The 49-Cell Miracle Sudoku

*** STOP PRESS: PATREON REWARD + STEAM RELEASE ***

August's monthly reward was released this afternoon! It is a Genuinely Approachable set of Sudokus with Puzzle elements - we're calling it GASP!

Join us on Patreon for as little as $2/month here:

Also, our new app was finally released on Steam today! Link 1 is to a free pack of puzzles and Link 2 is to Domino Sudoku, the game we've been working on for over a year. Enjoy!

*** Today's Sudoku ***

We love a good Miracle sudoku and this one is just plain silly! It's a 7x7 grid with just the tiniest arrow in it... oh and it's by Phistomefel...!! Lose your mind and play the puzzle at the link below:

Rules:
Place the digits 1 to 7 in the grid such that each row, column and outlined region contains each digit exactly once. Digits along an arrow sum to the digit in the arrow's circle. Orthogonally adjacent cells (ie those sharing an edge) may not contain consecutive digits.

*** Our New App Is OUT ***
Our new app is OUT on App Store AND Android AND ON PC (via Steam)!! 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!!

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Simon Anthony & Mark Goodliffe
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SW7 4UB

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▶ 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:

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

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[Unchained_Alice]

This was the first of the CTC featured puzzles I solved. Don't know my time since I messed up too much and reset but remembered the break in I found etc. Plus I personally don't like solving to a time since I find it too stressful and also need to take breaks for health reasons.
Really fun puzzle to tackle and I really need to start doing more of the approachable ones like this. Surprising how it solves with just that 1 clue and an extra constraint.

Love that the first one I solved was one by the great Phistomefel! Even if it is one much more approachable.
Also hidden the timer now so I can solve at my own pace without worrying.

[stevenrexach]

With Simon's encouragement, I tackled this puzzle and was surprised by actually figuring out the breakthrough with being able to narrow down the correct values for the arrow! I got a time of 00:32:35, which I'm sure is a decent time for a Phistomofel puzzle, but I'm honestly so proud of myself for being able to solve it! Watching CTC has definitely helped my sudoku prowess!

[RuneLar]

This is easily my favorite puzzle I've seen on the channel. The arrow logic is fantastic because as soon as you figure out that logic you feel powerful. The one thing I saw Simon missed was that there could never be a 1 on the top arrow cell, it would make the second arrow digit consecutive with the total no matter what.

[MargemDeErro]

I took like nearly two hours but this was my first puzzle I ever did that wasn't a regular ol' sudoku with loads of given digits so THANK YOU SO MUCH Phistomefel for making an approachable puzzle!!! This was SO GOOD

[Arkhanno]

Beat my first Phistomefel puzzle in 85:44. Was tough getting that start because I was looking in the wrong spots for about a half hour. Thanks for sharing this, Simon, and thanks to Phistomefel for creating it!

[DanielA-ukqg]

This was my first time being able to solve a puzzle from the channel completely on my own!! Took almost two hours because I’m an amateur and had to backtrack at one point, but still very satisfying. I’m glad you’ve been posting more approachable 1-2 star puzzles lately, it feels more interactive this way :) keep it up!

The numerical-geometrical break in is very pleasing to a mathematician. 1 can't go on the arrow at all, yet the numbers on the arrow must be close whitout being consecutive.

[rethaf]

Today's puzzles were amazing! No numbers, a few simple constraints and one clue in the grid (an arrow on this one, a renban on Mark's 6x6), making for two examples of simple elegance! Kudos to both puzzle setters.

[Nightknight]

took me just over 30 minutes. one piece of logic i heavily appreciated was, that once you have a cell that borders a 2 and a 6 or 2 and a 5 or 3 and a 6, it always has to be 4 / 7 / 1 cuz a neighboring middle digit always eliminates 3 possibilities from its neighbors

[inspiringsand]

Rules: 04:55
Let's Get Cracking: 05:50
Simon's time: 19m46s
Puzzle Solved: 25:36

What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?!
Phistomefel: 4x (00:23, 00:59, 04:03, 04:12)
Bobbins: 1x (21:16)
Cooking with Gas: 1x (21:00)

And how about this video's Simarkisms?!
Lovely: 5x (08:02, 10:00, 10:00, 25:24, 26:24)
Obviously: 5x (04:31, 07:50, 11:47, 16:09, 19:21)
Ah: 5x (10:00, 12:16, 17:02, 21:36, 22:57)
Sorry: 4x (07:10, 13:38, 14:47, 14:47)
Brilliant: 4x (01:21, 01:40, 01:45, 26:24)
By Sudoku: 4x (08:29, 08:32, 22:44, 25:11)
The Answer is: 3x (17:08, 19:58, 20:15)
Beautiful: 3x (10:05, 13:22, 21:36)
Approachable: 3x (00:48, 02:07, 02:10)
Hang On: 3x (13:05, 13:05, 13:12)
In Fact: 3x (06:19, 08:54, 15:25)
Ridiculous: 2x (13:15, 13:59)
We Can Do Better Than That: 2x (20:15, 23:35)
Nonsense: 1x (17:33)
Clever: 1x (25:45)
I Have no Clue: 1x (17:52)
Break the Puzzle: 1x (16:50)
Going Mad: 1x (14:31)
Gorgeous: 1x (25:36)
Pencil Mark/mark: 1x (14:14)
Cake!: 1x (01:21)
Symmetry: 1x (06:25)

Most popular digit and colour this video:
Three (64 mentions)
Orange (5 mentions)

Antithesis Battles:
Odd (4) - Even (1)
Row (11) - Column (9)

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!

[Domancave]

The Agadmator line!! Couldn’t have made me happier to hear that. Chess icon!

[LehaLehan]

This was perfect opportunity for a beginner like me to solve something from the great man himself without Simon's help. It was a great pleasure and thank you very much Simon and Phistomefel.

[cyclopsboi]

@9:53 I think the arrow deduction makes more sense to say that there can never be a 1 on the arrow because then you will have to have a consecutive digit beneath the circle

[pelahnar]

I always think it's funnier when this constraint is phrased as "black dots indicate cells are consecutive. All black dots are given."

edit: I meant white dots, whoops!

[ariellaguerrero]

I use your videos to fall asleep sometimes because your calm voices along with the numbers and logic are comforting. I always try the puzzles first, then play along with the videos. I love always learning new ways to look at the logic in sudoku. Falling asleep to the videos also helps to cement your logic explanations into my subconscious. I've noticed that when I attempt the puzzle I end up thinking through it in your voice with the accent (I'm American).

[emilywilliams]

So this is the thing. Phistomefel's puzzles are so perfect. I did try out this puzzle myself in order to see what the possible logical thoughts would be as Simon got going on it, and I considered the arrow limitations along with the non-consecutive rule. But due to limitations in my time available today I decided in the end to just watch Simon. What a lovely puzzle. And I so enjoyed Simon's pleasure in it. His chortling with delight at certain discoveries, and his appreciation for the genius of The Great Man who can create monstrously difficult puzzles on the one hand, and nearly approachable puzzles on the other, and all with elegance. Today's vocabulary gems included quantum, malarky, and that wonderful expression "hoist by ones own petard." That last is a classic, for sure, and one that my mother and I used to enjoy very much (along with the excellent adjective "thewy"). Simon, thank you for this wonderful video.

[dragonspight]

20:58. Really fun solve with a great balance of sudoku and constraints playing together

[perladel]

A Phistomefel's puzzle and a 26 minutes video?
I've never thought this combination could be possible

[JosueSantiagoG]

I started by filling in the region with the circle, but finally gave up. Then I peeked at the beginning of Simon's solve, paused, restarted my solve, and started with the colors. That made all the difference and I got it in 33 min.

[elfdogre]

It always amazes me as to the blind spots that both Mark and Simon have in some puzzles. In this puzzle, the 13 pair in column 2 row 1 was disambiguated and finished the column. That along with the 56 pair in the same column that he managed to disambiguate via a 57 potential in column 3 row 6 instead of the 5 in column 2 row 5. Simon and Mark are brilliant in their logical deductions, but sometimes it really is amazing what it is they don't see, and truly amazing at what they do sometimes see. The logical leaps are astounding at times.