Artisanal Sudoku, Volume 199

1. Cookie Cutter

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

• Clones: the shaded regions contain the same digits in the same relative positions.

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

• Very rough difficulty estimate: 3/10

Play online: SudokuPad

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

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Programming note: some simple arithmetic will tell you that next week’s volume will be #200—which is kind of staggering to think about. To celebrate, I thought I’d run back the gimmick I did with Volume 100, where I put out a set of puzzles that I had flagged in my spreadsheet as “too tough for AS.” There are still plenty of those in the vault, so you can look forward to a new set next Wednesday, November 5 (and, to be clear, this is in addition to the regularly-scheduled Volume 200, which will be sent out on Monday).

Like last time, I’m going to offer a (very modest) prize to the first person to solve the whole set (more on that next week). I also thought it might be a good opportunity to ask if anyone has any questions—about puzzle-making, about me, about anything else—and I’ll answer as many as I can in the bonus post.

To submit a question, just reply to this email, or post a comment, or reach out on Bluesky or Discord (I don’t think I can link directly to my Discord profile, but if you’re on the CtC server or various other puzzle-related servers, I’m not hard to find). Please also make it clear what name you’d like to be credited under (anonymous is fine). Thanks!

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2. Sai

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

• Thermometers: digits on thermometers increase from the bulb.

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

• Very rough difficulty estimate: 5/10

Play online: SudokuPad

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3. Around the Horn

• 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.

• Digits in cells separated by a V sum to 5.

• Very rough difficulty estimates: 7/10, 6/10

Play online: SudokuPad

Extra clues: SudokuPad

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The Artisanal Sudoku book will be available March 3, 2026! Pre-order now from Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, or any number of other outlets.

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Prime Week Bonus Puzzle(s)!

Two bonus puzzles this time, both of which use vaults—a ruleset I always enjoy when I stumble across it, but had never actually used before. The first, Penetrable Vault, is meant to be something of an introduction to the concept, while the second, Impenetrable Vault, is probably a lot tougher. Enjoy!

• Normal 6x6 sudoku rules apply (fill each row, column, and box with the digits 1-6 once each).

• Vaults: the sum of the digits inside each cage is equal to the small number in the top left corner (if given). In addition, a digit inside a cage cannot appear in any cell that is orthogonally adjacent to that cage (two cells are orthogonally adjacent if they share an edge).

• Very rough difficulty estimate: 4/10

Play online: SudokuPad | unshaded

• Normal 6x6 sudoku rules apply (fill each row, column, and box with the digits 1-6 once each).

• Vaults: the sum of the digits inside each cage is equal to the small number in the top left corner, and digits cannot repeat within a cage. In addition, a digit inside a cage cannot appear in any cell that is orthogonally adjacent to that cage.

• Very rough difficulty estimate: 8/10

Play online: SudokuPad | unshaded

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Some other puzzles I enjoyed this week:

• For Daniël [Naroditsky], by Jonesy

• Lockout Lines Tessellation, by ChinStrap

• Double half is all, right?, by Cyrdach (note: very difficult, at least for me)

I also wanted to mention a couple of my puzzles that appeared on YouTube in the last week: Fourteen-Ten, a birthday gift for Timotab, and Double Entendre, which was featured on Cracking the Cryptic.

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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 which I ask subscribers to send in questions (and hope I actually get some, instead of having to make them up myself).

For premium subscribers, hints and two more bonus puzzles are below.