Hi folks,
Here's my walkthrough for the V1.5. It took a couple of strong pushes right at the start to get the proverbial ball rolling, but once it was in motion there was no stopping it...
After that, this puzzle proved to be very much routine, with no real surprises, and often a good selection of choices as to how to progress. This is in contrast to the most difficult Assassins, where one has to be thankful for small mercies in being able to find any way at all of shaving off the next candidate.
Maybe Ruud is just giving us a short break and this is the simply the calm before the storm?
Anyway, enough talk for now, here's my V1.5 walkthrough:
Walkthrough - Assassin 47 V1.5 (
http://www.sudocue.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=663)
1. 22/3 at R1C7 = {(58|67)9} -> no 9 elsewhere in R1
2. 13/4 at R1C5 = {1(237|246|345)} (no 8,9) -> no 1 elsewhere in N2
3. 11/3 at R2C3: no 9
4. 22/3 at R3C4 = {(58|67)9} -> no 9 elsewhere in C4
5. 9 in R1 now locked in R1C23 -> no 9 elsewhere in N1
6. 9 in R2 now locked in R2C789 -> no 9 elsewhere in N3
7. 22/3 at R3C6 = {(58|67)9} -> no 9 elsewhere in C6
8. 9 in N8 now locked in R789C5 -> no 9 elsewhere in C5
9. 12/2 at R7C1: no 1,2,6
10. 12/2 at R7C5: no 1,2,6
11. 11/3 at R7C6: no 9 in R7C7
12. 6/2 at R7C8 = {15|24}
13. 20/3 at R8C7: no 1,2
14. 5/2 at R9C1 = {14|23}
15. 12/2 at R9C8: no 1,2,6
16. Innies N7: R79C3 = 13/2 -> no 1,2,3
17. Innies N9: R79C7 = 7/2 -> no 7,8,9
18a. Innies R8: R8C456 = 10/3 = {127|136|145|235} (no 8,9)
18b. Cleanup: no 3,4 in R7C5
19a. 9 in R8 cannot be in 15/3 cage
({249} blocked due to 5/2 at R9C1, {159} blocked due to h10/3 at R8C456 (step 18))
-> 9 locked in 20/3 at R8C7 = {(38|47|56)9} -> no 9 elsewhere in R8 or N9
19b. 12/2 at R9C8 = {48|57} (no 3)
20. 20/3 at R8C7 must contain exactly two of {6789}
12/2 at R9C8 must contain exactly one of {6789}
6/2 ar R7C8 cannot contain any of {6789}
-> Innies N9 (see step 17) must contain exactly one of {6789}
-> R79C7 = {16} -> no 1,6 elsewhere in C7 or N9
21. 6/2 at R7C8 = {24} (1 no longer available) -> no 2,4 elsewhere in R7 or N9
22. 12/2 at R9C8 = {57} (4 no longer available) -> no 5,7 elsewhere in R9 or N9
23. 20/3 at R8C7 = {389} -> no 3,8 elsewhere in R8
24. Cleanup from previous steps:
24a. 12/2 at R7C1 = {39|57} (no 8)
24b. 12/2 at R7C5 = {48|57} (no 9)
25. Hidden Single (HS) in C5 at R9C5 = 9
26. 8 in N7 locked in h13/2 at R79C3 = [58]
27. 12/2 at R7C1 = {39} (5 unavailable) -> no 3 elsewhere in R7 or N7
28. 5/2 at R9C1 = {14} (3 unavailable) -> no 1,4 elsewhere in R9 or N7
29. Naked Single (NS) at R9C7 = 6
30. NS at R7C7 = 1
31. HS in R8 at R8C4 = 1 -> R7C4 = 8 (last digit in cage)
32. NS at R7C5 = 7 -> R8C5 = 5
33. NS at R7C6 = 6 -> R8C6 = 4 (last digit in cage)
34. Only two possible combinations for 22/3 ({(58|67)9}).
Clearly, 22/3 at R3C4 and 22/3 at R3C6 would clash with each other if both had same
combination
-> One of these cages must be {589} and the other {679}
-> 22/3 at R3C6 = {589} (6 unavailable) -> no 5,8 elsewhere in C4
-> 22/3 at R3C4 = {679} -> no 6,7 elsewhere in C4
35. NS at R1C4 = 5 -> R1C23 = [89]
36. Outie N14: R6C4 = 3 -> R9C46 = [23]
37. NS at R2C4 = 4
38. 16/4 at R3C5 = {1348} (no 2,6) (5,7,9 unavailable) -> no 1,3 in R12C5
39a. HS in C5 at R3C5 = 3
39b. 1 in C5 now locked in N5 -> no 1 in R6C6
40. HS in N2 at R3C6 = 8
41a. HS in R3 at R3C4 = 9
41b. 7 in C4 now locked in N5 -> no 7 in R6C6 -> R6C6 = 2
42. NS at R1C6 = 7 -> R1C78 = {24} -> no 2,4 elsewhere in R1 or N3
43. NS at R2C6 = 1
44. NS at R1C5 = 6 -> R2C5 = 2
45. Naked Pair (NP) on {24} in C8 at R17C8 -> no 2,4 elsewhere in C8
46. 18/4 at R1C1 = {6(147|237|345)} (8,9 unavailable, must have one of {13} due to R1C1)
-> no 6 elsewhere in N1
47. 18/4 at R1C1 and R2C3 at R2C3 form killer pair on {37} -> no 7 in R3C13
48. 18/4 at R1C9 = {13(59|68)} (no 7) (2,4 unavailable) -> no 1,3 elsewhere in N3
49. 18/4 at R1C9 and R3C79 form killer triple on {567} -> no 5,7 in R2C7
50. 16/3 at R2C7 = [853|952] -> R3C7 = 5
51. HS in N3 at R3C9 = 7 -> R4C89 = 5/2 -> R4C8 = {13}, R4C9 = {24}
52. R9C89 = [75]
53. Naked Pair (NP) on {24} in C9 at R47C9 -> no 2,4 elsewhere in C9
54. Split 15/2 cage at R6C78 = [78|96]
55. HS in C8 at R5C8 = 5
56. R45C6 = [59]
57. Innies R1234: R4C45 = 14/2 = [68]
58. NS at R5C4 = 7
59. 8 in C1 locked in 15/4 at R5C1 = {1248} -> no 1,2,4 elsewhere in N4; no 2 in R5C7
60. HS in C1 at R2C1 = 5
61. HS in C1 at R8C1 = 6
62. HS in C1 at R4C1 = 7
--- and it's all naked singles from now on... ---