The Arkenstone: The Sudoku Quest

** THE LORD OF THE RINGS SUDOKU HUNT TODAY **
At 4pm UK time this afternoon we launched the sudoku event of the summer. Blobz' puzzles and Ted Nasmith artistry combined in one of the most beautiful, approachable and fun hunts we've ever published. Get hyped!!! Teaser puzzle here:

https://sudokupad.app/blobz/a-long-ex...

** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
To celebrate the release of our new June reward on Patreon, The Lord Of The Rings sudoku hunt by Blobz, tonight we're attempting Blobz' sudoku, The Arkenstone - based on the previous Tolkien book, The Hobbit!

We know the ruleset for this one is a bit tricky but stick with it and read the rules carefully - the puzzle is excellent.

Play the puzzle at the link below:
https://sudokupad.app/blobz/the-arken...

Rules:
Bilbo Bobbins is on a quest to, uh, "procure" the Arkenstone (R5C5) that sits in Dragon Snyder's Lair (a 2x2 region in box 5) under Logic Mountain.

R9C1 marks the entrance to the Whispering Tunnels: an orthogonally connected region leading to the lair. Adjacent digits along the tunnels (and deadends) differ by at least 5. The path from start to lair (ignoring deadends) is 26 cells.

With Arkenstone acquired, Bilbo must escape through the Modular Passage, that begins on the opposite side of the lair and leads to a secret door exiting the mountain (R5C9). Every set of three digits along this passage (which does not branch) must contain one each from the sets {1,4,7}, {2,5,8}, and {3,6,9}. The total sum of digits along this "Secret" passage is 45.

Normal sudoku rules apply.

Shade some cells ("walls") and leave others unshaded ("tunnels", "lair", "passage") such that no 2x2 region (except the lair) is fully shaded or unshaded. Also, there are no "checkerboard" patterns of shaded/unshaded cells, i.e. the unshaded region does not touch itself diagonally. All wall cells must be in orthogonally connected groups with at least one cell at the grid's edge. All caged cells are either tunnel or passage.

The digit in the cage, plus its modifier, indicates how many unshaded cells (including itself) can be seen orthogonally from that position (walls block sight). E.g., if a cage contains a 7 and has a "-2" modifier, then that cell can "see" 5 unshaded cells total (including itself).

** NEW SUDOKU HUNT ON PATREON **
Simon's solve of Sky-Skyscraper by Phistomefel has just been uploaded for our patrons.

Other treats on Patreon include:

- Glum Hippo's Snake Egg sudoku hunt - our May reward;
- the Sumgeons & Diagrams sudoku by sunnyjum;
- Simon's latest forays into the world of Islands Of Insight;
- Mark's video looking at the new OneUp puzzle from Rodolfo Kurchan;
- his solve of Region Geometry by Emre Kolotoğlu (3hr 36min long...!);
- and Mark's latest solve of The Times Club Monthly cryptic crossword

  / crackingthecryptic  

▶ SUDOKU PAD - Use Our Software For Your Puzzles ◀

You can input classic sudoku puzzles into our software and help support Sven, the programmer responsible for the wonderful user interface we all use to play these puzzles everyday. The app also comes with 12 handmade puzzles from us:

iOS:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/svens-s...

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/17...
Android:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...

ALSO on Amazon: Search for “SudokuPad”

▶ Contents Of This Video ◀

0:00 Theme music & puzzle intro
0:35 The Lord Of The Rings Sudoku Hunt
2:24 Bonus puzzle from Blobz
5:50 Rules
12:45 Start of Solve: Let's Get Cracking

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Simon Anthony & Mark Goodliffe
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