The Revenge Of The Miracle Sudoku!

*** TODAY'S PUZZLE ***
Ever since the original Miracle Sudoku by Mitchell Lee, constructors have found new and extraordinary ways of putting less and less things in a sudoku grid! The latest example is apetersen's Sort Of Miraculous - which boasts just a single black dot! This is a seriously good puzzle - enjoy!

Play the puzzle at the link below:

Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. Cells separated by a single knight's move (in chess) cannot contain the same digit. The 3x3 boxes in the grid are numbered in normal reading order. In odd numbered boxes, odd digits appear in ascending order (with respect to position within that box). In even numbered boxes, even digits appear in ascending order (with respect to position within that box). (Cells within 3x3 boxes are also numbered in normal reading order.) In cells separated by a black dot, one digit is double the other.

*** THE HOBBIT BY BLOBZ: NEW SUDOKU HUNT COMPETITION ***
On 1 January we launched a brand new sudoku hunt from Blobz, the 'sequel' to his Lord Of The Rings hunt from 2024... The Hobbit! 19 puzzles of Tolkien-themed wonders. Closing date 20 January.

Check it out for as little as $2/month here:

*** LAST WEEK'S STREAM ***
You can watch the continuation of our battle with the Caterdokupillar here:

*** NEW FOG APP IS OUT ON APPLE (!), STEAM & ANDROID ***
Brand new incredible Fog Sudoku puzzles by the likes of Phistomefel, Marty Sears, James Sinclair, Qodec, Dorlir, ThePedallingPianist, Sandra&Nala, Peter Veenis, Mr Menace, Florian Wortmann, Math Pesto & HalfBakedLunatic.

*** CRACKING THE CRYPTIC APP ***
Our main app (which is itself completely free) contains packs featuring Fog, Domino, Lines, and GAS puzzles, with a few special free sets as well! All the puzzles are hand-crafted by us and some of the best constructors in the world, with hints by Simon and Mark.
AppStore:
Android:

▶ 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”

▶ Contents Of This Video ◀

0:00 Intro music & puzzle introduction
1:59 Paul Morphy's Mate In 2
4:21 Blobz' The Hobbit sudoku hunt
5:35 Happy Birthdays
7:16 Well done Brantley, Aged 6
8:40 Rules
11:57 Start of Solve: Let's Get Cracking

▶ Contact Us ◀

Twitter: @Cracking The Cryptic

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Simon Anthony & Mark Goodliffe
Box 102
56 Gloucester Road
London
SW7 4UB

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

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#sudoku #puzzle #miracle

[andrelglinnenbank]

I think this would be more funny as a fog puzzle with only r1c3 unfogged. Then watch the mounting frustration of Simon when every time he finds a digit no grid furniture is exposed.

[jinxedidols]

I often use this channel to fall asleep, but I couldn't sleep cause I spent 30 minutes screaming at my monitor for Simon to notice the 3's available in boxes 2 and 5 by knight's move.

[nulldiamonddragon]

Me: Staring down the pencilmarked two's in box 2 for 15 minutes, and Simon finding the box 8 "2" restrictions in the most round about way possible is definitely something this channel does well

[MartinFindon]

I know I’m repeating myself, but this channel is the best thing on YouTube!

[paragonca]

That is absolutely beautiful... Every single box, reading from left to right, top to bottom, follows the sequence 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 2, 4, 6, 8 looping back on itself, with various starting points within the sequence. Absolutely stunning

[avipathak]

For anyone interested in the solution to the chess puzzle:

Rook to a6 is the move.
Black's a pawn can't take White's b pawn because of the rook.
Black's b pawn taking the rook means the White pawn can go forward to b7 for checkmate.
The only other move black has is to move the bishop somewhere, which takes away the defender for the a pawn and thus the rook can capture it for checkmate.

[MarushiaDark]

Simon becoming Pencil Mark today. I'm going to argue that actually coloring wouldn't have helped him this time since it would have required him keeping track of which color relates to which number and there's more information to be gained from the numbers themselves - like "three can't go before one" for instance - that color wouldn't provide.

[ronjohnson]

My experience with Miracle Sudokus is that it can be tricky to get started but once you actually get a grip they're so highly constrained that you can usually at least grind your way through.

[AnnaVahtera]

The funniest thing is Simon following ONE pencilmark when getting a digit, but then NOT seeing the other one and spending much more time and proving the other digit via some very obscure routes. I laughed aloud at around the 50min mark when Simon got the sevens, and then promptly ignored the twos when one of the sevens just replaced a two pencilmark.

[iceberg]

57:00 Simon got so involved in coloring that he forgot the 3's were placed in box 2 and 5 by knights move.

[mordirit]

43:01 Simon summing up what's like to love Variant Sudoku: "I'm going mad, that's fine, it's all good"

[noxumbra]

Simon, at the 44-minute mark, the low hanging fruit is the 3 in boxes 2 and 5.

[andrewgrant]

As soon as the rules mentioned odd numbered boxes, I started counting the seconds until Simon said Quincunx. 4! 4seconds. Peak Simon.

[Blazico]

I haven't watched the video yet, but when the grid first appeared on the screen, I burst out laughing! I love miracle sudoku's.

[stangerrits]

Over three years of watching this channel, but this is the first time I see Simon putting 5 corner marks in a single cell I think :)

[Adramelek]

Just started watching the video. Started the puzzle and quickly got lost. But it always makes me feel better when Simon at least starts the same way I did!

[Xiuhtec]

Solved in 34:21 which I'm surprised to have done so much faster than Simon but it was a really fun and beautiful puzzle. I used all pencil marks instead of coloring but did it in a nonstandard way (just center marked all possible odd candidates in the odd boxes, easier to read than corner marks, but kept in mind any even was also possible at that stage unless a box became empty, which then forced it even). Loved how the logic flowed across and down the board from the singular black dot forcing the 579, and really after a couple realizations (can't have a top row 1 with a bottom row 9 if another odd box is in the same row) it practically solved itself (even before I noticed the roping).

[bluerizlagirl]

In the odd boxes, you have to partition the digits {1, 3, 5, 7, 9} across only two rows for Sudoku to work in the rows; and you have to split them in turn into {1, 3} / {5, 7, 9} and {1, 3, 5} / {7, 9} to make Sudoku work in the rows. This forces roping in rows 1-3 and 7-9, and the black dot comes into play. Then you can think about the even boxes, and box 5 is bound to take care of itself eventually.

[pepijnvemer]

"It's quite easy to make a mistake in this one, isn't it?" Yes. Yes it is. I just had to restart a third time....

[ericpraline]

Revenge indeed. I missed a lot on this and one and laboured through it but I persevered which is always a sign of an enthralling puzzle, thanks, and surprising it solves with just one black dot. I found what I think was a nicer way of resolving the central cell which Simon bypassed.