The Monster From The Jaws Of Hell

Рет қаралды 73,536

3 жыл бұрын

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Today's puzzle.... what can we say about it... it could lay claim to being the best sudoku puzzle we've ever seen. And we've seen a LOT. It's also one of the most difficult. It's by TotallyNormalCat and it's called Crossroads. (The last few minutes of the video are not solving but something some of you requested yesterday!) You can play the puzzle at the link below:
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Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. Grey lines are palindromes and must read the same in both directions. Clues outside the grid give the sum of the digits along the indicated diagonal. Digits may repeat along such a diagonal (if allowed by other rules). No two cells in the same position relative to their box (eg r1c1 and r4c4) may contain the same digit.
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/ crackingthecryptic
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▶SOFTWARE◀
Play the puzzle in the video by clicking the link under the video (above). We are building a website which will allow you to enter your own sudoku puzzles into the software and this is coming soon!
▶Logo Design◀
Melvyn Mainini
▶ABOUT US◀
Hi! We're Simon Anthony and Mark Goodliffe, two of the UK's most enthusiastic puzzle solvers. We have both represented the UK at the World Sudoku Championships and the World Puzzle Championships.
Thank you for watching!
Simon and Mark

Пікірлер: 452

@GeoffCanyon 3 жыл бұрын

Proof Simon is the world’s greatest optimist: “Those of you who solved it, leave a comment below.”

@longwaytotipperary 3 жыл бұрын

LOL!!!!!!

@steveamsp 3 жыл бұрын

At least there was no negative constraint on that...

@carasynthiadune9842 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah the KZfaq algorithm rewards engagement so he really shot himself in the foot on that one...

@puppetsock 2 жыл бұрын

He *NEVER* uses pairs in a box. He gets 56 56 and it takes hime 10 minutes to remove the 6 from the 6789. Blargh! Tempted to click off.

@Moolers Жыл бұрын

Many of us do solve them, but we usually take twice as long as Simon.

@Pigeon0fDoom 3 жыл бұрын

I was casting this on the TV, and my wife was reading. Or was supposed to be reading. We watched the break in and she said "this is not for mortals". Simon.. what are you?

@Sujisan4 3 жыл бұрын

At this point, I'm starting to think he's not mortal

@capistro5 3 жыл бұрын

Or just a nice alien?

@Sujisan4 3 жыл бұрын

@@capistro5 I'm thinking he's a god.

@Valentyn007 3 жыл бұрын

Simon is Artificial Intelligence trained in Google's dungeons :)

@stefanhermansen8975 3 жыл бұрын

There are theories of course, but so far nobody has been both clever enough to figure it out and stupid enough to not realize why that kind of information shouldn't be public knowledge.

@PixieCinnanom 3 жыл бұрын

What I really like about the channel is ... for how impossible these puzzles seem, I think I can always follow the logic as it's being explained. Most of the time, I can't even come close to _finding_ the logic myself (certainly not on something like this), but you do such a good job explaining each step as you go along, that nothing ever seems out of the blue.

@Jabarri74 3 жыл бұрын

Even the logic lost me at about expanded mephisto cage when he started cancelling colours

@IanSlothieRolfe 3 жыл бұрын

Especially Simon, I find that Mark moves so quickly I can't always follow his logic, but he's still amazing to watch.

@StorymasterQ 3 жыл бұрын

@@Jabarri74 If you mean the Expanded Phistomephel's Ring, you could start by looking around the net (or somewhere in this channel) for the explanation of the original Phistomophel's Ring. Can't blame you for being lost, though. Set Theory is a branch of math I'm not comfortable with, myself.

@danielmeehan4213 3 жыл бұрын

Once upon a video dreary Long I pondered weak and weary Over a hard sudoku that would not crack. A sudden gust blew open the shutters And in the window there then fluttered An ancient raven who perched upon a clothing rack. As I stared at this intruder I asked "Could this bird tutor Me to find a solution track?" Quoth the raven: "Quack!" But when I looked into it's eyes My mind seemed to be hypnotized And images unbidden came to me. Diamonds and rings of Phistomefel Formed before me - seemed to tell The way to add some digits to the grid. In a fever, for an hour Labored I with unknown power Until the puzzle was only half done. The I shouted "Demon bird! Tell me now another word That will let me complete this task!" Quoth the raven: "OK Alexa! Tell him how to finish it!" Quoth Alexa: "I thought you'd never ask!" (Sorry - Edgar Allen Poe I'm not!)

@blabla-rg7ky 3 жыл бұрын

pfff, FINE! Have an upvote for the rhymes! Also, huh ?!?

@castafiorept7309 3 жыл бұрын

This is fantastic.

@Ursichan 2 жыл бұрын

I love this!!

@senseipo 2 жыл бұрын

Maverick instead of raven 😜

@karissajohnson7961 3 жыл бұрын

Quoth the Simon: this cell's a four

@Coyotek4 3 жыл бұрын

Because the Thermo, never more.

@TheokeS85 3 жыл бұрын

7:07 “Everything here is average!” Not true! Your ability to solve these incredible puzzles and on top of that explain how you do it is certainly above average…

@etienneschramm83 3 жыл бұрын

And the talent required to compose such a thing is indeed very far from average.

@richardfarrer5616 3 жыл бұрын

I took one look at the length of the video - then I took another look to confirm it - and then I sat down and watched the solve because I knew I was going to get nowhere. I'm delighted that i could occasionally take some line Simon suggested and work it out while it was being explained, but that's my limit for this puzzle. Still, the puzzles, the solve, and some poetry combine to make this the best video I've seen it the two years I've been watching CtC.

@amoswittenbergsmusings 3 жыл бұрын

Rest assured, the next _best CtC video so far_ will be coming soon. These setters and solvers are Totally Fearless Animals.

@jsadvent8240 3 жыл бұрын

Simon, I am in awe of your willingness to risk appearing a fool, yet persevering -- scanning, coloring, enduring mocking ducks, and resolving average little killer diagonals -- all the way to the solution. [Have you considered tackling world peace? ;-D]

@shawnward6607 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you Simon and Mark... for going through the weeds... so we learning solvers can watch excellent logic and solves and a few minor "Boobins"(Bobbins? EDIT yikes beansed that one up). I know it makes me happy seeing a monster solve all live at once.

@richardfarrer5616 3 жыл бұрын

I think he prefers to stick with things that might challenge him.

@BozoTheBear 3 жыл бұрын

I often ask hypothetical "Have you considered..." questions of Simon! As a mathematician, I'd be quite happy if he got interested in some of the problems I'm trying to solve!

@ericwiddison7523 3 жыл бұрын

Come for the Sudoku. Stay for the convoluted layers of set theory.

@malvoliosf 3 жыл бұрын

“This is a joke. This is not fair. Everything is average.”

@boman987 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like my life.

@paulmdt1 3 жыл бұрын

The wise person accepts that, on average, one's life can never be better than average.

@malvoliosf 3 жыл бұрын

@@paulmdt1 “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” ― George Bernard Shaw,

@StephanSpelde 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I'm gonna need this on some merch!!!

@RageDG391 3 жыл бұрын

Simon's ASMR poem reading in the outro deserves an exlusive playlist.

@longwaytotipperary 3 жыл бұрын

Agree!

@nickthompson1812 2 жыл бұрын

Loved it.

@billleiker5314 3 жыл бұрын

"tell me what I could have done better?". As you tap dance down the road of life juggling phistomaphel rings and disjoint sets, I am reminded to try and chew my bubblegum as I walk, What you do in your head I fail to do with excel spreadsheets. Keep putting out the great content, including the culture in the intros and outros. Well done sir.

@longwaytotipperary 3 жыл бұрын

A puzzle made for Simon's genius + a poem made for Simon's voice! Double pleasure!

@lexmakesstuff 3 жыл бұрын

That cry of utter despair when Simon thought he had a deadly pattern at the end made me feel so bad for him. And then the delight of solving it after noticing the disjoint set, great end to a great puzzle.

@srwapo 3 жыл бұрын

"I want to do a sudoku today" The Monster From the Jaws of Hell "Well, maybe not"

@KyleBaran90 3 жыл бұрын

At least it's from the jaws of hell and not the bowels

@ragnkja 3 жыл бұрын

To compensate, Mark posted a very approachable classic sudoku.

@emdes54 3 жыл бұрын

"This is really horribly complicated" is the understatement of the year. I can barely follow his logic, but I do love to watch it.

@loqueestamal3465 3 жыл бұрын

"I want these squares to cease being purple but I also want to cease them from being blue." When logic.exe takes up all the RAM and grammar.exe starts glitching.

@briannelson605 3 жыл бұрын

CTC The movie part 4. Grab some popcorn 🍿

@jovaji72 3 жыл бұрын

🍿? Today deserves a whole 🍕

@JohnSmith-il3iv 3 жыл бұрын

Woohoo. I can't wait to watch this

@derekfordyce9 3 жыл бұрын

Aww yees

@aleksandartasevski1576 3 жыл бұрын

Solves one of the most difficult puzzles. A minute later, "tell me what could i've done better".😄 Can you do some more of Edgar? It was fantastic.

@noclearreaction 3 жыл бұрын

1:00:48 I am amazed that just after Simon has spent what feels like 15 minutes doing amazing logic proving that the yellow squares cannot contain 3 sixes due to there being a six in the purple/red squares; fails to use that 6 to disambiguate the symmetry of the 5-6 pairs.

@Sarlat6 3 жыл бұрын

He didn’t notice the 7 in box 9 fixing the 57 in box 3. I really think it’s the colours that mess up scanning. The 7 on the red/purple backing is hard to see.

@noclearreaction 3 жыл бұрын

@@Sarlat6 I can understand that he misses the scanning, there are a lot of pencil marks going on at this point. But he literally spent 10 minutes speaking about how the six (that ended up in box 1) forced there to be no more than 2 sixes in the yellows. And then don't use it to disambiguate box 7. I am no good at this, so the only reason I knew was that he literally told me a few moments earlier :D

@MsMargottM 3 жыл бұрын

Every time there's a puzzle by TotallyNormalCat on the channel, I feel like the rules should read "Totally normal sudoku rules apply." Anyway, great video as always!

@CrackingTheCryptic 3 жыл бұрын

Next time I'm doing that :) :)

@Zardox2 3 жыл бұрын

🤣🤣🤣🐱👍

@mrmosaic7996 Жыл бұрын

It's too funny not to be a channel's meme.

@KyleMc16 3 жыл бұрын

"I need more joy here" -Simon "Marie Kondo" Sudokuman

@arnoudh6203 3 жыл бұрын

Simon Sudokuman😂

@mister-8658 3 жыл бұрын

1 hour 1 minute and 30 seconds "oh, oh, look! Sudoku is Finally helping me!"

@w0rmery867 3 жыл бұрын

i'm halfway through the video and completely fascinated. brilliant job simon (and totallynormalcat)!

@britlion 3 жыл бұрын

Cracking the cryptic merch bad idea: "I beat totallynormalcat's crossroads" t shirt You'll sell one. To Simon.

@RaynmanPlays 3 жыл бұрын

There were a few things I managed to catch before Simon, but I also wasn't draining every single brain cell for 45 minutes before they popped up. An absolute legend of a solver.

@idannen 3 жыл бұрын

It looks like Simon is drawing sigils in the grid to invoke a demon to let him into the puzzle at first.

@cliffthecrafter 3 жыл бұрын

He's invoking Phistomefel

@danielepicone1480 3 жыл бұрын

@@cliffthecrafter This comment seriously made me chuckle!

@mmrrxx2000 3 жыл бұрын

We Totally need a Totally Normal Cat set video for this absolute monstruosity

@billbliss7407 3 жыл бұрын

Every time Simon solves one of these puzzles considered impossible by mere mortals like myself, he proves he is more than the equal of those geniuses creating them. Simply amazing.

@Sam_on_YouTube 3 жыл бұрын

At 56 minutes in, I was able to figure out a single thing you had not seen yet and cracked 3 more digits. I am proud of that small accomplishment. You got it 2 minutes later.

@gd_5526 3 жыл бұрын

When you’re not solving amazing puzzles you should be an audiobook narrator 😀 what a beautiful expressive voice you have.

@bertbergers9171 3 жыл бұрын

i actually started wondering if the poem would be there in the end, the way you talkes us through the intro. As i in the fact from seeing the video should know you solved it and thus the poem would be there. You are very good at telling stories! And solving unholy difficult puzzles!! Congrats Simon, great one!

@lukesokhal883 3 жыл бұрын

I'm lost for words.... how on earth do you possibly spot that logic????? Simon is a genius!

@Scanlaid 3 жыл бұрын

Jokes aside, I would like tiny little Simon voiceovers to his favorite poems and such. Crypting the Cracktic second channel for out-there unrelated videos?

@amoswittenbergsmusings 3 жыл бұрын

I second that. There is ample room for Life, the Universe and Everything as a spin-off.

@Anne_Mahoney 3 жыл бұрын

Great idea -- I'd subscribe in a heartbeat.

@sanfransam8954 3 жыл бұрын

I have been watching Simon solve these monstrously hard puzzles since about 250K subscribers and I have come to the conclusion that if he had gone into biochemistry he would have found a cure for cancer by now.

@jwolfe01234 3 жыл бұрын

I think every time Simon got stuck, he needed to find something with normal sudoku. I imagine how amazing it would be if Simon teamed up with someone expert at scanning and did a speed solve. People seeing a 20 minute video expecting an easy puzzle would be disappointed.

@evelieningels9408 3 жыл бұрын

That'd be awful, I always look for the 20 min vids to see which ones I might be able to solve in 2 hours

@Sujisan4 3 жыл бұрын

Ok, so TotallyNormalCat is on the level of Phistomefel, imo.

@flabort 3 жыл бұрын

To be fair, I don't think TNC would have been able to set this without the set theory rings that Phistomefel set in place, which Simon has proven time and again in these puzzles. But, that's true, both are geniuses of terrifying intellect.

@Sujisan4 3 жыл бұрын

@@flabort You are probably correct.

@aidarosullivan5269 3 жыл бұрын

I think the difference is that Phistomefel mixes up old familiar logic in intricate, but very understandable way (after you get a hang on it). TNC, on the other hand, is aiming at pushing the boundaries of what human mind can solve without breaking, forcing the solver to think outside the box and create new neural pathways

@HaitiLeonidas 3 жыл бұрын

If TotallyNormalCat and Phistomefel ever collaborate, our galaxy will implode.

@Sujisan4 3 жыл бұрын

@@HaitiLeonidas That puzzle would probably be the greatest sudoku to ever exist.

@andrewgrant6516 3 жыл бұрын

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting that a unique solve with these rules could be found at all.

@jounik 3 жыл бұрын

That break-in was sublime. (It's a good thing the poem is about Lenore, not Alexa though.)

@magnuspahlsson3531 3 жыл бұрын

Someone will get Alexa as a new setting name!

@payprplayn 3 жыл бұрын

quoth alexa "I cannot connect to your wifi network"

@prestoiidx 3 жыл бұрын

This puzzle was insane but brilliant, some of the logic I wasn't able to follow, if there's ever a video that would warrant a commentary explaining the your logic throughout the video, it would be this one. I think I can speak for a lot of people when I say we'd love a video like that.

@ChrisConnett 3 жыл бұрын

Puzzle's feasibility unseeming, Simon solves with clever theming, yet alas it was the reading that left my jaw upon the floor.

@theashen 3 жыл бұрын

The fact that Simon will see the most absolutely horrifically hard thing, and then finds the hard way to do the simplest things too, gives me hope. Absolutely incredible solve.

@nozzle-yt 3 жыл бұрын

I always find it fascinating how Simon fail to realise "simple" sudoku rules, once he start dwelling on his fast amount of puzzle knowledge to come up with extraordinary logic, leaving him to be completly focused, and unable to transition between clever solutions, and simple solutions. Kinda reminds me of a race of cleverness, and once the hard part is no longer required, he keeps seeking for the next "clever solution" though the simple onces have now presented them self. Can't imagine the years of puzzle solving experiences, to require all of this knowledge, and logic deduction. Really enjoyable, despite when my mortal logic catches on, just eagerly waiting for you to see it too :) For info, my logic caught on with the 6-7 presented, But it was a joy to witness

@idannen 3 жыл бұрын

Oh my god the thumbnail. Suddenly there came a tapping, tapping on the devil's door. Quoth the Simon: nevermore?

@ajfizzlesticks5423 3 жыл бұрын

Omg you’re right- the thumbnail is incredible

@KevFrost 3 жыл бұрын

Ah distinctly I remember, twas in the middle of June When the intro turned to a bright piano tune

@JuanMataCFC 3 жыл бұрын

i feel like Simon would make an excellent teacher. there is zero chance in hell i would've come up with any of the logic he used to solve this puzzle, but him talking thru it was more than enough to understand & follow his train of thought. that's one of the reasons i keep coming back to this channel everyday, to see a master at work not only solve a puzzle i probably never could, but also make me understand how he did so!

@HunterJE 3 жыл бұрын

Re: the "deadly pattern" at the end: One interesting side effect of the box-positions disjoint sets rule is if the pairs of cells in a simple "aligned-pairs" deadly pattern do not occupy the exact same pairs of positions in their respective boxes, the pattern is not deadly and will be resolved by the disjoint sets.

@HunterJE 3 жыл бұрын

I love thinking about the aesthetic choices setters make on how to indicate things that could be indicated in multiple different ways, "does this look better with two-cell palindromes or one-cell arrows or what?"

@thoughtbyte 3 жыл бұрын

I was just faced with this choice recently, even spent some time comparing the different arrows and lines in different software.

@reddragon3132 3 жыл бұрын

I personally would've made one of the two cell palindromes 3 cells (adding a middle digit does nothing) just to annoy the people that would care about the symmetry and aesthetics

@ajfizzlesticks5423 3 жыл бұрын

By the title alone I am excited to see this solve! Edit: Well, already Simon is saying it’s impossible, so I’m even more excited to see him solve it now!

@ajfizzlesticks5423 3 жыл бұрын

(Also who disliked the video already? How rude! >:( )

@bobblebardsley 3 жыл бұрын

This is one of the most beautiful puzzles I've seen on this channel, both in terms of the logic and the symmetry and simplicity of the starting grid.

@glum_hippo 6 ай бұрын

re-watching after nearly 30 months. What a great puzzle. TotallyNormalCat, you are greatly missed and I hope you're still thinking about setting puzzles again in future.

@margaretsinclair6697 3 жыл бұрын

The subset of what Simon knows and all the clever stuff out there is fairly large. On the other end of the scale is me thinking, ‘That’s a pretty snowflake!’

@Sam_on_YouTube 3 жыл бұрын

I spent about 10 minutes stairing at this trying to find the beginning of a way to explore how to approach a break-in. Nope. Turned on the video.

@emilywilliams3237 Жыл бұрын

Touring old videos, I came across this one. First, Totally Normal Cat is an amazing genius. Full stop. Second, You are an amazing genius, Simon. I love that you could entirely explain the set theory, could discover the multiple layers of disjoint sets (not only the ones mentioned in the rules themselves, but others deriving from them, and the tiny little palindromes), could explain everything so clearly, belied by your actual scanning prowess your disclaimer that you were not good at disjoint ... and solve this amazing puzzle. I was in the mood today to watch something miraculous, and here it is. Thank you. But wait, there's more - I think I have read The Raven myself several times, but never gotten out of it what I did in listening to you read it at the end of this video. That alone is worth the price of admission. Simon, take a bow. (I have no idea whether you are notified of comments on these older videos, but I place this here to register my admiration regardless of whether anyone ever sees it.)

@JohnSmith-vz2cp 2 жыл бұрын

I want a T-shirt with a picture of Simon jumping across a canyon filled with crocodiles using sudoku boards as stepping stones.

@4thright 3 жыл бұрын

Never been so panicked by a video length as today, when around 1:10:00 it was (apparently) clear that it was about to solve and there was still more than 10 minutes left in the video. I got so worried for Simon that something unseen had gone horribly wrong and would have to get ripped apart. But no, it is just several relaxing minutes of The Raven to calm me back down after a satisfactory conclusion.

@MrSoccerboy5411 3 жыл бұрын

Can we all agree that we need more EAP readings by Simon!

@xaviarthunders4894 3 жыл бұрын

Only 20 minutes in and I'm seeing a million quadruples. Highs and lows. Simon hasn't seen it so I am 100% positive I am on a wrong path here.

@hydra147147 3 жыл бұрын

I think the way to go after 40:00 is to realise (as Simon did) that 1, 2, 3, 4 cannot go in the palindromes and then ask where 4 can go in the blue-green squares. The one with the 4 can yield a killer sum of minimum 4+5+6=15 and there is exactly one diagonal with the sum at least 15.

@JaharNarishma 8 ай бұрын

I did not expect that ending. It is fitting given Simon's aptitude for spontaneous poetry recital when stumped.

@ZachPeacock 3 жыл бұрын

This one was so fun to watch and try to solve along with Simon. I am truly in awe with how many variations of set theory these outstanding setters use. Kudos on both the setting and solve!

@MarushiaDark316 3 жыл бұрын

The only thing better than seeing Simon solve this puzzle is listening to his recitation of "The Raven."

@wade_23 3 жыл бұрын

Have a go at the puzzle the link is under the video. .... yyeeeeahhh I’m gonna sit this one out

@jfirth816 3 жыл бұрын

New channel motto maybe? "Come for the Sudoku, stay for the ASMR 19th century American poetry."

@Pigeon0fDoom 3 жыл бұрын

@31:00 we talked about this Simon. Be nice for yourself.

@ClemensKatzer 3 жыл бұрын

Only five have solved it, mostly all of them known to be master solvers, and they state, "perhaps the most difficult sudoku I've ever done" ... so, Simon, you can't say you haven't been warned! It's amazing that you manage to do this on a live solve. What probably many of us would want to know: how many puzzles did you try and didn't manage to solve, so no video came out of it. One for every 10 videos, one for every 50, ... ?

@MiguelOliveira87 3 жыл бұрын

Simon does incredible logic deductions, but then it's somewhat funny to see him miss the simple sudoku :) this video was incredible to watch, I've been binge watching the videos on the channel. Please keep going!

@Jukka70 2 жыл бұрын

I felt so bad for you Simon, but I have to admit, when you said, "and if you were to add on to the Venn Diagram, things known by Simon", I was dying of laughter. Honestly Simon, you need to give yourself more credit then you do. The fact that you are able to see all of these intricate designs is phenomenal.

@HaitiLeonidas 3 жыл бұрын

I want a petition to change the name TotallyNormalCat into BastetCatGoddess. Only Gods and Immortals can build the sudoku equivalent of the mathematical formula of the kaleidoscope. The Monster From the Jaws of Hell, indeed!

@SonicGamesPlayer 3 жыл бұрын

I usually watch CTC videos before going to sleep. It's just such a wonderful way to end my day - lying in bed and watching these videos. And I love when they are that long - feels like a detective movie :)

@andrewnelson2525 3 жыл бұрын

I couldn't get the break-in, but after watching the proof of the greater Phistomefel ring I was able to work through the rest. Not seeing the break-in myself depressed me, but seeing the difficulty the rest gave Simon, which I did manage to solve, cheered me up quite a bit.

@Raven-Creations 2 жыл бұрын

Classic Simon. After a great break in, he's floundering around trying to find some disjoint set rule to resolve the symmetry. Had he looked up when he placed the 7 in box 9, he'd have resolved it for free. With disjoint sets, it's even more important than usual to check after every placement, because spotting conflicts later on is just a fool's errand. Great puzzle, I thought I'd already done this when it came out, but apparently not.

@MrKyltpzyxm 3 жыл бұрын

I've heard that an average person can hold about 7 different things in active memory. I can only assume that Simon, and the creators of all of these insane puzzles have an array of additional brains hidden away somewhere. I get the same feeling when watching chess masters describe a set of branching choices of moves ten steps out. It just doesn't seem possible to think that far and wide without dropping anything. I can barely remember a phone number in the time it takes to find a pencil, let alone an interlocking set of half a dozen distinct, logically consistent, potential trains of thought that each contain multiple branches and stops of their own. I am in awe.

@alienrenders 3 жыл бұрын

Tried it for a couple hours yesterday. Couldn't get the second digit in. Figured out a lot, but couldn't get any further. Today, I took another stab at it and finished it in 85:24. Getting that second digit is brutal. Heck, getting the first digit is quite insane. The disjoint set eliminating the 12's from the palindromes is what I simply couldn't see yesterday. Today, it was like the seas parted and the way forward just opened up before me. It was such an epiphany. Gotta watch the video now. I really have to see how Simon did this one. edit: I'm watching at @49:00 and Simon is just floundering around. You got past the point where I got stuck. The break-in is determining that 1234 cannot go onto the palindromes. You've reached that point. The puzzle is solvable now. You know each pair of palindromes in each box has at least 56 on it. What does that add up to? 11. But only one small little killer is 15. That's the only one that allows a 4. That's the second digit that I was so happy to get that I mentioned above in my original comment. Weird that Simon got the 1234 removal from the palindromes fairly easy. That's where I got stuck. But the easy stuff, he loses sight of. This is not a criticism. Just an observation. I think Simon just got blindsided by too much math. Now, let's see how much longer it takes him to see it :) Really enjoying this video BTW. After struggling with it for so long, it's somewhat nice to see I wasn't alone in struggling with it. (edit2: YAY! He got it at @51:42, but Simon's scanning is completely shot. 20 minutes to use the 6 and 7. That's very unusual for Simon I have to say.) Interestingly, I got the 1234's in row 5 and column 5 FIRST. You can do some fancy colouring and math to get there. Simon's way was much more elegant. You do need the expanded phisto ring later though.

@britlion 3 жыл бұрын

This is the lockpicking sudoku presenter and here we are going to try to crack this master sudoku open. Got a click out of five in the middle there. 1234 is in a false set. 6789 is binding. Got a little rotation (symmetry) now.....

@mitnehmerrippe 3 жыл бұрын

Petition: Let Simon become an audiobook narrator!

@mahmoudabdelghany7112 3 жыл бұрын

Can't ask for more. Genius puzzle, genius solve from the great Simon, and the poem at the end. This channel has added real joy to my everyday

@Kirk_N 3 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure I could put "impossibly difficult" and "fair" in the same sentence.

@joestacey6185 3 жыл бұрын

I would love to see a reaction video from the constructor to one of these CtC solves. I imagine it would be fun watching someone go through your puzzle.

@drewhickcox4611 3 жыл бұрын

Simon keeps calling it "the original red set" when the squares are currently all purple...

@d4r4butler74 3 жыл бұрын

It was the Original Purple Set all along.

@SpencerTwiddy 3 жыл бұрын

@@d4r4butler74 always has been

@macmccolgan5952 3 жыл бұрын

You know, it's not just the fact that Simon solves these monstrously difficult puzzles, it's that he does it as a live solve, whilst remaining entertaining. I'm lost for words.

@Stuartdouglas19 3 жыл бұрын

quoth the raven : "eat my shorts"

@KinkyTurtle 3 жыл бұрын

WHY YOU LITTLE--

@biupSquid 3 жыл бұрын

Simon, what an absolutely exceptional puzzle and an incredible live solve! Thank you so much to both you and Mark for sharing these puzzles and putting yourselves out there in solving them live.

@scragar 3 жыл бұрын

I understood the opening watching the video of you solve it, I tried solving it myself afterwards and I've no idea where to begin beyond proving the centre cells of each box add to the same as the corner cells of the corner boxes. You're too good at this Simon, you make it look approachable when even after watching the tricks I can't figure it out myself.

@neil2796 3 жыл бұрын

That was as amazing a display of logic as one could hope to watch.

@y2a1979 3 жыл бұрын

It's always amusing to me that you figure out these complex break-ins to puzzles I wouldn't even attempt, but then get bogged down in the middle because the complexity has numbed you to looking at regular sudoku most of the time. The one example I recall off the top of my head is the 7 at r6c1, which you could've had almost immediately once the palindromes were done, but got several minutes later after some more complicated thinking. :D

@chessburns 2 жыл бұрын

This is my 1st comment ever on this channel. I absolutely can not do these puzzles. But boy oh boy, do i adore these long videos. The puzzle that rekindled my love for Sudoku was the 1 by Mitchell Lee The miracle Sudoku with the 1 and 2 as the given digits. I had never tried any variant until i saw how Simon solved it. So i got the App for chess sudoku. I am loving the puzzles #8, #16, 19, #20 were pretty tough with the logic. But tried them a 2nd later on and was able to solve them fairly easily. My proudest solve has been #31 that was brutal. But i summoned my inner Simon and put myself in his shoes. How would he solve it? And it was like he was guiding me to the finish line. I felt so proud to finish the puzzle ik how he feels with solving the hardest of the hardest solves. Simon my friend. Thank you for taking us on a memorable ride on each of your videos. The agony of squeezing every ounce of logic in the puzzles is what makes you great. But the thrill you must feel when you solve them is amazing. You make me cry happy tears when you solve these puzzles. Theres times you make me cry from laughing. My favorite line is when Simon says Bobbins!!

@StephanSpelde 3 жыл бұрын

That was one amazing puzzle & solves to watch. The difficulty, the drama and then the amazing poem by Poe to finish it, maybe even make me like this video more than the Miracle Sudoku one... (There, I've said it). I love this channel so much. I love you guys, the puzzles and the wonderful community as well. I've been here since before the James Charles and Kurt Hugo Schneider shooutouts and one of ny favorite things to do everyday, besides the above mentioned things, is looking at your subscribers total, getting a adrenaline rush every time there is another 1K added to it. No joke, I'll throw a party here when the 1 millionth sub ticks that button. What a journey so far! Thank you guys! You've made my life better and you are the highlight of my day! The best news? I still have Marks video to watch!

@KillerMZE 3 жыл бұрын

This video is the length of a feature film, and has the same emotional rollercoaster as one

@matthew456turner128 3 жыл бұрын

Now its time for Simon to tackle that 2 hour beast from Gliperal that he's been holding onto for awhile!!! I would love to see that!!!

@violetasuklevska9074 3 жыл бұрын

After throwing the towel I decided to watch the solve and the moment Simon uttered the name "Phistomefel" I went back in and did it! It took me two hours, but I did it! Thank you Simon for the assist, I enjoyed the solve greatly. TotallyNormalCat 👏 👏 👏

@ivoluijendijk5529 3 жыл бұрын

WHy doesn't this video have a million views??? This was amazing... thank you Simon! And thank you TotallyNormalCat!

@bristolrovers27 3 жыл бұрын

Well it's an hour plus and Simon has just delivered the worst explanation of the rules possible 🙂 Looks like we're in for a good one here ! 30 minutes in and Simon is doing great and in his element 50 minutes and Simon gets a second digit after some incredible logic By the hour mark it's falling nicely and we are waiting for Simon to check the relevant columns to finish off. Outstanding puzzle, great tough solve well deserving of a cup of tea and a pat on the back Great poem

@micadragonheart6222 3 жыл бұрын

By the looks of it it’s little killer, disjoint subsets, and palindromes, but it is definitely just me watching so many of these that makes me understand that easily, as in what it means

@GregCunneen 3 жыл бұрын

Came to this puzzle late in the piece. The solution path I used was much the same. I saw early on that 3 & 4 could not go on the palindromes and then I got stuck. An embarrassingly long gap ensued before I realised that 1 & 2 also could not go on the palindromes. From that point, progress was straightforward. Loved that puzzle.

@BeachHutStuff 3 жыл бұрын

Wow what a puzzle! As you read the poem and I sat in the garden a Raven sat on the roof looking suitably sullen.

@susanne5803 3 жыл бұрын

28:38 There's a quadruple of 6/7/8/9s in c5 and r5 and a 5 in the center, so the double cells at the ends of c5 and r5 have to be 1/2/3/4s. I'll be happily repeating this puzzle until I can see those structures for myself! Thank you very much, Simon and TotallyNormalCat!

@insectbah 2 жыл бұрын

WOW. Thank you solving these puzzles so I can appreciate them

@theobviouskraken3404 3 жыл бұрын

Simon: "This [x] sees this through the disjoint" Me, much like how Shaggy Rogers says "Ah, words" in Scooby Doo 2: "Ah, numbers..."

@amoswittenbergsmusings 3 жыл бұрын

34:26 I feel that Simon's foundness of colouring is working against him at this point. I would remove the colouring which has done its superb job. Then I could notice the difference between the diagonals that run in the same direction and share cells due to the palindrome lines. That will give useful inequalities, e.g., the 14 and 24 little killers differ by 10 which need to come from one cell on the 14 diagonal and three cells on the 24 diagonal. That rules out the 9 on the 24: 9+3+3=15 is too high. At least, that would be my instinct. To actually pull this off is beyond my puny intellect. Go, Simon, go!

@amoswittenbergsmusings 3 жыл бұрын

1:00:01 ... and it appears my instinct stinks. Simon never ever needed that micro deduction I suggested.

@seachicky913 3 жыл бұрын

Such a beautiful puzzle and solve AND then topped off with that tiny Simon softly reading The Raven! Astounding. Please continue reading us poems.

@joshuagreenberg1301 3 жыл бұрын

I solved it! And then watched the video after. I think Simon is correct that at most points there were only a few things that could possibly have worked. In the beginning it had to be digit sets. But you don't need to use the exact sets Simon used; I used the 5 sets of 1-9 consisting of the corners and centers of each box, which, together with the palindrome lines, and then subtracting boxes 2, 4, 6, and 8, gives a similar break-in as Simon got. When it came to determining the digits that go on the palindromes to make 46, I immediately spotted they couldn't be 3s or 4s, but it took me forever to see that they couldn't be 1s or 2s. I think that was the hardest step for me. But after that it was fairly straightforward.