Thanks so much for the feature! You can imagine how startled I was when I started getting a boodle of "Congrats" messages on Discord! Edited to add - as of Saturday the 11th of January, this puzzle is now at over 15000 solves! Thank you again for the promo.
Yes indeed! Please do continue to feature the pretty straight forward puzzles :) They are such a great introduction for newbies - and for the rest they make excellent coffee break puzzles! (The very few who only enjoy hard core stuff still get at least one video a day and all the patreon stuff)
Absolutely agree! New subscribers are finding the channel every week, and I think it's appropriate to include puzzles for less experienced solvers. We all started out that way.
29 minutes. Thanks so much for the easier puzzle. I stumbled onto this channel over Christmas break. My sons and I worked several together. Tonight's was so enjoyable for us beginners. Thanks!
Was able to try this one a while back, so much fun and flowed so smoothly! Finished in 4:57 (conflict checker off), many thanks to Katie for a lovely puzzle!
12 min for me! I echo the others saying they enjoy an elegant "coffee break" puzzle. I enjoy the difficult puzzles but find it hard to walk away when stumped. It's great to have a variety of difficulty levels and video lengths to choose from that will fit into whatever craziness the day has thrown at me. From one Katie to another, thanks for a fun one!
This was very enjoyable, Mark, a fun little puzzle with some nice deductions, albeit quite straightforward. I think that, when I was new to variant sudoku, I would have been thrilled and would have solved my very first puzzle ever that had been featured here, if I had encountered this puzzle back then. So I would say yes, from time to time, these more straightforward puzzles would be very welcome, and would be great for newer solvers. Thanks for this video, as always!
Yes, do please include some of the more approachable puzzles again. They are much more in reach of us mere mortals. Thank you Katie - lovely. I hope to find more like this from you.
A little over 20 minutes for me. I love having a more approachable puzzle on the channel because I was actually able to complete it before watching the video. It was really interesting to see how my process differed from yours in a few spots, a luxury I don't usually get since I cant even attempt most of the puzzles you solve (though I still love watching you solve them)!
Started playing in background, went to make toast and coffee, come back, and it's finished! hope youtube don't think I'm mad replaying same thing twice! :-) Beast mode almost throughout the solve!
I finished in 7:30 minutes. This was such a nice reprieve after having done the gauntlet that was in Simon's video. There was some really fun interactions in the corner boxes, especially with the extreme digits. I had a lot of fun speed solving this one. Great Puzzle!
Nice quick but satisfying puzzle. Great for helping someone that is fairly new to variant sudoku practice with how various common variant rules interact, plus some good old fashioned sudoku to make sure that doesn’t get rusty!
Nice puzzle without being too hard - I solved in 7:29, the deductions all follow smoothly, with nice symmetry, and I liked the way the palindromes chipped in towards the end!
I started by observing that the only place for 4, 5, 6 in the "leafy" boxes were on the diagonals perpendicular to the thermos. This gave me a nice framework for the puzzle.
Hi, I'm the creator- that was my inspiration for the whole puzzle! I have another puzzle called "Trellis" that uses the same principle. My LMD handle is NotSoMagnifique.
I really liked this one, even though it took me almost 20 minutes. But that's a lot faster than when I occasionally manage to solve anything on this channel.
I managed a 13:17, which is better than my usual compared to video time, but about my typical compared to solve time. Nice to have a fairly quick solve to run against.
Interesting to watch Mark solv so fast that he hasn't time to notice that 5 and 6 can't go on the green lines and just leaves those markings there in the 14 cages.
Love a mix of puzzle types and difficulties :) especially even plain sudokus because I think they highlight just how incredible the creator's logic is even more
I loved the use of symmetry in this one and the fairly clear way of how it would break up to finish out the puzzle. very pretty tbh an occasional straightforward one like this would be welcome, if for no other reason than to give me something to recommend to friends
Great puzzle! Took me 6:30 to complete. Refreshing to get an easy sudoku with nice logic every now and then to not spend 30 minutes to 3 hours on a single puzzle!
00:06:31 for me. Enjoyed the puzzle! I very much like the variety in difficulty and rule sets that already seems to be a part of the routine. Kind comment.
At 5:50, there's no reason why R2C1 can't be a 3, which is unfortunate. I was hoping Mark would immediately pencilmark the german whisper lines with 123789 and the thermos yield the alternation cells between high and low digits. If Mark had stated the things he knows about german whisper lines, it would speed up the solve. I solved in 6:44, so i guess i did it faster than Mark, which was lucky.
There is 12 pair in the second column, and they both have to go on the Whisper line in box 1, but not in that column. So he placed them in the other two columns. So he didn't do anything wrong, he just didn't explain it explicitly.
14:25@#5033. Not as fast as it could've been, since I worked it slowly and steadily. But the symmetry helped a bit. Quite easy otherwise. One nice move is that once you get the two identical x-pair digits, it disambiguates the 12-cages in the third column.
@cmcgovern Before the 7 in a green line, of course. He makes a masive jump because he sees the 12 pair in col 2 and there is only one place for 3 on the German Whisper.
I had trouble with that too. However, R1C2 or R3C2 have to be low (green line determines one is low and the other high). There is a 1/2 pair and a 4 in the column. That means the 3 has to be in either R1C2 or R3C2. There is already a 3 in R3C7 eliminating R3C2 from being a 3. Therefore the 3 (remaining low) must be in R1C2.
Rules: 01:52 Let's Get Cracking: 03:11 And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Symmetry: 2x (03:27, 05:10) Goodness: 1x (09:42) Incredible: 1x (01:13) Shouting: 1x (00:25) Approachable: 1x (09:50) Ah: 1x (04:46) Pencil Mark/mark: 1x (08:47) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Fifty Nine (3 mentions) One (23 mentions) White (5 mentions) Antithesis Battles: High (7) - Low (4) White (5) - Black (3) Row (3) - Column (1) 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!
I tend to find that for anything under around 25 mins from yourself, and under 45 mins for simon, i might have a chance of solving, so i always like it when ones under those lengths come in haha
13:07 ... with a kitty nudging my phone hand 😂 Lovely puzzle! Flowed well, and those black kropki dots... those were key to the solve. 😂😂 jk... Nice to have an approachable puzzle thrown in on occasion!
Did this on the app in Dark Mode... which turns the white blobs to black blobs, which I didn't notice until I was stuck for ages 😥 Checked my working and the rules fine times, and only then realised dark mode wasn't keeping the blob colours honest! After that it was relatively easy 😊
I'm not a great solver. My break in was to pencil mark the possible values in the 12 and 14 cages and then remove digits that could not live on the german whispers. Once I did that it was smooth sailing.
8:43, which isn't as fast as Mark, but it may be the first time ever I beat the length of a Mark video, at least! Spoiler: I think the intended break-in is to spot the hidden 456 triples in the corner boxes.
Thanks so much for the feature! You can imagine how startled I was when I started getting a boodle of "Congrats" messages on Discord!
Edited to add - as of Saturday the 11th of January, this puzzle is now at over 15000 solves! Thank you again for the promo.
Thank you for creating this puzzle! Took me 12 minutes and it solved smoothly with understandable logic.
I appreciate the occasional easier solves as anything that takes you guys 1+ hours is completely impossible for me to figure out XD cheers!
Yes indeed! Please do continue to feature the pretty straight forward puzzles :) They are such a great introduction for newbies - and for the rest they make excellent coffee break puzzles!
(The very few who only enjoy hard core stuff still get at least one video a day and all the patreon stuff)
Yes! I second this.
Absolutely agree! New subscribers are finding the channel every week, and I think it's appropriate to include puzzles for less experienced solvers. We all started out that way.
29 minutes, not bad for a relative novice. And thank you Mark, personally I do like these intro puzzles.
29 minutes. Thanks so much for the easier puzzle. I stumbled onto this channel over Christmas break. My sons and I worked several together. Tonight's was so enjoyable for us beginners. Thanks!
5:07 ... refreshingly easy, so now I can spend time hunting down the missing black dots
Nice puzzle!
Haha. I didn't even notice there were no black dots. Lol.
Very approachable and tons of fun! solved in 12 mins. love to see more like this from time to time
Was able to try this one a while back, so much fun and flowed so smoothly! Finished in 4:57 (conflict checker off), many thanks to Katie for a lovely puzzle!
A little over 23 minutes. Very nice puzzle. Well constructed. Beautiful symmetry.
12 min for me! I echo the others saying they enjoy an elegant "coffee break" puzzle. I enjoy the difficult puzzles but find it hard to walk away when stumped. It's great to have a variety of difficulty levels and video lengths to choose from that will fit into whatever craziness the day has thrown at me.
From one Katie to another, thanks for a fun one!
12:39 Best ever time relative to video length. Thanks for the confidence boost!
This was very enjoyable, Mark, a fun little puzzle with some nice deductions, albeit quite straightforward. I think that, when I was new to variant sudoku, I would have been thrilled and would have solved my very first puzzle ever that had been featured here, if I had encountered this puzzle back then. So I would say yes, from time to time, these more straightforward puzzles would be very welcome, and would be great for newer solvers. Thanks for this video, as always!
As someone who is new to sudoku this is a lovely puzzle.
Yes, do please include some of the more approachable puzzles again. They are much more in reach of us mere mortals. Thank you Katie - lovely. I hope to find more like this from you.
Today i spent over 2 hours on one of the earlier video puzzles so i needed this :D
A little over 20 minutes for me. I love having a more approachable puzzle on the channel because I was actually able to complete it before watching the video. It was really interesting to see how my process differed from yours in a few spots, a luxury I don't usually get since I cant even attempt most of the puzzles you solve (though I still love watching you solve them)!
Started playing in background, went to make toast and coffee, come back, and it's finished! hope youtube don't think I'm mad replaying same thing twice! :-)
Beast mode almost throughout the solve!
I finished in 7:30 minutes. This was such a nice reprieve after having done the gauntlet that was in Simon's video. There was some really fun interactions in the corner boxes, especially with the extreme digits. I had a lot of fun speed solving this one. Great Puzzle!
Nice quick but satisfying puzzle. Great for helping someone that is fairly new to variant sudoku practice with how various common variant rules interact, plus some good old fashioned sudoku to make sure that doesn’t get rusty!
Nice puzzle without being too hard - I solved in 7:29, the deductions all follow smoothly, with nice symmetry, and I liked the way the palindromes chipped in towards the end!
I started by observing that the only place for 4, 5, 6 in the "leafy" boxes were on the diagonals perpendicular to the thermos. This gave me a nice framework for the puzzle.
Hi, I'm the creator- that was my inspiration for the whole puzzle! I have another puzzle called "Trellis" that uses the same principle. My LMD handle is NotSoMagnifique.
Now that puzzle just made my day!
So easy it was, I must say.
I just set my resolve
And I soon had the solve
All before even watching you play!
5:56 for me (with conflict checker)
It's always nice when approachable puzzles still have fun logic in them
What a smooth solve! For me, this one is a perfect example of an approachable, elegant puzzle.
I really liked this one, even though it took me almost 20 minutes. But that's a lot faster than when I occasionally manage to solve anything on this channel.
I love the easier ones. And I love any puzzle - like this one - that's beautifully constructed, regardless of difficulty
23 mins and really please with that! I like a puzzle that isn't too hard to get into - this was my kind of level to be fun.
I managed a 13:17, which is better than my usual compared to video time, but about my typical compared to solve time. Nice to have a fairly quick solve to run against.
Took me 14 minutes. These are great videos because the highlight nice approachable puzzles. Good for bringing in new fans.
Interesting to watch Mark solv so fast that he hasn't time to notice that 5 and 6 can't go on the green lines and just leaves those markings there in the 14 cages.
Hurrah! A cracking the cryptic puzzle I can do!!
Finished in 8:45. Great puzzle!
00:13:48 - lovely symmetries! 😊
Love a mix of puzzle types and difficulties :) especially even plain sudokus because I think they highlight just how incredible the creator's logic is even more
Very lovely. There is a lot of beauty in this puzzle.
First time turning conflict checker off, 15:15. Proud. Caught a few mistakes along the way before it got crazy. Good puzzle
3:37 for me. I really enjoy the more approachable ones. Great puzzle!!
19m for me! What a smoooth and approachable puzzle!
I did this puzzle a while ago. Very easy but very enjoyable.
I loved the use of symmetry in this one and the fairly clear way of how it would break up to finish out the puzzle. very pretty tbh
an occasional straightforward one like this would be welcome, if for no other reason than to give me something to recommend to friends
Great puzzle! Took me 6:30 to complete. Refreshing to get an easy sudoku with nice logic every now and then to not spend 30 minutes to 3 hours on a single puzzle!
8:12 Well, was expecting something harder than that from the look of it, but it went super smooth!
Nice puzzle. No real snags, but a fun chain of deductions none-the-less. Thanks!
I like seeing puzzles like these for someone who doesn't do them very often. 23:58 for me.
13:13 German Whispers are my easiest lines. I only rarely can solve a CtC puzzle, so thanks for the occasional approachable ones.
Loved this puzzle. Easy And interesting.
8:15 for me. Enjoyable puzzle!
00:06:31 for me. Enjoyed the puzzle! I very much like the variety in difficulty and rule sets that already seems to be a part of the routine. Kind comment.
Thanks for putting a puzzle i could solve 😅
Beautiful and very relaxing puzzle.
The very first puzzle i've seen here that bordered on "too approachable".
A rare "symmetry-ish" puzzle without 5 in the middle
At 5:50, there's no reason why R2C1 can't be a 3, which is unfortunate. I was hoping Mark would immediately pencilmark the german whisper lines with 123789 and the thermos yield the alternation cells between high and low digits. If Mark had stated the things he knows about german whisper lines, it would speed up the solve. I solved in 6:44, so i guess i did it faster than Mark, which was lucky.
There is 12 pair in the second column, and they both have to go on the Whisper line in box 1, but not in that column. So he placed them in the other two columns. So he didn't do anything wrong, he just didn't explain it explicitly.
I'm trying to follow Mark's logic, but I'm puzzled at 5:42. Why can't R2C1 be a 3?
Seems to be a mistake that time.
Simple but makes you think. More of the lower skill ones please.
9:01 for me. Enjoyed this one
14:25@#5033. Not as fast as it could've been, since I worked it slowly and steadily. But the symmetry helped a bit. Quite easy otherwise.
One nice move is that once you get the two identical x-pair digits, it disambiguates the 12-cages in the third column.
5:45 why can't R2C1 be 3 here?
The 7 on the green line prevents a 3
@cmcgovern at that time 7 is only an option
@cmcgovern Before the 7 in a green line, of course.
He makes a masive jump because he sees the 12 pair in col 2 and there is only one place for 3 on the German Whisper.
I had trouble with that too. However, R1C2 or R3C2 have to be low (green line determines one is low and the other high). There is a 1/2 pair and a 4 in the column. That means the 3 has to be in either R1C2 or R3C2. There is already a 3 in R3C7 eliminating R3C2 from being a 3. Therefore the 3 (remaining low) must be in R1C2.
Now it makes sense to me
Thank you 😁
Mark absolutely speedrunning this puzzle.
7:58 for me. Was nice to have a fast easy one after the long ones we've had lately.
Yes, more easy ones, please!
9:25 for me. Really nice approachable puzzle.
Done in 8:51 while having dinner 👀
Rules: 01:52
Let's Get Cracking: 03:11
And how about this video's Simarkisms?!
Symmetry: 2x (03:27, 05:10)
Goodness: 1x (09:42)
Incredible: 1x (01:13)
Shouting: 1x (00:25)
Approachable: 1x (09:50)
Ah: 1x (04:46)
Pencil Mark/mark: 1x (08:47)
Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video:
Fifty Nine (3 mentions)
One (23 mentions)
White (5 mentions)
Antithesis Battles:
High (7) - Low (4)
White (5) - Black (3)
Row (3) - Column (1)
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!
I tend to find that for anything under around 25 mins from yourself, and under 45 mins for simon, i might have a chance of solving, so i always like it when ones under those lengths come in haha
Nice puzzle!!!
9:10 For me. I actually messed up once in box 9! I wonder if I'd have gotten any hats from this.
11:11. Messed up at first marking the center squares with 14 cages as highs not lows. Oops. Lol
13:07 ... with a kitty nudging my phone hand 😂
Lovely puzzle! Flowed well, and those black kropki dots... those were key to the solve. 😂😂
jk...
Nice to have an approachable puzzle thrown in on occasion!
14:37 I'm very happy with that time!
Titi's Time: 08:54
Quick, but fun 😊
30ish minutes with my brains wanting to drift to sleep... good night!
7:45 for me, not quite beating Mark's time today
5:40 for the 2nd try
nice puzzle
Did this on the app in Dark Mode... which turns the white blobs to black blobs, which I didn't notice until I was stuck for ages 😥
Checked my working and the rules fine times, and only then realised dark mode wasn't keeping the blob colours honest! After that it was relatively easy 😊
00:13:24
I like straightforward and easier ones :)
I stared at this a long time and couldn't figure out a good break in... Then I went ahead and watched the video
I'm not a great solver. My break in was to pencil mark the possible values in the 12 and 14 cages and then remove digits that could not live on the german whispers. Once I did that it was smooth sailing.
At 5:43, why can’t R2C1 be a 3?
7:59 for me. Quick and easy.
9:15, "forgot" about the cages after pencil marking them,
8.26 for me
10.50 for me. Went wrong when I thought the grey lines were renban's instead of palindrome's. Grey and purple are so similar... lol.
It was 11:23 for me.
9:12 was my time. Very approachable
Solved it without help in 19:19.
5:22 for me
7:09 to solve.
Good. thumbs up. 8:27
8:43, which isn't as fast as Mark, but it may be the first time ever I beat the length of a Mark video, at least! Spoiler: I think the intended break-in is to spot the hidden 456 triples in the corner boxes.
7:54 for me.
Got in 5:45
Finish time 10:37 😂
Finished in 8:03, and the solve counter's now ~8500
8:14 very easy
Took me 10:36 to solve: This even though I generally don't like killer cages.
took me just under 17 minutes
More approachable Sudokus! I have a difficult time watching you and Simon doing Sudoku that takes over an hour to solve.
Yeah, I think they provide great teachings and also great enjoyment
15:07 for me and solver #15354.
08:26 for my time. No difficulty whatsoever especially when you're used to those rules.