Hidden Shape Sudoku by John Bulten
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between Sudoku number entry mode and two modes, Shape and Surface, to manage the domino inventory.)
Theme: Double Domino
(Hidden shapes include a complete double-eight domino set. Double dominoes have been “doubled over” to fit within one square. Hidden names include J.S. Bach, Gabriel Faure, John Cage, and various chordal progressions and crossword game vocabulary.)
Author/Opus: This is the 9th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.
Rules: Standard Sudoku rules, using the letters A-H and a blank. Also, as in Shape Sudoku, there are some lettered shapes given beneath the grid that must be put in their proper places inside the grid; and, as in Battleship Sudoku, their proper places are indicated only partially. (Partial shape clues in the grid are not lettered but do not necessarily indicate the location of blanks.) The shapes can be rotated, but cannot be reflected; they can touch but cannot overlap.
Answer String: Enter the 3rd row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 3rd column from top to bottom. (Use the capital letters A-H; use X for a blank.)
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 12:00, Master = 21:00, Expert = 42:00
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku and this link for classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on.
I had seen the answer before I solved the puzzle, but I decided to see how the stuff worked. (Plus, I forgot the solution!) I’m not really good at Saturday puzzles, But after a few hours I had found the solution. 😉 First Saturday puzzle I had solved, definitely the easiest Saturday Sudoku!
Thanks for the Puzzle, John Bulten!
1:20:00 Good and tough. I like the way the sudoku can be nearly completed before the dominoes have really come into play. That was a fun trick to make the solution seem deceptively close when the puzzle was only about half done. And I’m very impressed that the construction avoids a too-early resolution so well.
A great finish for a great week of puzzles. Thanks again, John!
That was a fun Puzzle! Took me almost an hour, but totally worth it. the next logical step was never that hard, but sometimes not easy to find. I also liked how this solved as i sudoku first and then changed into a domino search. But where is gabriel faure in the grid?
For Fauré, look for a shortened form* of his given name.
*Though I imagine this shortened form is only common among English speakers, not French, so it seems unlikely that Monsieur Fauré heard it much in his lifetime. 🙂
48 minutes.
Too bad the dominoes weren’t organized as dominoes, that would’ve made the last part easier.