ChinStrap here. Thank you for the great solve! Massively appreciate it. The length of the index line is such a powerful piece of information that the allure of hiding that behind fog was an instant hook into setting this puzzle. Glad it turned out so well. And yes the lack of diagonals were meant to be understood under the fog by the fact that i made the lines so thick. I even included an opening line with a diagonal so you could see how much sticks into adjacent boxes when it moves diagonally.
great to know. I did write a separate comment about my solve and using the logic in box 7/8 with the diagonals. I wasn't 100% sure of it, so definitely happy that was the intended solution. Great puzzle - hoping to see more! side note: I really love these dynamic fog puzzles. Gives that extra dopamine hit knowing you're doing the puzzle correctly (and the intended way) when you get those little extra bits of "look here now!"
Simon, I’m always thoroughly impressed by your ability to pinpoint exactly where you made an error. When I mess up, I usually have to restart the whole puzzle to be sure that my logic is correct.
In the initial break-in, at around 12-14, there are some "tricks" to index lines that are not mentioned. Either a digit indexes itself (is singleton) or is part of a reflective pair. They each are Renban lines containing a 1 because some digit must appear in the diamond saying "I'm first." A 5 in the diamond places a 1 in position 5. All must have the digits 1 to N where N is the length. An odd length line has an odd number of singletons. An even length line has an even number of singletons.
37:05 Why not? I imagine setters probably take a lot of care to consider the grid furniture and how it's revealed. It seems wrong to ignore that. To any setters in the comments: I'd love to hear your opinions.
‘Probably’ does not equal ‘always’ and unless something is not explicit in the rules (something like “diagonal lines will always be seen in any exposed cell”) it’s okay to be hesitant in assuming.
@@stephenbeck7222he already made assumption with box 9 line didn’t he? He said r9c8 couldn’t be on an 8 length line, highlighting r9c9 as the eighth point. Unless I missed the other reason.
Maybe the rules could state more clearly that you’re allowed to use these fractions of grid furniture revealed by the fog. Making the lines thicker helps as well. Anyway, I feel that everytime Simon is hesitating on these issues, the comments are quite clear: ‘if you can see it, use it!’ Somehow Simon just doesn’t like these kind of clues, although they are clearly constructed by the setters to be used like this.
I agree, there's one more logic, and Simon surely has found it, though I paused at 37:30 and don't know whether he found the logic or not: Since 3 is in row 4 in box 6 already, the line does not only go one cell further into the fog, it has to come to a cell that can be 3, so the line is even longer than 6 cells. At least 8, if not 9. It has to come down to row 6. Anyway, to deduce it has to stay in box 4 I also relied on not seeing a diagonal line going to box 1. Finally that means, I wouldn't got further than here without reliying on the thickness of the index lines being seen in diagonal line segments, and I think that is intended and okay.
@@stephenbeck7222 I usually agree with your stance especially when it comes to killer cages because expecting someone to see 3 back pixels at the corner of a cell especially on a smaller screen like mobile its mad but when the setter has taken special care to provide clearly indicated clues like the fat lines here and the inequality sign then i don't mind. As some others have commented " If I can see it, I will use it" A short mention in the ruleset though wouldn't hurt anyone and would make things clearer.
53:58 Simon, although I shouted a lot to the screen about placing the 6 in r4c4 (just by indexing logic), I am always very impressed how often you manage to repair any error if the puzzle seemed to be broken. Your correction of the pencilmarks is just spot on!
A very interesting puzzle, and I enjoyed your video, Simon. One of the things you and Mark have taught me is not to over-pencil-mark, which I think that you sometimes under-pencil-mark - but I think you struck just the right balance in this solve. Thanks for this video during the holiday season!
Fantastic puzzle! It is definitely the most difficult FOW I have ever solved. Watching Simons solve afterwards made me feel great empathy. Especially when he stumbled in exactly the same places in the logic path that I did. At least I made different errors in my solve due to incorrect pencil marks. Thank you, Chinstrap. You have made my Sudoku year.
At 44:22 Simon works out that what appears in R4C2 (the 4th position on the line) must be a 7, or 8. He could have used the same logic to work out that the only digit that could appear in R4C4 (the 6th position on the line) is a 6.
The 6 in the centre box was available as soon as Simon exposed the full line at 43:20. The 6 can't go in the 7th or 8th position because that would duplicate the 7 or 8 in the centre box.
30:48 finish. I second guessed myself at the beginning when fog wasn't clearing, but I soon realized as Simon did that it was just teasing us. An excellent puzzle, fun fun fun!
Love the puzzle! Another shameless ask / suggestion for the app if there's ever bandwidth: It would be nice to be able to turn off the "defogging" - to be able to mess around / mark things up without accidentally revealing. Thanks!
Love watching these to fall asleep, and just as I'm about to drift off I heard your overwatch reference at 1:06:15 ish and now here I am, fully awake and surprised you knew about widowmaker!
Solved in 31:37. Lots of really interesting logic to place a single digit in that one. Then it doesn't clear any fog, so you need to look for more logic with the existing clues. The good thing about a well designed dynamic fog puzzle is it clears fog the moment there isn't any more logic to tease out, so you know when to stop looking.
I was "solving along" with the video on in the background, keeping about 5 minutes ahead of where Simon was, when he made the mistake in box 4 that caused me to panic and double check my solve. Was very relieved to discover it was his mistake and not mine!
I finished in 46:40 minutes. The indexing line ruleset has been one of my favorite new rules and combining it with fog of war feels like a natural fit. The way it works creates some beautiful logic. Chinstrap seems to be the master of these indexing lines and I look forward to every puzzle that has them. I have many favorite parts of this puzzle. The way the 3 was forced in box 4 was fantastic to spot. The 3 being ruled out of r6c6 due to it putting too much pressure on the index line, breaking it was also a joy to spot. I. think my favorite, though, was near the end and noticing that 2 had to belong in r1c3&4, which either way takes an 8 out of r1c3, finishing the puzzle. This was such a joy to solve. This has to be one of my favorites. As always, it feels good to beat Simon's time. Great Puzzle!
As a true student of Simon; rather than take that the index line in column 7 was of length 9 by sudoku, I worked to prove it was of length 9 by disproving a shorter line was possible by way of the >. What a long strange trip it's been.
12:39, I guess the only way we worked out r9c8 couldn't be on the line is because of how thick the line is? Simon explained it by saying it couldn't be on the line because it could never be on the line.
I'm not sure how it was determined in the video, but I looked at where the digit in r6c8 could show up in box 9. It can't repeat on the line or in the same column, so it has to be in column 9. If the line continues to r9c8, then the line goes through all the cells in box 9/column 9, thus that digit can't appear in box 9 anywhere.
But the only reason it couldn't bend from on r8c9 to go to r9c8 is because there should be a fraction of line visible in r8c8 if that were the case. If the line had been thin, we couldn't make this deduction.
@@garydornjr8623I believe the reason for using thick lines is so that you can make those sorts of deductions. You can see what a corner looks like in r7c8.
@@RoderickEtheriayes, that too. I looked at where the line went on a diagonal and saw that you could see in in the corners of the cells that is passed.
Simon is distracting himself from the UK Weather - I am here, looking to pass the time before my flight. This was fun and 1 hour of my 6 hours of layover is goneeee
Very fun puzzle although as usual I got hung up on the sudoku parts a bit. Got it in 05:17:02, which isn't bad at all by my standards. For those who have trouble thinking about index lines, here's an alternate rule wording that has the same behavior but leaves fewer things implicit: Anbenas lines (a.k.a. index lines): place the digits 1 through N on each line in order starting from the diamond (N is the length of the line). Now pick ZERO or more pairs of cells along the line, and swap the digits in those pairs. Pairs may not overlap each other (so each position along the line is either swapped with ONE other position or contains its natural in-order digit; you can't have 3 or more digits swapping around in a cycle or anything like that). "Anbenas" comes from sorting the letters of "renban" and then swapping one of the 'a's for an 'n'.
Thanks for the puzzle. I really like this index lines rule. I got stuck a little bit in the lower left corner because I forgot you can see the line sticking under the fog when it moves diagonally. My time: 00:39:13
48:27 I used the 25 cell (r6c7) in the middle line to determined where the number was in the line on the left. I made that cell red to keep track of it to help a little.
Nice video and solve again Simon! Is there any news about Michael and Jenna Marie who were in the announcements some time ago? I might have missed it somewhere but I'm just curious. :-)
Index lines are very interesting. Imo a cool way to think about their logic is that they essentially swap a pair of numbers from the natural ordering of 1-2-3-4-5-.... i.e. if you put a 5 in 2nd position, you must also put a 2 in the 5th positions. Ig this is now my "secret"
1:10:30, and I must admit to using the 'auto-correct' feature (as may Fog sudokus have) on a couple moments when I erred. Nice puzzle! (Maybe too tough for me without the hints.)
I feel like these dynamic fog puzzles should have some kind of graphic (similar to the 3 in the corner) for when you place a correct digit that doesn't reveal any fog
If the cell is still covered it (usually) will lift the fog. If not, then it's not different to classic fog sudokus, where you also didn't have the instant confirmation if there wasn't any fog left in the surrounding cells.
I had an alternate way to determine r6c6, spoilered below. We know that 7 must be on the line, and it can't go in positions 5 through 9. It also can't go in position 1 or 3, because that would put 1/3 into position 7 which clashes. So 7 is either in position 2, or position 4. Symmetrically, that means we know that position 7 is either a 2 or a 4. We also know r6c7 is a 2 or a 5. If we make r6c7 a 2, then that makes position 7 a 4, and that places 7 in position 4. If we instead make r6c7 a 5, then position 4 needs to be 7 anyway. So position 4 is always 7.
I must say, I am happy that you used the same logic in box 7/8 with the "you would see a corner of the line", I really thought I was asking the wrong question to find the 7 or 8 in r9c3. Unless both of us were
hey simon! at 43:39, how did you notice to choose 3 index 1st rather than other possible options who might appear on the line? 4 index 1st cannot be possible cause 4 is on the line. but if assume that 5 is on the shaded line, you rather say 5 index 1. so this assumption was really interesting to me!
The way I determined the line in box 4/5 was quite a bit different. I placed the 1 in box 6, since it's a naked 1, and had 789 as candidates for r3c7 and r3c9 in box 6. With 46 going in row 4 box 5, this means that the line has to be length 8, since length 9 would place two of 789 in row4 box 4, but we already have two of them in row 4 box 6 (as we know we can't have a quadruple triple)! This immediately places the 3, 1, 5 and 6 on the index line, with the remaining numbers as two pairs.
I don't understand: In box 9, I understand why the line couldn't be of length 9, but Simon then said that, as a consequence of r9c8 not being on the line, the line couldn't be of length 8. Why could the line not proceed from r8c9 directly to r9c8, getting there in 7 cells, leaving r9c9 to have the same value as r6c8? Am I missing something?
The point is that out of box 9, two different digits are not on the line (in your suggestion, r8c8 and r9c9). Which means that at least two numbers from the set 1-9 are not on the line. Those missing digits have to be 8 and 9. Therefore, the line is at most 7 long.
The thickness of the line means that if it went from r8c9 to r9c8 diagonally, then part of the line should be visible in r8c8 (clear of fog), and it isn't. Simon seems to use this without realising that's what he's doing, since he's unsure whether it's a justified assumption later in box 4. The constructor has already commented elsewhere that the lines were intentionally this thick to allow such deductions to be made.
Compare r7c8 and r8c8. If the line jumped to r9c8 like you were thinking, there would be a bit of the cyan index line poking out into the bottom righthand corner of r8c8. similar to how the topleft corner of r7c8 has. ChinStrap mentioned in another comment that the thickness of the line was intentional to hint whether or not a diagonal would be for consideration
I would like if Simon would get rid of colors after he has used them. I find it hard to follow the solve when the grid is filled with colors that are providing no new information.
I love that Simon still gets scared whenever he puts in a digit and it doesn't clear fog If the puzzle is built by revealing sections then it's impossible to clear fog with every complete digit... For example this puzzle starts out with 12 cells revealed so minimum there will be 12 correct guesses that reveal nothing
Good morning I’ve watched dozens of your sudoku solutions & downloaded your free tutorial In the Telegraph sudoku I sometimes struggle to even get more than one digit pencilled in Generally I make good progress then come to a dead stop I can spot X wings but have never found them productive Never spotted an Y wing Any suggestions?
The 6 in the box 5 can be deducted earlier. That's the only thing that I did better than Simon. If the 6 is not there, the 6th position of the line has to be 7 or 8 which has already been in box 5.
I am halfway through the puzzle and a bit stumped, does Simon go over what to do when an index line contains a square and not a diamond? (i mean technically it is a diamond as well but every other diamond is rotated and I am very confused...)
It is still a diamond. I rotated that one to keep it in line with how every other diamond relates to how the line exits it. I thought it more confusing the other way, having the line not exiting from a diamond corner but can see how you'd get confused.
@@ChrisNeffshade I see, then that line is pretty straightforward. I've been bit before making assumptions on these variant sudoku rules and I was just not sure how to proceed. I kinda figured it wasn't going to be a "Gotcha!" but my autistic brain had to hard stop there and was not able to let it go. My brain didn't even notice that all the other index lines were exiting through the corners so I wasn't framing it that way in my head when the square popped up.
It will almost always be a sudokupad domain. That’s the website that the sudoku and similar grid puzzles (non-crosswords) Simon and Mark prefer to use. Small exceptions would be when playing a puzzle written and hosted by a 3rd party like Jane Street - otherwise it’s been a long time that I can remember when Simon or Mark solved anything that was not coded directly by the setter into the sudokupad app or was not able to be quickly written in the app by Simon or Mark before starting the video (eg some classic that got submitted like Mark’s solve of Thomas Snyder’s today).
@kikania I came to the comments for this explanation. I couldn't imagine he said the word I heard but couldn't come up with something different. Thanks for that- I suspect you're right.
Hmm, weird, I am experiencing some sort of bug. When I put 6 in the lower-right corner, the dynamic fog doesn't reveal anything like it's supposed to. Weird.
It's a Fog of War pack that can be purchased as an add-on in the main Cracking the Cryptic app. (They frequently refer to it as a separate app, but it isn't.)
At 18:54 we deduce that the 9 in the column must be on the line. AND we can see the 9th cell on the line in row 1. The 9 and its index are among these 5 cells. Either 9 is solo or partners (is reflective) with 5, 6, 7, or 8. How can _that_ be pencil-marked. Yeesh.
ChinStrap here. Thank you for the great solve! Massively appreciate it.
The length of the index line is such a powerful piece of information that the allure of hiding that behind fog was an instant hook into setting this puzzle. Glad it turned out so well.
And yes the lack of diagonals were meant to be understood under the fog by the fact that i made the lines so thick. I even included an opening line with a diagonal so you could see how much sticks into adjacent boxes when it moves diagonally.
I loved this puzzle. I don't remember seeing this index line rule before. Where did you first see it?
@@Baritocity marty_sears first introduced it to me. He has set a few puzzles (including a Rat Run) with this rule, and it kind of hooked me.
@@Baritocity hehe I thought I invented it a few months ago, but it turns out a few other people have used them in the past, including Blobz
great to know. I did write a separate comment about my solve and using the logic in box 7/8 with the diagonals. I wasn't 100% sure of it, so definitely happy that was the intended solution. Great puzzle - hoping to see more!
side note: I really love these dynamic fog puzzles. Gives that extra dopamine hit knowing you're doing the puzzle correctly (and the intended way) when you get those little extra bits of "look here now!"
One of my favorite puzzles all year. Clever, satisfying, so well-paced. 🤌
Absolutely brilliant puzzle, the dynamic fog was handled with the utmost expertise
Simon, I’m always thoroughly impressed by your ability to pinpoint exactly where you made an error. When I mess up, I usually have to restart the whole puzzle to be sure that my logic is correct.
In the initial break-in, at around 12-14, there are some "tricks" to index lines that are not mentioned. Either a digit indexes itself (is singleton) or is part of a reflective pair. They each are Renban lines containing a 1 because some digit must appear in the diamond saying "I'm first." A 5 in the diamond places a 1 in position 5. All must have the digits 1 to N where N is the length. An odd length line has an odd number of singletons. An even length line has an even number of singletons.
37:05 Why not? I imagine setters probably take a lot of care to consider the grid furniture and how it's revealed. It seems wrong to ignore that. To any setters in the comments: I'd love to hear your opinions.
‘Probably’ does not equal ‘always’ and unless something is not explicit in the rules (something like “diagonal lines will always be seen in any exposed cell”) it’s okay to be hesitant in assuming.
@@stephenbeck7222he already made assumption with box 9 line didn’t he? He said r9c8 couldn’t be on an 8 length line, highlighting r9c9 as the eighth point. Unless I missed the other reason.
Maybe the rules could state more clearly that you’re allowed to use these fractions of grid furniture revealed by the fog. Making the lines thicker helps as well.
Anyway, I feel that everytime Simon is hesitating on these issues, the comments are quite clear: ‘if you can see it, use it!’ Somehow Simon just doesn’t like these kind of clues, although they are clearly constructed by the setters to be used like this.
I agree, there's one more logic, and Simon surely has found it, though I paused at 37:30 and don't know whether he found the logic or not: Since 3 is in row 4 in box 6 already, the line does not only go one cell further into the fog, it has to come to a cell that can be 3, so the line is even longer than 6 cells. At least 8, if not 9. It has to come down to row 6.
Anyway, to deduce it has to stay in box 4 I also relied on not seeing a diagonal line going to box 1.
Finally that means, I wouldn't got further than here without reliying on the thickness of the index lines being seen in diagonal line segments, and I think that is intended and okay.
@@stephenbeck7222 I usually agree with your stance especially when it comes to killer cages because expecting someone to see 3 back pixels at the corner of a cell especially on a smaller screen like mobile its mad but when the setter has taken special care to provide clearly indicated clues like the fat lines here and the inequality sign then i don't mind. As some others have commented " If I can see it, I will use it" A short mention in the ruleset though wouldn't hurt anyone and would make things clearer.
So good to have Simon solving a foggy puzzle on a foggy day!
53:58 Simon, although I shouted a lot to the screen about placing the 6 in r4c4 (just by indexing logic), I am always very impressed how often you manage to repair any error if the puzzle seemed to be broken. Your correction of the pencilmarks is just spot on!
A very interesting puzzle, and I enjoyed your video, Simon. One of the things you and Mark have taught me is not to over-pencil-mark, which I think that you sometimes under-pencil-mark - but I think you struck just the right balance in this solve. Thanks for this video during the holiday season!
Fantastic puzzle! It is definitely the most difficult FOW I have ever solved. Watching Simons solve afterwards made me feel great empathy. Especially when he stumbled in exactly the same places in the logic path that I did. At least I made different errors in my solve due to incorrect pencil marks. Thank you, Chinstrap. You have made my Sudoku year.
At 44:22 Simon works out that what appears in R4C2 (the 4th position on the line) must be a 7, or 8. He could have used the same logic to work out that the only digit that could appear in R4C4 (the 6th position on the line) is a 6.
This was my "yelling at Simon" moment. I'm just glad he can't yell at me when I do silly things. :)
Yes, he could have worked that out a lot earlier.
The 6 in the centre box was available as soon as Simon exposed the full line at 43:20. The 6 can't go in the 7th or 8th position because that would duplicate the 7 or 8 in the centre box.
30:48 finish. I second guessed myself at the beginning when fog wasn't clearing, but I soon realized as Simon did that it was just teasing us. An excellent puzzle, fun fun fun!
Love the puzzle!
Another shameless ask / suggestion for the app if there's ever bandwidth: It would be nice to be able to turn off the "defogging" - to be able to mess around / mark things up without accidentally revealing.
Thanks!
26:00 4 in column 7 can only be on the line, is the easy way to see this deduction.
Came here to write the same thing - 4 in column 7 must be in position 5 or later on the line, once we rule it out of r6c7.
Very foggy here in Boston, too. Must be why it's called New England.
Never thought I’d see an Overwatch reference in one of these solves 😂😂 Lovely video as always and a beautiful puzzle
@@cassidypacada imagine me playing overwatch while watching
It threw me for a loop, referencing Widowmaker! LOL
Love watching these to fall asleep, and just as I'm about to drift off I heard your overwatch reference at 1:06:15 ish and now here I am, fully awake and surprised you knew about widowmaker!
Solved in 31:37. Lots of really interesting logic to place a single digit in that one. Then it doesn't clear any fog, so you need to look for more logic with the existing clues.
The good thing about a well designed dynamic fog puzzle is it clears fog the moment there isn't any more logic to tease out, so you know when to stop looking.
I like how my brain completed 0:23 with "no guessing required"
Loving how many fog of war puzzles have been on the channel.
I was "solving along" with the video on in the background, keeping about 5 minutes ahead of where Simon was, when he made the mistake in box 4 that caused me to panic and double check my solve. Was very relieved to discover it was his mistake and not mine!
I finished in 46:40 minutes. The indexing line ruleset has been one of my favorite new rules and combining it with fog of war feels like a natural fit. The way it works creates some beautiful logic. Chinstrap seems to be the master of these indexing lines and I look forward to every puzzle that has them. I have many favorite parts of this puzzle. The way the 3 was forced in box 4 was fantastic to spot. The 3 being ruled out of r6c6 due to it putting too much pressure on the index line, breaking it was also a joy to spot. I. think my favorite, though, was near the end and noticing that 2 had to belong in r1c3&4, which either way takes an 8 out of r1c3, finishing the puzzle. This was such a joy to solve. This has to be one of my favorites. As always, it feels good to beat Simon's time. Great Puzzle!
As a true student of Simon; rather than take that the index line in column 7 was of length 9 by sudoku, I worked to prove it was of length 9 by disproving a shorter line was possible by way of the >.
What a long strange trip it's been.
12:39, I guess the only way we worked out r9c8 couldn't be on the line is because of how thick the line is? Simon explained it by saying it couldn't be on the line because it could never be on the line.
I wonder if that logic is part of the intended solve
I'm not sure how it was determined in the video, but I looked at where the digit in r6c8 could show up in box 9. It can't repeat on the line or in the same column, so it has to be in column 9. If the line continues to r9c8, then the line goes through all the cells in box 9/column 9, thus that digit can't appear in box 9 anywhere.
But the only reason it couldn't bend from on r8c9 to go to r9c8 is because there should be a fraction of line visible in r8c8 if that were the case. If the line had been thin, we couldn't make this deduction.
@@garydornjr8623I believe the reason for using thick lines is so that you can make those sorts of deductions. You can see what a corner looks like in r7c8.
@@RoderickEtheriayes, that too. I looked at where the line went on a diagonal and saw that you could see in in the corners of the cells that is passed.
Perfect for fog sudokus. Football games have become "guess where the ball is" though.
I really enjoyed this puzzle, took a few moments to get my head around some bits but was fun!
Simon is distracting himself from the UK Weather - I am here, looking to pass the time before my flight. This was fun and 1 hour of my 6 hours of layover is goneeee
00:56:07 for me. Probably the best index line puzzle so far. Loved it! Kind comment.
A Fog of War Puzzle on a Foggy Day! How appropriate :D
Very fun puzzle although as usual I got hung up on the sudoku parts a bit. Got it in 05:17:02, which isn't bad at all by my standards.
For those who have trouble thinking about index lines, here's an alternate rule wording that has the same behavior but leaves fewer things implicit:
Anbenas lines (a.k.a. index lines): place the digits 1 through N on each line in order starting from the diamond (N is the length of the line). Now pick ZERO or more pairs of cells along the line, and swap the digits in those pairs. Pairs may not overlap each other (so each position along the line is either swapped with ONE other position or contains its natural in-order digit; you can't have 3 or more digits swapping around in a cycle or anything like that). "Anbenas" comes from sorting the letters of "renban" and then swapping one of the 'a's for an 'n'.
Thanks for the puzzle. I really like this index lines rule. I got stuck a little bit in the lower left corner because I forgot you can see the line sticking under the fog when it moves diagonally. My time: 00:39:13
The concern over the first correct digit not revealing fog is real.
I keep going back to an earlier point in the video to try to figure out how Simon could have possibly deduced the things he deduced. I remain amazed.
I LOVED that puzzle. Anybody down-rating it is out of their mind.
33:56 ! Fascinating combo of rules
48:27 I used the 25 cell (r6c7) in the middle line to determined where the number was in the line on the left. I made that cell red to keep track of it to help a little.
before completion Simon, you looked as happy as a penguin in a microwave. had to get a Sid Waddel reference in. loved it.
When desperate, always consider the King's move constraint.
Nice video and solve again Simon! Is there any news about Michael and Jenna Marie who were in the announcements some time ago? I might have missed it somewhere but I'm just curious. :-)
i like dynamic fog cause it does give that direction. didnt help here at al and still had to do sudoku. great puzzle
Honestly my reaction when one of the CTC guys makes an extended whoopsie is more along the lines of "oooh, teacher made a mistaaake"
Index lines are very interesting. Imo a cool way to think about their logic is that they essentially swap a pair of numbers from the natural ordering of 1-2-3-4-5-.... i.e. if you put a 5 in 2nd position, you must also put a 2 in the 5th positions.
Ig this is now my "secret"
1:10:30, and I must admit to using the 'auto-correct' feature (as may Fog sudokus have) on a couple moments when I erred.
Nice puzzle! (Maybe too tough for me without the hints.)
I feel like these dynamic fog puzzles should have some kind of graphic (similar to the 3 in the corner) for when you place a correct digit that doesn't reveal any fog
If the cell is still covered it (usually) will lift the fog. If not, then it's not different to classic fog sudokus, where you also didn't have the instant confirmation if there wasn't any fog left in the surrounding cells.
69:44 for me. So proud that I did it! Take a bow, ChinStrap and Simon 🙂
Happy holidays!
More like, MERRY CHRISTMAS
@@radscorpion8Does it REALLY matter?
"That line is so fat! ... I don't normally like to rely on sort of ... grid furniture dynamics."
That one was new. Great puzzle.
I had an alternate way to determine r6c6, spoilered below.
We know that 7 must be on the line, and it can't go in positions 5 through 9. It also can't go in position 1 or 3, because that would put 1/3 into position 7 which clashes. So 7 is either in position 2, or position 4. Symmetrically, that means we know that position 7 is either a 2 or a 4. We also know r6c7 is a 2 or a 5. If we make r6c7 a 2, then that makes position 7 a 4, and that places 7 in position 4. If we instead make r6c7 a 5, then position 4 needs to be 7 anyway. So position 4 is always 7.
90:30. I was certainly chin strapped by the end. Thank you.
Great puzzle!
That was really good fun to solve.
crazy amount of work to disambiguate the end in my solve. Watching your solve now, but took me just over an hour to get this one done..
I must say, I am happy that you used the same logic in box 7/8 with the "you would see a corner of the line", I really thought I was asking the wrong question to find the 7 or 8 in r9c3. Unless both of us were
hey simon!
at 43:39, how did you notice to choose 3 index 1st rather than other possible options who might appear on the line?
4 index 1st cannot be possible cause 4 is on the line.
but if assume that 5 is on the shaded line, you rather say 5 index 1.
so this assumption was really interesting to me!
btw, i love your vids! i'm a big fan and always amazed again and again!
Solving while distracted I missed the helpful extra-fat lines for a while
I can confirm that no real progress is possible unless you notice this point
The way I determined the line in box 4/5 was quite a bit different. I placed the 1 in box 6, since it's a naked 1, and had 789 as candidates for r3c7 and r3c9 in box 6. With 46 going in row 4 box 5, this means that the line has to be length 8, since length 9 would place two of 789 in row4 box 4, but we already have two of them in row 4 box 6 (as we know we can't have a quadruple triple)! This immediately places the 3, 1, 5 and 6 on the index line, with the remaining numbers as two pairs.
Its a shame you did not check . I like to see how others went over the time period. Great pizzle and solving.
I don't understand: In box 9, I understand why the line couldn't be of length 9, but Simon then said that, as a consequence of r9c8 not being on the line, the line couldn't be of length 8. Why could the line not proceed from r8c9 directly to r9c8, getting there in 7 cells, leaving r9c9 to have the same value as r6c8? Am I missing something?
The point is that out of box 9, two different digits are not on the line (in your suggestion, r8c8 and r9c9). Which means that at least two numbers from the set 1-9 are not on the line. Those missing digits have to be 8 and 9. Therefore, the line is at most 7 long.
@@himmelsdemon But why is r9c9 in my scenario not on the line? Why is it not the same as r6c8?
The thickness of the line means that if it went from r8c9 to r9c8 diagonally, then part of the line should be visible in r8c8 (clear of fog), and it isn't. Simon seems to use this without realising that's what he's doing, since he's unsure whether it's a justified assumption later in box 4.
The constructor has already commented elsewhere that the lines were intentionally this thick to allow such deductions to be made.
Compare r7c8 and r8c8. If the line jumped to r9c8 like you were thinking, there would be a bit of the cyan index line poking out into the bottom righthand corner of r8c8. similar to how the topleft corner of r7c8 has. ChinStrap mentioned in another comment that the thickness of the line was intentional to hint whether or not a diagonal would be for consideration
Fair enough, I suppose.
1:06:12 you play overwatch!?????
I am having a hard time with why the index line in box nine would not go diagonally to include the bottom 89
Failed to clock the fat Line logic
Frame furniture, quite a few instances of it in this puzzle
Tremendously fun puzzle
I would like if Simon would get rid of colors after he has used them. I find it hard to follow the solve when the grid is filled with colors that are providing no new information.
it's been years that this has been requested but nope, simon likes his colors too much :')
I agree with you 100 %, but I think he doesn’t see them .
I get emotionally attached to the colours, we've been through so much together
@@perigin3I agree. The colors remind me how Simon got those digits.
There’s so much going on in these puzzles I’m lucky to see the numbers, let alone notice the colors. 😂😂
I love that Simon still gets scared whenever he puts in a digit and it doesn't clear fog
If the puzzle is built by revealing sections then it's impossible to clear fog with every complete digit... For example this puzzle starts out with 12 cells revealed so minimum there will be 12 correct guesses that reveal nothing
42:51 at a relaxed pace
Not a fan of this combination though, the amount of cases overshadowed the logical beauty
Good morning
I’ve watched dozens of your sudoku solutions & downloaded your free tutorial
In the Telegraph sudoku I sometimes struggle to even get more than one digit pencilled in
Generally I make good progress then come to a dead stop
I can spot X wings but have never found them productive
Never spotted an Y wing
Any suggestions?
The 6 in the box 5 can be deducted earlier. That's the only thing that I did better than Simon. If the 6 is not there, the 6th position of the line has to be 7 or 8 which has already been in box 5.
45:37 for me. I liked this one a lot even though I prefer normal fog to dynamic.
I am halfway through the puzzle and a bit stumped, does Simon go over what to do when an index line contains a square and not a diamond? (i mean technically it is a diamond as well but every other diamond is rotated and I am very confused...)
It is still a diamond. I rotated that one to keep it in line with how every other diamond relates to how the line exits it. I thought it more confusing the other way, having the line not exiting from a diamond corner but can see how you'd get confused.
@@ChrisNeffshade I see, then that line is pretty straightforward. I've been bit before making assumptions on these variant sudoku rules and I was just not sure how to proceed. I kinda figured it wasn't going to be a "Gotcha!" but my autistic brain had to hard stop there and was not able to let it go. My brain didn't even notice that all the other index lines were exiting through the corners so I wasn't framing it that way in my head when the square popped up.
Rules: 06:12
Let's Get Cracking: 09:11
Simon's time: 1h1m11s
Puzzle Solved: 1:10:22
What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?!
Three In the Corner: 4x (03:04, 1:02:56, 1:08:39, 1:08:40)
The Secret: 3x (09:15, 09:19, 31:28)
Bobbins: 2x (46:25, 1:03:44)
Scooby-Doo: 1x (31:20)
You Rotten Thing: 1x (51:13)
And how about this video's Simarkisms?!
By Sudoku: 12x (14:06, 18:49, 38:20, 38:58, 41:30, 44:47, 46:49, 52:59, 59:39, 1:02:41, 1:04:44, 1:04:50)
Pencil Mark/mark: 11x (19:49, 29:53, 35:16, 36:07, 39:17, 42:23, 52:38, 53:20, 53:55, 55:14, 1:04:19)
Lovely: 9x (05:33, 05:52, 05:54, 18:23, 20:58, 29:26, 34:22, 34:24, 40:54)
Ah: 9x (16:43, 24:38, 24:38, 35:54, 40:37, 57:22, 1:05:03, 1:05:54, 1:07:34)
Hang On: 8x (13:36, 22:55, 28:14, 51:55, 51:55, 52:03, 59:25, 59:29)
Sorry: 6x (05:59, 14:31, 24:27, 53:51, 1:05:28, 1:08:39)
Brilliant: 6x (03:55, 18:47, 18:47, 1:01:49, 1:09:42, 1:10:04)
Cake!: 6x (03:09, 03:25, 04:34, 05:38, 05:44, 05:54)
Shouting: 5x (03:15, 03:45, 04:43, 05:25, 53:51)
Beautiful: 4x (32:24, 42:42, 1:01:32, 1:09:21)
In Fact: 4x (25:27, 36:55, 50:48, 59:25)
What Does This Mean?: 4x (12:53, 31:14, 54:47, 56:42)
Weird: 4x (40:47, 50:36, 1:06:10, 1:10:10)
Clever: 2x (42:38, 48:44)
Discombobulating: 2x (28:27, 51:28)
I've Got It!: 2x (16:31, 28:31)
Obviously: 2x (23:19, 30:44)
Good Grief: 1x (1:01:43)
The Answer is: 1x (31:14)
Bingo: 1x (42:38)
I Have no Clue: 1x (41:05)
First Digit: 1x (07:30)
Magnificent: 1x (00:56)
Intriguing: 1x (00:34)
Progress: 1x (37:42)
Fabulous: 1x (05:16)
Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video:
Ten (7 mentions)
Two (135 mentions)
White (2 mentions)
Antithesis Battles:
Odd (8) - Even (3)
Lower (2) - Higher (0)
White (2) - Black (0)
Column (9) - Row (7)
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!
43:23, surprising amount of work needed at the end.
Finished in 1:06:51 with help from the video.
i would have never expected an Overwatch reference coming from this channel!
At 47:40, why cannot the 5 be in that cell?
Edit: ah, he noticed it.
I always mean to ask but where is the link below the video as I'd like to click it?
To play the puzzle? In the description section.
@tessabrisac7423 thanks for that but I must be really stupid so kindly point me to the description???
Found it!!!!!😊
It will almost always be a sudokupad domain. That’s the website that the sudoku and similar grid puzzles (non-crosswords) Simon and Mark prefer to use. Small exceptions would be when playing a puzzle written and hosted by a 3rd party like Jane Street - otherwise it’s been a long time that I can remember when Simon or Mark solved anything that was not coded directly by the setter into the sudokupad app or was not able to be quickly written in the app by Simon or Mark before starting the video (eg some classic that got submitted like Mark’s solve of Thomas Snyder’s today).
Well _I_ certainly 'plaud it.
01:37:02 I absolutely had the wrong idea in hindsight when resolving the final line
53:44 What did Simon say?
@@dodysdigits It foxed me, perhaps? That's my best guess
@kikania I came to the comments for this explanation. I couldn't imagine he said the word I heard but couldn't come up with something different. Thanks for that- I suspect you're right.
Crazy overwatch widowmaker reference from Simon
Hmm, weird, I am experiencing some sort of bug. When I put 6 in the lower-right corner, the dynamic fog doesn't reveal anything like it's supposed to. Weird.
Ah, interesting. It only reveals when _both_ the 6 and the 7 at the top of column 8 are in. Either one on its own doesn't do it.
😂 An Overwatch reference…? On a CtC video…? Get your bingo cards out! 1:06:21
76:17 nothing like talking to yall to feel slow and dumb 🤣🤣
21:53 Tea's ready!
When you draw lines into the fog please use light grey. The blue makes it hard to see pencil marks etc. Because they are blue aswell.
I don't understand your explanation about why the yellow cell couldn't be on the line. That seemed inadequately explained/justified by you.
If yellow was part of the line, it would be number 1 to 9. Purple square see all of the line, leaving no number for purple.
Any other Australian iPhone users not able to get the fog app? It seems to not be on the Aussie App Store 😭
It's a Fog of War pack that can be purchased as an add-on in the main Cracking the Cryptic app. (They frequently refer to it as a separate app, but it isn't.)
@ ah, thank you. I was looking for it as a seperate app like the line or arrow or killer apps
An inflation of fog sudokus, like eating too much candy.
Toothache or pain in the stomach? 😊
There is no such thing as too much candy. Or too much fog sudoku, for that matter...
No matter how many index puzzles I watch, it always destroys my brain. (same with skyscraper and sandwhich puzzles)
35:19 for me. i am happy with the time.
Cool puzzle. 53:40 for me.
Did it bother anyone else the the line starting with the 2 was square and not diamond shape lol
At 18:54 we deduce that the 9 in the column must be on the line. AND we can see the 9th cell on the line in row 1. The 9 and its index are among these 5 cells. Either 9 is solo or partners (is reflective) with 5, 6, 7, or 8. How can _that_ be pencil-marked. Yeesh.
00:57:46
40:56 for me.
I'm waiting for the "guessing is necessary"
Never gonna happen, because Simon wouldn't allow it on the channel.
not a fan of this spooky action at a distance
15:16 for me. I agree that this deserves a much higher rating on LMD. Fantastic puzzle!!
68 minutes
1:06:10 Marvel Rivals better
Nice title. I thought you might have went with some unique like “The Sudoku with 0 Given Digits!”
Again, another fog puzzle that doesn't work on Android app's... 2 hours lost cause the wrongs cells are revealed
Dont solve this riddle. It only brings you headache