Tough Sudoku

Hi Everyone,

Just added some more features to the kakuro site;

http://kakuro.cc

Enjoy


Gath

Good Maen All In Sudokuland

off to the cheltenham horse racing festival for 4 days [any tips?] catch up with all you oddball characters at the weekend.

Good maen all! off with my puzzle.

8.03

Sudoku - a great way to start off the day!

10:12 with loads of mistakes.

Hey that's my picture!!! It was taken at a water hole near the Bullita Homestead in Gregory National Park - not too far from Timber Creek- NT. The reflection is of pandanus - very common along water ways in the north of Australia. If you're an avid traveller, check out this site.
http://www.outback-australia-travel-se crets.com/gregory_national_park.html

Maen to all. The sun reflection looks like a beautiful star hanging in the bushes!

Good Maen!! Beautiful picture. 7:28 but I had a mistake that was in my favor.

10:42 - great time again for me! Very happy little chicken! Love the photo too. Until tomorrow then, fellow sudaddicts!

PS - well done with the pic. Fi! I thought it looked suspiciously like a 'territory' sort of shot! Have you got any of a Mindil beach sunset in your collection? Haven't seen one of them since '95, though I have to say I don't miss the humidity!!!!

Yes I just checked.. I had tea down on the beach this time last year... I'll load it up onto the site tonight... but even if it get's the nod, it will take a few weeks before it's shown.

Fi - excellent! Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for it! Really must head off to bed now though, Nos da, bonne nuit, buonno notte, komban wa, gutten nacht, sleep well my prettys, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!!!

Done!! Now it's off to bed. It's nearly midnight and I need to be up at 6. Good night one and all maeN with a capital N shortly before it becomes Maen.

8:12 lots of help with all except easy

Really messy and subject to improvement (GB & Steve):
1. Unique placemnts to 25
2. Several locked sets (1's in Ca, 2's in R7, 6's in Bb5 and Cb). Eliminate accordingly.
3. X-wing in 7's (R19) Eliminate accordingly.
4. Hidden triple 375 in Cb Elim. acc.
5. Locked 4's in Cb => c4<>4, a789<>4.
6. fc: (f9=4)==(h9=4)--(h9=7)==(g7=7)--(g7=1)==
(i7=1)--(i7=3)==(i9=3)--(a9=3)==(a9=6) => f9<>6
Fill to 29.
7.

7. Pair 58's in R7 => b7=3. Fill to 45.
8. Pair 89's in R2 => e2=7. Fill to 81.

Depth 5. I lost track of the necessary sets.

Hello Everyone
Congratulations again Fi on another great photo.
Cheers, Anne

Uplifting Maen, everyone.

My luck apparently held from the hard one to the Toughie. 7:41 total minutes, 3:55 for setup, and 3:45 to solve. I made one mistake and had to backtrack. But I followed the threes and the nines, and it all worked out.

Easy till 25 filled..
Then, whether a9 = 3 or 6, g8=2 and i1=9
Easy filling till 81 afterwards

That's all folks

And, eh, no useless maens from me

25 filled with a4=2, c3=5, g5=3
1 - i9=3 or 5 forbids h9=4
2 - h9=5 or 7 forbods a9=3
3 - xwing with 7's b19 and h19
4 - 8 or 9 in b2 leads to triple 357/35/37 in b971, then forbids 4 in a789, so a9=6
5 - to 81 filled

Whew...this was a TOUGH one for me.. turned the timer off to answer the phone and forgot to turn it back on... probably about 40 minutes

Beautiful picture Fi!!!

What does Maen mean?

1) Start at 22 filled. Unique possibilities to 25
2) X wing on 7's forbids 7 at b27, h3. Hidden triple 357 at b179. Locked 4's forbids c4=4.
3) Note ALS at def7 establishes b7=5 -- c7=48. b7=5 == b9=5 -- b9=7 == c7=7 forbids 48 at c7.
4) Up 28. pair 59 at hi8 forbids 59 at ae8, h9, i79.
5) Up 81.
13 sets, depth 5

Valy....now from London....welcome back.

9:27 for me, pretty good for a Tough

great picture, good composition
I like the shadows in the water and the sun sparking in the midst of the plant
Good job!

I clocked in at a leisurely eighteen minutes, which is fine. My mind is still in Stowe, Vermont where I had three magnificent days of skiing. I'm currently suffering mountain withdrawal.

what a lovely photo. great work Fi.

Hi, DJ. Sorry if I'm being thick, but I can't understand the terminology used in your explanation, or anyone elses for that matter. I regularly do the tough but have to resort to guesses, and am hoping to become good enough not to need to guess.

Alison: Go to Bruno's proofs (click at bottom of page) for nomenclature and strategies. He makes it quite clear.

Thanks, I did look there and understood the theory, just not your abbreviations. I'll have another look.

Alison: Let me know which abbreviations are giving you trouble. BTW, Steve cleaned up the proof of today's puzzle, but the depth is still 5. Maybe someone will improve on that.

Thanks, I think I've found the bit on the link that helps, I'll have a play, and if I'm still stuck I'll shout for help tomorrow.

3:36 setup, 22:30 total (Yuck!) Major oops! restarted after about 7 min due to mistake in setup. otherwise quite an enjoyable toughy

Note on my abreviations above:
UP: Unique Possibilities or Unique Placements, per solving techniques 1 and 2 at right.
ALS: Almost Locked Set. Any set of possibilities greater than n in n cells. Usually, n+1 possibilities in n cells, after one uses native weak links. I find it hard to make this clear without being verbose.

What does n mean?

20:04 Good mAen! Cold & rainy day...I'm ready for Spring!