Insect-Based Sudoku!

[00:00:14]Hello. Welcome back to Cracking the Cryptic. And uh this puzzle is based it's based on a word that I I've just spent a little bit of time looking up to see how it's pronounced. So, this is uh a sedoku that spells and I'm going to say cicada. Uh, now I looked up the word because I've always had trouble pronouncing this word. Not really been sure about even the C's in it. And even though I think I know how those work now, I wasn't sure about the stressed vowel. And when I've looked it up, I'm told that the British pronunciation is cicada, but the American pronunciation is cicada. And that confused me especially because there is no instance of this animal in the UK.

[00:01:01]Why would why we would introduce our own pronunciation I don't understand. But then I then I looked further into it and there are plenty in Europe and I can understand that maybe the pronunciation started here and spread to the states or developed from Spanish in both countries separately. And there are reasons why we might call it a cicarda here. But the the version I hear the most is what I'm told is the main US version which is cicada. And the anyway the reason that this is cicada is because the six constraints in use in this puzzle begin with the letters c i a d and a. And I think Meloetta has been the constructor has been doing a series of sedokus which spell words if you use the first letters of the various constraints. And that's a nice idea and I like it. And uh now I'm going to tell you the absolute fact to end all facts about cicadas.

[00:02:01]And in North America there are two two different species. I learned about this from a cross word in the magpie magazine that individually each spe one of the species has a 13-year regeneration life cycle in which on the 13th year they have loads and loads of offspring. So many that they can't all be eliminated by their predators at the same time. And the other one has a 17-year life cycle. And I love these numbers. They're primes.

[00:02:35]They're really strange distance numbers.

[00:02:38]But the beauty of these two species existing is that they coincide almost never. If you think about a cycle repeating every 13 years and another one repeating every 17 years, as a mathematician, you will quickly work out that that cycle can only coincide once every 13 times 17 years, which I think is something like 221 or something.

[00:03:08]When you are wondering, will that cycle coincide? Well, not in your lifetime. It did two years ago. Just 2024 was the only time in living memory that the cycle has coincided. And both the 13-year and the 17-year cicadas had loads and loads of offspring. And goodness knows what that was like in the spring of 2024. But it won't happen again till something like 2245 when we will all be dead. Isn't that fascinating? I mean, if you knew it already, it's not. But if you didn't, surely it is. Anyway, that is my nature fact for today. They you don't often get knowledge bombs like that on cracking the cryptic, but today you do. And um I'm going to go through the rules of this puzzle and what CIC AA means in the context of this puzzle in a moment. I am going to tell you first of all that entries are now closed on the Sudoku hunt for the month. The detective pets, you can still try it. You can try all the past Sudoku hunts. Lots of fabulous content on Patreon along with crossword solves including Sabers's listener the times monthly club special this this month.

[00:04:28]Pardon my hiccup. Um and gridoggram.

[00:04:31]There was a new one of those today and connections videos. Loads of good content on Patreon. on um in our apps we have all sorts of relevance line Sudoku, Killer Sudoku and Chess Sudoku all relevant to today's uh they are all very good apps as well.

[00:04:54]Highly recommended and uh I think you'll love them all. Uh do check those out as well as the Sudoku worms. We've got some merch as well if you're interested.

[00:05:05]Marty Sears Ratr run merch is perhaps the most recent additions to the merch line and very good value too. Right, let's have a look at the rules of Meoetta's Meloetta HD's puzzle. And the rules are not perhaps in the most natural order because of this CIC AA spelling out. So normal Sedoka rules apply first of all one to nine will go in every row, every column and every 3x3 box. cages. Digits in cages sum to the total in the top left of the cage. Um index lines on the light blue line has a square bulb representing position one with positions increasing sequentially along the line 1 2 and three on that one. If a digit x appears at position n on a line, then the digit n must appear at position x on that same line. So if this was a three, you'd have to have a one in position three pointing to position one.

[00:06:08]Right? That's the first C and I. The next C is clones. These two gray shapes are clones. The same digits appear in the same positions on each clone. So those two digits will be the same. A for antique king. I am fishing out one of my chess pieces as a result of that. Here is Mr. King. And that means that digits a king's move apart cannot be the same uh number.

[00:06:38]D for Dutch whispers adjacent digits along the orange line have a difference of at least four. And the final A is for anti-ight. So we get 90 mcnight face as well. And that means that digits that are a night's move apart cannot contain the same digit. Those two for instance.

[00:06:57]So those are the rules. Give it a try on that first link under the video. I'm going to start now. Let's get cracking.

[00:07:04]Um, we've got a three cage which contains one, two, and a four cage which contains one three. And we can talk about alternation on this Dutch whispers line. Well, I mean, there'll be very little alternation on it. What there will be is two low digits that we've just found. Now, what can sit next to a low digit like one or three? Well, it has to be four away. So it must be at least five. The same is true here. 5 6 7 8 or 9. And how can these two coexist with a difference of four or more? That difference of four has to be represented by a 59 pair. So I'm going to get rid of the color scheme. Now this is a 59 pair.

[00:07:49]Whichever of these is a five must be touching a one on the line. But the nine can touch either of the possibilities.

[00:07:58]So, there's a little start to our solve.

[00:08:01]Um, we've also got the knights move thing that says that both of these digits at the ends of the lines aren't one.

[00:08:12]The one three pair here says that this isn't a 39 cage, the 12 cage. So, it's either 48 or 57, right? Is it worth looking at this line?

[00:08:24]Well, the the digits that appear on an index line are the three digits that are the the end digits, the number of digits on the line that there are. So that one uses the digits 1 2 and three.

[00:08:40]This one uses the digits 1 2 3 and four.

[00:08:43]And this digit sees the one two pair. So that is three or four. If that was a four, this one would be three and this would be a one two pair.

[00:08:56]If it was a three, that would look at these two and make this a three.

[00:09:05]Now, this line, I'm going to mark that up as well. That is using the digits 1 2 3 4 5. We can actually use the clone thing here. This digit in the corner, the crook of the clone has to repeat here. So, that is also 1 2 3 four or five.

[00:09:24]And this one on the top of the clone is also 1 2 3 four or five.

[00:09:33]And that's this digit obviously sees all of 1 2 3 4.

[00:09:44]That's Oh, this one on the end of the clone is one two three or four. I mean, we've there's a lot of there's a lot of stuff going on there. I don't quite know how to use it. The one two pair are looking at this cell. Ah, that's interesting. That's in the second position on this line. And that's a three, four, or five. And that means the two must be in position three, four or five, and not here.

[00:10:18]Does it mean more than that? Probably not.

[00:10:22]Now, I'm feeling like I ought to be using the knights and the king's move together somehow in this.

[00:10:30]I just don't know how to use that.

[00:10:35]These are a 1 2 3 4 set.

[00:10:42]They all see both of these cells.

[00:10:46]They might. Oh, no. I was going to say they see these as well, but that one doesn't.

[00:10:57]I don't know. I One and two must be in this group because on this line we must use all four digits and they're not here. So, this can't be one or two.

[00:11:07]That's in the corner here. That is 3 4 5 in position four. And that means the four is in either position three, four or five on this line. And it can't be in these cells. Now the two is either in position three or five. One of these two digits is a two. And now this can't be a 257 cage.

[00:11:34]Can it be a 347 cage? If it was, this digit would be a five.

[00:11:42]That would put a five here using the clone and that would put a four here using the index line and that would clash with the three four pair I was positing. So this is a one6 pair and now one can't appear in any of these cells and that means that on this line the one must be in the original um square bulb the position one.

[00:12:10]Now the two is in either position three or five and that leads to this being a three or a five. The the digits do sort of go in pairs on these lines. Either they are self-referential in which case they don't have to go in pairs like the one that I've written in.

[00:12:29]But if you do put a three there, you have to put a two in position three. So that would be a pair swapping positions.

[00:12:36]And then five and four could either both be separ both be self-reerential or both swap positions.

[00:12:49]But I don't know quite what the solution to that is. Um h we've got a one onto this line that hasn't affected one on this line in any way at all. We've got a one six in this pair. One must be in one of these three cells by Sudoku.

[00:13:15]uh that is going to stop one being in any of these three cells given the knight's move and the king's move. If one's there, ordinary sedoku stops this being a one. If one's there, king's move stops this being a one. If one's there, knight's move stops this being a one.

[00:13:33]So, this is not a one.

[00:13:36]And that means this digit is not a two because then it can't be swapping with the one.

[00:13:44]And that's in the toe of the clone. So that can't be a two as well.

[00:13:51]This is a weird little trio. They all have to be different because they see each other.

[00:14:03]This is a trio of things that have to be different as well.

[00:14:09]I don't think I'm being very skilled at working out how to use the information we've got in this puzzle.

[00:14:20]Ah, it's interesting though, isn't it?

[00:14:22]Actually, that was quite powerful putting one in one of those positions.

[00:14:33]It's quite interesting to just consider if this digit was a two. Where would two go in this box?

[00:14:44]Not here by the king's move. Not here by the knight's move. Not here by Sudoku.

[00:14:49]Not there according to pencil markings.

[00:14:51]If that was a two, that would be a two.

[00:14:53]And that would have to be a two in golem one.

[00:14:58]I mean, I'm I'm literally going to carry this on. There'd be a two in one of those cells.

[00:15:03]We know there's a two on that line somewhere.

[00:15:09]Two would be in one of these four. And we know there's one in one of those two.

[00:15:14]So, that's not a two.

[00:15:16]Now, the only places in column seven are those.

[00:15:23]And that's going to confine us to one of these and one of these.

[00:15:30]And now it couldn't be either of those.

[00:15:33]And it would have to be there.

[00:15:36]Wow. We would And then it couldn't be here on the knight's move or here on the knight's move. Look, these are possible positions for two throughout the puzzle.

[00:15:47]But maybe they mess up three on the two on the two index lines.

[00:15:55]They probably don't though. So it was an interesting excursion, but it didn't quite prove anything.

[00:16:03]Okay, there is a one in one of those cells and there's a one here. So one of these three is a one.

[00:16:10]Now they all see this cell by night's move or ordinary Sudoku. So that can't be a one. So the two on this line is in position two or three, not in position one. Now the one on this line is in one of those two cells and they see this one and that becomes six and this becomes one and there's a one in one of those.

[00:16:31]Now there has to be a one in one of these three.

[00:16:37]We know it's not here because we've got the one three pair. So there's a one in one of these two.

[00:16:44]Ah, if that digit was a one, that would rule out these two and that one. So, we'd get ones in these positions. Ah, look that one, two pair both. See this? I had not noticed that. That's a much easier deduction than I've been achieving. And looking around the grid for possible twos, completely unnecessary. If I'd noticed that that was a knight's move and the next one a king's move away from that position, I would realize that couldn't have been one or two. So this is a three four pair. This is two and one. And the work we did earlier which removed two from this cell because it can't be there because it's been confined here. Aha. That gets us going.

[00:17:33]So we get a one on the toe of the clone that's there.

[00:17:38]Now, now surely we can fill in all the ones or something. These aren't ones. We need a one in this box in one of those three.

[00:17:50]Uh, we need we know there's a one in one of those two and one of these two. One of these two. Oh, it doesn't let us fill in all the ones.

[00:18:01]That's surprised me. Right. What about two? Two can't be here because of this one. Two pair. It now can't be here or here because of this. So two in this box is in one of those cells. Similarly, those two rule out this cell by knight's move in one case and king's move in the other. So two is in one of those places.

[00:18:22]And now we found two on the five cell index line and that's in position three.

[00:18:28]So this digit becomes a three. These two are a four five pair. They can be in any order.

[00:18:35]Uh but the clone sees that cell that pair both look at this cell. One by ordinary Sedoku, one by Kingsmouth. So that has to be two or three. And that's a pair both looking at this cell which now becomes one.

[00:18:56]And is that going to let me fill in the ones? It's going to let me take one out of there.

[00:19:02]I don't know. No, it doesn't let me fill in all the ones. Can I do the twos and threes? Oh, that two is on the clone.

[00:19:09]So, that digit is on the clone. That's a two. That's a three. That's a two. This line works fine. Now, now there's a two in one of these two cells.

[00:19:22]Um, these are going to prevent there being a two there or in either of these.

[00:19:32]So the two in this box is in one of those two cells.

[00:19:36]And the only place for two in column one is now here.

[00:19:43]That has been ruled out by the two we put in box two. So that's a two.

[00:19:50]I still don't know how to disambiguate these ones. And I've got one more. It has to be here because we've reduced the twos in box seven to one of those two.

[00:20:02]Right. Three is next. That three sees those two cells. So we can place three in box three.

[00:20:10]Three in one of these positions. That three is looking at this cell. So all no, not quite. All our index lines are done. We've got this four, five pair.

[00:20:21]That means the remaining digits in the column are 7 8 and 9. That means this one is the same as that 78 or 9 and must go here allowing for the king's move issue. So that's part of a 789 triple.

[00:20:43]And that digit must go here in box two because it see this one sees all of these by Sudoku king or knights move.

[00:20:55]That one sees those two. So it goes here in the corner where it becomes either seven or eight because of the 12 cage.

[00:21:02]So, I'm taking nine out of all of those.

[00:21:06]Now, can we keep going? It this these are all impossible. And that it's in the center. That sees this cell. So, we can put one there.

[00:21:17]Then it's in one of these two and one of these two, but it can't be there. So, there are the last two yellow digit seven or eight.

[00:21:29]Um, can we keep going like this? We've got nine in one of those cells. That's going to say that in box one, nine's in one of these three. Now, this can't be a nine in column one because it sees both of those. One by knight, one by king.

[00:21:44]So, nine's in one of those two cells.

[00:21:47]These three will see that cell.

[00:21:54]That doesn't get me very far. These two seven eight and nine here all see this cell. So this can't be seven eight or nine or one two or three. This digit is four five or six.

[00:22:12]That six sees both of these positions.

[00:22:14]So there's a six somewhere here and a six in one of these two. The fact that six is in one of those two rules six out of here. It also rules six out of here.

[00:22:32]H yellow was good. Maybe I should just try coloring one of these two. I don't think it's going to be quite as successful.

[00:22:45]If I colored ah here's why this can't be a five. That's pretty actually. If this digit was a five, that would see these two, these two by king's move, these two by knight's move, these three by Sudoku, but there's a five in one of those cells, ruling out the other possible positions in box four. So that's a nine.

[00:23:07]This is a five. The five must touch a one by the Dutch whispers rule. And then we get three in the corner. That's three in the spot. Light losing its religion.

[00:23:19]And this becomes a two on the knight's move. And that's going to place all our twos and ones in the puzzle.

[00:23:29]And have we got all the twos? Yeah, they're all placed in a nice regular pattern. We need one more one to finish those off. And it's here.

[00:23:43]Now this five, look, that sees these positions.

[00:23:49]and these ah it's not it's not in the best position possible.

[00:23:59]Okay, I'm Oh, three can't be there because of the three we just put in the corner. So, three is here. Now, that three sees all of these cells. So, we place three in that box. Then, we place it in box four. Then, we place it in box one. And suddenly, all the threes are done.

[00:24:17]This four sees all of those positions.

[00:24:20]So this becomes four in this box in box eight.

[00:24:27]Then four is going to be in one of those two. Ah this four also sees those two cells. So four is in one of these three and they all see that cell in box seven.

[00:24:40]So this has to be where four goes in box seven.

[00:24:44]Then four is going to be in one of these two in box one. They both see this one.

[00:24:50]So it's definitely reduced to one of those two in box four.

[00:24:58]That four five pair sees these cells by knight and king's move. So four in this row has to be here.

[00:25:11]And that's going to give me the four in box one. and it's in the cage. And that means that the yellow digit is an eight.

[00:25:18]And they're all done. Let's get rid of that yellow. Lovely. This is a 79 pair left over. This is a 67 pair. And they both see this cell, which therefore is a naked single four.

[00:25:33]Uh, this one is six or seven as well.

[00:25:36]Can we maybe that was the last four?

[00:25:41]No, it wasn't quite. And we can't quite finish the fours. We've got a four in one of those.

[00:25:48]Four in one of these and four in one of those. And I don't think those are resolved.

[00:25:54]This digit in box four is there. So, I'm going to color these the same color.

[00:26:03]And can we promulgate that around the grid? Propagate is probably the word I'm looking for. Can't go in those three. So it's here.

[00:26:13]Then it has to be here in row four. Then it's in one of these two. Remember it can be six. So it's in one of those two.

[00:26:21]Then it has to be here.

[00:26:24]Now it's here.

[00:26:27]And then it's in one of these two. And I don't quite know. And I don't know whether it's six or seven yet.

[00:26:36]This pair has a nine in.

[00:26:39]How do I use that?

[00:26:42]I think maybe I need to be coloring other stuff. We've got five, the other digit from six, seven, and nine left to use.

[00:26:55]So, in this row, we know one of these is a five.

[00:27:05]Can that be a nine? No, that nine is looking at this cell. There we go. So, this is a nine. And this is the other digit from 67. I'm going to make it yellow.

[00:27:17]Now, that sees these two cells. So, that puts the yellow cell there. I hope I can do all these. That one sees that one.

[00:27:25]So, yellow's there. Then yellow must be here in row three.

[00:27:32]Uh, then it must be here in box. No, that might be wrong. Let's do something safer.

[00:27:43]Oh, maybe I can't carry on yellow. Oh, that that is a surprise. But that's a six seven pair. This digit can't be six.

[00:27:53]Now, that one can't be six because of this six at the top. So, yellow is seven.

[00:28:03]It's not complete. But now I can complete the orange sixes in the grid. They're all in those positions.

[00:28:12]And then I can get rid of the orange color here. Um, right.

[00:28:18]So, can I carry on with sevens? No, this is a five seven pair though. This is a 59 pair. Nine sees one of those cells.

[00:28:27]There we go. 59 there. That sorts out the five seven. We get a seven here and a nine here a sudden. And that nine sees this by knight's move. Seven and nine. This is four or five. This is seven. This one's also seven. Five and nine. And up here we've got a five pair. Ah, four and five both see that cell by knight and king's move. So that can't be five. That must be nine. This is five.

[00:29:03]This is five in the row. Nine in the row. Five in the row. That does the knight's move to here. And makes four and five resolved.

[00:29:13]That resolves five and four. Here the clone has worked. We get four. One digit to put in the corner. And that is a nine. And have I done this in either 13 or 17 minutes? No. Oh, I've done very nice time of 221 though. My favorite bugs are cicadas, says Meowetta HD. And there we go. Um, get rid of the color for the sevens. And that's a nice puzzle. A sodoku indeed that spells cicada and works out very neatly and uses those chess restrictions that so spawned the miracle sedoku so beautifully. Excellent stuff. Thank you, Meowetta. Welcome to the channel and thank you for watching. Do come back tomorrow for another variant Sudoku as you see today. They're great fun and we'd love to have you with us. Bye for now.