The 'Parker Square' Miracle Sudoku

*** TODAY'S PUZZLE ***
In tonight's video, we attempt to solve Blashyrkh's sudoku, The Parker Miracle - a 6x6 puzzle which Blashyrkh attempted to create with absolutely nothing in the grid but, in the end, needed a single inequality sign. It's an absolutely extraordinary attempt and features a logical path that it seemed nature intended us to find!

Play the puzzle at the link below:

Rules:
Normal 6x6 sudoku rules apply. (Place the digits 1 to 6, once each, in every row, column and outlined box). Boxes are numbered in normal reading order. Orthogonally adjacent digits must not sum to their box number(s). For example, r2c4 and r3c4 must not sum to 2 or 4. Additionally, diagonally adjacent digits within the same box must not sum to their box number. The inequality sign points to the lower digit.

Thanks to all of you who have helped us achieve the milestone of 600,000 subscribers on YouTube. Below you can find a link to a free puzzle pack we have curated to celebrate :)

*** THE LORD OF THE RINGS SUDOKU HUNT RELEASED ON 1 JUNE ***
We've just launched the sudoku event of the summer! Blobz' puzzles and Ted Nasmith artistry combined in one of the most beautiful, approachable and fun hunts we've ever published. Get hyped!!! Teaser puzzle here:

Play the full version here:

Other treats on Patreon include:
- Simon's solve of Sky-Skyscraper by Phistomefel has just been uploaded for our patrons.
- and Mark's latest solve of The Times Club Monthly cryptic crossword

*** LAST NIGHT'S BRAID STREAM ***
You can watch our stream from last night at this link:

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ALSO on Amazon: Search for “SudokuPad”

▶ Contents Of This Video ◀

0:00 Theme music
0:52 The Parker Square
3:15 Puzzle intro
4:35 Lord Of The Rings Sudoku Hunt
5:08 Paws' Sudoku Hunt Incoming
5:33 Happy Birthdays
9:08 Rules
11:39 Start of Solve: Let's Get Cracking

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[abcdef-lpqc]

Blashyrkh here, what a nice surprise this feature is, really didn't expect that :D

You pretty much followed the solve path that I, ahem, "constructed". As some comments already point out, 1 and 2 in box 3 can be resolved a bit simpler via the 3/5 boundary.

The convenient thing about box number based rules is the intrinsic symmetry break, something that is necessary for an empty grid puzzle. I tried many variations of the rules, but they were either too powerful, breaking the puzzle, or not powerful enough. This wasn't perfect either, but I felt the solve path was quite appealing, so I selected the tiniest possible disambiguator and published the thing ;)

[esotericVideos]

"That's a bit harsh to call it a Parker miracle, it's much closer to an actual miracle." SAVAGE.

[IronLucario]

There's a nice bit of logic on the box 3/5 border that Simon sort of skipped over; the 1 and 2 could never be in the bottom half of box 3 once the box 5 dominoes were understood, because 1 would be next to either 2 or 4 adding to 3 or 5, both not allowed, and same for 2 being next to 1 or 3 adding to 3 or 5 again.

[AsiccAP]

Parker can't even escape Simon, crazy

[Cthulhus_Mum]

I love how Simon instinctively recognises that those of us who find Simon sweet and charming will ALSO find Matt Parker sweet and charming 🤣🤣🥰

[inspiringsand]

Rules: 09:12
Let's Get Cracking: 11:45
Simon's time: 24m21s
Puzzle Solved: 36:06

What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?!
Maverick: 2x (06:48, 19:25)
The Secret: 2x (01:55, 01:58)
Three In the Corner: 1x (35:59)
Phistomefel: 1x (01:55)

And how about this video's Simarkisms?!
Hang On: 12x (09:35, 15:35, 18:56, 24:55, 25:30, 25:45, 30:23, 31:58, 34:19, 34:25, 34:25, 34:25)
Naughty: 11x (13:01, 17:22, 17:22, 26:46, 26:53, 28:35, 30:44, 32:19, 32:32, 32:42, 33:47)
Weird: 8x (10:48, 11:48, 11:50, 13:38, 16:16, 25:45, 32:02, 35:13)
Sorry: 6x (06:13, 15:56, 15:59, 17:03, 18:40, 19:25)
The Answer is: 4x (14:47, 22:10, 27:00, 28:25)
Cake!: 4x (06:06, 06:21, 06:41, 08:06)
Clever: 3x (04:32, 16:16, 35:18)
Brilliant: 3x (03:02, 08:46, 36:02)
Obviously: 3x (04:30, 28:49, 36:20)
Out of Nowhere: 2x (32:42, 32:46)
Stuck: 2x (18:51, 18:51)
By Sudoku: 2x (32:37, 32:40)
Ah: 2x (15:59, 29:28)
Useless: 1x (30:13)
Nonsense: 1x (00:33)
In the Spotlight: 1x (36:00)
Lovely: 1x (21:15)
Beautiful: 1x (07:05)
Incredible: 1x (03:56)
Extraordinary: 1x (36:05)
First Digit: 1x (30:06)
Shouting: 1x (06:19)
Bizarre: 1x (35:15)
Magnificent: 1x (36:10)
In Fact: 1x (34:16)
Marries Up: 1x (19:56)
Have a Think: 1x (26:36)
Nature: 1x (36:30)
Unique: 1x (04:09)

Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video:
Twenty Four (3 mentions)
One (96 mentions)
Lime (3 mentions)

Antithesis Battles:
Odd (2) - Even (2)
Lower (4) - Higher (0)
Row (6) - Column (6)

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!

[OmriDaxia]

the 1 not being able to be above the 2-4 domino not being seen was driving me a bit mad xD

[TriPawrus]

The crossover I wanted but never expected 😅

[Nerdnumberone]

23:01 At this point, you can place "1" and "2" in box 3.

1+2 = 3; 1+4 = 5, so 1 can't be in r4c1.

2+1 = 3; 2+3 = 5, so 2 can't be in r4c3.

That kick starts a lot of sudoku that gives you more progress.

[robinbrown]

31:50 I think the simpler way to sort out the 1's in boxes 3 and 4 is to look at the bottom left cell in box three and ask "Could this be a 1?" Given that it is above a 2 or a 4 in box 5 either the domino it makes would add to 3, not allowed because one of the digits is in box 3, or it would add to 5 which is also not allowed because one of the digits is in box 5. Therefore the bottom left cell of Box 3 cannot be a 1 and the puzzle just collapses from there. Regardless, it was a beautiful solve of a beautiful puzzle and props to Matt Parker for being a good sport about being the internets punching bag for all this time. We may all be laughing at you Matt, but it is a laughter of love I assure you. I hope both Simon and Matt take great pride in all the joy they bring to people, especially in these trying times. Thank you for the distractions my good men. Now back to reality for me. See everyone tomorrow, same time, same place, with the same wonderful puzzles.

[johnlewis]

Had to take a break from reading Love Triangle (Matt’s new book) to watch this

[Orenotter]

There once was a small otter bard
Who by simple puzzles was jarred.
He complained "Why's it so
When the vid length is low
That the puzzles is always so hard ?!"

Seriously, I click on the half-hour length videos and figure I'll solve it and get right to work, then I'm here all night wracking my brain.

[frankjiang]

Finished in 17:37. Not sure whether there was an easier way of solving it, but I just went through all the possibilities of what could be in box 6.

Fun puzzle!

[emilywilliams]

Very interesting idea and a nice puzzle. I have found that pencil-marking with care (and thoroughness) is often very helpful in miracles! Thanks, Simon.

[Landis]

39:23! Ended up doing boxes 5 and 6 a bit more systematically - Goodliffe-ing them up and then knocking out impossibilities one after another. Once that hit critical mass, though, the resolution was exceedingly satisfying.

[chocolateboy]

I finished in 62 minutes. This was a neat puzzle. I really liked the play between the two bottom boxes along with box 3 that forced two possibilities in the two bottom rows. It is absolutely wild how one can construct a puzzle with such simple rulesets and practically nothing in the grid. Great Puzzle!

[markthompson]

33:48 - he finally sees 2-1 is a naughty domino!!! GO SIMON!!!

[MisterJDagger]

5 minutes in, we’re working on box 5, and I get a big smile, “Are we about to go full goodliffe?!?!?!”

[battle]

One piece of logic i realized around 20:00 regarding the left wing of box 6 is that,
Wherever the 1 goes on the right wing in box 5, it Must be adjacent to a 2, in box 6.
Because whichever row the 1 in box 5 goes in, it cannot be adjacent to a 1 in box 6 by sudoku, it cant be adjacent to a 4 or 5 because that would sum to a 5 or 6 respectively. So the only option is for the 1 and 2 to be adjacent across the 5-6 box border.
Which would then likewise place 4 on the right wind in box 6.

[adipy]

I did the complete opposite on what I did with the Numberphile video about the Phistomefel ring. This time I thought it was a Numberphile video, but then I saw the CTC logo on the thumbnail.