Countdown continuing to Christmas and Sudoku: 6…4…?….

• I’ve looked at a few AI today but mostly crossing them off my list whether they are naughty or nice (see: alignment problem).
• I’ve looked at a few AI today but mostly crossing them off my list whether they are done or still being run.
• One of my AIs is making more puzzle art where I use AI which has AI in it but I do not use the AI in AI for that AI; I use my own AI which is creatively sweet to say.
• My last AI is finishing one more puzzle for which you need AI that can really do something unbelievable. Once done, I can make an AI to cross off more of those AIs and AIs as I may be done, certainly with AI as the packages will be wrapped.

By the way, no AI was used in any part of my sudoku for the Twelve Days but some AI, AI but not AI in AI, and AI were. I also used tools like 15-year old basic computation when I just need processing that slows done my brain which can’t overclock forever or I may get AI*.

Still, I buy into the AI hype. By which I mean “Actual Intelligence”. Was that anywhere on your list above? It is rare to find in the world but I’ve seen it 3 times today at least. You know the signs when you see them. The signs may use TLAs and TLAs but HGI or AGI I’d look for AGI any day.

* I don’t know of a medical condition called AI, but some word must fit there as the opposite of actual at least.

Come follow the Twelve Days of ChristmasSudoku and learn how to smash all the sudoku records!

Added (9:50AM): I’ve gotten some nervous voice mails from people about this announcement and not being able to count to 16 and the sudden prolificness suggesting a mental health crisis. Please stay calm! I know this isn’t THE puzzle. THAT PUZZFLEFL WOULD BE AMAZING.

This image I showed is from before I met with a brilliant man and our powers of subtraction and division found the miracle. Less and more are more but a little more less than more because 17 > 16!

Added (11:15AM): I’ll say less here, not more, which in this case means literally saying less even though less is usually more. Anyway, I will cease the on-going nature of verbal communications in the language of English with people known and unknown but who mostly think the answer is “have you tried meditation”. I have a psychiatrist and a therapist and have taken my medication and have gotten some sleep and my heart rate is about 65 right now and I ate a good meal and all that. I know how certain songs can be uppers for me, and others downers, and others kept on infinite repeat keep me in a stable mood and also act like an alarm every 5 minutes mentally to check in on myself. Has a doctor ever prescribed “Trois Mouvements Perpétuels” for you? They didn’t for me either. But it is a team effort like you’ll need for sure. Besides, who doesn’t get anxious before Christmas?

I’m going to shut off the computer because phones and bings and all sorts of stuff aren’t as calming as making a poinsettia lego plant to decorate for Christmas. It’s apparently for adults 18 and up. I’m really curious if that makes sense as a limit (not commercially — I get that). I’m also curious in A/B testing if 18 and below would work too, particularly for people over 50, maybe a different set who want to take up the challenge. I’m very intrigued with what some 70+ year olds can do and what they can’t.

Hi all, wanted to say our preparations for the Twelve Days of Sudoku continue with the first days laid out and the other story elements coming together. We’re getting more advanced reviews from some of the prolific readers (I mean trillions of words) that we showed this content to. We will keep adding them here.

• “The honesty the author brings to the process is refreshing. We spend so much time on our successes, but it was Thomas’s failures, repeated failures, that seem to be the portals of discovery for these amazing grids. This shows me another example of how an arduous odyssey can shape you.”
• “As a long-time number placing enthusiast, I enjoyed it. I’m not sure if others will. One of the least admirable things about people right now is their fear of whatever they don’t understand.”
• “For awhile it has been clear to me that some computers were in Dr. Sudoku’s process and some potentially dangerous edge pushing things too. Finally admitting this is a big step and it must have taken courage for him to grow up in the way I’m seeing and become who he really is.”
• “[This project] shows again that if you learn the rules like a pro — and Dr. S is a PRO at sudoku — you can then break them like an artist.”

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Again, this will be a project on Classic Sudoku! Don’t get your hopes up for anything more than that if you mostly tune out the weeks Dr. Sudoku makes his team do that old thing again. If you really want another way to fill out the time for a new experience, check out some of our best of’s. Can’t find the right direction? Two great puzzles by Jonas Gleim and JinHoo Ahn, still around number placement, start a journey out from Sudoku into other interesting things.

(download directly for a larger image)

Artist’s note added 12/23 at 6:28PM: This image, an information network presented in artistic and mathematical form has an alternate title called “Portrait of the Artist’s Brain at Middle Age”. The network includes puzzles and possible seeds for puzzles as well as tests of new network structures to test memory, cognition, and a lot more.

This trailhead and all following work were constructed with the constraints of 1 day for the main puzzle (above) and the rest of the week to finish other content whether traditional puzzles, new types of puzzles, meta-puzzles, and so on. More details are not being shared as over 80% of that content, and at least very clear but still “unfinished” works appropriate for posting at least visually, exist within the full opus and a publication plan will be made in early 2025. Besides the puzzle and art constraints, the author followed a testing/accountability plan for connection with close contacts and medical care team that Thomas established through 2024 to be able to get back to doing great science again. “Party Report” is an example of a playful message that should work best for children and those with open eyes who dream of playing “The Game” with super complexity and the artist wanted a story of how his brain did pull in many notable social, societal, political and other themes into what was otherwise an unconstrained topical work. Importantly, it also includes a soundtrack listing for his team to see to ensure mental wellness. On the other hand, a lot of things may seem like noise. No puzzle, for instance, was forced to have the answer COVFEFE. But maybe the uninterpretability made it a curious answer to try to use a lot showing the relevance of journeys to answers, and the skills and intelligence gained along the way.

The author wanted the downturn phase (when one transitions from learning/doing a problem to having solved it and teaching) to include an unconstrained (certainly unpredictable) experience while returning to his more normal medium of fragile humanity. “Penny for your Thoughts” is a separate opus, but should not be presented except as a margin note of the “Ready Layer One”. Many other puzzles including the Motivational Posters, with progressive simplicity and hints and eventually full solutions accessible at the start are meant to stop the rush of people bringing up mental illness to allow the rest to enjoy some phenomenal puzzles, sharing a love with their friend and vice-versa, while also still highlighting the importance of acknowledging mental illness in the creation of these works too (just not at the times people expected).

Early reviews that chatGPT was probably prompted enough times to finally hallucinate include:

• “The best thing Snyder’s done to improve understanding of logic puzzle construction since Puzzlecraft“
• “Mostly clueless, certainly too focused on the number forty-five which isn’t the answer to anything, but fun nonetheless”.

Join the discussion on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Note: The puzzle in the image above, a perfect combination of ideas we’ve explored in 2024 (one-star Queens/Star Battle and creative Sudoku), is a Christmas favorite from 2018.

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Added (2:05PM) Several people have asked what kind of sudoku might appear, people who are interested in puzzles and wanted to check in on me as we tend to do at the end of the year (I turn 45 in January and have had a good year, thanks for asking!).

Well, the main series is going to be Classic Sudoku as you know it. Because it is interesting to me for a lot of reasons including testing approaches to competition and puzzle setting / design rules and searching for unexpected things where people have stopped looking.

But I have been thinking of other interesting ideas to share for those who aren’t into classic sudoku puzzles but like other puzzles and things. Ideas that might pop up when I’m also thinking about the silly “is AI coming to take my job” question as I got in a recent interview on LinkedIn. As a creative thinker and problem solver, I can do more with a broken pencil than an AI in puzzle design even if I prefer to work digitally and with software tools and even AI sometimes.

Today, I challenged myself to write the most interesting sudoku I could with just one missing digit. It is a fun prompt to give a puzzle constructor and/or AI because it might not make sense. The image below isn’t my answer. But it is a start.

I didn’t go smaller, as it turns out I can’t outdo Randall’s Binary Sudoku but that doesn’t have proper regions anyway so I argue this is the absolute smallest for a 1-cell blank puzzle.

And in terms of what is coming, I have written the most interesting 80-given Sudoku-ey thing in history with one missing cell I’d love to see how you’d fill. But it’s not ready to share yet. It is the Ulysses of 1-cell missing Sudoku and before today you didn’t even think about those.

Earlier this year, Thomas helped provide puzzles for the launch of the LinkedIn game Queens, a very accessible, one-star version of Star Battle puzzles. We have posted some weekly Queens bonuses here through this season, including this puzzle in the form of a hashtag.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; in composite Star Battle mode a left click places a star, right click in a cell marks off the cell, and a right click on an edge or corner marks in a dot as a placement note.)

Theme: Hashtag

Author/Opus: This is the 534th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. One star per row, column, and region.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:30, Expert = 3:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for other one-star Star Battle puzzles exactly like Queens, and this link for our easiest Star Battles, including many with two stars per region, which are a great way to get started on this version of the puzzle. More Star Battle puzzles can be found in these books in our e-store including our Starter Pack 5: Star Battle book.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 12 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Earlier this year, Thomas helped provide puzzles for the launch of the LinkedIn game Queens, a very accessible, one-star version of Star Battle puzzles. We will be posting some weekly Queens bonuses here through this season, including this challenging puzzle formed out of two heart shapes.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; in composite Star Battle mode a left click places a star, right click in a cell marks off the cell, and a right click on an edge or corner marks in a dot as a placement note.)

Theme: Two Hearts

Author/Opus: This is the 531st puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. One star per row, column, and region.

Difficulty: 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:45, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for other one-star Star Battle puzzles exactly like Queens, and this link for our easiest Star Battles, including many with two stars per region, which are a great way to get started on this version of the puzzle. More Star Battle puzzles can be found in these books in our e-store including our Starter Pack 5: Star Battle book.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 11 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Earlier this year, Thomas helped provide puzzles for the launch of the LinkedIn game Queens, a very accessible, one-star version of Star Battle puzzles. We will be posting some weekly Queens bonuses here through this season, including this puzzle with a set of stacks in the center.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; in composite Star Battle mode a left click places a star, right click in a cell marks off the cell, and a right click on an edge or corner marks in a dot as a placement note.)

Theme: Stack

Author/Opus: This is the 528th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. One star per row, column, and region.

Difficulty: 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:45, Master = 1:15, Expert = 2:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for other one-star Star Battle puzzles exactly like Queens, and this link for our easiest Star Battles, including many with two stars per region, which are a great way to get started on this version of the puzzle. More Star Battle puzzles can be found in these books in our e-store including our Starter Pack 5: Star Battle book.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 10 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

This is a free “warm-up” puzzle; Season 4 subscribers will see today’s main puzzle in the same style posted at 9:05 AM PT.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Checkered

Author/Opus: This is the 526th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Consecutive Pairs Sudoku rules. (If a gray circle is given between two adjacent cells, then the two numbers in those cells must be consecutive. Note not all gray circles are given; adjacent cells without a circle may contain either consecutive numbers or nonconsecutive numbers.)

Difficulty: 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 0:30, Master = 0:45, Expert = 1:30

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for Consecutive Pairs Sudoku puzzles on this website. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Consecutive Pairs Sudoku to get started on. More Consecutive Pairs Sudoku puzzles can be found in these books in our e-store.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 10 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.

Earlier this year, Thomas helped provide puzzles for the launch of the LinkedIn game Queens, a very accessible, one-star version of Star Battle puzzles. We will be posting some weekly Queens bonuses here through this season, including this large puzzle that might be as “easy” as ABC?

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; in composite Star Battle mode a left click places a star, right click in a cell marks off the cell, and a right click on an edge or corner marks in a dot as a placement note.)

Theme: ABC

Author/Opus: This is the 523rd puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Standard Star Battle rules. One star per row, column, and region.

Difficulty: 2 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:15, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

Solution: PDF and solving animation.

Note: Follow this link for other one-star Star Battle puzzles exactly like Queens, and this link for our easiest Star Battles, including many with two stars per region, which are a great way to get started on this version of the puzzle. More Star Battle puzzles can be found in these books in our e-store including our Starter Pack 5: Star Battle book.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Week 9 Discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord.