EDIT: Due to there being actually a second solution to the sudoku I have updated the puzzle.
A.J.'s Puzzle #2
WARNING: This is a difficulty 4 and will most likely take several days to solve. Unfortunately, I have yet to have someone solve it so congrats on being my beta-testers! The difficulty is in figuring out how to solve the puzzle. Please read all before starting the puzzle.
In the 19th century, variations of Sudoku called Number Place were in French newspapers and in 1979 they also appeared in puzzle books. Later in 1986 Nikoli, a Japanese puzzle company, would popularize modern Sudoku, which meant "single number." Thanks to computer technology in 2004, Wayne Gould made a program that generated unique solution puzzles that would appear in U.S. newspapers and the London Times.
After the first puzzle I realized I didnt cause enough pain and suffering needed to make a harder puzzle. Thus, I came up with the idea of having a Sudoku puzzle, but a digit repeats, but you don't know which digit. Creating this puzzle took much longer than the last due to a few failed attempts at having a puzzle that fit all the constraints I wanted. But finally after finishing my esgargot, a typical French dish made from cooking land snails, the puzzle came to be and all that was left was the testing. Land snails are any snail that live on land, not to be confused with ones that live in sea or freshwater, as those types do not live on land and thus are not considered land snails. This is beceause sea and freshwater snails live in water and not land. According to Webster, land is "the solid part of the surface of the earth" and water is:
"the liquid that descends from the clouds as rain, forms streams, lakes, and seas, and is a major constituent of all living matter and that when pure is an odorless, tasteless, very slightly compressible liquid oxide of hydrogen H2O which appears bluish in thick layers, freezes at 0° C and boils at 100° C, has a maximum density at 4° C and a high specific heat, is feebly ionized to hydrogen and hydroxyl ions, and is a poor conductor of electricity and a good solvent."
As we can clearly see by these definitions land ≠ water which implies that land snail ≠ sea or freshwater snail. I hope this clears up any confusion on land and sea/freshwater snails.
Puzzle rules (Example 4x4 below):
- Each 3x3 subgrid must contain digits 1-9, no duplicates
- Each row and column must contain digits 1-9 and one duplicate that is indicated by the corresponding gray row or column (Empty gray cells need to be solved for, gray cells do not count as being in the normal rows or columns)
- Each gray row and column must contain digits 1-9 and a duplicate indicated by the top-left cell (Blue)
- The sum of the red cells must equal the sum of the green cells, digits may repeat in either region
- (EDIT) Cells with a dot in between can not have consecutive digits
- Blue cells will be used for getting the coords so you can ignore them when solving the Sudoku.
- Yellow cell means nothing, I just thought it looked nicer
Some things to keep in mind:
- Some deductions in classic Sudoku don't work completely or at all in this puzzle, as digits can repeat in rows/columns.
- There is a trick/realization that is needed to solve the puzzle and to avoid many failed attempts (this is where the special knowledge comes in for the D rating).
Getting the coords:
1. X = Sum of all the blue cells. Y = Product of red cells. Z = Product of green cells.
2. Perform this operation 2X * | Y - Z |
3. You will get a number between 1 and 11 digits long, letter them A-K starting with leading 0s
Example: 03,723,613,192 = AB,CDE,FGH,IJK
4. Coords of cache: N 47° 48.(F-D-3G)(B+1)(A+C) W 122° 12.(H-K)I(J÷E)
Example: N 47° 48.(6-2-3*1)(3+1)(0+7) W 122° 12.(3-2)1(9÷3) => N 47° 48.147 W 122° 12.113
Online version (HIGHLY Reccomended):
- Link
- Once you solve the puzzle it will let you know
- For mode select Sudoku
- Keyboard shortcuts:
- z = Normal type
- x = Corner type
- c = Center type
- You can also select different colors to type or select Surface mode and highlight cells different colors
Print version:
- You can also print from the online version link
4x4 example:
- A.J.
Congrats to jim_carson on the FTF, He did a great job!
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.