Artisanal Sudoku, Volume 196

1. Tallulah

• 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.

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

• 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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Thanks so much to everyone who reached out in the last week with nice comments about the book announcement, and thanks to those of you who’ve already pre-ordered! One thing I forgot to mention is that in addition to the US, it’s also available in Australia, Canada, and the UK. Here’s a (non-exhaustive) collection of retailers that currently have it listed:

Australia: Booktopia | Readings
Canada: Amazon | Indigo
UK: Amazon
US: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Bookshop | Target | Walmart

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2. Corkscrew

• 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 the cage is equal to the small number in the top left corner.

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

• Digits in cells separated by a white dot are consecutive.

• Digits in cells separated by a black dot have a 1:2 ratio.

• Very rough difficulty estimate: 6/10

Play online: SudokuPad | unshaded

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3. Astrolabe

• 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.

• Renban lines: purple lines contain a non-repeating set of consecutive digits in any order.

• The digit in the cell with a shaded square is even.

• Very rough difficulty estimates: 8/10, 6/10

Play online: SudokuPad

Extra clues: SudokuPad

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Some other puzzles I enjoyed this week:

• 7 Ridiculous Facts about Chaos, by randall and Michael Lefkowitz

• Statera, by Alaric Taqi A. (Crusader175)

• Dutch Flat Mates: Outside, by Flinty and palpot

• 45 Different Numbers, by billybeth

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Thanks for subscribing to Artisanal Sudoku! Feedback is always appreciated, just leave a comment, reach out on Bluesky, 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, click here for more information. And if you want to try more of my puzzles—many of which are tougher than the ones you’ll find here—check out my page on Logic Masters Deutschland.

This week’s meta-description:
In all the excitement about the book and everything else, I haven’t forgotten about Volume 200 coming up. Something fun is in the works…

For premium subscribers, hints and two more bonus puzzles are below. I dug up the second one from deep in the vault, which isn’t always the best sign, but in this case I have no idea why I didn’t publish it sooner.