The Sudoku With Stretched Squares
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- čas přidán 19. 01. 2023
- ** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
A wonderful (and almost approachable!) sudoku today from two great setters: Ambrose and AnalyticalNinja. It's called Stretched Squares and you'll have fun with this one! (And do let us know what you think of the little chess problem at the start of the video!!)
Play it at the link below:
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Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. Digits in cages must sum to the small clue in the top left corner of the cage. Along thermometers, digits must increase from the bulb end.
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I gasped when Simon put the 67 pair in box 3 when he meant to put a 68 pair. It made for some edge-of-my-seat watching for the next few minutes.
Same here! I was shouting at my screen, just like simon always thinks his viewers do haha
Thanks so much, Simon! We had so much fun setting this one and watching the solve was a perfect start to the weekend 😊
Sublime setting from both you 2. Wonderful collaboration. Joyful to see puzzles from you featured!!
These two straightforward constraints used together were quite amazing - I love to see the interaction and how constraints build upon each other. This puzzle was very interesting to watch Simon solve - thanks to you and Analytical Ninja for creating it!
36:42 YES! The first time I've managed a puzzle faster than Simon. I know he didn't start for like 6 minutes but I'm going to take the technical win.
Regarding the chess puzzle at the beginning, I haven't seen it despite playing tournament chess for over 15 years. It was a pretty interesting reconstruction puzzle to figure out. I think I figured out the answer (and yes, it is possible to get the position after black's 9th move). Not sure if it's possible to have spoiler tags on CZcams comments, so hopefully the final solution is low enough that people can not read the final solution if they want to solve it themselves.
The most notable thing I saw was that the only white piece missing was a white pawn, and black had to play the move exf6 at some point. It couldn't have been the pawn, since there are no missing black pieces for the e-pawn to have captured its way to the f-file. Therefore, some other piece had to be taken, and the pawn promoted to that same piece, then moved back to the starting position for that promoted piece. The quickest piece to get to f6 is the queen, so it must be that.
The trickiest part was figuring out how the black king got to c8. The black queen couldn't have moved out of the way and back while keeping the e-file open to promote the pawn (since it takes white 9 moves minimum to get the queen to f6, promote the pawn, and get the promoted queen back to d1. This results in the following game that produces the given position:
1) e4 b6
2) Qf3 Ba6
3) Qf6 exf6
4) e5 Ke7
5) e6 Kd6
6) e7 Kc6
7) e8=Q Kb7
8) Qe2 Kc8
9) Qd1 Bb7
I was going to say it was impossible, but I didn’t allow for the possibility of a piece being promoted.
I failed to think up a king's walk.
I thought impasant first
@@FrankAnzalone Thought about that for a second, also. But that would have to be on a pawn’s first move of two spaces. Couldn’t get that to work.
There were two people in the discord server that posted their own SPG (something like shortest proof game iirc) and there is even a web that can calculate the shortest amount of steps to a certain position of the pieces, and it shows all the possible solutions
I love how Simon rarely eyes the camera unless talking about “the secret” 👀
Rules: 06:14
Let's Get Cracking: 07:09
Simon's time: 29m56s
Puzzle Solved: 37:05
What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?!
The Secret: 6x (15:17, 15:23, 15:54, 15:54, 16:04, 17:47)
Bobbins: 2x (24:41, 32:54)
Three In the Corner: 1x (33:44)
Phistomefel: 1x (05:12)
Wally: 1x (14:40)
And how about this video's Simarkisms?!
By Sudoku: 14x (07:59, 19:55, 21:43, 22:51, 23:11, 23:32, 26:28, 29:37, 31:08, 31:18, 33:26, 36:09, 36:13, 36:17)
In Fact: 5x (13:26, 20:38, 27:28, 27:52, 34:58)
Hang On: 4x (13:07, 24:05, 24:14, 28:29)
Ah: 4x (09:24, 19:59, 24:11, 30:18)
Clever: 3x (02:41, 14:11, 14:15)
Lovely: 3x (01:01, 37:10, 37:22)
Beautiful: 3x (00:49, 30:22, 31:44)
Brilliant: 3x (05:04, 06:04, 19:02)
Obviously: 3x (06:37, 07:18, 08:46)
Elegant: 2x (23:25, 37:29)
Shouting: 2x (03:37, 04:53)
I've Got It!: 2x (30:18, 30:18)
Pencil Mark/mark: 2x (24:38, 25:04)
Cake!: 2x (04:41, 04:43)
What on Earth: 1x (19:08)
Goodness: 1x (13:53)
Apologies: 1x (31:12)
The Answer is: 1x (20:05)
Off to the Races: 1x (32:20)
Gorgeous: 1x (32:57)
Magnificent: 1x (04:37)
What Does This Mean?: 1x (32:54)
Most popular number(>9) and digit this video:
Twelve (19 mentions)
Two (74 mentions)
Antithesis Battles:
High (3) - Low (1)
Higher (8) - Lower (3)
Lowest (2) - Highest (0)
Row (5) - Column (4)
FAQ:
Q1: You missed something!
A1: That could very well be the case! Human speech can be hard to understand for computers like me! Point out the ones that I missed and maybe I'll learn!
Q2: Can you do this for another channel?
A2: I've been thinking about that and wrote some code to make that possible. Let me know which channel you think would be a good fit!
“Gibberish” has won its place on the list, I believe, just as “numpty” has already.
First time ever that I have got there in less time than Simon. I know this is not a massive deal, given he has to explain and do preamble, but still feels massive. Thank you so much for such a wonderful channel.
IKR! Its so cool
It is an achievement to be proud of. Good for you.
And to be honest Simon from the start of this channel couldn't solve these puzzles at the speed he solves them now...
Fantastic chess puzzle. Dead clever.
AnalyticalNinja has easily been my favourite constructor of late. The puzzles have really interesting logic and then also flow in a way where they don't completely follow apart but they keep their interest throughout. I know that this one wasn't set alone, so kudos to both AnalyticalNinja and Ambrose!
I think for once I spotted something that was really fundamental to the setting of the puzzle right from the start and that was the difference of totals between the cages and the fact that the higher total included the bulbs rather than the tips. And that's where Simon eventually got to as well.
Great puzzle, Ambrose and AnalyticalNinja!!
Regarding the 11/13 cages in boxes 6 and 9: from 20:13 in the video if you consider whether 10 can be the total of the two thermo tips you will see that you cannot have 1/9 because 1 cannot be in a thermo tip, or 4/6 and 2/8 due to the two thermos looking down from box 3. This leaves 3/7 as the only option for a 10 total. Yet a 3 must have a 2 on the thermo which rules 10 out of the possible totals for those two thermo tips. A little thing that Simon neglected to explore, though I found it cute while searching.
A very amazing puzzle and a great solve!
I did exactly that, it does simplify that long passage of thought there. Then you know it's a 2 and you use the same logic to show very quickly that it's 4/5 for the other ends. As you say, a very nice puzzle with some neat different ways of spotting things.
This puzzle was so interesting - two quite familiar constraints used together to amplify their effects. I love this kind of thing! A great puzzle, and a great solve, Simon. And congratulations to you and Mark on the Magpie's 20th anniversary - I am sure it is gratifying to see that publication continue to reach folks who are interested in very difficult cryptic crosswords!
Yay! That was a beauty, and a first for me in that I completed it without any hints from Simon in a less than stunning time of 50 mins. So pleased 🤗
Oh my goodness, that little Fawlty Towers reference at the beginning!! I haven't even watched the whole video yet but this already made it well worth my time.
👍👍
22:00 This was a fun one. Interesting logic pathways that made it really interesting.
Lovely solve from you Simon. Seeing collaborations from 2 incredible setters is a sight to be hold!! Thank you both!!
Wanted to note that the chess problem you showed was actually written by JoWovrin, a constructor you've featured numerous times before!
19:13 "what on earth do I look at now?" - If you'd done some sudoku, you'd have put 9 into C6 of box 8, forcing the 8 in box 2 and you'd have avoided considering 9 as an option.
You could have done the 11/13 square a bit quicker if you'd noticed that neither thermo can include 2. This means the lowest value on the tips is 4, but the maximum is 5 because of the 68 pair above, so the tips are a 45 pair with 2 in the middle, and the bulbs are a 13 pair with 9 in the middle, and you have a 34 pair on the middle of the thermos.
The secret for this puzzle is not 45 but 4. Once it clicks that the tips are at least four greater than the bulbs, it all becomes simple.
I really like this puzzle. It's very elegantly constructed, and has some interesting logic.
I’d love a video about Simon’s life. He seems like such a interesting and colourful character, I bet he’s got a few brilliant dinner table stories to tell.
Maybe listen to the 3 podcasts, you can find them in the archives.
That's a very nice puzzle. I had a hiccup somewhere along the way and had to watch the video about halfway before I felt confident enough to get back into it and finally solve it. Thank you!
13:47 ... approachable and very enjoyable
Nice puzzle!
Another fun break-in! Really liked the clever (but approachable!) break-ins the past couple days.
Liver that! Thanks for sharing Simon!
48:01 for me. I really enjoyed the puzzle once I discovered the logic. Now I will watch the video.
Edit: I was really slow with spotting the difference between the two killers but I used it way more than necessary. However I loved discovering more logic around it than he did in the video.
This solve was so enjoyable. Easy to follow logic etc. Two of my favorites. Killer and thermos...
What a lovely grid!
19:02 for me.
Clever synergy of thermos and cages. Loved it!
Wonderful setting and solving! Simple and sweet :)
Thank you Ambrose & AnalyticalNinja for such a beautiful puzzle! My time was 38m44s and I thoroughly enjoyed it! :)
30:47 Always fascinated when Simon does a "pause and ponder" and I assume I know what he's going to say and it ends up being something different, I saw the same x-wing on 7s but the result that immediately came to mind was how it ruled 7 out of r1c3 and so left only one place for 7 in that column...
You don't even need the x-wing for the conclusion he draws: the 79 pair in box 3 is enough since he's already pencil marked box 2 row 2.
16:52 finish. Very cool logical interaction between the cages and thermos on this one. Excellent!
23:35 fun puzzle and beautiful logic all around the grid!
As a side note, I’m so inspired by your joy. I’m so thankful!
These puzzles always take me like double the time it takes Simon or Mark, and once the videos get past the half hour mark it's not even certain I can finish them without hints anymore, but the description said "almost approachable" so I'm glad I tried it! For once I actually did faster than the video (though obviously Simon doesn't start immediately, and stops to explain his thought process throughout), at 23:08! Woo!
A little over 19 minutes for me. Brilliant puzzle, the cosntraint from having a thermo from a bigger cage to a smaller one is very interesting!
A very wonderful puzzle. The combination of cages and thermometers is ingenious and simplifies the calculations, which initially required only a few attempts in box 5.
i find it very pleasing that all the cells of the central square are determined before any other value is found
Lots of flexibility with this puzzle, I tackled it starting from the box Simon left for last and managed my way through just fine.
16 minutes, that was fun and not too tricky. Thanks for sharing it
(spoiler alert) The chess puzzle was interesting. I think the answer is 1. e4 b6 2. Qf3 Ba6 3. Qf6 exf6 4. e5 Ke7 5. e6 Kd6 6. e7 Kc6 7. e8=Q Kb7 8. Qe2 Kc8 9. Qd1 Bb7. Two hard steps of thinking about this puzzle is to figure out that white has to make a queen and black king has to come outside the pawns. 😵
lovely puzzle!
17:54 for me, faster than I expected, to be honest! Very interesting puzzle, loved the interactions between the various thermo/killer "squares".
For the chess puzzle, the answer being 'no' seems quick & easy, due to the options for pawns changing columns. The only way to have 2 pawns in f is if one captured a white piece. The only missing white piece is a pawn. The only way for white to have a pawn captured in f and another still there is for one to have captured a black piece. But there are no black pieces missing, therefore the position is impossible after any number of moves unless something else happened. i.e. it was a white non-pawn that was captured, and then a white pawn disappeared due to being promoted. Which can be done in 9 moves, queen takes 2 moves to reach f6, pawn takes 5 moves to get promoted to queen, promoted queen takes 2 moves to move to d1.
The sudoku was also quite fast, seemed obvious that the biggest difference between cages where thermos pointed in the opposite directions to the cage sizes would have the biggest restriction, and therefore be the place to start. Then 1 can't go in the 20 cage, which means it's also not in the 10 cage, which makes the 10 cage 235, and so on.
Lovely idea!
Wow managed to do it in 19:20, did not expect to be that fast but puzzle just clicked for me, very nice puzzle
Just under 16:00 for me. The limitations of box 5 were so clever and burst the puzzle wide open. I was a bit worried that I finished it so fast compared to length but I’m glad to see others did as well
17m58s. Nice sum constraints in each thermocage square, I had a lot of fun
I almost immediately got 159 in the middle, but then I was fairly slow, and messed up a pencil mark and broke it.
At my second round I didn't mess up.
I loved how the squares helped each other.
Some deduction in one square eliminating a bit in another.
Then some outrageous plain sudoku in between.
It made me feel good that my solve followed mostly the same path a Simon's, but some differences because I focused more on cracking the options for the squares.
But I loved watching his solve where he had quite a few deductions that would bypassed some of mine time consuming cracking to pencil mark the squares.
Definitely a good puzzle for a video
I'm not quite firing on all cylinders now, and I'm coming off my failure with Mark's puzzle today. I did not have the energy left to really work through the break-in, so I got a bit of help from the video to be sure I was getting it right. But after that it went reasonably well, and I finished in 54 minutes.
25:52 for me. This was definitely an interesting puzzle and concept :)
Pretty easy, but some interesting patterns show up along the way. Nice one.
Just under 2 hours. I am pleased as punch with myself on this one, watching it I see that I worked far too hard, and perhaps I was a little distracted too and didn't hit the pause button as much as I should have. But loved it, hard fought, hard enjoyed
Nice solve Simon!
Had to watch to 17:38 to solve. Very fun! Had lots of great moments , thoroughly enjoyed this one :D
21:05 Very nice puzzle, my inner minmax algorithm still works
21:42 for me. Lovely puzzle!
Thank you A Team (Ambrose, AnalyticalNinja & Anthony)!
If you have a problem....if no one else can help..and if you find them..maybe you can hire The A Team.....bring on aweome instrumental music 🙂
@@davidrattner9 😃
25:46! Pretty proud of myself for finishing in a shorter time than Simon!
Chess content is always welcome 👍. Since others already commented on the solution I won’t spoil it also here, but it was challenging and very entertaining to solve. 😊
Very excited for the inevitable SC2 video
19:41 for me. Not that much of a headscratcher, but just pure fun. Nice idea and setting.
That worked out nice..
[After about the 20 minute mark]
About 36 mins
Fun
[Thanks for the start, Simon, lol. ]
👍😂😎
22:52 for me, that was very cool!
At 1:08 Simon goes Dr. Seuss for a brief moment. :)
For me, the easier break-in was asking where the 1 goes in column 6. Can’t be in the 20-cage in box 2. Only place in box 5 would be the bulb, which would require the other thermo to be 789 making the 13-cage 139 thereby repeating the one in box 5. So the one in column 6 is in box 8 forcing the 10-cage to be 235.
Took me a good long while to figure out the way in but once I got going, it was great. 40 minutes.
Puzzle starts 6:07
22:29 This one was fairly straight forward once you understand what two short thermos meant for the cages
Congrats on the magpie!
17:03 and what a great idea for a puzzle this is
30:06 Sincerely approachable puzzle.
I usually stick to GAS pussles, but I happened to try this one, and I actually did it!
25:30 for me. That was quick and fun! One very effective break in, but it's logical.
Tried it again, used some different logic to start, and got it in 16:20. I made some mistakes at the beginning and end that cost me a little bit of time.
22:56 for me. I really liked this puzzle!
This is the first time I’ve EVER solved a puzzle faster than the length of the video! I still wasn’t faster than Simon in reality but I’m gonna count the intro towards his solve time.
Oh yeah, beating video time is definitely an achievement, well done!!
I found a different break in: I found that in row 6, 1 could not go in the 20 cage, and could not go in r6c4 or r6c5 because of the thermo. It also cannot go in r6c6 as the other two cells in the 17 cage would be 7 and 9 with the 7 on the bulb, forcing r4c4 to be 9, with two 9s in box 5, so 1 cannot go in the 10 cage in box 8, and the 10 cage must be 2, 3, 5.
Yay, 22:32. Very approachable indeed !
Approachable indeed! Astonishing puzzle, but it all slots together. 15.40 - I've taken longer over a GAS!
I see the idea with the chess puzzle. I was able to get to it after white's 11th move. Shaving off those last three moves is too tricky for me, though.
Wait, that position is even possible to get to? I would have thought that the black pawn on f6 given that the only captured piece is a white pawn that has to be from e would have made it impossible
@@bandana_girl6507 there’s a comment by oishiine6781 on the college level sudoku video from yesterday with the solution. It’s very clever.
14:32, that went smoothly for me, had a good time :)
9:36 I feel like Simon abandoned this square a little early after noting the center cell of the 11 cage has a max of 8 without considering that that cell is restricted from both sides. It can't be 5 or lower because that would need a 6 total of in the bulbs, and since both tips must be at least 2 higher than their bulbs that would put at least 10 on the tips, which would require a 0 in the center cell of the 10 cage. As such the cell must be 6, 7 or 8, which is at least within the "a choice of three is usually worth marking in variant sudoku" rule of thumb.
Yeah, he abandoned something too quick down there..
Because here (8:00 abouts) he says "3" (as in 1,2,3) then the other one has to be "4" (him looking at the cage total) but not looking at that other thermometer.
If you put "4" on that other thermometer (as Simon said) what are you going to put below it?
[You can put a 3 in -- but that's it]
That may have taken your "6,7,8" in the middle, down to just two possibilities.
I don't know much about these cage interactions , but I'm sure Simon could have explored it further , you're right.
[Especially with that "other thermo" having to be 5 (and not 4 like Simon was postulating and confused just thinking about the cage totals and not the other thermo..]
You're right though.. 😂👍😎
^^ Oh, what do I know ,he did slip a 5 in there real quick
Hunter E, what I do know is this though (@17:17 where Simon says the other one is important).
I see the one he has highlighted, can't be the "234" one.
[Because one of them has to start with a "6" (6,7,8) ]
So the 678 has to be the left one [because 3 & 4 out of that "11" cage below, would leave them to be 5 &6 (which is already 11)]
So that left one is the important one in box5 -- they all get sorted in there, also.
And 6 comes out of that 11 cage below..
That I know..
😂👍😎
Finished in 34:33. Fun!
For some reason the web app is no longer including solutions for me. Is it the same for others? I play on my phone browser and it's just been the last month or so where on finishing, it can't say if it's correct.
47:30. Nice puzzle.
Blimey, box 5 logic just blew me away, and so fast. I would have never spotted that. 🤔
Simply asking where does 9 go in the middle box fetched the first digit R6C5 equals 9.
solved in 12:23 - cool setup
18:44, took me a while to realize how restricted box 5 was
54:21. The opening was tricky for me but the rest of the puzzle fell into place pretty quickly.
Most of the time, when proof chess puzzles are shown, the answer is that the position is possible, but only through a complex manner. This one, however, is impossible. There are several reasons why, but the one that I like the most is asking the question: "what happened to black's e-pawn?" It did not promote, as black still has 8 pawns. The only piece it could have captured is white's e-pawn, since that is white's only missing piece. However, since black still has all 16 pieces, white's e-pawn could not have captured anything and thus it must have remained on the e-file. Thus black's e-pawn has no way off the e-file, but it is not on the e-file, making the position impossible. (Note, the only other way white's e-pawn could get off the e-file is through promotion, but that would require black's e-pawn to be off the e-file first, which is impossible.)
Edit: I was wrong. There actually is a clever way of making the chess position happen which I overlooked. It involves white sacrificing the queen and then creating a new one. The moves are as follows:
1. e4 b6
2. Qf3 Ba6
3. Qf6 exf6
4. e5 Ke7
5. e6 Kd6
6. e7 Kc6
7. e8=Q Kb7
8. Qe2 Kc8
9. Qd1 Bb7
Potential spoiler (if I'm correct): I was thinking the black pawn captured the (original) white queen
41:51. I enjoyed that.
Chess puzzle: at first glance it is impossible as the pawn has to capture on f6 and the white f pawn is not the missing pawn so what did the pawn capture? I am sure someone has already answered in the comments. Lovely video Simon thanks for sharing
Got this one in 20:47. Made some weird mistake somewhere along the way where I penciled the tips instead of the bulb but I quickly realized it when it broke.
Chess problem
I would say No
How does the black Bishop get out if the 2 pawns are still in place
Also
How does the back pawns double up without taking the missing white pawn
But the white pawn is in the wrong column for that back pawn to take
But
I am a chess beginner
If I am wrong, please explain
Thank you
Black has to have taken something - but it doesn’t have to have been a pawn.
My immediate thought about the chess problem is no. Pawns can’t move sideways so the only way I can see the pawn getting to F6 is moving diagonally from E7 to capture a white piece there. But the only missing white piece is the pawn from column E, and how did that get to column F? It can’t move sideways either so it would have to have moved diagonally to capture a black piece. But there are no missing black pieces, so it couldn’t have captured any so it couldn’t get to column F which means neither could the black pawn. I’m probably wrong since my chess knowledge is extremely limited, but that’s my first pass evaluation.
What is the word he uses at 09:48 ? conovation? I could not find it in a dictionary.
I guess it was “conurbation”, but not sure…
27:05, but I totally couldn't have done this without looking at the video to see how to do Box 5.
Just occurred to me, "SA" stands for Sturmey Archer, famous for their THREE-speed hubs. OMG, the universe IS joined up! 😁
If you like this chess problem, you might want to check out Raymond Smullyan's "The Chess Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes", an entire book full of similar deductive chess problems, many of them absolutely magnificent conundra.
The chess puzzle is quite interesting and it looks possible given white and black play in a nonsensical manner i.e. white sacs the queen on f6 and promotes the e pawn to the Queen and returns it to d1
I don't see any other way it's possible.
If I'm wrong do correct me
I somehow managed to need 50:59 on this one and I don't know why, but it was fun nontheless. I guess I overcomplicated it heavily by trying to use the bottom right construction way too early and way too heavy. I created so much around it and made it very unnecessary complicated.