Hidden Puzzle by John Bulten
In honor of Kakuro’s past as Cross Sums and Cross Addition, John wanted to share this version of the puzzle with an older presentation style. This presentation may help you find a “hidden puzzle” that John left for solvers to discover.
(view directly for a larger image)
Author/Opus: This is the 29th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.
Answer String: Enter the fifth row and fifth column of the hidden puzzle solution in standard format, separating the entries with a comma.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00
Solution: PDF
I must say, I am completely lost with this one.
My guess is that you are looking for something too complicated.
(And this was a very nice surprise — the second puzzle is rather elegant on its own)
Yeah, I spent a good chunk of time not solving the hidden puzzle with rules that existed only in my head.
Got any hints for the more daft puzzlers?
Probably not a hint if you don’t know puzzle history, but this hidden puzzle is a nod towards the past.
The old style formatting references the fact Kakuro used to be called Cross Sums in several western (US+Canadian) puzzle magazines. The hidden puzzle is of another genre that had a western origin in the same magazines before it got a new, foreign name.
A lovely hidden puzzle. Thanks, John!
Can someone rot13 this puzzle type ? I have had enough staring at it stupefied.
Gur bevtvany anzr bs guvf chmmyr vf ahzore cynpr
I’m still at a complete loss. Typed the name given by drsudoku into Wikipedia, and got an article about a puzzle type that I know well. Just can’t see it here.
Ybbx ng gur aba-juvgr fdhnerf. Vf vg hahfhny gung gurer nera’g 8 zber bs gurz ba gur obeqre va gur bgure hahfrq pryyf?
If I’ve got this right, (ROT13)gur terlrq-bhg nernf znex gur obhaqnevrf bs gur avar-ol-avar nern gung lbh’er fhccbfrq gb fbyir. Svyy va gur juvgr pryyf jvgu gur ahzoref gung ner cynprq va gurz va gur bevtvany Xnxheb, naq hfr gurz nf gur tviraf bs n “Ahzore Cynpr” chmmyr.
Is it anything like that, or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely?
I would say it’s not anything like that, but only if I also said that it’s exactly like that.
It’s a Simple Loop! 🙂