Sudoku - Now in Full LOGICOLOR!!!
Earlier this week I got an author's copy of Battleship Sudoku. To build excitement for this book that I can now see is real and about to be published, I've decided to start posting some new puzzle ideas each week until the time of the release of the book. So, without further ado, here is a kind of sudoku I've had in mind since before Mystery Hunt 2007. It got turned in part into my color maze (Splits and Mergers) since I couldn't do it as a sudoku in that Hunt, but colors are a great gimmick to work with in so many different kinds of overlayed puzzles. I actually wrote these last summer while at a chemistry conference at Duke, about the same time as the Mastermindoku, so these have been on the shelf for far too long for such a fun idea.
Color Sudoku:
Solve the following sets of 3 puzzles using the given clues. The puzzles themselves are red, yellow, and blue, and the clues you receive may be in these primary colors, in the secondary colors (orange, purple, green), or in the color black. A number in a secondary color represents the sum of the two digits in the corresponding puzzles (green 4 could mean yellow 1 + blue 3) while a number in black represents the sum over all three puzzles (black 7 could mean red 1 + yellow 2 + blue 4). The standard sudoku rules of 1 to 6 in each row/column/box apply, but NO NUMBER IS REPEATED in the same place in two puzzles. A green 4 cannot mean yellow 2 + blue 2 as this would have two 2's in the same cell.
As the only examples of this puzzle type, it might seem odd to already be burying themes in them, but this is how I work. There are some good graphical themes in the form of rainbow colorings in the first two, and a secret "meta"-like theme in the last. If you can give me a clear, succinct identification and rationale behind my favorite color, you win. Enjoy (at least until next week's new puzzles).
Puzzle 1 (Bright Sunny Day)
Puzzle 2 (Serious Rain)
Puzzle 3 (Some Showers Early, Then Clearing)
Color Sudoku:
Solve the following sets of 3 puzzles using the given clues. The puzzles themselves are red, yellow, and blue, and the clues you receive may be in these primary colors, in the secondary colors (orange, purple, green), or in the color black. A number in a secondary color represents the sum of the two digits in the corresponding puzzles (green 4 could mean yellow 1 + blue 3) while a number in black represents the sum over all three puzzles (black 7 could mean red 1 + yellow 2 + blue 4). The standard sudoku rules of 1 to 6 in each row/column/box apply, but NO NUMBER IS REPEATED in the same place in two puzzles. A green 4 cannot mean yellow 2 + blue 2 as this would have two 2's in the same cell.
As the only examples of this puzzle type, it might seem odd to already be burying themes in them, but this is how I work. There are some good graphical themes in the form of rainbow colorings in the first two, and a secret "meta"-like theme in the last. If you can give me a clear, succinct identification and rationale behind my favorite color, you win. Enjoy (at least until next week's new puzzles).
Puzzle 1 (Bright Sunny Day)
Puzzle 2 (Serious Rain)
Puzzle 3 (Some Showers Early, Then Clearing)