The Art of Sudoku

Normal sudoku rules apply, and digits increase along thermometers from the bulb to the end.

Miracle Sudoku is out on Android, Steam and App Store.

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▶SOFTWARE◀
Play the puzzle in the video by clicking the link under the video (above). We are building a website which will allow you to enter your own sudoku puzzles into the software and this is coming soon!

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Melvyn Mainini

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Joel Blundell

▶ABOUT US◀
Hi! We're Simon Anthony and Mark Goodliffe, two of the UK's most enthusiastic puzzle solvers. We have both represented the UK at the World Sudoku Championships and the World Puzzle Championships. We're also "cryptic crossword" aficionados. Mark is the twelve-time winner of The Times championship and Simon is the former record holder for most consecutive correct solutions to The Listener crossword. We hope we can help your puzzle solving while also introducing you to some of the world's best puzzles.

Thank you for watching!
Simon and Mark

[dismalfailure]

Thanks for featuring my puzzle! This is super cool. The colour choices were inspired by the Marilyn Monroe prints.

[megaminxpll]

At 10:00 there is a naked quad of 1456 in c8r1239, which makes c8r6 = 2, which in turn resolves that thermo.

[nickoudyk]

One thing to note around 8:00 when Mark is looking to see if the one can go in r8c8 - since r9c8 must be either 4 or 5 due to the thermo, we know that either 4 or 5 will form a pair in box 3 with the 7's. This means that the 1 in box 3 must is restricted to column 8, allowing us to resolve the 1/2 pencilled in r6c8, resolving the bottom right hand thermo. The solve flows quite easily from there

[andrewness]

Re-coloured all of the grid to white, I feel such a philistine, but it definitely helped me!

[TheDesert_fox]

Another way I found to resolve the bottom right thermo a bit easier. After finding the 2, 3, 8, 9 in box 3 and the 7 in box 6, R9C8 has to be 4 or 5. Whichever it is, it will either be in R1C7 or R1C9 making a pair with the 7. This means the bulb on the thermo can’t be 1 because it would also have to be in R1C7 R1C9 with the 7 and other digit which is impossible, making the bulb 2 and resolving the rest of the thermo. Great puzzle all around!

[Kelters]

Very accessible. Quick and fun. I was struggling with the first one of the bundle, so I am pleased to see the selection includes puzzles like this as well. Thanks to all on Discord who helped out. (edit) Surprised Mark didn't notice that no matter what r9c8 was (4 or 5) it would push the 1 in box 3 into the middle column, thus forcing the bulb in bottom right to be a 2. Thermo then completed.

[ryang]

I'm loving the modern art Sudokus!! I did two of them tonight and was amazed to complete them :) One took me over an hour (and it was only a 3 star...yikes), and while it was a challenge, I channeled my inner Mark and was resilient, thanks for inspiring me!

[Dobbo]

I used the new software for this puzzle. Functionality wise all okay. Colour wise not easy to read the notation marks. I recommend darkening the digits and lightening the coloured backgrounds.

[potheli]

6:50! First time I dramatically beat Mark. Once I got the first three thermos, I got the 7 pencil marks in box 3 and the 7 in r2c5. Looking at the last thermo, r9c8 was 45 - one of which had to appear alongside the 7 pencil marks in box 3. This meant that r6c8 had to be a 2 (otherwise 1 would also have to go alongside the 7 pencil marks in box 3). This gave the entirety of the last thermo and the rest was rather quick sudoku.

[kevinyoung]

Also the 23/34/8/9 in column 9 helps figure out most of box 6, you can use that to determine c9r8 needs to be a 4, as you can’t put both 2 and 3 in box 6 with thermo rules.

[AndreAy]

Solved it without any help from the video and without bifurcation. Nice!

[topbizniz]

15:15. Probably the easiest puzzle ive solved on here but still happy to get a solve nonetheless after a couple of days of much harder puzzles. Nice clear logical path to the solve once you`ve placed the candidates for the thermos.

[samus]

Hoping the "short" lenght means Mark won't have to do so much arithmetic today, for the love of god. Cheers!

[danieltaber]

Tried the Alpha on this one - wished at one point to convert the background to a solid shade, once I completed the Thermos, as the colors began to be distracting.

[Ferrindel]

"Bifurcating on 4 in box 8. 10 yard penalty. Loss of down and repeat the puzzle."

[daneugea]

Thank god it's a thermo - got it in 11:36. More thermos since they seem to be the ones I'm best at!

[lroke]

I downloaded the puzzle pack yesterday and picked a random puzzle for evening solving. Yes, it was this one. So I figure, should I pick something for tonight, it will probably become available in CTC software tomorrow evening. I think I'll watch a movie tonight.

[jacobdbuckley]

R9C3 was my key. Since it was the one cell in Box 7 whose digit didn't appear on the SW thermo and it couldn't be 7 due to R3C3, that meant 7 had to be on the thermo. Therefore, R9C3 had to be one of 6 or 8 that the 67 and 78 displaced... and it couldn't have been 6 because of R4C3! Both bottom thermos immediately toppled and the whole puzzle soon followed. Fun quick solve.

[Jeesus]

My breakthrough was to spot that r4c9 is 123, and in all of those cases r8c9 will be 4. Took me 14:05. Nice puzzle!

[morismateljan]

23:04. Funny how I wasn't able to disambiguate 1-2 in bottom right bulb almost until the very end.