Thanks for the feature, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I've been looking forward to this video all week. And thank you to everyone for the kind words about the puzzle, I'm glad so many people have enjoyed solving it! PS: Sorry if I accidentally posted this from two accounts, I'm figuring out how to navigate that.
It is a fun puzzle, very intriguing with the liar rules in it. It made me feel really smart at the beginning as I figured out the early steps, but then I realized I'm not a sudoku genius to solve it reasonably.
@@DepthPerceptionEnjoyer Perhaps you know this and are trolling, but just in case, or for others' benefit: the video was presumably posted a couple of weeks ago, but private for Patreon users until today :p Zetamath is brilliant but I suspect he is NOT a time traveller!
I'm really loving your puzzles, ZM! I solved this yesterday, but could be accused of bifurcating at one point. It turns out that the 6 in box 3 was what I needed to avoid that.
Can't speak for other patreons, but I'm not supporting the channel because I want exclusive content. I'm supporting the channel because I want to support the channel.
The Patreon only stuff like this tho isn't really about rewarding supporters, they always have here on the channel tried to keep the puzzles somewhat more accessible for people new to sudoku
Totally agree. I've been a Patreon supporter for about a year now, and rarely find time or inclination to look at that content. It's far more about supporting the channel for me too. Although that also means I do have a considerable backlog to delve into when the penny _finally_ drops and I work out how to solve these amazing puzzles in non-geological time. 🤔
Can we take a second to appreciate how our man here just quotes "The Raven" off the top of his head so casually? I've read that poem many times, but I'd need to google it to quote it.
He has said that it's his favorite poem. I'd imagine he had the whole thing memorized at some point in his life. And can still call up at least portions of it at will.
This is the moment we've all been waiting for. I think I might become a Patron just to thank Mark and Simon for being so considerate of both their Patrons and their general audience.
Mark starting this puzzle: "Let's pencil the thermos. Well as one of them is wrong, they could be 123456789 in each cell". Great solve, and couldn't resist poking at goodliffing this puzzle.
This was a piece of cake. Simply fired up the video, kicked back, and watched with bewilderment as Simon solves the puzzle with magic. 50:52 minute solve.
There is a solving technique that Simon and Mark and all the best solvers use. They find an answer that would be really convenient and go looking for reasons why the alternatives to that answer would be impossible. This puzzle actually teaches how to use that technique. Zetamath, through the symmetrical constraints, shows us where to go looking for the impossibilities, then rewards a methodical approach to the logic. Brilliant concept, and the execution is a lot of fun, especially with Simon as our guide.
Absolutely love this puzzle! As you said, it's *fair* which is always hard to do with ambiguity puzzles. Zetamath absolutely should take a bow for this one :) I think even more amazing is I've now watched several people solve this (including myself), and the solve paths are all almost identical! Despite having so many clues around the grid, the puzzle somehow manages to force you to focus on just the next step each and every time.
I don’t know what I’d do without these CtC videos. I look forward to them each evening (or in the wee hours of a sleepless night, in this case), and this puzzle & solve is a double masterpiece. Kudos to Zetamath for such a stunning creation, and to Simon, as always, for your eloquent & entertaining commentary as you ‘explain-as-you-solve’. What a joy; viva CtC!!!
I'm so thankful that CTC chose to share this video on the channel. This was fascinating. The puzzle itself is far beyond my current (though growing) ability to solve it, but I did "have a go" by clicking the link underneath the video, and I caught on to some of the main questions that Simon posed. I very much enjoyed dabbling in the puzzle myself, and also enjoyed (and learned from) the logical path that Simon demonstrated to solve it. Thanks to both Simon and zetamath!
Brilliant puzzle and a brilliant solve. This kind of puzzles is the reason I follow CTC, I'm glad you decided to publish this solution in the main channel as well, this should really have a wider spread than just us the patreon subscribers.
I am perfectly happy that there is content exclusive to patreon supporters. I certainly get plenty of great content as it is. I love the channel and I am glad to support it as I can.
Thank you for putting tjis up. Had been looking forward to it. Also thank you to all patreons who were so generously agreeing make it accessable to everybody.
48:50 I will never quite understand the panic Simon gets when he sees a potential deadly pattern approaching. Mark observes it too but seemingly with a bit less fear/dread. If they were solving all standard sudokus I could see this being a reasonble concern but given the various sudoku variants usually in play, this deadly pattern, if it occurs, is always solved by something like a King's move, Knight's move, little killer clue, negative constraint, etc. The puzzles Simon is solving are always from topnotch constructors and usually come recommended with plenty of history of others solving them so I don't get the fear of the puzzle failing to solve but finishing with a deadly pattern. I assume Simon knows all this but the instinctual dread still pops up and he cannot avoid voicing it. I like to imagine it's something ingrained since childhood, as if he was forced to solve subpar sudokos growing up and would constantly find himself arriving at deadly patterns.
Probably his fear is that he knows a correct solve path wouldn't lead to a deadly pattern (for the reasons you give: trusted constructors, well tested), so he fears he may have made a mistake. Selection bias means we only get to see the times his fear is unfounded. Those times he has messed up and reached a deadly pattern, we don't ever get to see.
There have also been instances in other solves on the channel where Simon makes a typo and puts a wrong digit in. This can result in a deadly pattern with no fault to the logic. I can’t remember the video but it is somewhat recent where he had to back track a good bit to fix the mistake.
i realized why when I did a gas puzzle and got a deadly pattern at the very end because I added up one cage wrong near the beginning. if I had been doing an hour long solve for the internet it would've ruined my whole day
A deadly pattern might mean to Simon that he fails to solve the puzzle within 70 minutes, which then the video would potentially not be published and he would have to produce another one... He has admitted to failing to solve puzzles efficiently enough to upload it to the channel. This is what this might be, imo
When Simon filled in 6 options into the X clue, looking like it couldn’t possibly be less useful, I instantly got giddy because I could see the implication. Truly one of the great puzzles!
Me: _notices one small observation half-way through that Simon didn't see yet_ Reasoning brain: There's no way I would have even gotten this far to find that number Lizard brain: *m e m o r e s m a r t e r c o m p u t e r m a n*
That really is brilliant zetamath. I did try and work on it a bit, just to see if I could figure where to start. Surprisingly, I pretty much had the middle column correct (which blew my mind, how I got there is beyond me), but that was it for me. I haven't even come close to developing the skill to see the rest, but what a puzzle. As usual Simon, just a brilliant solve. I love seeing these puzzles by so many members who are just brilliant. And I relax every time I watch Simon do a puzzle. It helps with my anxiety and depression and is a good way to relax after long days of teaching math.
This completely bamboozled me and I think Simon's "Ahhhh" at 7:55 sums up the energy nicely. Great solve so far (not finished yet) and it's incredible this can be solved.
You surprised me with your guitar playing - You're very good; then you surprised me today reciting poetry by memory; but you're biggest surprise is every time you solve one of these incredibly difficult puzzles. You're just full of surprises. Thanks for the joy you give me everyday!!
I am in awe at this puzzle. An absolute great set and an amazing solve, and so far the best birthday present I have received today! Thank you Mark and Simon for all of the great solves over time!
Incredible puzzle and solve!! Well done. Geez, how zetamath was able to create this such that it never really gives itself away until the end, that you MUST go through each and every one of these rules, and that it is all done so elegantly, flowing from one inference to the next. Beautiful. And Simon of course does an incredible job solving it. Bravo.
I don't think that this is the best sudoku puzzle ever. But I say that only because there have been so many amazing puzzles here over the past couple of months! I can't even imagine how we could choose. It is, of course, an amazing accomplishment and one I can only sit back and admire as Simon handles it so deftly.
He didn't explain the quadruples before beginning the solve! The only clue I needed an explanation for! 😅 When I google this clue type they look different, 4 digits and no circle
I'm not 10 minutes in and I've already caught myself multiple times thinking I had a deduction and then remembering it could be a lie. Still waiting to see if it will top Chaotic Wrogn as my favorite...
Sooo happy you put it on the regular channel! You have so many videos where you explain these rules so well, I was able to follow this one as well and I really appreciate it, it is such a fun video!
Just spent 4 hours trying to solve this. One mistake cost me but I still enjoyed every minute trying to uncover the logic. Fantastic puzzle, and very satisfying watching your solve Simon.
3 hours of fun for me thanks to Zetamath (and now an extra as i'll watch the video)! You got me good with the central box, i kept trying to evaluate the whispers early and "wasted" a lot of time. Really enjoyed it.
I think it took me about an hour (and two broken attempts), but it was truly a joy to solve this one. Greatest ever? We've just had SO MANY incredible puzzles over the past couple years; it's hard to pick one as THE greatest ever.
Watching your videos gives my day a needed time of peace! Love hearing you work out the puzzle and it's absolutely mind blowing how you do so. Thank you so so much! Your videos are now a daily part of my routine :D
I spotted the first clue right away (the true arrow in box 8), and could not get any further without peeking at the video. Once I saw the second clue though, I managed to do the rest, though I think I was over 2 hours on it. Breathtaking puzzle.
What a fantastic puzzle, right at the extreme edge of my meagre ability. It took me ALL of my evenings since Simon featured it on this channel, and I've only just managed to crack it (and joyfully check that my answer is correct). I've no idea how I did it and I'm quite certain I could never do it again. I had a notepad full of scribblings and I used the experimental pen tool, and my grid looks a hideous mess. But I did it! What a fantastic puzzle. I didn't think there was enough information. The arrows in particular were a focal point for a whole surprising sequence of deductions around the grid. How?!? I can barely comprehend solving the puzzle, let alone setting it. I'm going to watch this video now. I'm pretty sure I did the right things, just 1000x slower, and now I get to see how Simon gets it done!
@@zetamath thank you for setting the puzzle! My favourite sequence was the whole sequence from about 27m to 41m in the video, the 24 sandwich to R12 arrow to 6 to X to odd/even to 45 quadruple to 23 quadruple to sandwich to arrow to thermo to box 5 whisper chain, and onwards. I'd been making a whole bunch of notes and markings and short deduction paths (that really went nowhere but were kind of related), so when I finally, finally realised what R2C8 was, that sequence jumped out immediately. It was thoroughly satisfying.
When i noticed this video on feed, I went for a sleep, woke up, made popcorn, drinks, turned off phone and lights and sat down as comfy as possible. No movie in years got this level of preparation!
Thanks for making all of your videos accessible, it's ultimately the only reason why I watch, even after the 100th explanation of killer sudoku rules, it's still enjoyable.
Rules: 01:34 Let's Get Cracking: 05:27 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! Maverick: 3x (19:17, 24:00, 24:02) You Rotten Thing: 1x (38:01) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Beautiful: 9x (17:32, 17:35, 18:23, 21:45, 21:46, 39:28, 39:28, 40:11, 49:29) Good Grief: 5x (03:45, 23:27, 27:38, 44:00, 47:22) Hang On: 5x (36:21, 40:14, 43:34, 43:34, 43:48) Sorry: 4x (02:46, 11:01, 17:11, 31:05) Clever: 4x (08:51, 18:26, 20:05, 50:19) Brilliant: 3x (49:03, 49:06, 50:38) Naked Single: 2x (48:03, 48:05) Nonsense: 2x (44:10, 48:13) I Have no Clue: 2x (29:16, 29:18) Incredible: 2x (00:32, 05:19) By sudoku: 2x (47:26, 47:39) Stunning: 2x (50:21, 50:23) What on Earth: 1x (05:43) What a Puzzle: 1x (47:51) Apologies: 1x (01:22) The Answer is: 1x (26:24) Elegant: 1x (49:20) Deadly Pattern: 1x (48:51) Gorgeous: 1x (14:08) Shouting: 1x (06:05) Surely: 1x (44:46) Corollary: 1x (13:33) FAQ: Q1: What is a Simarkism? A1: A Simarkism is something that Simon and Mark typically or frequently say. Q2: How do you do this so fast? A2: I'm not made of flesh and blood, but of sand ... Q3: Why don't you include 'XX' and 'YY'? A3: Probably it's already on the list ('Scooby-Doo' for example), but not mentioned in this video. But if you think it's not, tell me what you'd like me to include and there's a good chance I'll add it! Q4: You missed 'XX' at 'YY:ZZ'! A4: That could very well be the case! Human speech is hard to understand for computers like me, especially British sometimes! Point out the ones that I missed and maybe I'll learn! Q5: Could you turn these statistics into videos? A5: I've been playing around with the idea and I'm open to input as to what people would like to see. Let me know if you are interested in this and/or have suggestions.
Simon doesn’t do this too often but he did recite part of the Raven today and every time he does that it makes me smile. Maybe add it as a little bonus one at the end of the list? I think it was at the 9 and a half minute mark
I'm glad you did this puzzle. Like I said previously when you first showed it on the channel, even though you didn't do it at the time, it is an excellent puzzle well worth your time to try your hand at.
My birthday week just got better; thanks for finishing it off with this! I was looking forward to this one after all your teasers. Brilliant puzzle, I had so much fun figuring it out.
Version two is called The Usual Suspects, features both killer cages and little killer clues, and is available on LMD and the discord puzzle archive right now (-:
I realized early on in my solve that looking at interactions between multiple rule-types would not be the way to get going through this, and that I needed to find contradictions within a single rule type in order to deduce anything real. I didn't go through it as elegantly as Simon, but we still hit the majority of the same points on our way to solving it. I am very pleased to see that I caught on to the right things (but missed a few others).
42:00 I immediately said "Oh, sweet, that means the 9 has to go in row 1, box 1, so the box 1 arrow is the lie!" And then I spent two minutes yelling at the screen for Simon to hear my one actual deduction that he didn't beat me to.
Well, this one is a bit justified. He would have realized it much sooner if he had gone through the work of cleaning up his pencil marking, which is something he is not very good at doing consistently
This was wonderful to watch, found this completely by accident. Sudoku has not and likely never will be my thing, but getting to hear people's thought processes when thinking through their areas of expertise is a fantastic treat!
120 minutes! To deal with the true/false questions, I colored key squares relative to good clues green, and bad clues grey. That makes solving much less confusing.
What I love about this one is that I followed the exact same path as simon, suggesting that there is only one true path (aside from the sudoku part in the end of course). That and the fact that the arrows are where you start the puzzle, but also only come back to way later on...
It's really quite rare to have more than one solution path; at least that's what I've concluded from following these puzzles for over a year. There have been one or two with quite different break-ins, usually with SET theory providing the alternate path. But from then on the different solve paths are almost always mere variations on the same logic. Sudoku is funny that way. One of my favorite things about regular math is the way there can be very different pathways to the same result - one guy proves with complex analysis what another guy proves with number theory. So I should be annoyed with the sameness of the Sudoku solutions. But instead I find this way has its own charm.
Funny thing about the incorrect sandwich clue [SPOILER BELOW] ... . . . ... the '13' is, in actuality, a '31'. Now I'm reminded of a line from "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" by The Offspring.
What a wonderful puzzle, and thanks for making it available to us lowly grockles! I gave up without realising that the bottom arrow being 6:321 and the bottom kropki being 6:3 would be contradictory. Lucky - if I’d have solved it I would never have watched this magnificent video. Well done setter and solver!!!
Worked my way through it, a good deal longer than Simon's time, but as several others have noted, following much the same path, because that's really the path that exists. It's hard to arrange good puzzles at all, harder with complexities like this, and absurdly hard to end up with a discoverable but not trivial path. Hats off! That said, I'd glad that most puzzles do not resemble this one :)
Total respect for your recitation of "The Raven" by memory... good lord. I'm a fair chunk younger than you are -- and your sharpness just shines, it turns out! What a brilliant puzzle and an equally brilliant solve. I recently lacked the 'net for an evening, and this channel's videos helped me "crack" one half of the Private Eye cryptic crossword -- to my surprise, too! I'd love to see you or Mark try that one.. If I can do it, it's maybe a good balance of approachable and tough. Also the answers are out in 2 weeks with every issue which surely helps :) Thanks for you keeping it up -- sincerely love your content. As am I -- content!
I've considered myself to be #teamgoodliffe when it comes to pencil marking thermos, and I gotta say, it was weirdly satisfying to watch you get forced to goodliffe a 9 in your pile of digits on the bulb of a thermo.
I absolutely loved it! I struggled a lot in the beginning, assuming rules were true when I hadn't made that deduction yet. Muscle memory at work, I guess. It made me really want to see this solution video, so I could get through the harder parts. I've been wanting to become a patron for a while now, but this solve made it a very easy decision that I shouldn't wait any longer. No regrets.
This took a little over 3h to crack, but I felt really good about doing it on my own. I usually skip the harder ones, however this's one rules of having everything was just compelling.
An absolutely stunning puzzle and amazing solve by Simon as always, took me the better part of 3 hours to get through, but an hour and a half was looking for the break-in admittedly easy to spot and obvious once you see it. Splendid puzzle right on the border of difficulty and logical beauty
I've really been looking forward to this one! I tried solving it, but I got to about the first deduction (about the correct arrow) and then didn't know how to continue. I might revisit it in the future when I've forgotten the correct solution from this video, though :)
had a go at this two or three times and got nowhere until now. i definitely had the wrong approach, because i kept going down rabbit holes of "if this is true, ... and if that is true, ... " and getting absolutely nowhere but overwhelmed with all the hypotheticals. after seeing simon's deduction about the arrows, i had another go, and managed to get a decent way in, but got hopelessly stuck again, unable to determine which of the quads and thermos were lying to me. it was a relief (and a pleasure) to then put it aside and watch simon get to the same point and on to the full solution. puzzle was still a whole lot of fun despite my failure to solve it!
In waiting to see this video, I was very happy to solve this puzzle completely on my own...even if it did take me several days to do it! I was quite frustrated at the beginning because I kept coming to conclusions that I quickly realized were useless due to the fact that things could be lies. It was very satisfying to wrap my head around the right way to look at this puzzle and then slowly but surely progress my way through it.
OK, I like Liar Puzzles. But I also knew I could not start this one on my own. I also suspect that I am being too kind to myself in thinking I could solve this, even with the narrow solve path. Simon just makes puzzles look easy. Beautiful puzzle!
I'd probably attempt this in a naughty way - pencil mark stuff as if all clues are true, but color any square that's pencil marked from a clue not _confirmed_ to be true. Then allow the contradictions to materialize.
I'm so proud of myself for been able to solve this without help. Big thanks to zetamath and CTC to show me this beatiful sudoku :) Edit: watching it from this video look all so easy but I swear this is not, at least for me. It's just Simon magic
By far the hardest, longest, most intricate Sudoku I've managed to solve. It took me several days of work on and off and I nearly gave up multiple times, getting particularly stuck at one point, but it was worth it to push through. Now to see if Simon's path was the same as mine (one point in particular I wonder if there was a better way as it felt a bit clumsy, though I think the actual logic was probably still pretty cool, I just stumbled into it badly). I definitely see why people were raving about the puzzle though.
42:22: "So, have we figured out which of these arrows is correct yet?" Yes, you just did. With the 9 in box three placed, I think we can all agree that there won't be a *second* 9 in that box. Therefore, the pencil marks in row one collapse to 1s, and we had already figured out earlier that the arrow with the 1 must be the correct one. Even easier: we now have a 9 placed in rows two and three. And the only place where a 9 can still go in row one is on the arrow in box one. An arrow with a 9 on it can't be correct for obvious reasons, so the correct one has to be the one in box three.
That was fun and very challenging for me. While attempting to solve, I paused to search for German whispers and renban puzzles and solved them first and then returned for this one.
43:17 for me. I needed a guess though, as I never spotted that crazy naked single 6 on r2c8. Amazing puzzle, as I was obviously expecting from such a good setter. I still have to watch that video of him setting ‘The Usual Suspects’, hope I can find the time for that tomorrow.
Thanks for putting it on the channel. While it is a nice idea that every video be well "approachable" ;p for new viewers, I think the sheer madness and beauty of this puzzle's usage of a ton of variants warrants being shown off here. :D
i wish i could play this puzzle again! i never attempt these sorts of ones but i decided to on a whim. took me 2 hours but i'm so proud of myself for spotting logic i have never spotted before.
Quite frankly, I "re-solved" this one a couple of weeks after I first did it (1st solve was when Simon started mentioning it in his intros; 2nd time just before watching this video) and I enjoyed the 2nd time round too! It wasn't AS hard by any means, but I had forgotten enough of the logical steps that it was still rather entertaining! After having watched the video, you might need to wait a couple of months, but I still recommend it :)
@@jomo87 Lately on my stream I have been solving my puzzles starting with the first ones I set, and even though I made them and solved them who knows how many times, my memory is quite faded.
@@zetamath Oh neat, that's nice to know! I tried my hand a creating a puzzle for the first time recently (Inspired by CTC writ large, and Two Truths & A Lie in particular!), and I'm glad to hear I might be able to enjoy solving it myself in a few months :p
I recorded myself setting the sequel to this puzzle from start to finish, and it is available here if you'd like to see it: ruclips.net/video/FxMp9_a7W_o/видео.html
Hard but fair is correct. While I didn't come close to solving it myself I always found little threads I could tug on. Didn't occur to me to consider the clues as pairs in all cases, but that's what I ended up doing any time I made a small amount of progress.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for the feature, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I've been looking forward to this video all week.
And thank you to everyone for the kind words about the puzzle, I'm glad so many people have enjoyed solving it!
PS: Sorry if I accidentally posted this from two accounts, I'm figuring out how to navigate that.
It is a fun puzzle, very intriguing with the liar rules in it. It made me feel really smart at the beginning as I figured out the early steps, but then I realized I'm not a sudoku genius to solve it reasonably.
If someone wanted to speed solve this, what would be the solve path?
Video: *13 hours ago posted*
"Commented 12 days ago"
@@DepthPerceptionEnjoyer Perhaps you know this and are trolling, but just in case, or for others' benefit: the video was presumably posted a couple of weeks ago, but private for Patreon users until today :p Zetamath is brilliant but I suspect he is NOT a time traveller!
I'm really loving your puzzles, ZM! I solved this yesterday, but could be accused of bifurcating at one point. It turns out that the 6 in box 3 was what I needed to avoid that.
Can't speak for other patreons, but I'm not supporting the channel because I want exclusive content. I'm supporting the channel because I want to support the channel.
Exactly. This channel has supplied me with an average of 1 hour of entertainment each day the last 3 years. Why wouldn't I support that?!
Agree 100%
The Patreon only stuff like this tho isn't really about rewarding supporters, they always have here on the channel tried to keep the puzzles somewhat more accessible for people new to sudoku
Totally agree. I've been a Patreon supporter for about a year now, and rarely find time or inclination to look at that content. It's far more about supporting the channel for me too.
Although that also means I do have a considerable backlog to delve into when the penny _finally_ drops and I work out how to solve these amazing puzzles in non-geological time. 🤔
Ditto!
Can we take a second to appreciate how our man here just quotes "The Raven" off the top of his head so casually? I've read that poem many times, but I'd need to google it to quote it.
And not the first, but the *final* stanza
I imagine that qualifies as a simarkism by now, if it isn't one already.
He has said that it's his favorite poem. I'd imagine he had the whole thing memorized at some point in his life. And can still call up at least portions of it at will.
This is the moment we've all been waiting for. I think I might become a Patron just to thank Mark and Simon for being so considerate of both their Patrons and their general audience.
Did you?
@@v3lojt All they needed to reel me in to the $3 level was Mark's monthly Times special :D
Mark starting this puzzle: "Let's pencil the thermos. Well as one of them is wrong, they could be 123456789 in each cell".
Great solve, and couldn't resist poking at goodliffing this puzzle.
This was a piece of cake. Simply fired up the video, kicked back, and watched with bewilderment as Simon solves the puzzle with magic. 50:52 minute solve.
There is a solving technique that Simon and Mark and all the best solvers use. They find an answer that would be really convenient and go looking for reasons why the alternatives to that answer would be impossible. This puzzle actually teaches how to use that technique. Zetamath, through the symmetrical constraints, shows us where to go looking for the impossibilities, then rewards a methodical approach to the logic. Brilliant concept, and the execution is a lot of fun, especially with Simon as our guide.
Absolutely love this puzzle! As you said, it's *fair* which is always hard to do with ambiguity puzzles. Zetamath absolutely should take a bow for this one :)
I think even more amazing is I've now watched several people solve this (including myself), and the solve paths are all almost identical! Despite having so many clues around the grid, the puzzle somehow manages to force you to focus on just the next step each and every time.
"Alright, let's resort to doing sudoku."
*immediately makes five deductions*
I don’t know what I’d do without these CtC videos. I look forward to them each evening (or in the wee hours of a sleepless night, in this case), and this puzzle & solve is a double masterpiece. Kudos to Zetamath for such a stunning creation, and to Simon, as always, for your eloquent & entertaining commentary as you ‘explain-as-you-solve’. What a joy; viva CtC!!!
I'm so thankful that CTC chose to share this video on the channel. This was fascinating. The puzzle itself is far beyond my current (though growing) ability to solve it, but I did "have a go" by clicking the link underneath the video, and I caught on to some of the main questions that Simon posed. I very much enjoyed dabbling in the puzzle myself, and also enjoyed (and learned from) the logical path that Simon demonstrated to solve it. Thanks to both Simon and zetamath!
I like the casual random Edgar Allan Poe quoting
Brilliant puzzle and a brilliant solve.
This kind of puzzles is the reason I follow CTC, I'm glad you decided to publish this solution in the main channel as well, this should really have a wider spread than just us the patreon subscribers.
I am perfectly happy that there is content exclusive to patreon supporters. I certainly get plenty of great content as it is. I love the channel and I am glad to support it as I can.
I'm finally sitting down to watch this, and I'm so excited!
Thank you for putting tjis up. Had been looking forward to it. Also thank you to all patreons who were so generously agreeing make it accessable to everybody.
48:50 I will never quite understand the panic Simon gets when he sees a potential deadly pattern approaching. Mark observes it too but seemingly with a bit less fear/dread. If they were solving all standard sudokus I could see this being a reasonble concern but given the various sudoku variants usually in play, this deadly pattern, if it occurs, is always solved by something like a King's move, Knight's move, little killer clue, negative constraint, etc.
The puzzles Simon is solving are always from topnotch constructors and usually come recommended with plenty of history of others solving them so I don't get the fear of the puzzle failing to solve but finishing with a deadly pattern. I assume Simon knows all this but the instinctual dread still pops up and he cannot avoid voicing it. I like to imagine it's something ingrained since childhood, as if he was forced to solve subpar sudokos growing up and would constantly find himself arriving at deadly patterns.
Probably his fear is that he knows a correct solve path wouldn't lead to a deadly pattern (for the reasons you give: trusted constructors, well tested), so he fears he may have made a mistake.
Selection bias means we only get to see the times his fear is unfounded. Those times he has messed up and reached a deadly pattern, we don't ever get to see.
There have also been instances in other solves on the channel where Simon makes a typo and puts a wrong digit in. This can result in a deadly pattern with no fault to the logic. I can’t remember the video but it is somewhat recent where he had to back track a good bit to fix the mistake.
i realized why when I did a gas puzzle and got a deadly pattern at the very end because I added up one cage wrong near the beginning. if I had been doing an hour long solve for the internet it would've ruined my whole day
A deadly pattern might mean to Simon that he fails to solve the puzzle within 70 minutes, which then the video would potentially not be published and he would have to produce another one... He has admitted to failing to solve puzzles efficiently enough to upload it to the channel. This is what this might be, imo
In this one, at the point that he fears the deadly pattern, it's after he's used up all the other clues, so it's been reduced to an ordinary sudoku.
When Simon filled in 6 options into the X clue, looking like it couldn’t possibly be less useful, I instantly got giddy because I could see the implication. Truly one of the great puzzles!
Me: _notices one small observation half-way through that Simon didn't see yet_
Reasoning brain: There's no way I would have even gotten this far to find that number
Lizard brain: *m e m o r e s m a r t e r c o m p u t e r m a n*
That really is brilliant zetamath. I did try and work on it a bit, just to see if I could figure where to start. Surprisingly, I pretty much had the middle column correct (which blew my mind, how I got there is beyond me), but that was it for me. I haven't even come close to developing the skill to see the rest, but what a puzzle. As usual Simon, just a brilliant solve. I love seeing these puzzles by so many members who are just brilliant. And I relax every time I watch Simon do a puzzle. It helps with my anxiety and depression and is a good way to relax after long days of teaching math.
Such a beautiful puzzle; well beyond my capabilities, but this type of puzzle is my favorite to watch and this was especially elegant.
What an amazing puzzle, really enjoyed watching the solve. Great Job Zetamath. What amazing setting.
This completely bamboozled me and I think Simon's "Ahhhh" at 7:55 sums up the energy nicely. Great solve so far (not finished yet) and it's incredible this can be solved.
Waited to watch... tried to solve on my own for days, but I think I sprained my brain.
Brilliant solve of a brilliant puzzle!
You surprised me with your guitar playing - You're very good; then you surprised me today reciting poetry by memory; but you're biggest surprise is every time you solve one of these incredibly difficult puzzles. You're just full of surprises. Thanks for the joy you give me everyday!!
I've been looking forward to this one since you first mentioned it on the channel, so glad it's finally uploaded!
Simon spontaneously reciting The Raven made my day :D
I am in awe at this puzzle. An absolute great set and an amazing solve, and so far the best birthday present I have received today! Thank you Mark and Simon for all of the great solves over time!
Happy birthday, Quentin! Wishing you a wonderful day and an even better year.
Happy Birthday!
Snap! I just enjoyed this video with a well-earned cider after an exhausting birthday :p Happy Birthday :)
What a wonderful puzzle.
Magnificent solve Simon.
It really was. I was pretty floored when he said it was 45 minutes!
Incredible puzzle and solve!! Well done. Geez, how zetamath was able to create this such that it never really gives itself away until the end, that you MUST go through each and every one of these rules, and that it is all done so elegantly, flowing from one inference to the next. Beautiful. And Simon of course does an incredible job solving it. Bravo.
I don't think that this is the best sudoku puzzle ever. But I say that only because there have been so many amazing puzzles here over the past couple of months! I can't even imagine how we could choose. It is, of course, an amazing accomplishment and one I can only sit back and admire as Simon handles it so deftly.
Amazing puzzle! I’d never solve it but love watching the madness of this genius solving it - fantastic!!
He didn't explain the quadruples before beginning the solve! The only clue I needed an explanation for! 😅 When I google this clue type they look different, 4 digits and no circle
I'm not 10 minutes in and I've already caught myself multiple times thinking I had a deduction and then remembering it could be a lie. Still waiting to see if it will top Chaotic Wrogn as my favorite...
Brilliant! Absolutely beauty!!! Thank you so much for sharing this masterpiece with the world, Simon... Zetamath, that's pure poetry...
Sooo happy you put it on the regular channel!
You have so many videos where you explain these rules so well, I was able to follow this one as well and I really appreciate it, it is such a fun video!
Just spent 4 hours trying to solve this. One mistake cost me but I still enjoyed every minute trying to uncover the logic. Fantastic puzzle, and very satisfying watching your solve Simon.
3 hours of fun for me thanks to Zetamath (and now an extra as i'll watch the video)! You got me good with the central box, i kept trying to evaluate the whispers early and "wasted" a lot of time. Really enjoyed it.
I think it took me about an hour (and two broken attempts), but it was truly a joy to solve this one.
Greatest ever? We've just had SO MANY incredible puzzles over the past couple years; it's hard to pick one as THE greatest ever.
Only 1 hour? It takes me 3 hour to crack it :D
Watching your videos gives my day a needed time of peace! Love hearing you work out the puzzle and it's absolutely mind blowing how you do so. Thank you so so much! Your videos are now a daily part of my routine :D
I spotted the first clue right away (the true arrow in box 8), and could not get any further without peeking at the video. Once I saw the second clue though, I managed to do the rest, though I think I was over 2 hours on it. Breathtaking puzzle.
What a fantastic puzzle, right at the extreme edge of my meagre ability. It took me ALL of my evenings since Simon featured it on this channel, and I've only just managed to crack it (and joyfully check that my answer is correct). I've no idea how I did it and I'm quite certain I could never do it again. I had a notepad full of scribblings and I used the experimental pen tool, and my grid looks a hideous mess. But I did it!
What a fantastic puzzle. I didn't think there was enough information. The arrows in particular were a focal point for a whole surprising sequence of deductions around the grid. How?!? I can barely comprehend solving the puzzle, let alone setting it.
I'm going to watch this video now. I'm pretty sure I did the right things, just 1000x slower, and now I get to see how Simon gets it done!
Congrats on solving it, I'm glad you made it!
@@zetamath thank you for setting the puzzle! My favourite sequence was the whole sequence from about 27m to 41m in the video, the 24 sandwich to R12 arrow to 6 to X to odd/even to 45 quadruple to 23 quadruple to sandwich to arrow to thermo to box 5 whisper chain, and onwards. I'd been making a whole bunch of notes and markings and short deduction paths (that really went nowhere but were kind of related), so when I finally, finally realised what R2C8 was, that sequence jumped out immediately. It was thoroughly satisfying.
wow, what a great puzzle and solve. well played Simon, thank you.
that was awesome! way to go Simon, and way to go, zetamath!!!
When i noticed this video on feed, I went for a sleep, woke up, made popcorn, drinks, turned off phone and lights and sat down as comfy as possible. No movie in years got this level of preparation!
43:10 - never screamed NIIINE so loud in life ))
Thanks for making all of your videos accessible, it's ultimately the only reason why I watch, even after the 100th explanation of killer sudoku rules, it's still enjoyable.
Rules: 01:34
Let's Get Cracking: 05:27
What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?!
Maverick: 3x (19:17, 24:00, 24:02)
You Rotten Thing: 1x (38:01)
And how about this video's Simarkisms?!
Beautiful: 9x (17:32, 17:35, 18:23, 21:45, 21:46, 39:28, 39:28, 40:11, 49:29)
Good Grief: 5x (03:45, 23:27, 27:38, 44:00, 47:22)
Hang On: 5x (36:21, 40:14, 43:34, 43:34, 43:48)
Sorry: 4x (02:46, 11:01, 17:11, 31:05)
Clever: 4x (08:51, 18:26, 20:05, 50:19)
Brilliant: 3x (49:03, 49:06, 50:38)
Naked Single: 2x (48:03, 48:05)
Nonsense: 2x (44:10, 48:13)
I Have no Clue: 2x (29:16, 29:18)
Incredible: 2x (00:32, 05:19)
By sudoku: 2x (47:26, 47:39)
Stunning: 2x (50:21, 50:23)
What on Earth: 1x (05:43)
What a Puzzle: 1x (47:51)
Apologies: 1x (01:22)
The Answer is: 1x (26:24)
Elegant: 1x (49:20)
Deadly Pattern: 1x (48:51)
Gorgeous: 1x (14:08)
Shouting: 1x (06:05)
Surely: 1x (44:46)
Corollary: 1x (13:33)
FAQ:
Q1: What is a Simarkism?
A1: A Simarkism is something that Simon and Mark typically or frequently say.
Q2: How do you do this so fast?
A2: I'm not made of flesh and blood, but of sand ...
Q3: Why don't you include 'XX' and 'YY'?
A3: Probably it's already on the list ('Scooby-Doo' for example), but not mentioned in this video. But if you think it's not, tell me what you'd like me to include and there's a good chance I'll add it!
Q4: You missed 'XX' at 'YY:ZZ'!
A4: That could very well be the case! Human speech is hard to understand for computers like me, especially British sometimes! Point out the ones that I missed and maybe I'll learn!
Q5: Could you turn these statistics into videos?
A5: I've been playing around with the idea and I'm open to input as to what people would like to see. Let me know if you are interested in this and/or have suggestions.
Simon doesn’t do this too often but he did recite part of the Raven today and every time he does that it makes me smile. Maybe add it as a little bonus one at the end of the list? I think it was at the 9 and a half minute mark
@@emo6577 I dont know my modern classics enough, but has The Raven featured in Inspector Morse ?
He did not say bobbins, which is a statement About how good the puzzle was
@@highpath4776 I don’t know! That’s a very good question but I couldn’t get an answer from a quick Google search
In American English, "progress" has a short o sound and the syllable is split between the g and r. Anyway, my point is, how about "progress"?
I'm glad you did this puzzle. Like I said previously when you first showed it on the channel, even though you didn't do it at the time, it is an excellent puzzle well worth your time to try your hand at.
Took one look, acknowledged my shortcomings and settled in to watch Simon’s solve. Truly mind boggling in its complexity. Bravo!
My birthday week just got better; thanks for finishing it off with this! I was looking forward to this one after all your teasers. Brilliant puzzle, I had so much fun figuring it out.
No cages?? Little killers? I can't wait for V2 of this puzzle :)
Version two is called The Usual Suspects, features both killer cages and little killer clues, and is available on LMD and the discord puzzle archive right now (-:
I realized early on in my solve that looking at interactions between multiple rule-types would not be the way to get going through this, and that I needed to find contradictions within a single rule type in order to deduce anything real. I didn't go through it as elegantly as Simon, but we still hit the majority of the same points on our way to solving it. I am very pleased to see that I caught on to the right things (but missed a few others).
"Orange means correct" ... because 'citrus' and 'correct' start with 'c', clearly. ;)
Glad to see this made this to the channel!
Or “O” is for Orange and “O” is for Okay?
42:00 I immediately said "Oh, sweet, that means the 9 has to go in row 1, box 1, so the box 1 arrow is the lie!" And then I spent two minutes yelling at the screen for Simon to hear my one actual deduction that he didn't beat me to.
Well, this one is a bit justified. He would have realized it much sooner if he had gone through the work of cleaning up his pencil marking, which is something he is not very good at doing consistently
This was wonderful to watch, found this completely by accident. Sudoku has not and likely never will be my thing, but getting to hear people's thought processes when thinking through their areas of expertise is a fantastic treat!
120 minutes! To deal with the true/false questions, I colored key squares relative to good clues green, and bad clues grey. That makes solving much less confusing.
I am crying at the open reluctance to actually play sudoku, that was hilarious!
What I love about this one is that I followed the exact same path as simon, suggesting that there is only one true path (aside from the sudoku part in the end of course). That and the fact that the arrows are where you start the puzzle, but also only come back to way later on...
It's really quite rare to have more than one solution path; at least that's what I've concluded from following these puzzles for over a year. There have been one or two with quite different break-ins, usually with SET theory providing the alternate path. But from then on the different solve paths are almost always mere variations on the same logic. Sudoku is funny that way. One of my favorite things about regular math is the way there can be very different pathways to the same result - one guy proves with complex analysis what another guy proves with number theory. So I should be annoyed with the sameness of the Sudoku solutions. But instead I find this way has its own charm.
Great puzzle! enjoyed the solve! And always Simon's euphonic voice reciting EAP 😍!
Funny thing about the incorrect sandwich clue [SPOILER BELOW] ...
.
.
.
... the '13' is, in actuality, a '31'. Now I'm reminded of a line from "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" by The Offspring.
What a wonderful puzzle, and thanks for making it available to us lowly grockles! I gave up without realising that the bottom arrow being 6:321 and the bottom kropki being 6:3 would be contradictory. Lucky - if I’d have solved it I would never have watched this magnificent video. Well done setter and solver!!!
I'm not smart enough for liar puzzles. I hate them. :D
But wow, what a masterpiece @zetamath! Excellent solve, Simon.
Worked my way through it, a good deal longer than Simon's time, but as several others have noted, following much the same path, because that's really the path that exists. It's hard to arrange good puzzles at all, harder with complexities like this, and absurdly hard to end up with a discoverable but not trivial path. Hats off! That said, I'd glad that most puzzles do not resemble this one :)
Total respect for your recitation of "The Raven" by memory... good lord. I'm a fair chunk younger than you are -- and your sharpness just shines, it turns out! What a brilliant puzzle and an equally brilliant solve.
I recently lacked the 'net for an evening, and this channel's videos helped me "crack" one half of the Private Eye cryptic crossword -- to my surprise, too! I'd love to see you or Mark try that one.. If I can do it, it's maybe a good balance of approachable and tough. Also the answers are out in 2 weeks with every issue which surely helps :)
Thanks for you keeping it up -- sincerely love your content. As am I -- content!
Awesome puzzle!! Enjoyed every minute of this solve :-)
I've considered myself to be #teamgoodliffe when it comes to pencil marking thermos, and I gotta say, it was weirdly satisfying to watch you get forced to goodliffe a 9 in your pile of digits on the bulb of a thermo.
Me too! #teamgoodliffe for pencil marking thermos all the way!
I absolutely loved it! I struggled a lot in the beginning, assuming rules were true when I hadn't made that deduction yet. Muscle memory at work, I guess. It made me really want to see this solution video, so I could get through the harder parts. I've been wanting to become a patron for a while now, but this solve made it a very easy decision that I shouldn't wait any longer. No regrets.
It would be wonderful to hear Simon read The Raven. It is also one of my favorite poems.
Actually, he doesn't need to _read_ it...
@@bibliopolist I don't remember which puzzle, but there is a video where Simon recites the whole poem at the end.
But if you like low soothing voices, check out Geoff Castellucci reading "The Raven" on RUclips
ruclips.net/video/p4t280b12G4/видео.html
A Cracking the Cryptic out of context compilation would be awesome, you could use Simon reciting poems and stuff.
This took a little over 3h to crack, but I felt really good about doing it on my own. I usually skip the harder ones, however this's one rules of having everything was just compelling.
An absolutely stunning puzzle and amazing solve by Simon as always, took me the better part of 3 hours to get through, but an hour and a half was looking for the break-in admittedly easy to spot and obvious once you see it. Splendid puzzle right on the border of difficulty and logical beauty
I've really been looking forward to this one! I tried solving it, but I got to about the first deduction (about the correct arrow) and then didn't know how to continue. I might revisit it in the future when I've forgotten the correct solution from this video, though :)
had a go at this two or three times and got nowhere until now. i definitely had the wrong approach, because i kept going down rabbit holes of "if this is true, ... and if that is true, ... " and getting absolutely nowhere but overwhelmed with all the hypotheticals. after seeing simon's deduction about the arrows, i had another go, and managed to get a decent way in, but got hopelessly stuck again, unable to determine which of the quads and thermos were lying to me. it was a relief (and a pleasure) to then put it aside and watch simon get to the same point and on to the full solution. puzzle was still a whole lot of fun despite my failure to solve it!
Thank you for adding this puzzle to the channel!!
In waiting to see this video, I was very happy to solve this puzzle completely on my own...even if it did take me several days to do it! I was quite frustrated at the beginning because I kept coming to conclusions that I quickly realized were useless due to the fact that things could be lies. It was very satisfying to wrap my head around the right way to look at this puzzle and then slowly but surely progress my way through it.
OK, I like Liar Puzzles. But I also knew I could not start this one on my own. I also suspect that I am being too kind to myself in thinking I could solve this, even with the narrow solve path. Simon just makes puzzles look easy. Beautiful puzzle!
I'd probably attempt this in a naughty way - pencil mark stuff as if all clues are true, but color any square that's pencil marked from a clue not _confirmed_ to be true. Then allow the contradictions to materialize.
I'm so proud of myself for been able to solve this without help. Big thanks to zetamath and CTC to show me this beatiful sudoku :)
Edit: watching it from this video look all so easy but I swear this is not, at least for me. It's just Simon magic
Yes, it hurt to watch Simon solve it in under an hour. 😊
three hours plus. enjoyed every minute of it.
Been looking forward to this!
Another wonderful surprise!
I love the shorthand version of the rules. It would be nice if you could have short hand with full rules as an option.
What an absolutely beautiful puzzle!
I love how you struggle to see pictures that are meant to be there but managed to find your belovéd raven in this.
By far the hardest, longest, most intricate Sudoku I've managed to solve. It took me several days of work on and off and I nearly gave up multiple times, getting particularly stuck at one point, but it was worth it to push through. Now to see if Simon's path was the same as mine (one point in particular I wonder if there was a better way as it felt a bit clumsy, though I think the actual logic was probably still pretty cool, I just stumbled into it badly). I definitely see why people were raving about the puzzle though.
🏡
Didn't even try it - way too hard and this video confirms it.
Beautiful, beautiful puzzle...
42:22: "So, have we figured out which of these arrows is correct yet?" Yes, you just did. With the 9 in box three placed, I think we can all agree that there won't be a *second* 9 in that box. Therefore, the pencil marks in row one collapse to 1s, and we had already figured out earlier that the arrow with the 1 must be the correct one.
Even easier: we now have a 9 placed in rows two and three. And the only place where a 9 can still go in row one is on the arrow in box one. An arrow with a 9 on it can't be correct for obvious reasons, so the correct one has to be the one in box three.
That was fun and very challenging for me. While attempting to solve, I paused to search for German whispers and renban puzzles and solved them first and then returned for this one.
Fantastic solve of an amazing puzzle
love it when simon spontaneously breaks into "the raven"
43:17 for me. I needed a guess though, as I never spotted that crazy naked single 6 on r2c8. Amazing puzzle, as I was obviously expecting from such a good setter. I still have to watch that video of him setting ‘The Usual Suspects’, hope I can find the time for that tomorrow.
Come for the sudoku, stay for the Poe recitations. Only appropriate considering how often we ponder weak and weary.
Thanks for putting it on the channel. While it is a nice idea that every video be well "approachable" ;p for new viewers, I think the sheer madness and beauty of this puzzle's usage of a ton of variants warrants being shown off here. :D
Awesome puzzle. I would not have been able to do it, but this is really refreshing.
i wish i could play this puzzle again! i never attempt these sorts of ones but i decided to on a whim. took me 2 hours but i'm so proud of myself for spotting logic i have never spotted before.
Quite frankly, I "re-solved" this one a couple of weeks after I first did it (1st solve was when Simon started mentioning it in his intros; 2nd time just before watching this video) and I enjoyed the 2nd time round too!
It wasn't AS hard by any means, but I had forgotten enough of the logical steps that it was still rather entertaining!
After having watched the video, you might need to wait a couple of months, but I still recommend it :)
@@jomo87 Lately on my stream I have been solving my puzzles starting with the first ones I set, and even though I made them and solved them who knows how many times, my memory is quite faded.
@@zetamath Oh neat, that's nice to know! I tried my hand a creating a puzzle for the first time recently (Inspired by CTC writ large, and Two Truths & A Lie in particular!), and I'm glad to hear I might be able to enjoy solving it myself in a few months :p
My favorite part of this is Simon screaming into his microphone.
Also, zetamath, can we get a setting video???
I recorded myself setting the sequel to this puzzle from start to finish, and it is available here if you'd like to see it: ruclips.net/video/FxMp9_a7W_o/видео.html
Hard but fair is correct. While I didn't come close to solving it myself I always found little threads I could tug on. Didn't occur to me to consider the clues as pairs in all cases, but that's what I ended up doing any time I made a small amount of progress.
It took me little more than 1.5 hours but it was pure joy. Thank you. 😊
I’m not the only one who thinks Simon missed a chance to say that something is wrogn, right? 😂