Friday Puzzle #39 - 2010 Numberlink
Numberlink puzzles are a very hard puzzle for me to construct with confidence since they do not contain as many simple codified "logic" steps that let me prove a solution is correct. The heuristics many solvers use to solve, such as targeting corners and such, assume "uniqueness" of a solution and so these heuristics cannot readily be applied when constructing to be sure you have a valid solution. So, my first aim this week was to further learn how to write a Numberlink while getting some semblance of a 2010 theme, my second aim was to then get a version without a lot of extra clues besides the theme elements, and then finally to get a very hard puzzle. I got through 1.5 of these goals before my deadline, and have a medium-level puzzle to share.
Rules: Draw paths connecting pairs of numbers that pass through horizontally and vertically adjacent cells. The paths cannot intersect with each other or share any cells. Or see here.
The original version of this puzzle with a non-unique solution (discovered by an anonymous commenter below) is here.
Rules: Draw paths connecting pairs of numbers that pass through horizontally and vertically adjacent cells. The paths cannot intersect with each other or share any cells. Or see here.
The original version of this puzzle with a non-unique solution (discovered by an anonymous commenter below) is here.
