A Discord Delight

Normal sudoku rules apply. Each row/column begins with a number X, and 1 is in the Xth cell of that row/column..

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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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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

[ericfox]

Glad you liked the puzzle, Mark!
There was indeed a simpler way near the middle:
Box 5 only had one valid location for the 1 for quite some time, given the numbers that the blue cells in boxes 2 and 4 could see. I really enjoyed your interesting little trick in box 7, though!

[winoodlesnoodles]

What I found extremely helpful was to color where a 1 could NOT be. It placed the 1 in the central box early on.

[IrishChappie]

As you're looking for ones, I found it helpful to shade impossible cells like i would for a sandwich. This highlighted the interaction between the rows and columns, making it easier see where they must go

[madisonkunes]

16:42. This one sounded a lot more difficult than it turned out to be! The logic was easy enough once I worked out all the implications. I like these easier ones that still use cool, unique constraints

[MikoKisai]

The puzzle becomes easier if you notice the blue cells in each box must point into all three boxes in that row/column - one has to point to 1, 2 or 3, one has to point to 4, 5 or 6, and the last one has to point to 7, 8 or9.

For example, we could fill in the 5 in c1 as soon as we'd placed the 4 in r4c3 - there *must* be a 4, 5 or 6 in c1 of box 4, and we only have a 5 left to place - it can't go in r4 because there's already a 5, and it can't go in r5 because r5c5 is already filled in.

[xaostek]

29:53, the logic for the special ruleset was surprisingly approachable! It turns out I'm just bad at classic sudoku 😅

I started out by coloring squares where 1 could not be, because a number in any particular row or column immediately rules it out of the first r/c and therefore the position of the 1 in that r/c in turn. That placed a 1 in box 5 immediately.

[NathanielBarlam]

18:02, enjoyed this rule set a lot, especially how it worked with givens and candidates to reduce possible 1 locations.

[Afterthoughtbtw]

12:05 for me - I cottoned on to how the puzzle worked quite quickly, and found I could rule out no end of numbers from the blue squares. I'm better at the puzzles that don't involve conventional Sudoku techniques I think.

[elaynedorthenel]

I love this rule, simple but with amazing potential. I'd love to see more in this style.

[SegaJunkie]

23:35 for me. What really kicked off my solve was trying to resolve the 16 pair in box 9 - if you place 6 in row 7, you have a 46 pair in r9c1c2 - but you need a 9 there to point at the 1!

[annalisayoung]

What a fun puzzle! I'm so impressed when one simple extra rule adds so many extra layers. I would love to see more of these.

[screamingliner]

Mark was just missing how given or derived numbers in non-blue squares limited where the 1 could be in their row/column, which makes things a lot easier.

[Kelters]

Started out as normal sudoku, like Mark. But as soon as I realized the super importance of interaction between the blue cells and the cross references to the whole grid, the puzzle fell open like unzipping a banana. It just took me a little too long to adjust my mindset. In a funny way I found it comforting to watch Mark take a little too long also. Great puzzle. Really enjoyable. Thank you.

[colinfun]

I think one thing Mark missed is each group of 3 blue squares (ie rows 1, 2, and 3, rows 4, 5, and 6) have to have 1 of each grouping of 1, 2, 3; 4, 5, 6; and 7, 8, 9 in order to only have one 1 in each box. That piece of logic helped me solve it a lot faster.

[fnnhh]

By shading in the cells where 1 can not be, the 1 in the central 3x3 box is forced early, and the path is much simpler

[eadths]

16:17 First solve faster than Mark or Simon!

[glennmelven]

I found coloring the cells where 1 couldn't go was a big help. It showed clearly where a 1 could go in box 5.

[MacheTheFerret]

Got around 21:00 or so, accidentally closed the tab before commenting. Felt pretty approachable and fluid, loved the idea.

[OnePlayerForever]

21:31 for me - I enjoyed this one, fun interactions where each 1 ruled out another number from the corresponding blue square.

[walkingwriter]

53:24! Happy to finally get one after fouling up the last few I tried. Awesome puzzle. Now I can enjoy watching the solve. : )