There will be two flavours. One rated "Extra Hard", i.e. somewhat harder than a "Ruud Very Hard" and one rated "Die Hard", i.e. yet harder, but hopefully not as hard as a Nightmare. The only difference is that the Die Hard version has two givens less than the Extra Hard version.
Thanks to Nouggie there will be .CLU files in this folder.
For SCE #2 already next Monday or Tuesday.
EDIT:
I’m sorry to disappoint you, but there will be no .CLU files. There reason is that a .CLU file saved by the Clueless Helper on one PC cannot be read by a Clueless Helper running on another PC. Nouggie found this out and sent me an email. I have verified these findings.
THERE WILL BE NO PAPER COPY
But later today or tomorrow the files "Clueless.xls", "Clueless.bmp", "Clueless_A4.doc" and "Clueless_LETTER.doc" will be available here. In the thread "How To Make Clueless Explosions" I will post a guide describing how you with these files can make your own paper copy. Clueless.xls will contain a macro (Ctrl+V) that pastes the Sudoku code from the clipboard directly in to the worksheet; nothing fancy, but it will get the job done. Once in the worksheet, you just have to screen-shoot it, polish it in the paint file and put it into the MS-Word file and print it out. It’s all really simple.
@TKollen:
If you crack the .CLU format what about making a Sudoku-Code to .CLU converter. A simple DOS command line program should be sufficient, reading the Sudoku-Code file and outputting the .CLU file.
Here some hints on the "Extra Hard" version:
It has many hidden pairs and triplets, more X-Wings than the average Clueless, a couple of XY-Wings and XY-Chains, and one Colouring and/or an XYZ-Wing, dependent on how you solve it. But nothing more advanced than that. When it gets hard stay focused on the grids 1, 2 and 3. I have now solved it 2 times, the second time carefully noting the techniques I used and consulting SadMan for easier approaches.
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EXTRA HARD:
...........7......5....92.7.....4..1..4...5....5..8.3...2...........36...8.64..9.
3..6.............72....91....9..1..............62..783.....5.....3.....8.7...83.5
5..8.............9..9..741...1..............69..4.61...3..7...4...........8.5...3
....39...5........2.....1.8.2...4.....4.....9...36...5.4..7..6...6...9.......2...
..6.3............98...1...7..5.7......7.....2.....63...4...1.5...1.......5...762.
3....7...........6..6.2..5......3.....3...2.8..1..45....8..1.9...4..8..2.9.....8.
54..1..........3.......8..7.....2...4.....9....2.6...5.8...7.....1..35...5....6..
.................55..3.91......4......2..3..8..5.8..7..7...1.5.........4.8....3..
....2....2.6.....7.....91....1..2.........3....3....81..9..8.5...4.....8.8..9..7.
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DIE HARD:
...........7......5....92.7.....4..1..4...5....5..8.3...2...........36...8.64..9.
3..6.............72....91....9..1..............62..783.....5.....3.....8.7...83..
5..8.............9..9..741...1..............69..4.61...3..7...4...........8.5...3
....39...5........2.....1.8.2...4.....4.....9...36...5.4..7..6...6...9.......2...
..6.3............98...1...7..5.7......7.....2.....63...4...1.5...1.......5...762.
3....7...........6..6.2..5......3.....3...2.8..1..45....8..1.9...4..8..2.9.....8.
54..1..........3.......8..7.....2...4.....9....2.6...5.8...7.....1..35........6..
.................55..3.91......4......2..3..8..5.8..7..7...1.5.........4.8....3..
....2....2.6.....7.....91....1..2.........3....3....81..9..8.5...4.....8.8..9..7.