About uA98 V1 sudokuEd wrote:Solving is like a lazy tropical river with 16 bridges & many back-waters to explore.
Not a hint - just describing how the solution process seemed with those cages that "bridge" across nonet boundaries, with the 12(3)r6c6 especially helpful to my solution. I used outies n69 rather than Afmob's more productive i/o n69 (his "easier uA98 WT"). I also liked how there were so many i/o possibilities all over the place.Andrew wrote:Ed, was this meant to be a hint?
I thought there were a good number of clever & difficult steps (complex cage-blocks etc) so felt more like a 1.50 WT. After working through Andrew & Afmob's walk-throughs, I think my rating for uA98 v2 as (easy) 1.50 is high.Andrew wrote:I didn't use any very difficult steps but since it took me a long time to spot the breakthrough move I'll rate uA98 as an Extremely Hard 1.25
This is the one. Your step 23 combines the innies r1 = h12(4) with the combinations in 8(3)r1c8 to be powerful. SS can only do this hidden cage-placement with the "45 Extended" routine which is way down the list below "Multiple House". SS does ridiculous contortions with obscure (& unproductive) "Multiple House" elims before it can finally get to "Extended". By moving "Extended" one above "Multiple House" on the routine order, the SS(v3)score is.....you guessed it...1.50!About V2 Andrew wrote:I wonder which, if any, of my moves SS wouldn't be able to find. ....There must be some reason why it gave this puzzle such a high rating. Maybe it's because step 23 analyses a hidden cage?
I've put onto Richard's list to get a "4-cell 45 Extended" routine to sit above "Multiple House". This could make a big difference to the scoring of the 1.45+ puzzles. So, thanks for the question Andrew!
direct-link candidates
Finally, a really nice move from Andrew's uA98 V2 walk-through. His step 21 blandly says
.Andrew wrote:21. 14(3) cage in N7 (step 7) = {149/239/347/356} (cannot be {158/167} because then no place for 9 in R9)
Code: Select all
.-----------------------------------------------------------------------.
|(17) : |(21) : : |(12) : |( 8) : |
| 123 : 1 3 | : : | 3 : 3 | 123 : 123 |
| 456 : | 456 : 4 6 : 4 6 | 45 : 45 | 45 : 45 |
| : | 8 : 789 : 789 | 789 : 789 | : |
|.......--------|-----------------------|---------------|-------:.......|
| |(21) |(19) : : |(21) : : | |
| 123 | 2 | 123 : 123 : 123 | 123 : 23 : | 123 |
| 456 | 456 | 456 : 456 : 456 | 456 : 456 : 56 | 5 |
| 789 | 789 | 8 : 789 : 789 | 789 : 789 : 789 | |
|.......|.......|---------------:.......|.......----------------|-------|
| | |(17) : | | |( 9) |( 7) |(28) |
| 123 | 2 | : | 123 | 123 | 23 | 23 | |
| 456 | 456 | 56 : 56 | 456 | 456 | 456 | 456 | 456 |
| 789 | 789 | 8 : 789 | 789 | 789 | 78 | | 789 |
|-------|.......|-------:.......|-------|-------|.......|.......|.......|
|(18) | : | |(13) : | | | |
| 123 | 2 : 123 | 23 | : | 123 | 123 | |
| 4 | 456 : 4 | 4 | 456 : 456 | 456 | 45 | 456 |
| | 789 : | | 789 : 789 | 7 | | 789 |
|.......|---------------|-------|---------------|-------|-------|.......|
| |( 7) : |(14) : : |( 9) : | |
| | : 123 | 123 : 123 : 123 | 23 : 3 | |
| 6 | 456 : | 45 : 45 : 45 | 456 : 456 | 6 |
| 789 | : | 89 : 89 : 89 | : 7 | 789 |
|.......|---------------|-----------------------|---------------|.......|
| |( 9) |(16) |(13) : |(16) |(18) : | |
| 123 | 2 | | : | 123 | 123 : 123 | |
| 456 | 45 | | 456 : 456 | | 456 : 456 | 56 |
| 789 | 7 | 7 9 | 789 : 789 | | : 789 | 789 |
|.......|.......|.......|---------------|.......|-------:.......|-------|
| | | |(17) |(21) | : | |(18) |
| 123 | 2 | | 123 | 123 | : | 123 | 123 |
| 456 | 45 | | 456 | 456 | 456 : 456 | 456 | 456 |
| 789 | 7 | 7 9 | | 789 | 789 : 789 | 789 | |
|-------|-------|-------|.......|.......|---------------|.......|.......|
|(14) | : : | : : | | |
| 2 | : 123 : 123 | 123 : 123 : 123 | 123 | 123 |
| 456 | : 456 : 456 | 456 : 456 : 456 | 456 | 456 |
| | 89 : : | 789 : 789 : 789 | 789 | |
|.......|-----------------------|-----------------------|-------|.......|
| : |(10) : |(12) : : | : |
| : 1 3 | 123 : 2 | 123 : 123 : 123 | : 23 |
| 56 : | 4 6 : 4 6 | 456 : 456 : 456 | 456 : 456 |
| 789 : | 8 : 789 | 7 9 : 7 9 : 7 9 | 78 : 7 |
.-----------------------------------------------------------------------.
But the same is true for {239} in 14(3)n7. [edit: not true. Tricked. 9 in r9c1 -> 1 in r9 can be in 12(3) = 1{47/56}]. Since 9 in {239} can only be in r9c1 -> r9c2 must have a 1 which {239} doesn't. In summary, since 1 & 9 are directly linked in every other position in r9 -> r9c12 must have (19) both in or both out [Correction: the direct link is only on the 9 in r9..since 9 in 10(2) or 12(3) must have 1 -> 1 in r9c2 must have 9 in r9c1]
Still feeling very chuffed about that 4 cell overlap [edit: pride goeth before.... ].
Ed