.
This puzzle is a morph of the first in the list of shye's or3 patterns here:
http://forum.enjoysudoku.com/fireworks-t39513-20.htmlI thought someone would use this.
For me, it's first of all a
puzzle solvable in Z6. (Notice that, even if whips are allowed, the rating doesn't change: W6.)
Remember that z-chains can be compared to both bivalue-chains and oddagons:
- like both: they have no t-candidate (at least none that is not also a z-candidate);
- like bivalue-chains but unlike oddagons: they alternate between links and csp-variables (oddagons use only csp-variables);
- like oddagons but unlike bivalue-chains: they have z-candidates.
- Code: Select all
Resolution state after Singles and whips[1]:
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
! 1 469 7 ! 2345 3456 8 ! 2349 3469 269 !
! 2 5 8 ! 34 346 9 ! 347 3467 1 !
! 3 469 49 ! 124 146 7 ! 5 8 269 !
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
! 45 7 1 ! 3459 345 2 ! 6 359 8 !
! 58 2389 239 ! 3589 7 6 ! 1 359 4 !
! 6 3489 349 ! 34589 3458 1 ! 379 2 579 !
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
! 7 1 2345 ! 68 9 34 ! 248 456 256 !
! 48 248 6 ! 178 18 5 ! 24789 479 3 !
! 9 348 345 ! 678 2 34 ! 478 1 567 !
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
9 elementary steps, the hardest being a z-chain[6]:
biv-chain[2]: c1n8{r5 r8} - c5n8{r8 r6} ==> r6c2≠8, r5c4≠8
biv-chain[3]: r9c6{n4 n3} - r7n3{c6 c3} - b7n5{r7c3 r9c3} ==> r9c3≠4
biv-chain[3]: c2n2{r8 r5} - b4n8{r5c2 r5c1} - r8c1{n8 n4} ==> r8c2≠4
z-chain[3]: c5n8{r6 r8} - r8c1{n8 n4} - r4n4{c1 .} ==> r6c5≠4
biv-chain[4]: r3n2{c9 c4} - c4n1{r3 r8} - b8n7{r8c4 r9c4} - r9n6{c4 c9} ==> r3c9≠6
biv-chain[6]: r4c1{n5 n4} - r8c1{n4 n8} - r8c5{n8 n1} - b2n1{r3c5 r3c4} - b2n2{r3c4 r1c4} - b2n5{r1c4 r1c5} ==> r4c5≠5
z-chain[6]: r3c9{n2 n9} - r1c9{n9 n6} - r9n6{c9 c4} - c4n7{r9 r8} - c4n1{r8 r3} - r3n2{c4 .} ==> r7c9≠2, r1c7≠2
biv-chain[3]: r7n8{c4 c7} - c7n2{r7 r8} - r8c2{n2 n8} ==> r8c4≠8, r8c5≠8
singles ==> r8c5=1, r8c4=7, r2c8=7, r2c5=6, r3c5=4, r2c4=3, r1c5=5, r1c4=2, r3c4=1, r2c7=4, r3c3=9, r3c2=6, r1c2=4, r3c9=2, r4c5=3, r6c5=8, r9c6=4, r7c6=3
biv-chain[3]: r4c1{n4 n5} - r4c8{n5 n9} - r8c8{n9 n4} ==> r8c1≠4
stte
There is no 1-step solution with whips or g-whips of reasonable length.There is no 2-step solution in Z6, but there are many in W6, all of which have the same whip[6] elimination of n7r9c4:
- either after a whip[5] elimination:
whip[5]: r4c1{n5 n4} - r8c1{n4 n8} - c5n8{r8 r6} - r6n5{c5 c4} - r6n4{c4 .} ==> r4c8≠5
whip[6]: c4n6{r9 r7} - r7n8{c4 c7} - r9c7{n8 n4} - r7c8{n4 n5} - c9n5{r9 r6} - c9n7{r6 .} ==> r9c4≠7
stte
- or at the start:
whip[6]: c4n6{r9 r7} - r7n8{c4 c7} - r9c7{n8 n4} - r7c8{n4 n5} - c9n5{r9 r6} - c9n7{r6 .} ==> r9c4≠7
singles ==> r8c4=7, r8c5=1, r3c4=1, r1c4=2, r1c5=5, r3c9=2, r6c5=8, r2c8=7, r2c5=6, r3c5=4, r2c4=3, r2c7=4, r3c3=9, r3c2=6, r1c2=4, r4c5=3
In the latter case, there are lots of possible second steps in W6 (by increasing order of complexity):
biv-chain[3]: c1n4{r4 r8} - r8c8{n4 n9} - r4c8{n9 n5} ==> r4c1≠5
stte
biv-chain[3]: c1n4{r4 r8} - r8c8{n4 n9} - r4n9{c8 c4} ==> r4c4≠4
stte
biv-chain[3]: r4c8{n9 n5} - c1n5{r4 r5} - r5c4{n5 n9} ==> r4c4≠9, r5c8≠9
stte
biv-chain[3]: r4c1{n4 n5} - r4c8{n5 n9} - r8c8{n9 n4} ==> r8c1≠4
stte
biv-chain[3]: r4c8{n9 n5} - r4c1{n5 n4} - r8n4{c1 c8} ==> r8c8≠9
stte
biv-chain[4]: r8c1{n8 n4} - r8c8{n4 n9} - r4c8{n9 n5} - b4n5{r4c1 r5c1} ==> r5c1≠8
stte
biv-chain[4]: c1n4{r4 r8} - r8c8{n4 n9} - r4n9{c8 c4} - b5n4{r4c4 r6c4} ==> r6c3≠4, r4c4≠4
stte
biv-chain[4]: r8c1{n8 n4} - r4c1{n4 n5} - r4c8{n5 n9} - b9n9{r8c8 r8c7} ==> r8c7≠8
whip[1]: r8n8{c2 .} ==> r9c2≠8
stte
z-chain[4]: r8c8{n4 n9} - r4c8{n9 n5} - r4c1{n5 n4} - r8n4{c1 .} ==> r7c8≠4, r8c8≠9, r8c1≠4
with z-candidates = n4r8c8
stte
whip[4]: c1n5{r5 r4} - r4c8{n5 n9} - r8c8{n9 n4} - c1n4{r8 .} ==> r5c4≠5
stte
whip[4]: r8c1{n8 n4} - r8c8{n4 n9} - r4c8{n9 n5} - r4c1{n5 .} ==> r9c2≠8
stte
whip[4]: c4n4{r6 r4} - c1n4{r4 r8} - r8c8{n4 n9} - r4n9{c8 .} ==> r6c4≠5
stte
whip[5]: r5n8{c2 c1} - c1n5{r5 r4} - r4c8{n5 n9} - r8c8{n9 n4} - r8c1{n4 .} ==> r5c2≠9
stte
whip[5]: r6n5{c9 c4} - c4n4{r6 r4} - c1n4{r4 r8} - r8c8{n4 n9} - r4n9{c8 .} ==> r6c9≠7
stte
whip[5]: r6c3{n3 n4} - c4n4{r6 r4} - c1n4{r4 r8} - r8c8{n4 n9} - r4n9{c8 .} ==> r6c2≠3
stte
whip[5]: r6n5{c9 c4} - c4n4{r6 r4} - c1n4{r4 r8} - r8c8{n4 n9} - r4n9{c8 .} ==> r9c9≠5
stte
whip[6]: r9n5{c3 c9} - r6n5{c9 c4} - c4n4{r6 r4} - c1n4{r4 r8} - r8c8{n4 n9} - r4n9{c8 .} ==> r7c3≠5
stte
whip[6]: c9n7{r9 r6} - r6n5{c9 c4} - c4n4{r6 r4} - c1n4{r4 r8} - r8c8{n4 n9} - r4n9{c8 .} ==> r9c7≠7
stte