The Blue Dot Mystery

*** STOP PRESS ***
Our new app is OUT on App Store!! We've completely revamped the interface. Now you download the basic app free and you can choose to download additional content. So there's a FREE pack of puzzles by Prasanna Seshadri and a paid pack: DOMINO SUDOKU!!! Prasanna's free pack includes one puzzle for each variant of our existing apps (so there's a killer sudoku, a miracle sudoku, a thermo sudoku, etc). Domino Sudoku is a pack of 100 handmade puzzles (40 on launch, 5 added each month for a year) by some of the best constructors in the World: Phistomefel, clover, jovi_al, Christoph Seeliger, Qodec, Sam Cappleman-Lynes and Richard Stolk have all contributed sudokus!!

The app is coming very soon to Android and Steam as well.

*** TODAY'S PUZZLE ***
A beautiful sudoku today by ZegreS, who we've featured before with his riddle puzzles. This one isn't a riddle but it does involve some mystery around the nature of these blue dots! Can you figure them out?

Play the puzzle at the link below:

Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. Blue dots join cells with a difference equal to the grey central digit of their box. (For example, if r2c5=4 then
r2c4 - r3c4 = ± 4)

*** PATREON REWARDS JUST OUT ***

We've just released a brand new Sudoku Hunt from Joseph Nehme themed around Equal Sum Lines! With 13 puzzles in all, this is just a wonderful collection of puzzles. Do have a go if you can.

Just $2/month here:

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Simon Anthony & Mark Goodliffe
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SW7 4UB

(Please note to use our real names rather than 'Cracking The Cryptic'.)

▶ SUDOKU PAD - Our New App ◀

It's OUT on Windows (released yesterday!) via Steam here:

You can now input your own classic sudoku puzzles into our software using our new App! The app also comes with 12 handmade puzzles from us and we're also releasing occasional bonus puzzles too. Already available on IOS and Android.

**************************************************************

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Here are the links:
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App Store:
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[zegres]

Thank you so much for another feature!
This was my submission for the "Too Little Info" Monthly Puzzle Prompt.
Simon followed the solve path perfectly as usual.
I came up with this variant, but there are similar and very neat puzzles on LMD by Glum Hippo and Richard Stolk that have similar rulesets.
I recommend Different Differences by Richard Stolk and Regional Differences by Glum Hippo.

[th.nd.r]

Sixth absolutely beautiful puzzle in a row! This one just has me shaking my head in awe at so many steps. It’s nothing too difficult, but it’s challenging enough and it’s SO pretty. Geez. Well done on the setting ZegreS and well done on the solving Simon!

[michaelcoetzee]

When Simon says 'approachable' I know at about half way through the puzzle, I'll realize I horribly beeped up.

[inspiringsand]

Rules: 05:14
Let's Get Cracking: 06:26

What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?!
Bobbins: 1x (14:26)
Phistomefel: 1x (02:42)

And how about this video's Simarkisms?!
Ah: 12x (07:42, 08:33, 14:13, 16:53, 18:54, 26:40, 27:29, 30:08, 33:11, 33:35, 35:26, 35:58)
By Sudoku: 9x (12:00, 12:39, 26:25, 27:05, 29:58, 30:03, 36:11, 36:55)
Beautiful: 8x (04:53, 11:58, 18:32, 23:43, 24:55, 33:35, 33:35, 38:27)
Symmetry: 7x (06:37, 06:41, 07:01, 07:05, 07:07, 09:19, 15:15)
Sorry: 6x (14:26, 21:50, 22:26, 24:17, 30:57, 35:10)
Lovely: 6x (11:19, 15:30, 18:54, 18:56, 25:03, 25:03)
In Fact: 4x (06:46, 16:06, 31:31, 37:20)
Pencil Mark/mark: 4x (26:29, 32:34, 34:05, 37:43)
Obviously: 3x (07:09, 13:03, 20:37)
The Answer is: 2x (14:16, 21:28)
Gorgeous: 2x (34:32, 39:09)
Hang On: 2x (23:07, 25:47)
Corollary: 2x (09:19, 23:47)
Plonk: 2x (19:26, 36:35)
Cake!: 2x (03:23, 03:28)
Nonsense: 1x (24:55)
Clever: 1x (38:08)
Stuck: 1x (27:23)
Brilliant: 1x (05:01)
Break the Puzzle: 1x (13:13)
Inarticulate: 1x (24:17)
Approachable: 1x (00:39)
Magnificent: 1x (03:48)
I've Got It!: 1x (04:59)
Wow: 1x (18:37)

Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video:
Twelve (3 mentions)
Two (100 mentions)
Blue (36 mentions)

Antithesis Battles:
Low (3) - High (2)
Even (8) - Odd (4)
Row (24) - Column (16)

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!

[sampathkumar-ejxl]

Even new constraints dont stop simon's brain from following the right path, drawing the right conclusions. He is at another level. This aspect is driven home more when I watch after putting in a lot of hard work to solve.

[koepisking]

I do not watch as regularly as I was for most of 2021 however, I do love that I get to see you get better as a solver. You notice things that have occurred in prior videos which is just cool to see!

[MariaVlasiou]

I am sorry for your frustration, but the BEEP part was hilarious and worth staying up beyond midnight. Thank you!

[KageRyu]

I managed to solve it in just under two hours, and for me, that's a fraction of how long these usually take me, and I didn't need a hint from the video, so I agree this one is very approachable. Lovely logic with the symmetry.

Thanks for sharing!

[emilywilliams]

Simon, this was delightful. I enjoyed the way you approached this puzzle and all of the lovely bouncing around the grid the logic did. Of course that was the constructor's doing, but you found it and followed it and explained it so well. I also like your recap at the end, which was a nice reminder of all of the fun. Thanks for this fun video on a fun puzzle.

[heitron]

That was my first attempt to do a puzzle in the app before watching the video. And it worked! (I did it in less than one hour.)
Ok, I needed help once. I didn‘t see that the 3 had to be on the left side.
That was so much fun!! Thank you very very much!!!

[markp]

25:40 finish. Loved the logic on this one, eliminating options from the grey boxes, leaving behind multiple X-wings to assist with the solve. Excellent!

[davidstorrs]

I love how Simon always says 'we', as in "We found this parity thing, and then we used that to get the 6, and then we..." It's super generous and leaves me feeling very smart. :>

[joelstevens]

Firstly, what a lovely sudoku (thanks ZegreS for that and Simon for a very neat solve). Second, like many others I have really enjoyed the sudoku livestreams in the main (last night’s was rather unpredictable mind, though I did find a few of the maze based puzzles very amusing and I loved the chess one) but I’ve noticed that there are a few examples of missed puzzles and puzzle streams which have yet to be resumed e.g. The Witness (the second maze area is incredible), BaBa Is You (I can see why you’d take a break from it but it’s brilliantly clever) and The Last Cube (which I would love to see another stream of). Of course, I get that time is a factor and in some cases it is interesting to explore (Gorogoa being an example, which turned out to be an amazing puzzle game) but I thought I would mention it anyway. In general, thanks to Simon and Mark for providing such a fantastic live stream and a wide range of sudoku variants and other puzzles, many of which are a joy to solve. Keep on cracking. ;)

[leppyr]

I'm glad that you liked my solving location. I was complaining (but not too much) that it was only a cool 23 C. To hear you complaing about the sweltering 22 C made me giggle. Thanks again!

[physicsnerd]

Excellent puzzle! The logic for boxes 4 and 6 actually made me proclaim quite loudly.

[BrooksMoses]

38:08, with a hint -- I had to watch the video through to about 17:50, when Simon pointed out that the gray cell in box 4 couldn't be a 2. After that, I was good, but I had spent many minutes at that point getting nowhere. Quite a fun puzzle!

[brianarsuaga]

This is my favorite puzzle in a while. Not too difficult but novel and with a really elegant and fun symmetry that feels like unwrapping a present

[muferguson]

My favourite bit was ruling the 6s out of R6C2 and R6C8 which I was quite chuffed to find myself :)

[andrewcook]

What a nice puzzle. I needed a little help early on but after the 6 restriction was pointed out in boxes 4 and 6 it flowed really nicely for me.

[ErnoWindt]

Thanks for the unexpected shout-out for submitting an apparently correct solution to Joseph Nehme's stimulating, but for me brutally challenging, puzzle pack.
Cracking the Cryptic is a wonderful and wholesome distraction in my life. Cheers.