Artisanal Sudoku, Volume 201

1. Midst

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

• Dynamic fog: correctly placed digits clear fog from their own cell and possibly other cells.

• Thermometers: digits on thermometers increase from the bulb.

• Digits in cells separated by an X sum to 10.

• Very rough difficulty estimate: 4/10

Play online: SudokuPad | version without fog

Note: if you’ve never seen thermometers, they look like this:

In this example, the lowest digit would be in the bulb (bottom-left), and the highest digit would be in the tip (top-right). In the puzzle above, the line segments visible in box five are parts of thermometers that don’t include the bulb or the tip—it’ll be up to you to determine which direction they go (possibly by placing digits and clearing fog).

For a more general introduction to variant sudoku, check out these beginner-friendly guides to cages and other popular rulesets.

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Congrats to Doran T. for being the first to solve all six puzzles in the Volume 200 Bonus Pack! (Your personalized puzzle is in the works!) And congrats to the next five finishers: jennyaa, Calump, SebastienK, Alexander Dineen, and Jonathan Wolff!

Also, thanks to everyone who watched any or all of the 24-hour SudokuCon stream this weekend. I was honored to have the chance to talk to the current world sudoku champion, Tantan Dai, and had a lot of fun watching her take on a string of challengers in head-to-head speed-solving 😁 (that and the other 22-plus hours of content is available on Twitch now and will appear on the SudokuCon YouTube channel soon).

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2. Um Dois Três

• 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 appears in one of the four cells surrounding that circle.

• Digits in cells with a shaded square are even.

• Very rough difficulty estimate: 5/10

Play online: 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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3. Open Book

• 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.

• German whispers: along green lines, digits differ from their neighbors by at least 5.

• Digits in cells with a shaded square are even.

• Digits in cells with a shaded circle are odd.

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

Play online: SudokuPad | unshaded

Extra clues: SudokuPad | unshaded

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Some other puzzles I enjoyed this week:

• 4x4 Miracle Samurai Sudoku, by DiMono

• Ricochet, by Matt Tressel

• Colour Coordinated Sums, by Marty Sears

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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:
If you’re wondering why one of the puzzle names is in Portuguese… honestly, so am I. (I’m also not taking questions about why one of the bonus puzzle names is in Italian.)

For premium subscribers, hints and two more bonus puzzles are below. This week, maybe my favorite X-sums puzzle yet.