Arrow/Killer/Kropki/Thermo-Sudoku by Michael Rios
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
Theme: Square Knots
Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Michael Rios.
Rules: Standard Sudoku rules. Also, some arrow shapes are in the grid; the sum of the digits along the path of each arrow must equal the digit in the circled cell (digits can repeat on an arrow). Some cages are in the grid marked by dashed lines; the sum of the digits in these cages must equal the value given in the upper-left corner of that cage (digits cannot repeat inside a cage). Some dots are given between two cells; a white dot shows that the digits in those cells are consecutive and a black dot shows that the digit in one of the cells has twice the value of the other (adjacent cells without dots may or may not follow these rules). Finally, some thermometer shapes are in the grid; the digits along the thermometer must be strictly increasing from the round bulb to the flat end.
Difficulty: 4.5 stars
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:45, Master = 18:45, Expert = 37:30
Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.
Note: Follow this link for more Arrow Sudoku. Follow this link for more Thermo-Sudoku puzzles. More Arrow and Thermo-Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku 2. More Killer Sudoku puzzles can be found in Killer Sudoku by Serkan Yürekli.
Took me over 2 hours but I persevered, very well thought-out construction.
I enjoyed this puzzle! Felt complicated but it was centralized in a way that made it simpler to know where to be looking. Good puzzle!
Thanks for taking this on! I was pretty happy how this one turned out. There’s a lot of space to explore for really tight tangled clues I think…keep your eyes peeled!
Strangely this didn’t feel as hard as the difficulty suggested but nonetheless an extremely enterprising solve. 10:31.