The First Sudoku He Ever Made??

*** BONUS ALERT ***
We've released Simon's solve of Phistomefel's ♫ Slitherlink take me home ♫, an April Fool of the rarest and most wonderful kind. Link below:

At 4pm UK time yesterday, we also released on Patreon a new Sudoku Hunt by Qinlux. Everyone who sends us a correct solution will be in with a chance of a prize. Closing date 5 May 2022.

*** TODAY'S PUZZLE ***
The great TotallyNormalCat recommended this puzzle by Josh Johnson. It is somewhat extraordinary to report that this is Josh's first ever sudoku!!! Give it a try at the link below:

Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. Cells separated by a black dot contain digits with a 1:2 ratio (ie one digit is double the other). Cells separated by a white dot must contain consecutive digits. Not all possible dots are given. Digits along an arrow must sum to the digit in that arrow's circle.

▶ NEW PATREON CONTENT ◀
New Patreon monthly reward is OUT. It's called Three Times A Sudoku and it has something quite cool about it :)

Philip Newman's video explaining advanced classic sudoku techniques as well as how to solve his monster puzzle Palpatine's Design is OUT.

Also Simon's solve of the new Phistomefel logic puzzle, Slitherlink Liars, is also available now.

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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.

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

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[joshjohnson]

Thanks for the feature. And thanks to TotallyNormalCat for recommending the puzzle.

It was a fun learning experience to set the puzzle. There was a lot of inspiration from watching Cracking the Cryptic videos and from watching Rangsk, Zetamath, and Jessica set a puzzle on a live stream.

The title was inspired by my daughter who said that it looked like zebra stripes. In addition to the small arrows you pointed out, the overall shape of the arrows and dots throughout also looks like a Z.

[Rubrickety]

I think the fact that a first-time constructor can create such a lovely puzzle says volumes about the success of this channel and the community that has formed around it. Well done to both Josh and CtC.

[caliopefinn]

Dear Simon, Thank you for the birthday greeting a few puzzles ago. I have been watching your videos for a long time as I was learning how to do basic Sudoku. Seeing this channel grow from some of your videos that had a few hundred views and how wonderful this community is it has given me joy. I do Puzzles to help calm my mind give it a break. I have seen birthday wishes on the channel and think they are great but it was something I would have never asked for myself. So as I sat here all snug in my CrackingTheCryptic Happy Birthday hoodie Katie gave me. I had missed your video on my birthday as I was a bit busy so I was going back. I am a bit incoherent but so pleased. So let me say to anyone who had to sit through the few moments of your birthday greetings to me, I am Sorry, it wasn't my fault. But I am so pleased. Thank you and many happy returns of the day to you and all the birthday havers!

[RenameJames]

This was my first time solving the puzzle before watching the video, and my first time solving a variant Sudoku. For once I was on my computer while watching, and that middle bit caught my eye, so I figured I'd give it a go. It took me a whopping 104 minutes to complete. I took a completely different (and far less elegant) path to solving, but I got there in the end. I'd have been completely stumped if I hadn't been watching your videos for the past few months. Thank you Simon and Mark for the hours of entertainment, and thank you Josh Johnson for that wonderful puzzle. I do love me some symmetry.

[morganandreason]

I'm impressed by TNC's prediction, because it was very close to your solve time of approximately 24m.20s.

[leojs]

As someone who’s long wanted to get into setting puzzles but always found trying to do so a very daunting experience, this is very inspirational 🤓

[-syntaxerrorguy-]

thank you so much for the shout Simon! i really appreciate that, and thank you for wishing me a happy birthday (today's been really fun so far). it's my 14th birthday and i got a phone, so i can now access the discord server which is awesome! i really hope i can create a fun sudoku that can get featured on the channel. i'd also like to thank you and Mark for keeping me entertained with sudokus, crosswords and wordles for the past 2 months. it's helped me a lot.
edit: just for clarification, my birthday is on the 24th of april, but because of timezones, i believe it's the 23rd for you (but that's still fine).

[msolec]

You may want to check off the automatic check when the grid is filled. That's another option you usually had off and for some reason it's turned on.

[jonbrowne]

Absolutely laughing my head off at the brain freeze! “You silly man” - the least silly guy in the history of silliness!

[inspiringsand]

Rules: 05:11
Let's Get Cracking: 07:07
Simon's time: 24m22s
Puzzle Solved: 31:29

What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?!
The Secret: 3x (11:22, 11:29, 11:35)
Bobbins: 1x (30:16)

And how about this video's Simarkisms?!
Ah: 10x (12:48, 13:28, 13:30, 13:43, 15:41, 17:19, 27:14, 27:14, 27:32, 30:23)
Obviously: 7x (03:03, 03:05, 05:24, 13:36, 14:59, 15:10, 17:44)
Beautiful: 5x (01:45, 10:05, 28:21, 28:23, 32:14)
By Sudoku: 5x (26:55, 27:38, 29:38, 31:06, 31:19)
Incredible: 3x (03:01, 03:46, 03:48)
Clever: 2x (00:57, 31:57)
Brilliant: 2x (32:35, 32:35)
Sorry: 1x (17:54)
Bother: 1x (30:39)
Naked Single: 1x (29:24)
The Answer is: 1x (13:03)
Stuck: 1x (05:01)
Syzygy: 1x (07:57)
Our old Friend Sudoku: 1x (25:12)
Of All Things: 1x (25:12)
Surely: 1x (19:26)
Internal Logic: 1x (16:28)
Phone is Buzzing: 1x (10:28)
Progress: 1x (18:35)
What Does This Mean?: 1x (12:21)
Pencil Mark/mark: 1x (16:05)
Cake!: 1x (03:27)

Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video:
Ten (5 mentions)
Two (75 mentions)
Black (17 mentions)

Antithesis Battles:
Even (8) - Odd (2)
Black (17) - White (13)
Column (9) - Row (8)

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!

[charlesmarlowstanfield]

It is not totally normal for totally normal cat to basically nail Simon's solve time on the dot. Wow.

[samwilliams]

Absolutely loved this puzzle! The break in using the kropki dots in column 5 interacting with the central arrow is really clever, extremely satisfying to spot that!

[akaEDL]

23:47 for me. I had a slightly diffrent deduction while resolving 68 pair: if you put 421 in box 6 in r4, then you turn both r4c4 and r5c9 into 9 so you have to put 359 tripple into r6 in box 4, which breaks the black dot. Pretty beatiful puzzle overall, my thanks and gratitudes to Josh Johnson for an exellent debut.

[therocknrollmillennial]

Congratulations on the debut, and the fantastic first puzzle, Josh Johnson! Finished in 21:28, and, as always, I was so surprised at how well organized the logic was! The mark of a true world-class setter in my eyes. I look forward to seeing what puzzles come out of that amazing brain next!

[joubess]

Thanks Simon for the break-in assistance! Once I saw where it was going I was able to stop the video and solve the puzzle on my own for once!!! I even had a few correct ideas about the break in before I watched you do it. Improvement...

[jonbrowne]

That was bloody awesome entertainment! Better than anything on TV! This my TV!

[wade_]

25:35 leave it to Simon to find the long way around when there's 4's and 8's in the middle box looking at the 48 pairs lol

[jonhansen]

"Check on Finish" is also turned on, if you're looking for more things to click on your settings

[th.nd.r]

Such wonderful setting, incredible that this is Josh’s first sudoku. The elegance of each deduction, even in the sudoku bits at the end, just outstanding. Great solving too!

[Coyotek]

12:31 ... very nice debut, indeed!

Nice puzzle!