RULES : Classic sudoku rules apply. Shaded 3x3 squares are magic squares. The sum of the numbers in all rows, columns and two diagonals should be equal in a magic square.
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Puzzle No. 500: Arrow-Sum Sandwich-Kropki Pairs Sudoku
Hi all. It really feels great to reach 500 Sudokus on my blog. When I started the blog, I never imagined I would come this far. To celebra...
6:10, it seems that the classic part was harder as compared to the variant part
ReplyDelete17:08. Was solving this variant for the first time. Was completely clueless for the first 5 minutes!
ReplyDeleteIf you know the properties of a magic square , it won't take you so long.
Delete7:24.Just when I thought that this was again going to be case of a difficult classic part, noticed a pair and also used uniqueness to solve the sudoku. Beautiful construction.
ReplyDeleteThanks kishore. A bit slow . I expected around 5 minutes from you.
DeleteFor me magic part was more difficult compared to classic part. Hard one.
ReplyDeleteBasically, if you are aware of the positions of the digits in a magic square , you will not find it very difficult..
DeleteYou can do the magic square part first, without working anywhere else on the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteMagic squares really are that restrictive. Applying both the magic squares and the sudoku restrictions, and switching when you get stuck will solve both squares.
Non spoiler hint for those struggling with the squares.
The numbers from 1-9 (which are all present in the square) sum to 45. Given this fact, which is easily verified, there is only one possible sum to share between all 3 rows, or all 3 columns. Figuring out this sum (or just googling 3x3 magic square) allows you to deduce enough further restrictions to solve the magic squares with the givens.