Artisanal Sudoku, Volume 187

1. Arvada

• Normal sudoku rules apply (fill each row, column, and 3x3 box with the digits 1-9 once each), and all clues are standard.

• Cages: the sum of the digits inside each cage is equal to the small number in the top left corner.

• Thermometers: digits on thermometers increase from the bulb.

• Very rough difficulty estimate: 3/10

Play online: SudokuPad | unshaded

New to variant sudoku? Check out these beginner-friendly guides to cages and other popular rulesets.

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2. Rotator

• Normal sudoku rules apply (fill each row, column, and 3x3 box with the digits 1-9 once each), and all clues are standard.

• Palindromes: gray lines are palindromes, which contain the same sequence of digits in either direction.

• Quadruple circles: a digit inside a white circle appears in at least one of the four cells surrounding that circle.

• Very rough difficulty estimate: 5/10

Play online: SudokuPad

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3. Standing Room Only

Check out this puzzle on Rangsk’s YouTube channel!

• Normal sudoku rules apply (fill each row, column, and 3x3 box with the digits 1-9 once each), and all clues are standard.

• Cages: the sum of the digits inside each cage is equal to the small number in the top left corner (if given), and digits cannot repeat within a cage.

• Region sum lines: box borders divide each blue line into segments with the same sum.

• Inequality signs point toward the smaller digit.

• Very rough difficulty estimates: 9/10, 7/10

Play online: SudokuPad | unshaded

Extra clues: SudokuPad | unshaded

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Some other puzzles I enjoyed this week:

• Lockout Lines turn 4, by Riffclown

• Best Friends Only, by Mormagli

• Color me stoked!, by Chris Napolitano

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This week’s meta-description:
Apologies to anyone who was expecting a prime week bonus puzzle, but I checked and it turns out 11*17 = 187.

For premium subscribers, hints and two more bonus puzzles are below. (The tour of line clues continues…)