Normal Sudoku Rules MOSTLY Apply!?

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*** TODAY'S PUZZLE ***
Well, what can we say about this one... it's quite mad and utterly beguiling! It's called Killer Shikoku and it's the work of the_cogito. The rules completely flummox Simon but can you make sense of them? Give it a try at the link below:

Rules:
Normal sudoku rules mostly apply; however the grid contains no 5s. Instead every row, column and box has a single repeated digit. (NB Beware! This does NOT mean that you could find nine cells in which 5s could be placed to make a genuine grid!) Additionally: divide the grid into rectangular regions of orthogonally connected cells. Each rectangle contains exactly one circle. A single cell with a circle counts as a 1x1 rectangle. A number in a circle represents how many cells are in the rectangle the circle belongs to. Rectangles cannot overlap. Every cell in the grid is part of a rectangle. Digits may not repeat in a rectangle.

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The_cogito here. Really well done to Simon, I could tell you weren't sure if you'd broken the puzzle or not partway through, but you did great. I'm sure it's not hard to imagine that setting this puzzle was difficult lol, it's brainbending through and through. Thanks so much for another feature, this so far has been one of my proudest puzzles, I loved watching this, and am extremely grateful <3

(also, as others have mentioned, shikoku is just a portmanteau of the words shikaku and sudoku :P)

the_cogito
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I don't think the logic at 46:10 was sufficient to show the 6 in r7c3 had to go up, because the green 6/8 in r4c7 could've gone right, with 2 in r2c9, 2 in r3c9, and 4 in r5c9. A supremely confusing rule set, but trying to second guess Simon at every deduction made me feel like I somewhat understood what was going on. A fantastic solve!
EDIT: Just realized you can't do that because it puts double 6 in the red region, but Simon didn't use that so I still feel justified.

jeffreylantz
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Really interesting ruleset. It seems to be tricky to remember that doubles aren't allowed in the cages even though they're expected in the rows, columns and boxes.

roryparle
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The sigh of relief that escaped me when you disambiguated the 6/7 in the middle of box 7 at 1:11:10 after I had been staring at it for 15 minutes! Sometimes you really miss some simple clues, but since trying some of the puzzles on this channel I’ve learned that that’s just your brain going blind lol.

Really loving the content, it opened up a whole new world of sudoku’s for me. Keep it up!!

bramdesmit
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Simon: I refuse to pencil mark cells with 5 or more options!
the_cogito: Challenge accepted 😏

koegerli
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This puzzle is brilliant. Really happy this got featured!

PuzzleQodec
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Another way to look at the rule Simon struggled with at the start is to note that e.g. a digit repeating in its column does not necessarily mean either of the instances must also be the repeat in its respective row and box, which would be the case if it were just substituting out the 5 positions in a valid grid...

HunterJE
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Watching for the first time from my very own first ever apartment as I start college this week 🤓 thanks for keeping me company through the craziness of moving away, Simon and Mark

leojs
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This is a wonderful puzzle! I love when there is some crazy rule forcing you to think in weird ways. And well done Simon, I think you did a great job.

andersosterholm
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I love how ridiculouss some of these puzzles are getting. I'd never be able to solve them myself but love watching you explain them. Keep up the great work!

SamThend
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I love that toward the end you forget that Shikaku's can't repeat and start proving solely via doubles already existing

rowanbrown
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It's so funny to see Simon declare the Shikaku rule to be the easiest one to use, and then forget about it 5 seconds later. He spent most of his mental energy trying to not do Sudoku.

dkosmari
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Rules: 02:03
Let's Get Cracking: 08:44

What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?!
Bobbins: 1x (51:26)
Knowledge Bomb: 1x (18:39)

And how about this video's Simarkisms?!
Ah: 22x (14:54, 18:33, 20:12, 20:29, 20:29, 22:24, 26:09, 26:10, 27:12, 27:30, 28:02, 36:02, 41:08, 43:34, 46:36, 50:35, 52:40, 54:33, 59:07, 1:00:44, 1:05:12, 1:09:36)
Hang On: 6x (02:07, 05:25, 05:31, 54:50, 59:37, 1:09:25)
Sorry: 5x (45:01, 48:58, 55:59, 56:01, 1:09:48)
Beautiful: 5x (28:07, 28:11, 30:51, 35:07, 47:27)
What Does This Mean?: 4x (15:19, 44:50, 1:01:04, 1:03:04)
What on Earth: 3x (27:36, 27:42, 1:14:13)
Ridiculous: 3x (17:55, 1:08:45, 1:13:14)
Wow: 3x (23:42, 23:42, 1:03:10)
Good Grief: 2x (30:53, 58:21)
Goodness: 2x (12:22, 1:15:08)
Nonsense: 2x (17:37, 17:44)
Extraordinary: 2x (01:00, 01:31)
In Fact: 2x (11:47, 19:54)
Apologies: 1x (00:17)
Clever: 1x (52:54)
Naughty: 1x (41:20)
Lovely: 1x (31:02)
Break the Puzzle: 1x (10:18)
Fascinating: 1x (1:15:50)
Incredible: 1x (01:43)
Barbaric: 1x (1:04:21)
Disconcerting: 1x (56:19)
Our old Friend Sudoku: 1x (20:29)
By Sudoku: 1x (08:48)
Of All Things: 1x (56:31)
Flummoxed: 1x (00:46)
Bizarre: 1x (1:15:46)
I've Got It!: 1x (52:40)
Obviously: 1x (34:41)
Progress: 1x (42:35)
Juxtaposition: 1x (45:39)
Pencil Mark/mark: 1x (11:02)

Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video:
Ten (2 mentions)
Two (158 mentions)
Green (9 mentions)

Antithesis Battles:
Low (3) - High (2)
Even (4) - Odd (0)

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!

inspiringsand
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51:46 finish. Absolutely brilliant puzzle. I would love to see more of the "sudoku rules mostly apply" ruleset. It can be difficult to follow along sometimes, but when it's over you know you accomplished something.

markp
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i’ve been having a really rough week, and this really brightened my day

cbear
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The "Shikoku" here is probably a portmanteau of Shikaku and Sudoku, since their rules are being merged.

[Shikoku (四国) is the smallest of the four islands of Japan, and shikoku (市国) means "city-state (e.g. Vatican)", but neither of those have bearing here.]

AexisRai
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1:07:47 Eliminating the 6 from R1C6 seems unjustified (though turns out to be correct). The double digit has not been identified in any of row 1, column 6, or box 2, and the rectangle does not contain any other forced 6. Simon says "which we've just seen can't go there" but I don't recall seeing any such thing. Even eliminating the 1/6 from R1C5 he only really seemed to half realize that the he had the double 7 in column 5 to justify that, since he just "noticed" the double 7 when he observed that means the 2/4 pair was a genuine pair. Perhaps the valid removal of the 6 in R1C5 was incorrectly echoed as validating removal of the 6 from R1C6.

Or maybe I'm missing something...

kevinmartin
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I remember test solving this puzzle and I absolutely loved it! I’m so glad it got featured on the channel! Amazing stuff!

originalelijah
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When I first found myself thinking "ah, there's a 1-2-3-4 quintuple in row 9" I got a fit of the giggles. Brilliant puzzle although not easy.

David_K_Booth
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Well that was total insanity, it's so hard to adjust your logic to all the different rules. Great solve, super fun to watch, and shorter than I thought it would be! Good on you for not getting stuck haha. Really hoping to see some streams from you guys soon! "Please don't touch anything 3D" would be great to watch!

tyfunk