The Sudoku Grid Is ALL Fog??!

*** TODAY'S PUZZLE ***
We celebrate Missing A Few Cards' birthday today but trying another of their collaborations with Full Deck called I'll Cry If I Want To. And this puzzle might actually make you cry - it's a 'fog of war' sudoku with no cells revealed at all. Mark tested it and said it was VERY hard. Simon attempts it in a video and can confirm this assessment... but it's also as clever as you'd expect from two eminent math professors!

Play the puzzle at the link below:

Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. Along modular lines, every set of three contiguous digits has three different remainders when divided by 3. Numbers outside the grid give the sum of the first X digits (the "X-Sum") along that row or column, where X is the first digit seen from the direction of the clue. In addition to any modular lines revealed as the fog lifts, every X-sum forms a hidden straight modular line at least X cells long starting from the cell closest to the clue. Digits separated by a black dot are in a 1:2 ratio. ALL blacks dots are given. As correct digits are placed, fog will lift, potentially revealing more clues.

*** 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!

*** JOIN OUR SUDOKU CLUB ON PATREON ***
A new sudoku hunt, Alice's Adventures In Sudokuland, has been released on 1 March featuring puzzles by Panthera, TheAsylum & Montinox.

Remember that patrons gets access to their own special channel on the CtC Fan Discord server - where you can find hints ;)

Joining us on Patreon costs as little as $2 a month.

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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:

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Twitter: @Cracking The Cryptic

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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 - 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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[missingdeck]

FD and I enjoyed this much!! Thank you for the birthday wishes and the song about 3 in the corner! We're happy we could torture you with 2-8-age. Loved the solve! And enjoyed the popcorn during the movie :) Time to plan ahead for the next milestone ... :) -- MaFC Also, many thanks to Sven for the new animation and working with us to have this puzzle be the debut of that lovely addition. And Simon, you followed the solve path pretty much exactly as intended ... it was just a tad tougher than our usual fare :) --FD

[brockk]

1:57:28 Legend says that Simon is still un-doing and re-doing the 3, and laughing maniacally each time.

[jake_a_g]

Simons reaction to the 3 in the corner update is amazing. So worth the full watch

[JayBea]

A new personal record - I solved this in 124:51, which is by far the closest I've gotten to a "Simon Solve" time for a video longer than 40 minutes or so. I know that's nothing particularly special in this community, but I feel like it's a major accomplishment for me personally. Very beautiful puzzle, thank you! I really appreciated the fireworks for the 3 in the corner, and of course I sang along as soon as I saw it. :D

[aere]

The reaction by Simon when nothing appeared when the fog cleared, was priceless!

[Squishy]

1:20:45 “It’s so easy to overlook one of them” while deleting the 4 and leaving only 1 place in row 2 for a 4. I’m sure you’ll see it in a minute.

[clausewitzianwar]

Watching an hour and fifty-six minutes of sudoku was made absolutely more than worth it to see the confetti surprise

[amysteele]

I outdid myself this evening... fell asleep during the birthday announcements, woke up to the sound of the outro music! Had a lovely nap, now to watch the video!

[luckass]

Doing this without coloring the modular sets. Simon is a mad man.

[stevebreault]

Some of my favourite Simonisms in this video: "Out of nowhere" being the result of standard Sudoku, and a complete and utter disregard for his own pencil marks! 🤣

[MisterIncog]

What a treat indeed! The troll with black dots and THREE IN THE CORNER were absolutely worth it! Wonderful job by Missing a few cards and Full deck! And of course, our dear Simon.

[inspiringsand]

Rules: 08:07
Let's Get Cracking: 14:40
Simon's time: 1h41m56s
Puzzle Solved: 1:56:36

What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?!
Three In the Corner: 9x (1:00:55, 1:01:01, 1:01:05, 1:55:15, 1:56:01, 1:56:04, 1:56:20, 1:56:41, 1:57:36)
Maverick: 4x (1:30:31, 1:30:33, 1:30:33, 1:42:11)
Bobbins: 3x (20:14, 39:00, 1:25:47)
The Secret: 2x (04:24, 29:50)
You Rotten Thing: 2x (28:17, 37:38)
Phistomefel: 1x (1:16:02)

And how about this video's Simarkisms?!
Ah: 35x (16:28, 20:30, 27:36, 27:41, 28:20, 28:28, 37:23, 37:23, 39:44, 39:46, 40:20, 42:29, 55:03, 57:11, 1:01:32, 1:01:46, 1:08:09, 1:11:07, 1:11:47, 1:12:55, 1:13:46, 1:15:23, 1:18:10, 1:22:55, 1:25:34, 1:26:18, 1:28:00, 1:28:00, 1:34:17, 1:35:33, 1:36:36, 1:36:36, 1:40:57, 1:41:26, 1:54:20, 1:57:53)
Wow: 12x (18:03, 32:47, 32:48, 33:22, 41:07, 43:42, 57:04, 1:00:22, 1:16:10, 1:16:14, 1:47:08, 1:54:07)
Hang On: 11x (15:57, 15:57, 24:52, 28:37, 38:35, 38:35, 1:01:46, 1:17:01, 1:29:46, 1:31:18, 1:35:44)
Sorry: 10x (07:32, 18:03, 18:41, 21:53, 25:45, 34:24, 34:24, 35:36, 1:38:31, 1:56:58)
Good Grief: 7x (46:24, 52:18, 1:27:06, 1:27:06, 1:38:56, 1:41:02, 1:53:42)
Useless: 5x (59:45, 1:32:40, 1:32:43, 1:32:43, 1:39:49)
Brilliant: 5x (01:44, 05:58, 06:49, 40:34, 1:57:53)
Obviously: 5x (09:33, 59:35, 1:02:03, 1:24:42, 1:55:42)
Cake!: 5x (01:47, 05:52, 05:59, 06:31, 1:57:59)
What on Earth: 4x (08:16, 32:48, 42:34, 1:11:19)
Goodness: 4x (50:29, 1:07:56, 1:40:13, 1:56:42)
Clever: 4x (56:52, 56:54, 1:18:07, 1:57:05)
Come on Simon: 4x (41:50, 49:04, 1:11:37, 1:50:22)
By Sudoku: 4x (41:20, 1:05:50, 1:28:30, 1:41:52)
In Fact: 4x (01:13, 26:51, 1:05:54, 1:20:53)
Pencil Mark/mark: 4x (48:40, 49:56, 50:00, 57:31)
Naughty: 3x (41:57, 1:30:01, 1:41:07)
Stuck: 3x (39:20, 1:48:30, 1:48:35)
Nonsense: 2x (16:20, 16:23)
I Have no Clue: 2x (42:03, 1:26:41)
What Does This Mean?: 2x (53:06, 57:42)
That's Huge: 2x (1:05:28, 1:09:15)
Out of Nowhere: 1x (1:34:51)
In the Spotlight: 1x (1:56:23)
Beautiful: 1x (1:31:52)
Incredible: 1x (1:57:49)
First Digit: 1x (10:32)
Approachable: 1x (03:38)
Flurry of Activity: 1x (57:49)
Magnificent: 1x (03:03)
Alacrity: 1x (1:35:55)
Whoopsie: 1x (1:34:27)
Which Means What?: 1x (26:16)
Plonk: 1x (1:11:00)

Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video:
Twenty Seven (13 mentions)
Two (188 mentions)
Black (66 mentions)

Antithesis Battles:
Even (5) - Odd (0)
Outside (2) - Inside (0)
Black (66) - White (2)
Column (15) - Row (13)

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!

[David_K_Booth]

This has been one of my favourite puzzles so far on the channel. I was amazed that I could complete it without needing to watch the video for hints: that shows how much Simon and Mark have taught me over the last few years. Thank you, good sirs.

[markbennet]

I discovered yesterday that my daughter whose birthday you mentioned at the beginning of March has surreptitiously purchased the GAS 2 puzzles and is using them to improve her variant Sudoku skills. She may catch me up before I know it ...

[timch]

I love the irony of the two constructors names, that can only have an incredible puzzle as an output

[Jinxso]

This grid is a representation of my mind when trying to solve some of these puzzles on CtC.

[CaptainSpock]

I've been waiting sooo long for this video! *_Thank you so much Sven._*
Shout out to you. Your work behind the scenes is so appreciated.
(I've been refreshing the CTC channel pretty much every 5 minutes waiting for this video – with the time difference to NZ that got quite late – but it’s worth it.)
What a treat. Couldn't wait to see Simon's face with that 3 in the corner - (ᶜᵒʳ3ⁿᵉʳ)! - 1:56:04
And as per usual the CTC channel does not disappoint. This really is one of the nicest little corners of the internet and I am privileged to be a part of it.

[naomis]

My husband doesn’t understand why I like watching Simon solve these puzzles. But the more I watch the more amazed I am. I am still a novice when it comes to anything other than regular sudoku. I love watching Simon talk through all the strategies. Thanks for an awesome video!

[dustpan]

Surprised Simon didn’t color the different modularities. That made it a lot easier for me to track what could/couldn’t be next to each other. Normally Simon is so color happy 😂

[UnGeekCommeUnAutre]

Congratz! This one I would not have been able to solve for sure. Well done.