Only ONE Person Has Solved This Puzzle...

*** TODAY'S PUZZLE ***
Simon attempted this sudoku by Darth Paradox called Renrenbanban without much hope. Only one person is known to have solved it on Logic Masters Germany and our testers couldn't do it. But the ruleset was intriguing so he gave it a go...

Play the puzzle at the link below:

Rules:
Place the digits 1-9 once into each row, column, and 3x3 box. Digits must not repeat along the marked diagonal. The grey lines are palindromes and must contain the same sequence of digits in both directions along the line. The purple lines are Double Renban lines. Each such line contains two equal-sized sets of consecutive digits. The sets might overlap partially or completely, and the digits can be in any order along the line. For example, 123123, 172839, and 142332 are each valid ways to fill a six-cell Double Renban line.

*** NEW SUDOKU HUNT NOVEL BY DIMONO JUST OUT ***
A new sudoku hunt wrapped in a real novella has just been released as our May monthly reward on Patreon. It's by DiMono and you need to keep solving puzzles to access the later chapters of the story!

Join us on Patreon for as little as $2 a month to play.

*** NEW GAS PACK: VOLUME 2 IS OUT ***
The new GAS (Genuinely Approachable Sudoku) pack is out on all platforms here:

60 original puzzles by Clover, Bill Murphy and Philip Newman!! Earn party hats and dinosaurs with these brand new puzzles!

▶ SUDOKU PAD - Use Our Software For Your Puzzles ◀

You can input classic sudoku puzzles into our software and help support Sven, the programmer responsible for the wonderful user interface we all use to play these puzzles everyday. The app also comes with 12 handmade puzzles from us:

iOS:

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ALSO on Amazon: Search for “SudokuPad”

*** ORDER OUR UPCOMING BOOK HERE ***

▶ Contents Of This Video ◀

0:00 Theme music and puzzle introduction
2:01 Birthdays & Anniversaries
5:00 DiMono's New Sudoku Hunt On Patreon
5:18 The Rules Of The Puzzle
7:55 Start Of Solve - Let's Get Cracking!

▶ Contact Us ◀

Twitter: @Cracking The Cryptic

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Simon Anthony & Mark Goodliffe
Box 102
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London
SW7 4UB

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

▶ SUDOKU PAD - Use Our Software For Your Puzzles ◀

You can input classic sudoku puzzles into our software and help support Sven, the programmer responsible for the wonderful user interface we all use to play these puzzles everyday. The app also comes with 12 handmade puzzles from us:

iOS:

Android:

ALSO on Amazon: Search for “SudokuPad”

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[chrisbattey]

Thank you so much for taking a chance on my puzzle! I'm so glad you stuck with it, as hopeless as it seemed at times. (And huge thanks to SenatorGronk for the recommendation! Truly, I'm honored.)

-Darth Paradox

[kevinrobehr]

You know it’s a good puzzle when Simon turns it into a coloring book

[AmmoBoks]

Please make a 2nd CTC Channel and put all unsolved puzzles there. I think it would be very insightful.

[oregonexpat]

You have got to be kidding! TWO HOURS? And a SINGLE DIGIT to begin? Oh Simon, I have to work tomorrow, and it’s going to be Your fault. (Wagging finger and grinning)

[jaredwonnacott]

You know, sometimes Simon gets to the first digit and says something like, "Goodness, we've been going for a half hour and we're only just now getting a digit, this is crazy." You know this is bonkers, because at half an hour Simon puts in hos first pencil mark and is just like, "I think I've figured out something about this puzle."

[troymcdougal]

The fact you can solve this puzzle, Simon, is sheer genius, no question whatsoever on that point. Simon, stand up and take a bow.

[ivan_osorio]

I'd absolutely ADORE a "partial solves of cracking the cryptic" videos, by the way. Sounds like amazing content that would be extremely insightful into puzzles and logic. If this is the sort of stuff you solve, I'd love to see the ones you give up halfway through.

[inspiringsand]

Rules: 05:26
Let's Get Cracking: 07:59
Simon's time: 2h2m44s
Puzzle Solved: 2:10:43

What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?!
Bobbins: 2x (1:17:18, 1:17:18)
Phistomefel: 2x (15:03, 1:18:33)
Three In the Corner: 1x (2:09:06)
Maverick: 1x (12:54)
The Secret: 1x (2:12:31)
You Rotten Thing: 1x (1:17:18)
Nori Nori: 1x (1:35:01)

And how about this video's Simarkisms?!
Ah: 26x (16:45, 17:29, 19:01, 19:04, 22:55, 36:54, 52:02, 53:21, 59:12, 59:12, 1:00:52, 1:00:52, 1:11:37, 1:13:56, 1:15:41, 1:17:18, 1:24:34, 1:41:46, 1:43:25, 1:45:37, 1:46:58, 1:52:53, 1:53:34, 1:54:33, 1:56:42, 2:00:00, 2:06:07)
Hang On: 11x (17:20, 59:12, 1:07:42, 1:13:56, 1:31:19, 1:43:25, 1:44:47, 1:45:37, 1:45:50, 1:52:31, 1:58:34)
Sorry: 10x (47:01, 53:21, 59:44, 1:11:37, 1:30:15, 1:49:37, 1:56:27, 2:03:50, 2:06:14, 2:12:38)
In Fact: 8x (22:21, 22:29, 40:16, 1:15:12, 1:18:37, 1:50:00, 2:08:19, 2:10:53)
Incredible: 7x (44:42, 44:45, 2:06:25, 2:11:16, 2:11:19, 2:11:44, 2:11:44)
By Sudoku: 7x (1:11:48, 1:16:59, 1:35:38, 1:44:23, 1:50:29, 1:53:37, 2:05:37)
Obviously: 7x (14:11, 36:07, 37:08, 42:26, 1:16:14, 1:52:06, 2:02:58)
Cake!: 7x (03:02, 03:03, 03:08, 03:08, 03:50, 04:49, 04:51)
Beautiful: 6x (1:00:54, 1:07:58, 1:09:07, 1:14:00, 1:24:34, 1:24:34)
I Have no Clue: 5x (15:59, 29:18, 56:39, 1:03:09, 1:54:18)
Wow: 5x (32:21, 43:48, 50:45, 1:02:29, 1:20:48)
Pencil Mark/mark: 5x (46:49, 1:15:39, 1:21:20, 1:35:56, 2:05:59)
Brilliant: 3x (02:57, 1:45:16, 1:45:19)
Come on Simon: 3x (1:04:17, 1:27:36, 1:46:26)
I've Got It!: 3x (33:27, 59:15, 2:11:51)
What on Earth: 2x (08:04, 1:59:52)
Goodness: 2x (1:33:31, 2:06:09)
Nonsense: 2x (1:15:28, 1:24:00)
Stuck: 2x (1:30:25, 1:52:56)
Lovely: 2x (1:19:34, 2:07:52)
Extraordinary: 2x (00:59, 2:11:13)
Bonkers: 2x (01:54, 01:57)
Shouting: 2x (2:06:22, 2:06:30)
Surely: 2x (21:24, 1:44:44)
Progress: 2x (1:18:22, 1:18:55)
What Does This Mean?: 2x (44:35, 2:04:11)
Nature: 2x (09:42, 1:47:22)
The Answer is: 1x (1:08:07)
Clever: 1x (1:18:45)
Break the Puzzle: 1x (21:24)
Fascinating: 1x (1:17:56)
Deadly Pattern: 1x (2:10:03)
Gorgeous: 1x (1:41:46)
Our old Friend Sudoku: 1x (2:09:05)
Famous Last Words: 1x (2:09:50)
Of All Things: 1x (2:08:28)
Magnificent: 1x (2:12:06)
Plonk: 1x (2:08:38)
Juxtaposition: 1x (1:18:11)
That's Huge: 1x (1:24:57)
Have a Think: 1x (10:10)
Middly Digit: 1x (49:20)

Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video:
Twelve (6 mentions)
Two (215 mentions)
Red (136 mentions)

Antithesis Battles:
High (3) - Low (2)
Even (8) - Odd (0)
Lower (2) - Higher (0)
Outside (2) - Inside (0)
Row (35) - Column (33)

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!

[theodesselas]

I am average at best at sudoku, and I always start these videos thinking 'I'm definitely not going to watch the whole thing'.
Yet you inevitably draw me in with your crystal clear explanations and communicative joy, amazing job!

About not seeing the thermometer clue at the end don't worry one bit, wondering when you're going to find it just adds to the suspense :)
Seeing you finding other ways to find digit does make me wonder about a special mechanic though: do you know of any puzzles where the clues might be revealed as you go?
Like a thermometer that would only appear if X box is filled in?

[lexipowell]

Maybe it's just me but I was confused by the rules for the longest time and I think they were unclear. I was under the impression that the sets of consecutive digits had to be in consecutive order (ascending or descending) along the double renban line (skipping any number of boxes allowed of course). All the examples given in the ruleset followed this. But upon closer reading of the rules, I realized they didn't have to be in order. Would've been nice for the examples to not mislead.

[PeaceOfThePuzzleGaming]

Without a doubt, this is the most complicated puzzle I've seen you complete, in terms of pencil marks and notation. Huge props to the writer of your Sudoku tool, pretty sure you used all of it's features in this example. it's proven itself to be incredibly flexible. Oh and good job on the solve 😉

[sanctionbuster]

After all that effort, 2:02:00 in I was shouting - "Check the palindrome at the top to get the 34 pair!" Love ya Simon. Not much elicits such a passionate response in this ol' man.

[aplanosgc]

The fact that at 2:07:00, Simon found the position of the 5, without using the palindrome on the top left that has been staring at him for a good half hour at that point, blew my mind.

This is a level of disrespectful genius I had never seen before.

[crashtextdummie]

This puzzle is an utter work of genius. The double renban rule sounds kind of inconspicuous, but the way it produced novel logic throughout the entire solve path was nothing short of mesmerizing.

I was shouting about the 2 towards the end, but I still greatly enjoyed Simon's solve as well.

[ReneePrower]

What an incredible puzzle. I think my only critique would be with the examples of valid sequences for the double renbans given in the rules. To me, it seemed implied that - overlapping or not - the sequences were always required to be in order. For example 1234 would be a valid half of a double renban, but 1243 would not. Obviously in the final solve this was not the case, which would've been a huge sticking point for me if I attempted to solve it.

That said, I don't think I'd have had much chance of ever solving this anyhow, as the logic required is just incredible. I can't imagine how you even begin setting something like this. It's wonderful.

[Arkhanno]

Cracking The Bloopers would be a fun channel to see a montage of Simon and Mark getting stuck on puzzles

[liviaromanova]

I'd watch 2 hours long video of Simon solving this kind of beast, over any "blockbuster" movie these days. This is proper action, drama, fun and excitement. Thank you.

[tomh]

I always enjoy the paradoxical pronouncement that "you won't ever see this video"

[gled]

As Simon speculated, you can use geometry to speed up the solve. There are 27 special digits (1s, 5s, and 9s) in the grid. 10 of them are on the length 8 line, another 4 on the length 16 line, and 3 are in the central box. That's a total of 17 special digits, which leaves the remaining 10 special digits on the Phistomefel Ring. You can use this at 1:09:30 in the solve. At this point 6 of the 10 special digits have been placed in the Phistomefel corner blocks, and 4 cells within the blocks have been shown not to contain a special digit, leaving 4 special digits to place in 6 cells. But R2C2 and R7C7 cannot both be red, because of the diagonal, and R2C1 and R7C2 cannot both be green because then there is nowhere to put another green on the length 16 line. Therefore R1C7 is green, R2C7 is yellow, exactly one of R2C2 and R7C2 is red, and exactly one of R2C1 and R7C7 is green.

[walkomidit]

I love watching you do these seemingly impossible puzzles and seeing their little trickle of info turn into a massive river.