The Black Rose Sudoku

*** STOP PRESS: NEW MODULAR LINES SUDOKU PACKS ***

We've just released two packs featuring a new sudoku variant: Modular Lines. The base pack is available to everyone FREE here:

The Competition Pack, featuring 18 puzzles, is available to our patrons and you can find it by joining us on Patreon for as little as $2/month here:

We're extremely grateful to the team of setters behind these packs: FullDeck, Missing A Few Cards, JC Godart, jeremydover, Raumplaner and rockratzero. Thank you!

*** Today's Sudoku ***

[Simon addresses the issue with his video yesterday at the start of the video - SORRY!!!!!! Apology video coming tomorrow morning.]

Today's puzzle was recommended to us by the great Qodec and with good reason. It's by TotallyNormalCat and it's another of their magnificent hybrid puzzles - this time mixing sudoku with a bit of Yin-Yang! You can play the puzzle at the link below:

Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. Normal Yin Yang rules apply (ie shade some cells in the grid such that all shaded cells are connected and all unshaded cells are connected. No 2x2 box may be fully shaded or fully unshaded.) Clues outside the grid give the sum of the first continuous block of shaded cells seen from that direction.

*** Our New App Is OUT ***
Our new app is OUT on App Store AND Android!! 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 Steam.

▶ Contact Us ◀

Twitter: @Cracking The Cryptic

Our PO Box address:

Simon Anthony & Mark Goodliffe
Box 102
56 Gloucester Road
London
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.

*** Our Book ***
The PDF is available as of today and the physical copy shouldn't be far behind. If you don't own the book then it can still be ordered here:

You can get the German language edition of the book here:

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

▶ OUR KILLER SUDOKU APP IS OUT ON ALL PLATFORMS◀

▶ SIMON REACTION BOARD (!) ◀
With thanks to Andrea for creating this :)

▶ CTC FAN DISCORD SERVER◀

NEW: Guide To Our Discord Server:

▶ OUR BACK CATALOGUE – ALL CATEGORISED WITH LINKS!◀

▶ *NEW* CRACKING THE CRYPTIC MERCHANDISE◀

▶ OUR CHESS SUDOKU APP IS NOW OUT!◀

▶TRY OUR CLASSIC SUDOKU APP◀

▶SEND US PUZZLES TO SOLVE/CONTACT US◀

▶FOLLOW US◀
Twitter: #crypticcracking
@crypticcracking

▶Logo Design◀
Melvyn Mainini

[h]

Making mistakes is just a part of it all, Simon, both in life and in sudoku (lol), so there's no need to worry, it's actually great to see that you (and Mark) are indeed human and not puzzle solving machines! And recognizing the mistake and going the extra mile to address and fix it makes me respect you so much more!

[felix_irgendwas]

I was yelling at Simon for 40+ minutes to extend the green in the bottom left corner to 3 cells (because 19 can't be made up of 2 cells only) right when he established they grey in r1c1 ... only for him to resolve it at the very last colouring bit in a way more difficult way. Classic Simon things :D

[tzeneth]

The amount of time you had that 3 in column 3 was driving me crazy. Even more hilarious, "Oh I have a 1, 4 pair" while my brain was screaming, "You've had a 1, 2, 4 triple for forever!" :P

[jukmifggugghposer]

The sheer tenacity in avoiding the 124 triple in column 3 is commendable. Of course, I probably couldn't solve this puzzle in thrice Simon's time, but I'll take what I can get.

[aokiji]

Who else was trying to figure out how much Simon could unwind if he had just filled in the 3 in that 1, 2, 3, 4 quadruple on the 10 clue?

[BobDylan]

Simon never saw that 124 triple in column 3, I spent like 15 minutes wondering how long it would take him to spot it but he resolved it a different way. Classic stuff

[Rdlprmpf]

There was a much simpler logic for the bottom left corner, almost from the beginning: The grey cells on the top add up to 26, because of some secret the green cells at the bottom have to be 19, which needs at least 3 digits.

[xyonofcalhoun]

Simon: "I'm getting stuck"
Also Simon, four seconds later: "Ah!"
_proceeds to unravel the puzzle's logic with the left index finger firmly raised in a dazzling display of insight_

[laurasmith]

I love that the completely normal human error is recognized. I also love that there is enough respect to redo the puzzle. Keep up the great work.

[inspiringsand]

Rules: 08:48
Let's Get Cracking: 11:49
Simon's time: 53m22s
Puzzle Solved: 1:05:11

What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?!
The Secret: 6x (12:02, 12:08, 16:59, 18:30, 18:37, 24:22)
Cooking with Gas: 1x (1:02:39)
Maverick: 1x (15:05)

And how about this video's Simarkisms?!
Ah: 15x (15:35, 16:14, 17:52, 19:52, 20:59, 22:09, 23:28, 24:22, 26:04, 28:51, 29:06, 40:26, 42:53, 51:41, 1:03:29)
Checkerboard: 14x (13:31, 13:51, 18:01, 22:48, 22:50, 22:54, 29:15, 31:00, 32:40, 47:21, 48:18, 49:11, 56:55, 57:00)
Sorry: 11x (01:01, 01:31, 02:00, 06:03, 06:07, 06:22, 06:22, 22:50, 54:25, 55:04, 56:58)
Brilliant: 8x (02:03, 06:54, 07:08, 07:13, 48:38, 1:05:15, 1:05:53, 1:05:56)
By Sudoku: 7x (42:41, 43:02, 45:17, 51:57, 1:02:33, 1:03:53, 1:04:08)
Clever: 5x (16:06, 20:39, 32:49, 57:05, 1:05:43)
Stuck: 5x (21:18, 21:20, 21:23, 24:52, 37:17)
Wow: 5x (39:09, 43:48, 48:20, 48:25, 49:38)
Good Grief: 4x (22:57, 41:16, 48:34, 1:02:37)
Shouting: 4x (01:20, 04:58, 05:02, 05:39)
Hang On: 4x (16:10, 37:22, 49:38, 1:01:58)
The Answer is: 3x (17:19, 17:58, 36:01)
Lovely: 3x (06:35, 06:53, 51:17)
In Fact: 3x (02:42, 43:36, 43:36)
Obviously: 3x (09:54, 36:19, 46:47)
Pencil Mark/mark: 3x (39:16, 51:33, 59:28)
Useless: 2x (41:08, 50:32)
I Have no Clue: 2x (43:57, 47:27)
Incredible: 2x (00:45, 00:45)
Let's Take Stock: 2x (40:45, 50:39)
What Does This Mean?: 2x (15:10, 31:45)
That's Huge: 2x (45:27, 45:27)
Eyes are Drawn: 1x (14:01)
Goodness: 1x (42:28)
Apologies: 1x (1:06:33)
Out of Nowhere: 1x (59:55)
Nonsense: 1x (43:40)
Beautiful: 1x (48:41)
Break the Puzzle: 1x (12:46)
Fascinating: 1x (04:30)
Ridiculous: 1x (49:08)
Gorgeous: 1x (32:47)
Approachable: 1x (1:05:59)
Mea Culpa: 1x (1:06:39)
Progress: 1x (42:17)
Plonk: 1x (38:55)
On the Cusp: 1x (55:13)
Thingy Thing: 1x (1:03:42)
Cake!: 1x (06:30)

Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video:
Thirteen, Fifteen (19 mentions)
Two (91 mentions)
Green (108 mentions)

Antithesis Battles:
Low (2) - High (0)
Even (5) - Odd (0)
Shaded (12) - Unshaded (5)
Outside (2) - Inside (0)
Black (4) - White (2)
Column (29) - Row (18)

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!

[elfdogre]

I know Simon does as much as he can to avoid Sudoku in preference of more intricate logic, but the 3 in the 1-2-3-4 set in column 3 for the bottom 10 clue was there for quite a while and every time he highlighted any of those squares or was looking at 3s in the area, I kept hoping he'd see it.

[davidkomai]

Mistakes happen. I’m just glad to see that these guys are human.
Some of the solves that Simon and Mark do just blow my mind on how on earth they can spot the things they can.

[davidrattner]

Wow @ cracking the cryptic....hope you 2 had a wonderful time in Portugal!! Looks beautiful

[Cook]

You are so ridiculously good at these geometry puzzles, Simon.

I can usually follow along with your solves, and often even see things before you do, since your commentary is so generous.
With puzzles that rely on geometry, math and triangle numbers like this one, though, you are almost always several steps ahead of me, and all I can do is try to keep up as you drag me through the darkness.

Thanks so much for the daily videos!

[longwaytotipperary]

Glad to hear you and Mark had some well deserved vacation time!!!! Welcome back!

[mareksroka]

Sometime I'd love Simon to notice some deduction he help us acheive. It would have helped finishing the ying-yang before delving into much sudoku.
This time around, it concerns the 15 clue at the bottom of the grid. It is possible to deduce that 7 has to be in column 5 in box 8!

Either the 15 clue is 2 cells, in which case it is a 78 pair, or it is 4 cells, which (as simon himself notices) puts a 7 in r9c5.

This in turn helps colouring r8c4 and r7c4 green, because a solitary 7 can't be there anymore, which, along the 3 green cells at the bottom or column 1, allows to finish the coloring

[DefensorsPacis]

20:29
I've definitely picked up a few things from watching these videos; for example, you could have easily determined the *maximum* size of a 26 clue, with all the digits minimized. The triangular number for 7 is 28, so the shaded region could be no larger than 6 cells. Ergo, the unshaded cells in R1 must grow upwards, which also nets a shaded cell in R2C8 to prevent a checkerboard.
I honestly thought you'd notice it at some point, but went the entire video without it. Seems to have worked fine, regardless.

[silivrengamer]

Perfection doesn’t exist. Even a crystal lattice can have errors can still be strong. I love your channel. I can’t follow the logic. Half the time, but I’ve learned a lot about sudoku anyway!

[danielmonteiro]

Greetings from Portugal! hope you enjoyed your stay here

[dontmindme]

56:48 Or the easier way for column 1 - The bottom 3 cells in column 1 could have been unshaded from the start as 26 can only be 6 cells long and the outside edge cannot be interrupted.