1. Rope Bridge
Normal sudoku rules apply (fill each row, column, and 3x3 box with the digits 1-9 once each), and all clues are standard.
Killer cages: the sum of the digits inside each cage is equal to the small number in the top left corner.
Thermometers: digits on the thermometer increase from the bulb.
Very rough difficulty estimate: 2/10
Play online: SudokuPad | unshaded | F-Puzzles
New to variant sudoku? Check out these beginner-friendly guides to killer cages and other popular rulesets.
Two announcements this week. First, thanks to Cracking the Cryptic for featuring my puzzle, Polar Foil, currently the lowest rated puzzle in the history of Logic Masters Deutschland. (I resisted, for the most part, the urge to play any sort of elaborate April Fool’s joke here, but I did not have the same restraint on LMD 😁)
Also, there’s new content on the SudokuCon Twitch channel! Including yesterday’s stream in which Tallcat and Malrog set a puzzle together, a stream next week about logic-based word puzzles featuring Glum Hippo, and much more to come. I’m involved with this behind the scenes, so it was definitely negligent of me not to mention it ahead of yesterday’s stream, but that’s why you should subscribe to the channel instead of relying on me for updates.
2. Mnemonic
Normal sudoku rules apply (fill each row, column, and 3x3 box with the digits 1-9 once each), and all clues are standard.
Arrows: the sum of the digits along an arrow is equal to the digit in the connected circle, and these digits can repeat if allowed by other rules.
Quadruple circles: a digit inside a white circle must appear in one of the four cells surrounding that circle.
Very rough difficulty estimate: 5/10
Play online: SudokuPad | F-Puzzles
3. Accelerant
Normal sudoku rules apply (fill each row, column, and 3x3 box with the digits 1-9 once each), and all clues are standard.
Digits cannot repeat on the indicated diagonal.
German whispers: along green lines, digits must differ from their neighbors by at least 5. (Note: in case it’s difficult to see, the green line runs along the marked diagonal from r7c3 to r1c9.)
Renban lines: purple lines contain a non-repeating set of consecutive digits in any order.
Digits in cells separated by a V sum to 5.
Digits in cells separated by an X sum to 10.
Very rough difficulty estimates: 8/10, 6/10
Play online: SudokuPad | F-Puzzles
Extra clues: SudokuPad | F-Puzzles
Some other puzzles I enjoyed this week:
Ursa Major, by Oddlyeven
Twenty Eight, by FullDeck and Missing a Few Cards
…What?, by Michael Lefkowitz
So, this is a section I’ve been meaning to add for a while, to bring attention to some of the other fantastic puzzles out there. I can’t promise I’ll be able to include this in every volume, but if I don’t, you can be sure it’s due to a lack of free time on my part—next week is already looking dodgy, thanks IRS—and not due to a lack of worthy options.
Also, if I’m including a puzzle on this list it’s because I think at least some subscribers to this newsletter will like it too, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s similar in style or difficulty to the puzzles here.
Thanks for subscribing to Artisanal Sudoku! Feedback is always appreciated, just leave a comment, reach out on Twitter X, or reply to this email. If you liked these puzzles, you probably know someone else who’d like them too, so please spread the word. If you’re interested in submitting a puzzle, please reach out to me on Discord or reply to this email. And if you want to try more of my puzzles—including several that are tougher than the ones you’ll find here—check out my page on Logic Masters Deutschland.
This week’s meta-description:
Don’t look directly at the eclipse. Look at these puzzles instead.
For premium subscribers, hints and two more bonus puzzles are below. Hope you like entropic lines!
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