that you are feeling much better.

[@vjtocco]

This puzzle is so absolutely stunning. I was honored to test it for Christounet, and the moment I saw it I was stunned and hooked. Very cool to see Simon follow my solve path so closely as well!

[@mstmar]

I think the solution check should mention r7c4 instead of r9c1 being a doubler. you pick r7c4 within mins of starting, but you don't know which r9c1 is a doubler until about half way through the solve, at which point you have a 50/50 chance of having to swap all your digits.

[@chocolateboy300]

I finished in 136 minutes. This puzzle breaks my brain in so many ways. It felt like trying to uncross your eyes to focus on two separate image, but my brain kept trying to converge them into one. The solve itself was surprisingly clean, though. I think my favorite part was determining the bottom left digit to be an 8, by ruling it out as a 27 pair with another circle in box 6, due to the double circle cage being too high no matter which ones were chosen. I don't know how one would even come up with this concept, let alone construct an entire sudoku around it. It is supremely genius. This has to be one of my favorites. Great Puzzle!

[@A_CC_K]

I just wanted to say thank you Simon, after dealing with a unpleasant person (and that's being kind) I really needed something to make me feel better. This video has done just that, thank you.

[@bobblebardsley]

Is this the first puzzle to feature on CTC that 'fails' uniqueness? 😜

[@subinmdr]

I remember a Schrodinger cells puzzle that was full of unresolved deadly patterns 😂

[@Timlagor]

@@subinmdr There was one that you had to solve twice as well.

[@nilsleder2957]

Thank you for this wonderful video, Simon! And, of course, big thanks to Christounet for the amazing twin puzzle! I very much share the admiration for this construction even being possible, let alone solving so nicely. Absolutely terrific setting!

[@davidrattner9]

Another fabulous puzzle and solving from you Simon. Hope your cold continues to get better.

[@jtkunder3320]

One of my absolute favorite things is when Simon names the shape of a cage he's working on. Hello little elephant!

[@kevinbrownsword9558]

Great puzzle pair. It seemed like one seemed to want to give up its value and the other you had to fight for. A nice duality there

[@KSilverlode]

This took me a very long time but I enjoyed working on it. Very interesting logic!

[@ericpraline1302]

That was really fun, thanks. At first I was confused by the apparent arbitrary nature of the two grids but somehow it all falls into place.

[@penningmeestercgkdelft9159]

A three in the corner without confetti, feels like a historical fountain in ancient Rome (like Trevi) with beautiful sculptures, but without any water flowing... Besides that: the confetti always seems to be directed towards the center of the white part of the screen, rather than the center of the puzzle as such.

[@meiter]

Get well soon Simon!

[@Kinada]

What a cool idea for a puzzle. Took me about 90 min to finish it. Very fun.

[@gibbbon]

you should really add a zoom function to your app for large puzzles like that, the numbers are too tiny, it hurt

[@cyanophage4351]

Or just make Simon and the rules smaller. We don't need to see the wall behind Simon

[@katiekawaii]

​@@cyanophage4351The issue isn't the video, it's the app you do the puzzle on when you're solving it yourself. It doesn't zoom, so the numbers are teeny tiny and very hard to work with.

[@piarittersporn]

What a great adventure. Apart from the fact that the double puzzle was so small that I could hardly see anything on my small monitor and I had to work with a magnifying glass, it was very exciting and not too difficult. Still, it took me quite a long time.

[@Legerine]

Simon at his best despite being sick. I would love to see Mark tackle this sometime as well.

[@dahamugo]

Would it be possible to adjust the sudokupad to make better use of the screen space? As it is, the puzzle is so small I have to squint to see the cage sums, and a good 30% of my screen is just empty.

[@danielrodriguezdominguez8301]

Totally agree, we need a vertical version of this puzzle for us playing on the phone

[@grantfraser5430]

Yep, old guy here. I had to immediately give up. No way I can enjoy trying to solve this on my phone

[@katiekawaii]

Yes! One on top of the other would use the space better and make them easier to see.

[@klompndans]

PC user here: can't you turn your phone to landscape?

[@Timlagor]

The 6-sudoku puzzle was great so high hopes for this one! In particular I'm hoping the double puzzle is easier than the intimidating time would imply for a normal one

[@joepohlen1662]

That's like 3 puzzles in one. All three excellent!

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 05:45 Let's Get Cracking: 10:38 Simon's time: 1h7m50s Puzzle Solved: 1:18:28 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! Three In the Corner: 3x (48:59, 1:06:34, 1:12:04) The Secret: 3x (43:54, 1:16:42, 1:17:09) Maverick: 2x (04:22, 18:54) Bobbins: 1x (43:43) Chocolate Teapot: 1x (1:08:36) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Hang On: 12x (15:18, 18:43, 18:43, 29:53, 34:16, 38:37, 42:00, 58:06, 58:26, 59:58, 1:11:55, 1:14:13) By Sudoku: 11x (19:46, 22:49, 33:06, 38:46, 47:57, 50:17, 52:30, 56:46, 1:04:32, 1:04:56, 1:17:48) In Fact: 11x (03:30, 13:02, 18:43, 19:03, 23:11, 23:20, 27:24, 34:53, 35:37, 41:12, 54:32) Sorry: 10x (09:49, 17:48, 21:52, 22:10, 24:37, 26:13, 34:24, 40:23, 41:56, 1:19:31) Ah: 10x (07:35, 13:53, 28:11, 29:53, 34:14, 45:09, 53:52, 1:07:08, 1:11:02, 1:13:59) Pencil Mark/mark: 9x (06:03, 23:06, 42:31, 54:05, 59:56, 1:01:24, 1:03:16, 1:09:01, 1:10:14) Goodness: 6x (21:52, 22:10, 59:06, 1:09:42, 1:10:54, 1:14:24) Clever: 5x (36:19, 36:19, 47:30, 1:13:53, 1:18:34) Good Grief: 4x (05:14, 46:25, 59:28, 1:14:57) Brilliant: 4x (04:53, 05:26, 05:31, 05:31) Whoopsie: 4x (32:12, 32:24, 42:29, 51:56) Naked Single: 3x (59:42, 1:05:50, 1:14:09) That's Huge: 3x (38:41, 48:42, 1:10:54) Bother: 2x (50:14, 54:01) Recalcitrant: 2x (46:28, 46:33) Naughty: 2x (24:54, 57:55) In the Spotlight: 2x (49:00, 1:12:04) Lovely: 2x (21:25, 1:11:40) Beautiful: 2x (33:58, 35:29) Extraordinary: 2x (00:20, 54:21) Deadly Pattern: 2x (1:07:12, 1:07:18) Shouting: 2x (04:51, 40:27) Surely: 2x (1:07:52, 1:15:50) Wow: 2x (58:49, 58:58) What Does This Mean?: 2x (52:41, 1:14:40) Cake!: 2x (04:57, 05:33) Weird: 2x (37:37, 55:30) What on Earth: 1x (29:53) Useless: 1x (44:54) Apologies: 1x (57:49) Nonsense: 1x (46:48) I Have no Clue: 1x (02:14) Stuck: 1x (03:22) Gorgeous: 1x (1:16:39) Take a Bow: 1x (1:18:38) Discombobulating: 1x (04:25) Of All Things: 1x (19:46) Fabulous: 1x (1:12:32) Unique: 1x (21:04) Symmetry: 1x (1:02:26) Triangular Number: 1x (24:17) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Eighteen (19 mentions) One (143 mentions) Red (3 mentions) Antithesis Battles: Low (2) - High (1) Even (4) - Odd (0) Column (15) - Row (11) 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!

[@francescof3267]

BRO CHILLLL the video was published 4 minutes ago!!!

[@jamesb7906]

@@francescof3267it’s written by AI lol its even posted at the bottom of the comment

[@francescof3267]

@@jamesb7906 but how could they feed the video to the ai before the video was even available??

[@jamesb7906]

@@francescof3267 AI only needs about 30 seconds to read an hours worth of video Most likely the person got the notification that the post went up, immediately pasted it into the AI and then pasted it back here

[@AnyaJoPilling]

Oh this is such a clever clever puzzle!

[@MarkBennet10001]

What a wonderful puzzle and solve

[@darthrainbows]

Wow, that was an awesome puzzle! Took forever to solve, but I got it eventually in 1:25:40.

[@RoderickEtheria]

I must say, I would prefer that the doubled digit that marked the difference was r8c7, given that it is the obvious place to start.

[@jonasf94114]

I agree. I cheated by scrubbing rapidly to see which of the grid had the doubler R9C1 and R8C7 (trying to ignore anything else in the grid) and started from there and of course ignoring that I knew where the R9C1 doubler was to (try to) solve the puzzle

[@TwistPickle]

Agreed, though Simon doesn't actually figure out the (relative) doubler status of r8c7 until much later in the puzzle. It'd be much kinder if r7c4 marked which puzzle was which

[@mse326]

I disagree. I think part of the fun in solving comes from realizing the symmerty means it can only be broken by finding a doubler and that you can still use the sudoku on the 234 to continue on without knowing which grid is which

[@srwapo]

71:28, surprised I got to the end, especially on my phone with the two grids being TINY and being constantly worried about mistyping something (which I did once!). I ended up just assuming a high/low in the center of the grid at the start and ended up being lucky that worked out with the rule about which r9c1 was the high and I didn't have to retype everything. EDIT: And it took me a bit to see that a digit in a circle would see the digits in BOTH grids at the same time.

[@milliams]

Watching this reminds me of that trope in films where the "hacker" is using multiple keyboards attached to multiple monitors at once.

[@Paul-cn3ij]

69:29. Tough on the eyes. Tough on the brain. Magnificent puzzle though. Felt a real sense of achievement getting it correct even if now having skipped through the video I realise I made it more difficult waiting so long to choose a grid and number to be my first doubler... Pencil marked way too much!

[@jimkirk9332]

This one took me twice as long as I thought it would.

[@MarushiaDark316]

Double your pleasure, Double your fun, Double sudoku, With Gemini puns.

[@mk_57]

Oh Simon, of course it's OKAY TO SNEEZE while making a video! You wouldn't have to stop a sneeze just to make a video better, in fact it's not as bad as you think it might be -- and you might rupture your ear drum or something else in that process, which we / you wouldn't want to happen! And of course, I'm very excited about the "my favourite people" merch! :)

[@thebishop4112]

Not sure how I feel about this one. Loved the ruleset, and really loved the solve up until the point where I had found all the circled digits. After that I felt the sudoku was a little bit fiddly and unrewarding, but I admit that may have been a feeling caused (or at least exacerbated) by the grids being so small. Possibly it would help if the grids were positioned one on top of the other (rather than side by side) with the ability to scroll. Anyway, just my 2c.

[@Sinvern]

How do you even think of setting something like that? I absolutely loved it.

[@TheArbieo]

If you want to solve with the solution checker, specifying r9c1 isnt good for the break-in. For an easier solve, specify r6c3 as the doubler on the right hand side instead.

[@estherwestbroek]

I liked this, and beat you all: 192 minutes! And of course we're still here at the end of the video Simon, even if only to help you through it! Get well soon!

[@checkmate-401]

genius knows no bounds

[@craig--]

Simon's puzzle grid is always more blurry than Mark's, but this time it's almost unwatchable. I think the issue here is that Simon zoomed in with the video software and not with the browser window. The software Simon uses maybe need to be changed to 1080 pixels, or he should switch software. I bet Mark uses the same software and he grids are always so clear, so Simon is doing something wrong.

[@RichSmith77]

Arghhh! I mistyped a 6 as a an 8 in the 4+6=10 cage early on, and never noticed. I even had 2 or 6 pencilmarked as the options. And I typed 8! No wonder I came to a grinding halt later on. I wasted a lot of time, gave up, started watching Simon - then kicked myself when my error came to light. Great puzzle though. (I never noticed the disambiguating line for the solution checker. Of course I completed my grids the other way round. 😂)

[@Royb9872]

What a wonderful birthday present for me! I've turned 21 today and got 2 puzzles in 1 video! Once again a nice concept, one of the many new concepts and variants I've found on this channel. Although I have one question... Why were there 2 sixes in the same box in the example?

[@estherwestbroek]

Happy birthday!

[@AichoOshiro]

Did somebody count how often the plane passed by? It was omnipresent in this video 😂 Hope you feel better soon Simon!

[@nathanmays7926]

how in the world was this set?

[@cybrey]

Why does the example have two 6s and no 9 in the left grid?

[@jacobchristophe1453]

Right ! Sorry about that. Thanks for telling. I will fix the example on the LMD page.

[@Timlagor]

On 1080p (max offered by youtube), Simon is very clear but the numbers are a little blurry. This is a strange phenomenon but I wonder if there's something in the OBS that's causing it.

[@cbalan777]

The rules for how the doubling (or not doubling) of the digits works could have been made clearer. You have to have the illustrated example to make sense of the text.

[@anthonycannet1305]

Looks like it’s coded that r1c9 is a corner and points toward the center of the screen. In this puzzle it wouldn’t know that r1c18 is a corner and the center of the screen isn’t the center of the grid like it normally is

[@AlphaNumericNZ0]

fun puzzle, but man did it give me a headache. Something about the size and looking at both puzzles really made me feel ill. Never had a puzzle do that to me before. BUT, still fun!

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

31:59 for me. Incredibly impressive puzzle(s)!!

[@ronjohnson6916]

Fun puzzle. Very hard on these aging eyes though.

[@rmjarvis]

SudokuPad needs some kind of scrolling feature or something for puzzles like this that are extra wide. This is way too hard to do on my phone.

[@robertosecco983]

Two grids. Double the opportunity to miss sudoku. :)

[@VidddyOGaming]

Best way to end my birthday is chocolate cake and Cracking the Cryptic.

[@stephenmccarthy1795]

The question is “Where does the 4 go in column 8 of the right hand grid?”. Can be answered the minute Simon takes a 4 out of box 6.

[@andrewmoore2295]

new puzzle woooooo

[@Timlagor]

Surely a little extra programming would let you check the solution against the possible correct solutions?

[@henriparenteau6496]

You may sneeze ❤

[@jaspersneyers4559]

LETSGOOO ANOTHER ONEEE DAY:12

[@RichSmith77]

(I think it's more like day 1,647 🙂)

[@eefaaf]

37:08 In box 3 of the left grid the 2 and 7 have to go in column 9, resolving the 2 and 9 in the circles of the cage.

[@chipsounder4633]

Where is the 3 on the right hand grid in box 9? 50:00 you didn't see it. I will forgive you 😊 get well soon Simon.

[@Squishy3757]

Sudoku called and invited you to visit 7s in cols 123

[@reaperofthegrey7294]

2 suddokus at once? next up it will be a sudoku^² a 3d box shaped suddoku. but why stop there. after that make a suddoku^³ and its just a freaking a tesseract

[@eefaaf]

1:02:53 "If that's 35" it would kick out the 3 of r5c9 resolving the 34 pair in box 3, putting a 2 in r7c7. Having a 26 pair instead of the 35 would result in the same 2 in the r7c7 cell.

[@lunardancer6047]

I didn't enjoy this one. Too small and even though I correctly solved it, it said I'd made a mistake as I had the first doubler on the right as opposed to the left.

[@ab-ky2rj]

a

[@laserbean1]

How can we know that only circles have doubled values? The rules just say "cell"

[@HippoNird]

too small to watch :(

[@stangerrits6712]

Two sudoku's?! You mean there's even more stuff to see just before Simon does? Double the yelling at the screen? Nice!

[@oscarbarnes2130]

0 views in 15 seconds? Bro fell off

[@LithmusEarth]

so I had to watch the whole thing at 1.5x SIZE but I was okay with that, having fun with the matched grids for cages and single locations. But I keep thinking technically that the answer for the entire thing has 2 solutions where you just swap the two grids, which is why you just arbitrarily decide at the beginning like you said once you discovered a relationship. also at 40:16 I was waiting for you to remove like one more digit or so. In Box 6 in both grids there is a vertical 2 slice in column 8. The maximum was 10 or 12, and now the left side can at minimum if 8 taken be an 11, and right maximum a 10, so the 8 isn't possible on the left anymore and you can place a 5 in row 6 Column 8. which means it's either an 8 or 9 total, which the right side eliminates the 1 in row 5 column 8 but otherwise keeps it's 234 and 56. I'm excited for you to spot it, you've got great eyes for this stuff. 40:34 you are always funny when you can hear us "shouting". 45:19 YES! 46:56 I'm thinking the cage on the left with 1 and 8, that last digit in the cage SEES A LOT, it can only be a 3 4 or 9 I believe, and that should put some strain on the right cage, being that it has a total now of 12, 13, or 18. 51:59 the minimum for the right grid cage i'm talking about in column 9, the minimum is 12, 1+5+6; I have to imagine that puts a lot of restriction on allowing the left to be a 4. Actually since you can't do 1,6,6 uh... there is no way to do 13 anymore. Yeah so it's not a 4 on the left it's a 9 and it's an 18 cage. 55:57 I am glad you are verifying it.

[@markp7262]

41:35 finish. I was almost finished when bad math reared its ugly head. After misadding cages, I found that I was not correct in the puzzle. It required a bit of a rewind, since it wasn't a simple case of swapping a pair of digits. LOVE LOVE LOVE the logic on this one. Excellent!

[@Coyotek4]

1:00:34 ... I think I'm still seeing double now NNiiccee ppuuzzzzllee!!

[@naminaaam]

At 23:25 the 3 in R3C2, why can’t it be 4, 5?

[@RichSmith77]

There are already circles with 4 and 5. The rules say the digits in the circles form a complete set 1-9. So no repeats.

[@LednacekZ]

52:21 for me. a bit unusual but not bad.

[@checkmate-401]

genius knows no bounds