Friday Puzzles #132
So in a previous WPC report entry, I mentioned I’d share what I thought was the pick of the puzzles. Well this is a sort of a pre-emptive strike on that front, because the puzzle I have in mind as the inspiration for this week’s puzzle is an absolute beast of a yajilin. However, rather than being a puzzle during one of the rounds, this was featured on a Japanese newsletter that was being handed round, courtesy of PuzzleTokyo, a society ran by students at the University of Tokyo (こんにちは – here’s hoping google translate isn’t screwing me over!).
What you need to know about this newsletter is that it was entitled “Habanero,” and what you need to know about this puzzle is that in the hotel in Eger I saw puzzlers as good as Byron C and Palmer M sitting and staring at it for quite a long while. And also that I feel happy enough about eventually (no doubt to the amusement of Aga B!) solving it to post a picture of my solution:
It should also be easy enough to recreate the grid if you want to have a go at it yourself. In case I haven’t been clear, be warned. This solves with some absolutely beautiful logic from start to finish, but, easy it certainly ain’t.
On a slightly parallel thread, a couple of days I commented on Para’s blog that he’d hit the jackpot with yajilin presentation. Trust me to go and find an example which then exploits a potential ambiguity in what I thought was so great. As such I’ve made some slight modifications which I don;t think look so bad given the visual theme of the puzzle. Notice that without the arrows in the blank cells, it is ambiguous as to whether R1C1 is a blank clue or simply part of the grid! In a slightly similar vein, the blank clues at R1C7 and R7C1 might just as easily be interpreted – for solving purposes anyway – as cells in the grid to be trivially shaded in. What will we do with yajilin presentations, dearest reader?
Enjoy!
#162 Yajilin – rated medium
[blockquote mark-up still apparently not working]
All puzzles © Tom Collyer 2009-11
25 Nov 2011 01:26
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Tags: Friday Puzzles Yajilin
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Comments (5)
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TheSubro
Great Yajilin. One of my favorite puzzles you have ever crafted.
Thanks.
TheSubro
26 Nov 2011, 03:37
Great – thanks, it’s my pleasure. I recommend having a go at the larger Japanese puzzle if you enjoyed that – it’s truly brilliant!
26 Nov 2011, 12:55
agabum
It was really nice to solve this, even if in the beginnig it seemed unsolvable :)
26 Nov 2011, 22:54
Bram
Nice puzzle. Especially when I realised that the opening move was something I had been employing in my puzzles, without realising it was so generally applicable.
02 Dec 2011, 22:43
Aaron
That Japanese one is totally ridiculous. I took like 3 tries to get it right.
27 Jan 2012, 02:35
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