Sunday Surprise #4 – Fillomino (Inequality Clues)
Today’s surprise comes from Hans van Stippent, who sent several creative submissions in for The Art of Puzzles. For this book I’m mostly avoiding “variations”, but I found this puzzle to be a surprising twist perfect for this spot.
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a number entry mode.)
Theme: Diagonals
Rules: Variation of standard Fillomino rules. Some clues are not fully specified, and must simply follow the inequality value given in the cell.
Answer String: For each cell in the marked rows/columns, enter the area of the polyomino it belongs to. Start with the 2nd row, followed by a comma, followed by the 8th row.
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other classic Fillomino and this link for more variations on Fillomino puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Fillomino puzzles to get started on.
Yowza. That one gave me a lot of trouble. Only way I could seem to even figure out how to start was by nqqvat hc gur gbgny ahzore bs ninvynoyr fdhnerf sbe gur inevbhf 7f, 8f, naq 9f, gura frrvat ubj znal tebhcf bs gurz jrer cbffvoyr fb V pbhyq fgneg gb aneebj qbja jung zl bcgvbaf jrer. Even after that it felt like a lot of trial and error to figure out the right combinations to make it work. And amusingly, the hafcrpvsvrq pyhrf qvqa’g ernyyl pbzr vagb cynl. Univat gurz pnyyrq bhg yvxr guvf nyzbfg frrzrq gb uryc sbphf nggragvba ba gur pyhrf gung jrer npghnyyl vzcbegnag, engure guna jnfgvat gvzr jvgu fznyy svfu.
The moment I remembered most was: nsgre abg znggrevat sbe gur jubyr fbyir, ng gur raq gur sbhef npghnyyl zretr jvgu <7 pyhrf. Zl oenva unq orra abg pbafvqrevat gung cbffvoyr rneyvre fb vavgvnyyl V fgvyy gubhtug V jnf sne sebz gur svavfu fvapr gur sbhef qvq abg unir rabhtu fcnpr.
Heh, going back to that “intuition” question from longish ago, I saw how that corner was going to play out before I figured out much of anything else. It just felt right, and in the end I was finally able to ink it in.
That was rather…… nasty. I did a lot of trial and error to guess how the pieces work as well, and in the end 1/2 deduced, 1/2 guessed my way to the solution.
That was pretty much exactly my experience in that corner. Nice aha moment when I realized my false assumption, but cripes this was hard.
“Frrvat ubj znal tebhcf sbe gur inevbhf 7f, 8f, naq 9f jrer cbffvoyr” is indeed the right way to start with this one.
And not “jnfgvat gvzr jvgu fznyy svfu…” 🙂
I had to solve this in pencil using my intuition, after, you know, nqqvat hc gur gbgny ahzore bs ninvynoyr fdhnerf sbe gur inevbhf 7f, 8f, naq 9f.
I couldn’t find a solving path that didn’t involve guessing. I’m interested to hear whether someone else did – and what that path might be.
Primarily an intuition solve for me.
Ohg bapr V fnj gung gur avarf pbhyqa’g pbaarpg, vg frrzrq yvxr gur bayl jnl gb trg nyy gur -bzvab’f gb svg jnf gb pbaarpg gur guerr 8f ng gur gbc. Gura gur bgure 7f, 8f, naq 9f jrer nyzbfg sbeprq.
Obtaining some fact about “connection” made me break through.