Puzzle #746: 2013 Advent Day 9
Posted December 9, 2013 • #sudoku #advent2013 #pointers
Pointers clues make their debut today in the ninth piece of the Advent Calendar puzzle.
Comments
David Millar • 12/09/13 4:56 am
Sorry if my wording of the instructions for this clue isn't all that great. Each arrow points toward the next number in numerical order, but that number isn't necessarily in the immediately adjacent cell. So in the case of the bottom left clues, the diagonal arrow in row 5 column 2 is definitely pointing to row 4 column 1, but the up arrow in row 5 column 1 could be pointing to any cell in column 1. Hope that helps!
Trisana • 12/09/13 7:28 am
Ahhhh, ok! Sorry for not understanding the rules quite right! This looks like a really fun one! :D
mathgrant • 12/09/13 9:00 am
Is there an inverse rule (that is, if 7 is a queen's move from 6, then 6 MUST have an arrow pointing to it)?
reesylou • 12/09/13 5:00 pm
I had the same observation as Trisana. Glad you clarified :)
David Millar • 12/09/13 5:01 pm
In this puzzle, yes, but I don't think the inverse rule is necessary to make it fully solvable.
joshuazucker • 12/09/13 7:29 pm
Wait, by "it" do you mean this 5x5 square in isolation or this 5x5 square in combination with the previous days' information or the whole 25x25 puzzle once we have all the info?
The inverse rule seems pretty powerful to me; it makes me actually want to go see what I can figure out from the given information.
David Millar • 12/10/13 4:56 am
I solved the full 25x25 puzzle without the inverse rule, but all possible clues are given in this 5x5 box as well as the other Pointers-style boxes that will come up.
Also, thank you, Grant, for mentioning a "Queen's move". It hadn't occurred to me to call it that, but it definitely simplifies the explanation.
Trisana • 12/09/13 4:46 am
Uh, if I'm reading the rules right, I think you have a mistake in the bottom left corner - you have two arrows pointing to the same square. Given the rules as stated, how is that possible?