crackingthecryptic

May Patreon Reward (corrected, AND attached)

Again our Patreon reward puzzle was bedevilled by errors - well one error as far as we know. Here actually IS a corrected document, with our apologies.

Both Hard Mode and Normal Mode were affected. The instructions are still the same: To enter the competition, tell us which of the three puz...

May Patreon reward (Corrected)

Again our Patreon reward puzzle was bedevilled by errors - well one error as far as we know. Here is a corrected document, with our apologies.

Both Hard Mode and Normal Mode were affected. The instructions are still the same: To enter the competition, tell us which of the three puzzles has ...

May Patreon Reward

[The first puzzle in this post had a single-digit error in it! Sincere apologies - please use the most recent post for May's Patreon reward]

Hello Patrons!

Thank you so much for supporting us and our channel. This month’s challenge involves
three Equal Sum Line puzzles, but you n...

Three Times a Sudoku

Here is the video showing the solutions of the puzzles in Three Times a Sudoku, the April reward for Patreons. 

The three puzzles used what was effectively the same grid, with a different ruleset for the lines in the puzzle each time.

Here is the video:

2022-04-25 09:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post

The Qinlux' Build Your Own Sudoku Hunt

Here it is folks, a really amazing sudoku hunt from the brilliant setter Qinlux. You'll need to use the link below to find the first puzzle and the instructions on how to navigate through the hunt.  We'd love to get your feedback on the hunt too so that we can share this with the constructor...

Phistomefel's April Fools Puzzle!

Simon attempted a new puzzle from Phistomefel called ♫ Slitherlink take me home ♫.

Simon did not realise that this puzzle was released on Logic Masters Germany on 1 April 2022. &n...

Guess Again - the Solution Video

Here's how to solve the three puzzles in Guess Again, March's Patreon Reward, and how to reach the correct 4-letter word to enter.

The puzzles were available in a post on 1st March, and the entry requirements were for a 4-letter word.  Well done to the thousands of people who solved th...

How To Solve Palpatine's Design

We're delighted to share with you this lovely video by Philip Newman where he explains the genesis of Palpatine's Design - one of the hardest Classic sudokus of all time - as well as how to solve it!

Congratulations to Emmanuel Van Hese (Pulsar77) and Bill Murphy on winning the competition!...

Slitherlink Liars by Phistomefel

Here it is - the new Phistomefel puzzle and my goodness this is NOT easy!!

Play it at the link below:   

https://test.crackingthecryptic.com/sudoku/tGL8FpfM72 

Rules: &nb...

Ironically Third Time's a Charm

So this PDF should have the links (to April's reward puzzles Three Times a Sudoku) without the need to remove any spaces at the end of the URLs. No idea how that happened - apologies again.

Mark

Three Times A Sudoku - pdf version

Here is the PDF of the document for the April reward - sorry I should have uploaded this rather than docx. Mark

April Reward: Three Times a Sudoku

Hello Patrons!

Thank you so much for supporting our channel, and so enabling us to bring you extra content as often as we can. The monthly reward for our $2 Patrons and above is Three Times a Sudoku, a puzzle that solves three different ways with different rulesets!

Solve the three pu...

The Sudokutown Murders by Loric and Nordy

Simon has attempted this excellent (and challenging) puzzle.  You can watch the video at the link below.  Definitely worth studying the rules at some length first - because every one of them is important!!!

Play the puzzle here:

2022-03-22 23:37:19 +0000 UTC View Post

The World's Hardest Classic Sudoku

As mentioned in tonight's video, we're thrilled to share this puzzle with you.  It's called Palpatine's Design and it's the work of Philip Newman. Philip has been working on finding the world's hardest classic sudokus using computer programming for some time and has recently discovered some ...

The Sudokutown Murders

As mentioned in yesterday's video, here is the fascinating murder mystery sudoku from Nordy and Loric!

Depending on feedback, we might do a video solve of this in due course.  Thanks to Nordy and Loric for suggesting this to us.  Enjoy!

2022-03-17 11:20:32 +0000 UTC View Post

Friday Night is Puzzle Night

Share Mark's Friday night puzzle regimen with him - first he tackles the New York Times Crossword as a starter, then the Listener Crossword as a main course, and finishes off with Matt Gaffney's Meta Crossword for dessert. 

Spoiler alert: the Listener 'Crossword' isn't a crossword at a...

That Bonkers Cryptic

Mark takes on the Times' Monthly Club Special (for February), the horrifically hard crossword with criminally cruel clues and vicious vocabulary, published each month for club members.

This edition is by Roger Phillips.

See the video here: 

2022-03-10 10:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Quite Approachable Sudoku - Solution Videos

Hello Patreons!

Here are the solution videos for the Quite Approachable Sudoku hunt that was February’s Patreon reward.

The first video looks at Thermo & Killer sudokus.

The second video goes into the Miracle, Arrow & Sandwich sudokus.

The final video solves the ...

March Patreon Reward: Guess Again

Hello Patreons,

For our March monthly challenge (“Guess Again”) you are going to have to work out how to extract the answer, when you have solved the three puzzles linked in this post!  We are not providing pictures for printing because this month it is important that you solve the...

TIE Fighter by Sam Cappleman-Lynes

Simon has a go at this lovely Starbattle puzzle by Sam Cappleman-Lynes from gmpuzzles.

You can play the puzzle using the Penpa interface here:  

https://gmpuzzles.com/s/220226TIEF 

Suggest times...

Balance = Entropy by JeremyDover & Raumplaner

As mentioned on the channel yesterday, Simon took on the challenge of this extraordinary sudoku today - while trying to distract himself from the hurricane going on outside his window!  

This is a seriously interesting puzzle but it might take a couple of minutes to understand the rule...

The Crazy Cryptic Crossword

Mark takes on his nemesis, Richard Rogan, as he attempts to solve the Times's Monthly Club Special puzzle for January.

Last time it was Richard Rogan setting this crossword, it was a fairly clear defeat for Mark by knockout.

Warning: If you are normal and mortal, do not attempt to sol...

January reward videos – the final trilogy

Hello Patreons!

We have been releasing the solution videos to Peter C Hayward’s January reward sudoku hunt in trilogies. And now we come to the conclusion of the hunt – or is it?

This third set of videos takes us through the final four pages of the hunt, across the six puzzles tha...

January reward videos - the second trilogy

Hello Patreons!

We are releasing the solution videos to Peter C Hayward’s January reward sudoku hunt in trilogies. And this release includes a correction!

This second set of videos takes us through the next three pages of the hunt, across the three pages of puzzles that were labelle...

Roman Whispers - Phistomefel Speaks

Here is a short follow-up video to last night's channel video in which Simon took on the new Phistomefel puzzle, Roman Whispers.

The video contains two parts:

Part 1 deals with a flaw in Simon's logic at about 50minutes into his solve;

Part 2 shows how Phistomefel himself though...

January Reward solution videos - the first trilogy

Hello Patreons!

Appropriately enough, we are going to be releasing the solution videos to Peter C Hayward’s January reward sudoku hunt in … trilogies.

So this set of videos takes us through the first three pages of the hunt, across three puzzles that were labelled Episode 4, Episo...

Simon vs Phistomefel: Sequence Sudoku

Simon takes a different approach to Mark in solving this new 6x6 by Phistomefel.   

Play the puzzle at this link: 

https://app.crackingthecryptic.com/sudoku/gRJfDdj3gp  &nb...

EDITED Feb reward: Quite Approachable Sudoku Hunt

Hello Patreons!

Thank you so much for supporting us. here is our monthly reward for all patreons: a QAS (Quite Approachable Sudoku) hunt. There is one puzzle from each of the types in the CTC apps: Thermo Sudoku, Killer Sudoku, Miracle Sudoku, Arrow Sudoku, Sandwich Sudoku, Chess Sudoku and...

Mark vs Phistomefel (The Secret Video)

Mark finds out there is a new Phistomefel, and launches in before Simon gets a chance ...

Yo ucan try the puzzle here if you want to: https://app.crackingthecryptic.com/sudoku/gRJfDdj3gp

And y...

New free Lockout Lines sudoku pack available

Riffclown sent us this message a couple of days ago:

"The Lockout Lines Unlocked Pack https://tinyurl.com/LockoutLines-Unlocked  was launched on the CTC Discord today via Archive Entry [5258]

2022-01-25 09:32:11 +0000 UTC View Post