I appreciate the admiration and also that the puzzles seem to be well received :-) At the moment, I'm just regulary posting at places where Simon tends to look for puzzles if he needs a safe bet. A superhard classic recommended by somebody he doesn't know is probably always risky. This will end once I used up all my WSC leftovers. Tbh it seems hard to make a puzzle that Simon doesn't find awesome :-)
Don’t know why you chose this, but that was actually meant for the instruction booklet. Don’t know why it didn’t appear there. The championship puzzle had a WSC theme and was in my opinion much better (and even harder).
This was already well pretty much above my level but the way the puzzle solves from the outside in with such a fantastic pattern is so incredibly pleasing
I've been thinking this alot but the reason people like your sudoku content more then the crossword content is language. The language of numbers is the same for everyone around the world but for crosswords, you need an elxtensive vocabulary of the language the crossword is in. I think I can speak for many of your non-native english speaking viewers that while our knowledge of the english language is good enough to watch a video about sudoku, we simply do not have the extensive knowledge of the english language to follow the crossword content. We see a "1" and while the word for it is different in each language, we all still understand what "1" means. But those crossword answers on the other hand, it is allmost guaranteed that in every puzzle there will be words we haven't even heard of. Because of that, the connection between us, the viewers and the crossword content is weaker, or completely absent. And then there is the interaction, between you and us. Someone from sweden, india, argentina, ... can send in the sudoku he/she couldn't solve from his local newspaper and you can then show us how to do it. But the same can't be said for crosswords. If we would send in the crossword from our local newspaper, it would be in our native language and then you might not be able to solve it because you don't speak our native language. The tldr is that the language of numbers appeals to a wider audience then the language of (english) words, so it is obvious it can't attract the same viewers.
It is even worse than that. Being a native English speaker does not guarantee the ability to solve an English Sudoku as idioms can be vastly different between countries speaking the same language. I don't do crosswords so couldn't say for sure this is true but I could definitely see one of them struggling with a crossword puzzle from America since there would be slight differences on how we refer to things. We are both English speakers but not the same kind of English so our puzzles are not going to necessarily be solvable by each other.
Very true, I’m a native speaker of American English, and I would not be able to solve any of these cryptic crosswords that use British English. It’s entertaining to watch them solved, but most of the clues use some expressions or word meanings that don’t apply to American English. I think the only cryptic crossword answer I figured out faster than the video was an American city (Kalamazoo).
I know it's been 8 months but I fully agree with your comment. Even though my parents tried to also use more difficult words around us growing up (so we would learn them) when I try a crossword in my native language I struggle, and often can't do it because some words are just not used by my generation (early twenties). I can only do English crosswords that are meant for kids because of the language barrier and the uncommon words used in crossword puzzles.
I’m a native English speaker, when I was a child I’d read the dictionary to myself, and to this day I only know about half the words in the crosswords I see. I don’t know if they’re different than the ones shown on this channel, but they’re hard. As for sudoku, even if I didn’t know what a 1 meant, I could still solve a sudoku if I know that it can’t repeat, since the meaning is unrelated to the rules
Beautiful puzzle, beautiful logic. I'm impressed that Simon never seems to make a mistake which messes the whole thing up (like I do time & time again).
What gets me is every once-in-awhile he'll make a move which I'm certain is not-necessarily-correct given the numbers known at that point, and yet it always turns out that the move was right.
Even though it took me thirty minutes faffing about, I got about the same order of solve you did. Definitely a fun puzzle. Your enthusiasm certainly makes these videos more enjoyable too! It is contagious.
This puzzle was absolutely mesmerizing!! I was coocking with gas at first but I struggled with the sudoku part of it. Particularly got stuck for over 15 minutes on a 2-7 pair in r8c4 which clearly couldn't be a 2 because of the 2 on the line (which was what I needed to break it open). Sometimes you just cannot spot the obvious and it still took me 40 minutes. I probably didn't think of it because of all the pairs in the puzzle, which were very beautiful but very confusing! Compliments to the constructor and to Simon, I REALLY enjoyed it!
How is there a 4 in r4c8 at 23:18? I thought the number along the line had to be between the two numbers in the circles. Based on that logic the only numbers that could be in r4c8 would be a 9 or an 8 because there is already an 8 in the circle at r2c6 and a 7 at r3c7.
Ian Young completely is a big word. You can get the ones, I did as well, but then you pretty much have to do the rest of the puzzle going a similar path as him until the later part of the puzzle
I like crosswords, but not the cryptic ones- I cannot solve them english (often I don't even get Mark's explanations) and as to my knowledge there are no such crosswords in czech.
@@littleschnitzel8226 English also isn't my native language, but I find it's a good way to increase my vocabulary. Try to find some easy puzzles, and watch some of Simon's Crossword videos, he goes through all the clues a lot slower, and explains each one in detail. I honestly felt the same way when I first tried them in English, but after a while, I managed to get some clues in. Don't be afraid to look up some words or synonyms online either, that's how you learn new words :)
The best one yet.. I loved doing this one.. I did solve the sudoku but forgot the center grey lines. oops.. so it came out correct with sudoku but not with the puzzle rules. I followed along and fixed it.. I am seeing these patterns now.. Love it.. I will have to do this one over again..
This one was relatively easy. The logic wasn't too far out so even I could solve it. The hardest logic was probably the quadruple problem in column 1, which you figured out almost immediately. Good puzzle - very satisfying.
Maybe the viewer counts on the different puzzles is because the crosswords are more UK internationals as we foreigners that have english as our second language have a harder time at those. And that makes the sudokus more globally liked.
20:33 I solved that 1-7 pair minutes earlier and I wish Simon would have seen what I saw because it’s quite elegant. If you look at the line in the top right with the 7 in the middle that means there can’t be a 7 in either circle. This forces the 7 to the bottom of the middle right box resolving that 1-7 pair and unwinding the puzzle
Another great video! I finally managed to complete a puzzle without peeking. With Simon's recent video more clearly explaining the X-Wing I managed to spot it. Sadly though once I got past that I pretty much went on to resolve most cells to pairs and then went for a punt by choosing the 4 of the 46 pair in first box, which just happened to unravel it correctly. Strictly speaking whilst I "completed" it I didn't "solve" it. I missed the 2 on the 1-2-7 between line, had I got that I might have "solved" it. The lesson: having done something "clever" go back to basics and see if the bottom tier techniques reveal stuff.
Beautiful puzzle, at 20:15 when u highlight the circle at R4C8. That can't be a 7 of course, but in that square the 7 can only be in R6. That forces the 7 in R4C2. Another way of solving it
The conclusion of the 3456 quad at 12:50 is handy...but subtle. I am trying to figure out how I would have noticed this, since when I was doing it, I filled in those cells more granularly. So for example in R9C3, I never entered a 3, because there was already a conflict in R1C3, but without a 3 in there (and similar building of the other 4), it never registered as a quad to me, so as far as I could tell, the 3 could still go in R9C2 or R9C8, which left a lot of ambiguity on how to resolve those 3s. I have paused the video, as I am still mid-solve, and I want to see how could I have been sure...there must be a way for me to clearly disambiguate it, without having gone through the path of locking in a quad.
Always enjoy Christoph's puzzles, thank you once more. Hope to see the championship puzzle one day. One word on the logic mentioned; (it's something I've commented on before on another video) You should actively avoid using so called 'uniqueness' strategies such as UR's when solving 'variant' Sudokus, since 'normal' Sudoku rules aren't the only factors determining the solution in those puzzles... hence the final answer might actually contain unique rectangle patterns, and therefore applying uniqueness strategies could actually lead you to the wrong answer. It doesn't really matter for this puzzle/video because a) Simon wasn't actually trying to apply the unique rectangle strategy, merely trying to demonstrate why the pattern with the 29's wasn't a UR... b) the eventual answer didn't contain any UR's... Nevertheless, it's something I always try to keep in mind when solving variants because I use uniqueness strategies A LOT when solving classic Sudokus... and once I wasted a lot of time due to this particular error.
57:52, I mixed up my 2 and 3 circles at the beginning, and spent 20 minutes trying to solve that before realizing I couldn't solve before restarting, so I don't feel bad about that time :)
Kind of a neat one. I made a faulty assumption that broke the puzzle about 30 minutes in and restarted. Completed it in another 32 minutes. So just over 60, all told, but it would probably have been about 45 without my blunder.
In the upper-right square when I found the 7, I immediately looked for where the 89 would go, and then I saw it compared to the 89 pair on the left of the row which meant the 29 had to be a 2. everything solved from there for me. Of course, resolving the 17 pair finished the Puzzle. A truly delightful puzzle, like following Alice through Wonderland from one discovery to the next.
I think there are enough clues in this that once the solver gets the outer-circle worked out (*1) then there are multiple ways to figure out the rest of the puzzle. (*1 = worked out at least to the point where you have the numbers in the circles, and the list of possible numbers in the squares between the circles). I didn't do so great at working out the numbers in that outer circle, but things went much faster once I saw how those had to be filled in. I will say that I did at least *recognize* that it was best to start with that outer circle. I just messed up when trying to fill it in.
I just don't understand. For example, In the upper right corner along the line you have 6,5,6,4,6, between the numbers 7 and 3. Those numbers do not exist between 7 and 3. The rules says you can not have digits of the same or of a higher value between two line-connected circles. What am I missing?
32:21 for me with no video help. Just stared at it for awhile with nothing coming to me, but then started filling in all the possibilities on the octagon and that made it much easier.
Question: has there ever been a puzzle on your channel that you didn't enjoy? It would be interesting watching a video where you thought a puzzle was horribly constructed.
We have to be a bit careful about really dissing puzzles. I do normally enjoy them and I don't think I can recall a hand-crafted puzzle that I've not liked. Some of the Sudoku app puzzles (all created by algorithms) can be pretty mundane by comparison but even those have high points (daily killer Sudoku has decent puzzles, albeit computer generated).
@@CrackingTheCryptic "We have to be a bit careful about really dissing puzzles" This seems like very good advice. I figure you have two major classes of setters the more experienced setters and the newer setters. I figure with most of the more experienced setters they know what they are doing and it is unlikely that they will create a bad puzzle. In contrast with a newer setter it is possible there are things in it that just are not pleasant but being overly harsh about the puzzle could be very discouraging.
I absolutely love the sudokus you post. I just have one suggestion, in the rules that you mention (above your facecam, in the red box) may you please mention if repeated numbers are allowed or not. I always start with the link in the description and then have to play your video to listen to the rules, because you say it out loud in the video if repeated numbers are allowed or not, but never mention it in the rules.
Fairly new to this sort of stuff bought the sandwich sudoku app and I'm doing decently well working my way through the levels apart from level 8 tried restarting multiple times after completing a different one, any chance of a video of how you'd solve it?
Have you checked the hints for that level? (I play on my iPad, and I don't have my iPad here so I can't check what the puzzle is. I do know that I've solved it at least once.)
@@garanceadrosehn9691 yeah I've checked the hints but I don't see the logic behind them like I don't see how you'd get to the stage of where the hints help if that makes any sense at all. It's the only puzzle I've not been able to do
@@RSHelloliam14 I did look at level 8 once I got home, and it is one that I have trouble with too. And it's rated as a "2-star" puzzle, which I assume means that it should be easy. It wasn't easy for me, so I expect I'm missing something!
It's somewhat disturbing that level 49 is rated a 7-star puzzle, and I solved that in 30 minutes without looking at a hint. Level 50 is rated 9-stars, and I finished that in 40 minutes without looking at a hint. Meanwhile level 8 is rated 2-stars, it takes me at least 55 minutes to solve, and *that* is with me looking at the first three (of seven) hints. Although I should add that I didn't realize there were seven hints until just now. The third hint wasn't much help to me at the time I looked at it, so I didn't look at any hints after that one.
13:13, blast and 'heck. I never liked why he put the 3 next to the 8 there ... turns out trying to put the three in the center bottom of the bottom left square tries to force both squares aside the 8 to be 5's that was a rabbit hole and a half.
55:51 before watching! Not sure why, but these variants always seem easier to me than the standard sudokus you post. Or maybe i just enjoy them more, so it feels like less effort?
58:18 was what I managed. I spent an inordinate reasoning through the restrictions on the outer rim/the locations of the 1s/9s before essentially doing a slower/less efficient version of your logic. 'Twas a fun puzzle, all the same.
20:10 I find it funny how he just dismisses that circled square when it completes the 456 triple and forces a 7 into the box. Very cool puzzle nonetheless.
I did this one last night, stopping the video just as you were doing the examples, because I thought you were starting to solve. I was wondering how you knew the two circles were 8 and 4. I put a lot of work in before I found they had to be 8 and 4! Turns out they were just lucky choices of examples. Lol
Nice work. I found out that your software doesn't adjust checking for that kind of constraint. I first found 2 answers and the software found both correct (looks good to me). So I revise my 2 solutions to finally find my mistake. Here is my wrong answer not detected by your software : (from top left, row by row) 123674598/947158362/586239714/379841256/254796183/618325947/462917835/831562479/795483621. I really enjoy that sudoku avatar. Thanks.
I have the ability to make just enough errors that the solution checks out, with various errors cancelling each other out. Of course, violating the other constraints!
It's not so much that I don't *like* cryptic crosswords - it's that my brain is terrible at them. Despite a fairly decent vocabulary, they're just too esoteric for me.
The thing about the crossword, if he wants to reach more people for the sake of understanding and entertainment he must explain it fully not just speak random stuff, he must go through all the logic behind the clues Wich are quite goddam hard.
With all the work you do lately, do you fear burning out at some point? Lots of videos here on UA-cam, solving puzzles, working on the Website, working on the extra content on Patreon, working on that Sudoku Game on Steam (that im looking forward to, even tho im still only mediocre at sudoku) and probably more things i dont know of. Do you ever feel like "right now I rather dont want to solve another puzzle"?
Laserstormelpies have you watched this video? Lol. With the amount of joy Simon gets out of solving puzzles I think I can confidently say he will never run out
@@feelyourshift I do see the joy and that makes it even better watching the videos, it might just be out of the range of my understanding, if there isnt the danger of doing 'too much' at some point. I dont know how the head of a really good puzzle solver works, i love doing puzzles on my difficulty level, but if i would do them every day chances are higher i get bored at some point or dont feel like doing another one of a type of puzzles ive already "mastered" in solving.
@@Laserstormelpies As I have heard said, "If you love/enjoy what you do, you will never work another day in your life". Simon and Mark really enjoy what they do. And Mark even posted a video where he had to much wine and still did a hard Sudoku. Search for "Drunk Sudoku".
want that hard. start with the obvious 4 squares. fill in the lines between circles and work with the triples and quadruples. the rest is just filling in the puzzle.
you could have shaved off some time if you placed the bottom right corner 8 earlier ... it was the only place it could go once you had the bottom left 8 set to the bottom 2 rows ... may have saved you about 3 minutes overall
I managed to solve it after a slow start and a couple of interruptions, so no idea what actual time working on it. Really wish there was a pause button. You could put up a picture of this thumbnail to deter cheating!
The iOS game (at least) does have a way to pause the clock, and I do agree that's a very useful feature. I simply can't control when the phone rings, or when I have to put down my iPad in the middle of a game to go find my reading glasses! 😀
Because the four squares were on a line and it was concluded that they could be the numbers 3456 and that square was the only one that could be three thus the the square is three
![[Extreme] A Sudoku With A Sting In The Start!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lPpAtnbvVR8/mqdefault.jpg)
![[Extreme] A Sudoku With A Sting In The Start!](/img/tr.png)
1 hour 18 minutes of frustration and anger concluding in a scream of victory and superiority.
Everyone should have someone in their life who loves them the way Simon loves Christoph's puzzles :-)
Thank you both for another great video.
I appreciate the admiration and also that the puzzles seem to be well received :-)
At the moment, I'm just regulary posting at places where Simon tends to look for puzzles if he needs a safe bet. A superhard classic recommended by somebody he doesn't know is probably always risky. This will end once I used up all my WSC leftovers. Tbh it seems hard to make a puzzle that Simon doesn't find awesome :-)
Don’t know why you chose this, but that was actually meant for the instruction booklet. Don’t know why it didn’t appear there. The championship puzzle had a WSC theme and was in my opinion much better (and even harder).
Hopefully we'll see that one also some day!
More than hard enough for some of us :-).
First time I see any of these variants...
tx again.
This was already well pretty much above my level but the way the puzzle solves from the outside in with such a fantastic pattern is so incredibly pleasing
@@BlueCyann +1
Even so, this was beautiful. I really enjoy Simon's joy of well constructed puzzles, and your puzzles always bring joy. Thank You.
I've been thinking this alot but the reason people like your sudoku content more then the crossword content is language.
The language of numbers is the same for everyone around the world but for crosswords, you need an elxtensive vocabulary of the language the crossword is in.
I think I can speak for many of your non-native english speaking viewers that while our knowledge of the english language is good enough to watch a video about sudoku, we simply do not have the extensive knowledge of the english language to follow the crossword content.
We see a "1" and while the word for it is different in each language, we all still understand what "1" means. But those crossword answers on the other hand, it is allmost guaranteed that in every puzzle there will be words we haven't even heard of. Because of that, the connection between us, the viewers and the crossword content is weaker, or completely absent.
And then there is the interaction, between you and us. Someone from sweden, india, argentina, ... can send in the sudoku he/she couldn't solve from his local newspaper and you can then show us how to do it. But the same can't be said for crosswords. If we would send in the crossword from our local newspaper, it would be in our native language and then you might not be able to solve it because you don't speak our native language.
The tldr is that the language of numbers appeals to a wider audience then the language of (english) words, so it is obvious it can't attract the same viewers.
It is even worse than that. Being a native English speaker does not guarantee the ability to solve an English Sudoku as idioms can be vastly different between countries speaking the same language. I don't do crosswords so couldn't say for sure this is true but I could definitely see one of them struggling with a crossword puzzle from America since there would be slight differences on how we refer to things. We are both English speakers but not the same kind of English so our puzzles are not going to necessarily be solvable by each other.
Very true, I’m a native speaker of American English, and I would not be able to solve any of these cryptic crosswords that use British English. It’s entertaining to watch them solved, but most of the clues use some expressions or word meanings that don’t apply to American English. I think the only cryptic crossword answer I figured out faster than the video was an American city (Kalamazoo).
I know it's been 8 months but I fully agree with your comment.
Even though my parents tried to also use more difficult words around us growing up (so we would learn them) when I try a crossword in my native language I struggle, and often can't do it because some words are just not used by my generation (early twenties). I can only do English crosswords that are meant for kids because of the language barrier and the uncommon words used in crossword puzzles.
I’m a native English speaker, when I was a child I’d read the dictionary to myself, and to this day I only know about half the words in the crosswords I see. I don’t know if they’re different than the ones shown on this channel, but they’re hard. As for sudoku, even if I didn’t know what a 1 meant, I could still solve a sudoku if I know that it can’t repeat, since the meaning is unrelated to the rules
Watching you solve those puzzles is something quite cathartic, especially when you explain those clever pieces.
I really like your videos
It is rare that I'd smile all the way through the puzzle, so I just had to watch Simon and his reactions! Not too difficult, but definitely a fun one!
I really liked the way this puzzle completely collapses at the end - very satisfying!
How could anyone dislike this video. It was great.
The puzzle was great. Thank you Christoph.
Found this just now and I'm absolutely positive that this is one of the most beautiful puzzles I've ever done.
Beautiful puzzle, beautiful logic. I'm impressed that Simon never seems to make a mistake which messes the whole thing up (like I do time & time again).
What gets me is every once-in-awhile he'll make a move which I'm certain is not-necessarily-correct given the numbers known at that point, and yet it always turns out that the move was right.
I can't believe I solved this, and it only took me 30 minutes. What a great way to start the day! Thanks Cristoph, and thanks Simon and Mark!
13:55 "Now, what does all of this mean?" Because I've learned so much from your videos I immediately thought "It's a giant X-Wing"
Even though it took me thirty minutes faffing about, I got about the same order of solve you did. Definitely a fun puzzle. Your enthusiasm certainly makes these videos more enjoyable too! It is contagious.
This puzzle was absolutely mesmerizing!! I was coocking with gas at first but I struggled with the sudoku part of it. Particularly got stuck for over 15 minutes on a 2-7 pair in r8c4 which clearly couldn't be a 2 because of the 2 on the line (which was what I needed to break it open). Sometimes you just cannot spot the obvious and it still took me 40 minutes. I probably didn't think of it because of all the pairs in the puzzle, which were very beautiful but very confusing!
Compliments to the constructor and to Simon, I REALLY enjoyed it!
How is there a 4 in r4c8 at 23:18? I thought the number along the line had to be between the two numbers in the circles. Based on that logic the only numbers that could be in r4c8 would be a 9 or an 8 because there is already an 8 in the circle at r2c6 and a 7 at r3c7.
You did this completely different to me. I started with the 1's.
Yeah me too. The 1 9 8 2 could not go on the outside lines.
Ian Young completely is a big word. You can get the ones, I did as well, but then you pretty much have to do the rest of the puzzle going a similar path as him until the later part of the puzzle
So did I - unfortunately for my time score :-(
@@timothyb1708 Really?
I did the same thing
I laughed at that intro, because i love Sudokus but truly hate crosswords :)
I like them both :) I like any type of logical puzzle, to be honest. Although I'm still quite crap at crosswords... but I'm learning!
I like crosswords, but not the cryptic ones- I cannot solve them english (often I don't even get Mark's explanations) and as to my knowledge there are no such crosswords in czech.
@@littleschnitzel8226 English also isn't my native language, but I find it's a good way to increase my vocabulary. Try to find some easy puzzles, and watch some of Simon's Crossword videos, he goes through all the clues a lot slower, and explains each one in detail. I honestly felt the same way when I first tried them in English, but after a while, I managed to get some clues in. Don't be afraid to look up some words or synonyms online either, that's how you learn new words :)
I’m a fan of solving both, but sudokus are more for satisfaction while crosswords are for learning while drinking coffee in the mornings.
Love both, but my favorit are those neither, the other pencilpuzzles. Still...have to watch every single one on this channel
I love both the crossword and sudoku videos. Would love more crossword ones though.
Watching your solving process is absolute poetry. Subscribed.
The best one yet.. I loved doing this one.. I did solve the sudoku but forgot the center grey lines. oops.. so it came out correct with sudoku but not with the puzzle rules. I followed along and fixed it.. I am seeing these patterns now.. Love it.. I will have to do this one over again..
Cool, the ring got you started, upper right resolved the ring, lower left resolved the center
"Metro Sudoku" would've been a better name for this.
The sudoku looks like a Metro line map.
22:22 is absolutely mind-boggling. I genuinely hope that was the intended final set of moves.
34:23. I am convinced the starting logic in getting a couple ones got me a moving several moves sooner, once I spotted the ways to move forward.
Really interesting how the outer pattern created a ton of pairs all over the board, and then the two small diagonals ultimately fixed them much later.
Very enjoyable puzzle. My first time doing one with the lines. I am really enjoying your channel, keep up the good work.
I loved this sudoku. Brilliant puzzle. It was neither to difficult nor too easy (for me).
I love this puzzle! Thank you for sharing
An excellent puzzle thoroughly enjoyable solve
This one was relatively easy. The logic wasn't too far out so even I could solve it.
The hardest logic was probably the quadruple problem in column 1, which you figured out almost immediately.
Good puzzle - very satisfying.
At 20:41 is is also possible to spot that there are only to spots for 7 available in the right middle square, again unwinding that same 17....
I join you in greatly admiring the 7 in the lower left.
Another cracking solve. Really liked this video and Mark's Cryptic video too.
Maybe the viewer counts on the different puzzles is because the crosswords are more UK internationals as we foreigners that have english as our second language have a harder time at those. And that makes the sudokus more globally liked.
21 minutes and 30 seconds
This was a very pleasant sudoku to solve.
Also it's really cool seeing you see and appreciate the exact same things I did in the puzzle.
26:37. Really enjoyed this one. Amazing puzzle.
Great puzzle, solved in 18min on my end, I am very proud :)
30:52 What a fun solve! Loved this one.
Oof 36:38, my head hurts. I found a jellyfish on 2s at some point that really helped, but I can't wait to see what I missed that Simon probably found.
Just finished this in 1h32m, i can't believe you did this so quickly
20:33 I solved that 1-7 pair minutes earlier and I wish Simon would have seen what I saw because it’s quite elegant. If you look at the line in the top right with the 7 in the middle that means there can’t be a 7 in either circle. This forces the 7 to the bottom of the middle right box resolving that 1-7 pair and unwinding the puzzle
Another great video! I finally managed to complete a puzzle without peeking. With Simon's recent video more clearly explaining the X-Wing I managed to spot it. Sadly though once I got past that I pretty much went on to resolve most cells to pairs and then went for a punt by choosing the 4 of the 46 pair in first box, which just happened to unravel it correctly. Strictly speaking whilst I "completed" it I didn't "solve" it. I missed the 2 on the 1-2-7 between line, had I got that I might have "solved" it.
The lesson: having done something "clever" go back to basics and see if the bottom tier techniques reveal stuff.
Beautiful puzzle, at 20:15 when u highlight the circle at R4C8. That can't be a 7 of course, but in that square the 7 can only be in R6. That forces the 7 in R4C2. Another way of solving it
21:10 FINALLY! That pencil 6 in a box that had a GIVEN ink 6 in it was driving me crazy since 12:37.
It was hard to focus on anything else...
Great variant. I solved at 21:03 without video help. I was happy with that time!
The conclusion of the 3456 quad at 12:50 is handy...but subtle. I am trying to figure out how I would have noticed this, since when I was doing it, I filled in those cells more granularly. So for example in R9C3, I never entered a 3, because there was already a conflict in R1C3, but without a 3 in there (and similar building of the other 4), it never registered as a quad to me, so as far as I could tell, the 3 could still go in R9C2 or R9C8, which left a lot of ambiguity on how to resolve those 3s. I have paused the video, as I am still mid-solve, and I want to see how could I have been sure...there must be a way for me to clearly disambiguate it, without having gone through the path of locking in a quad.
ah, never mind, I needed to lock in a home for 2 and 9 in row 9, that let me solve the same issue without having a specific quad
I'd try more of these non-standard type puzzles if I thought I'd ever see another of the same type.
Loved this puzzle.
Always enjoy Christoph's puzzles, thank you once more. Hope to see the championship puzzle one day.
One word on the logic mentioned; (it's something I've commented on before on another video)
You should actively avoid using so called 'uniqueness' strategies such as UR's when solving 'variant' Sudokus, since 'normal' Sudoku rules aren't the only factors determining the solution in those puzzles... hence the final answer might actually contain unique rectangle patterns, and therefore applying uniqueness strategies could actually lead you to the wrong answer.
It doesn't really matter for this puzzle/video because a) Simon wasn't actually trying to apply the unique rectangle strategy, merely trying to demonstrate why the pattern with the 29's wasn't a UR... b) the eventual answer didn't contain any UR's...
Nevertheless, it's something I always try to keep in mind when solving variants because I use uniqueness strategies A LOT when solving classic Sudokus... and once I wasted a lot of time due to this particular error.
Not very, VERY hard but very elegant and very, VERY enjoyable!
actually insane
57:52, I mixed up my 2 and 3 circles at the beginning, and spent 20 minutes trying to solve that before realizing I couldn't solve before restarting, so I don't feel bad about that time :)
22:11! really nice puzzle
31:09 wow!! lots of fun
Kind of a neat one. I made a faulty assumption that broke the puzzle about 30 minutes in and restarted. Completed it in another 32 minutes. So just over 60, all told, but it would probably have been about 45 without my blunder.
This is like asmr I love it
I quite enjoyed this puzzle! Took me 39 mins, but I'm at a fairly rookie level compared to most viewers on this channel. Alot of fun though
In the upper-right square when I found the 7, I immediately looked for where the 89 would go, and then I saw it compared to the 89 pair on the left of the row which meant the 29 had to be a 2. everything solved from there for me. Of course, resolving the 17 pair finished the Puzzle. A truly delightful puzzle, like following Alice through Wonderland from one discovery to the next.
22 minutes, roughly. Good puzzle.
I think there are enough clues in this that once the solver gets the outer-circle worked out (*1) then there are multiple ways to figure out the rest of the puzzle. (*1 = worked out at least to the point where you have the numbers in the circles, and the list of possible numbers in the squares between the circles). I didn't do so great at working out the numbers in that outer circle, but things went much faster once I saw how those had to be filled in.
I will say that I did at least *recognize* that it was best to start with that outer circle. I just messed up when trying to fill it in.
53 minutes, had to peek once or twice but a great puzzle none-the-less
The thumbnail is hilarious
I just don't understand. For example, In the upper right corner along the line you have 6,5,6,4,6, between the numbers 7 and 3. Those numbers do not exist between 7 and 3. The rules says you can not have digits of the same or of a higher value between two line-connected circles. What am I missing?
I Love Double Puzzle Days!!!
BTW.. I know it is probably well known amongst other users... but what is the song playing in the beggining and the end of the videos?
A question about the web app. How do you selct multiple squares when they're not adjacent? I tried using shift and control and alt but it won't work.
You hold control and click on the squares you want to select.
32:21 for me with no video help. Just stared at it for awhile with nothing coming to me, but then started filling in all the possibilities on the octagon and that made it much easier.
Question: has there ever been a puzzle on your channel that you didn't enjoy? It would be interesting watching a video where you thought a puzzle was horribly constructed.
We have to be a bit careful about really dissing puzzles. I do normally enjoy them and I don't think I can recall a hand-crafted puzzle that I've not liked. Some of the Sudoku app puzzles (all created by algorithms) can be pretty mundane by comparison but even those have high points (daily killer Sudoku has decent puzzles, albeit computer generated).
@@CrackingTheCryptic "We have to be a bit careful about really dissing puzzles" This seems like very good advice. I figure you have two major classes of setters the more experienced setters and the newer setters. I figure with most of the more experienced setters they know what they are doing and it is unlikely that they will create a bad puzzle. In contrast with a newer setter it is possible there are things in it that just are not pleasant but being overly harsh about the puzzle could be very discouraging.
I absolutely love the sudokus you post. I just have one suggestion, in the rules that you mention (above your facecam, in the red box) may you please mention if repeated numbers are allowed or not.
I always start with the link in the description and then have to play your video to listen to the rules, because you say it out loud in the video if repeated numbers are allowed or not, but never mention it in the rules.
He just took 8 and 4 in his explanation without knowing that these are the correct number.. What a coincidence!
Marcel Ritter underrated comment. How did you spot this and tbh seems a bit too coincidental
Oh, that could explain why I found 2 solutions, not just unique one.
Fairly new to this sort of stuff bought the sandwich sudoku app and I'm doing decently well working my way through the levels apart from level 8 tried restarting multiple times after completing a different one, any chance of a video of how you'd solve it?
Have you checked the hints for that level? (I play on my iPad, and I don't have my iPad here so I can't check what the puzzle is. I do know that I've solved it at least once.)
@@garanceadrosehn9691 yeah I've checked the hints but I don't see the logic behind them like I don't see how you'd get to the stage of where the hints help if that makes any sense at all. It's the only puzzle I've not been able to do
@@RSHelloliam14 I did look at level 8 once I got home, and it is one that I have trouble with too. And it's rated as a "2-star" puzzle, which I assume means that it should be easy. It wasn't easy for me, so I expect I'm missing something!
It's somewhat disturbing that level 49 is rated a 7-star puzzle, and I solved that in 30 minutes without looking at a hint. Level 50 is rated 9-stars, and I finished that in 40 minutes without looking at a hint. Meanwhile level 8 is rated 2-stars, it takes me at least 55 minutes to solve, and *that* is with me looking at the first three (of seven) hints. Although I should add that I didn't realize there were seven hints until just now. The third hint wasn't much help to me at the time I looked at it, so I didn't look at any hints after that one.
@@garanceadrosehn9691 that's why I thought if ask and see how he'd solve it :)
21.6min to finish, mind blowing on how the candidates.
I loved this one (specially because I could solve it) :-)
42:20 for me
by the way, "let's get cracking" is missing at 3:43
13:13, blast and 'heck. I never liked why he put the 3 next to the 8 there ... turns out trying to put the three in the center bottom of the bottom left square tries to force both squares aside the 8 to be 5's that was a rabbit hole and a half.
55:51 before watching! Not sure why, but these variants always seem easier to me than the standard sudokus you post. Or maybe i just enjoy them more, so it feels like less effort?
58:18 was what I managed. I spent an inordinate reasoning through the restrictions on the outer rim/the locations of the 1s/9s before essentially doing a slower/less efficient version of your logic. 'Twas a fun puzzle, all the same.
20:10 I find it funny how he just dismisses that circled square when it completes the 456 triple and forces a 7 into the box. Very cool puzzle nonetheless.
I did this one last night, stopping the video just as you were doing the examples, because I thought you were starting to solve. I was wondering how you knew the two circles were 8 and 4. I put a lot of work in before I found they had to be 8 and 4! Turns out they were just lucky choices of examples. Lol
Nice work. I found out that your software doesn't adjust checking for that kind of constraint. I first found 2 answers and the software found both correct (looks good to me). So I revise my 2 solutions to finally find my mistake. Here is my wrong answer not detected by your software : (from top left, row by row) 123674598/947158362/586239714/379841256/254796183/618325947/462917835/831562479/795483621. I really enjoy that sudoku avatar. Thanks.
Isn't this puzzle basically a thermo?
Good
This seven is beautifulll
34:16 Had a slow start...but after a while it was smooth as butter :)
I have the ability to make just enough errors that the solution checks out, with various errors cancelling each other out. Of course, violating the other constraints!
36:40
It's not so much that I don't *like* cryptic crosswords - it's that my brain is terrible at them. Despite a fairly decent vocabulary, they're just too esoteric for me.
Did anyone else see a "Dharma Initiative" logo from Lost at the beginning?
The thing about the crossword, if he wants to reach more people for the sake of understanding and entertainment he must explain it fully not just speak random stuff, he must go through all the logic behind the clues Wich are quite goddam hard.
With all the work you do lately, do you fear burning out at some point? Lots of videos here on UA-cam, solving puzzles, working on the Website, working on the extra content on Patreon, working on that Sudoku Game on Steam (that im looking forward to, even tho im still only mediocre at sudoku) and probably more things i dont know of. Do you ever feel like "right now I rather dont want to solve another puzzle"?
Laserstormelpies have you watched this video? Lol. With the amount of joy Simon gets out of solving puzzles I think I can confidently say he will never run out
@@feelyourshift I do see the joy and that makes it even better watching the videos, it might just be out of the range of my understanding, if there isnt the danger of doing 'too much' at some point. I dont know how the head of a really good puzzle solver works, i love doing puzzles on my difficulty level, but if i would do them every day chances are higher i get bored at some point or dont feel like doing another one of a type of puzzles ive already "mastered" in solving.
@@Laserstormelpies It's not work if you enjoy it
@@Laserstormelpies As I have heard said, "If you love/enjoy what you do, you will never work another day in your life".
Simon and Mark really enjoy what they do. And Mark even posted a video where he had to much wine and still did a hard Sudoku. Search for "Drunk Sudoku".
want that hard. start with the obvious 4 squares. fill in the lines between circles and work with the triples and quadruples. the rest is just filling in the puzzle.
54:17 This was the longest solve I've ever completed. Wasted about 20 minutes not realizing 3 isn't between 3 and 7. Feels bad.
Same for me haha. Only took me 3 hours to notice -.-
you could have shaved off some time if you placed the bottom right corner 8 earlier ... it was the only place it could go once you had the bottom left 8 set to the bottom 2 rows ... may have saved you about 3 minutes overall
amazing. You should have a chess day where we can challenge you to chess on lichess
I managed to solve it after a slow start and a couple of interruptions, so no idea what actual time working on it. Really wish there was a pause button. You could put up a picture of this thumbnail to deter cheating!
The iOS game (at least) does have a way to pause the clock, and I do agree that's a very useful feature. I simply can't control when the phone rings, or when I have to put down my iPad in the middle of a game to go find my reading glasses! 😀
11:11
Why it must be a 3??
Because the four squares were on a line and it was concluded that they could be the numbers 3456 and that square was the only one that could be three thus the the square is three
I think it is oddly funny how your 4-8 line example came out to be... 4-8 in the exact same spots.
21:30 my god I had a tough time
First between sudoku, and it took me an hour! 🤦🏽♂️🙇🏽♂️