Sudoku Puzzles

• Very Cagey
• Cages up the Magoo
• Thermopile
• Shy Thermopile
• Shyest Thermopile

Very Cagey

Rules:

Normal sudoku rules apply. All cages, denoted by a non-white region enclosed by a greenish border, have the same sum, and may not contain repeated digits. All cages have different contents. Orange crosses are white kropke dots, the cells have a difference of one. Black crosses are black kropke dots, one of the cells is double the other. Partial negative contstraint - within cages, all kropke dots are given. Colours mean nothing, they're just to make the cages clearer.

Difficulty: 2/5. Time: 30-40 minutes.

Image created in Sven's amazing SudokuPad.

Solution here, worked solution here

Cages Up The Magoo

Rules:

Normal sudoku rules apply. All cages, denoted by a non-white region enclosed by a greenish border, have the same sum, and may not contain repeated digits. All cages have different contents. Orange crosses are white kropke dots: the cells have a difference of one. Black crosses are black kropke dots: one of the cells is double the other. Partial negative contstraint - within cages, all kropke dots are given. Colours mean nothing, they're just to make the cages clearer.

Difficulty: 1/5-2/5. Time: 25-30 minutes.

Image created in Sven's amazing SudokuPad.

Solution here, worked solution here. Aside: "magoo" is nothing to do with Mark, it's a reference to how code golfers sometimes blindly modify their code to make it smaller, a technique I used to help fit in all the cages.

Thermopile

Rules:

Normal sudoku rules apply. The numbers outside the grid are the sum of the longest possible thermometer that could be drawn in the grid perpendicular to that edge, with its bulb in the edge cell. Digits in thermometers increase in value along their length away from the bulb.

Difficulty: 1/5-2/5. Time: 25-30 minutes.

Image based on a template created in Sven's amazing SudokuPad.

Solution here, with some colour marking the thermos here, and a worked solution here.

While I was getting some practice to help me with the next puzzle, Shy Thermopile, I enjoyed solving a bunch of these - here are a few of my favourites.

Shy Thermopile

Rules:

Normal sudoku rules apply. The numbers outside the grid are the sum of the longest possible thermometer that could be drawn in the grid perpendicular to that edge, with its bulb in the edge cell. A solo bulb is not a real thermometer, and in precisely those cases no sum is listed. As always, digits in thermometers increase in value along their length away from the bulb. The glyph in the corner of box 5 is a thermometer of 2 cells. The shading in some of the edge cells corresponds to the lack of a real thermometer starting in that cell and lack of number outside the grid, it is purely cosmetic.

Difficulty: 2/5-3/5. Time: 40-50 minutes.

Image based on a template created in Sven's amazing SudokuPad.

Solution here, with some colour marking the thermos here, and a worked solution here.

I enjoyed solving a bunch of these - here are a few of my favourites.

Shyest Thermopile

Rules:

Normal sudoku rules apply. The numbers outside the grid are the sum of the longest possible thermometer that could be drawn in the grid perpendicular to that edge, with its bulb in the edge cell. A solo bulb is not a real thermometer, and in precisely those cases no sum is listed. As always, digits in thermometers increase in value along their length away from the bulb.

Difficulty: 2/5-3/5. Time: 45-60 minutes.

Solution here, and a worked solution coming soon.