18
votes
Solving "The Miracle" sudoku - A top sudoku player solves a puzzle with non-standard restrictions that he initially assumes is an impossible joke
Link information
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- Title
- The Miracle Sudoku
- Authors
- Cracking The Cryptic
- Duration
- 25:48
- Published
- May 10 2020
This was a really enjoyable video to watch. It's great to watch the progression after he starts out with an opinion like, "this is dumb, they're just trolling me," and gradually figures out how to work his way through it.
Necroposting, but a followup to this video called The Miracle Sudoku 2 was posted a few months ago that is also really worth watching, and IMO the puzzle is even more clever than this first one. The embedded logic in it is glorious to watch unfold, and unlike this first one it doesn't even seem to get much easier the further along it gets.
Oh thanks for the necropost, that was a very enjoyable watch.
Did you see this one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNzltTzv0fc (tagging @Deimos as well because if you enjoyed that first one, you'll like this too)
I actually printed that last one for my girlfriend who's a fan of Sudoku. I don't think she ever completed it…
I hadn't seen it, but just watched it now. That one was definitely easier to solve than the others (not that I probably could have!), but it had a remarkably pleasant symmetry to the layout and logic of it. Thanks for sharing!
Incidentally, I love how passionate the host of this channel is; It's infectious. I genuinely never would have thought I could be this enthralled by watching someone solve a sudoku, or any logic puzzles for that matter, but the genuine joy and awe he expresses while solving them makes that possible. And he is also incredibly good at explaining his thinking in an easily understandable way too.
Just damn brilliant.
I'm an avid sudoku player: so much so that friends bring me paperbacks of those from abroad. I've never done crazy ones like this. Watching him resolve all this – going from "this is not possible" to "this is gonna solve" – was enjoyable in a very relatable way.
I love how quick he was to dismiss it, and the joy and amazement that slowly builds over time as he realizes he is not being trolled, but witnessing a work of sublime genius instead. I doubt I could have even solved the puzzle, so how it was made in the first place is entirely beyond me. Incredible!
I imagine there is some group theory behind it that makes sense. There appears to be more to the pattern than he points out.
I've done a bunch of the sudokus he's done on the show. I should note that I usually take 3-4 times as long as he, and sometimes I have to check my work by checking what he's done. There are some rules where I'm actually as fast or even faster than him, usually the more unusual ones. I suspect he's done so many killer and chess sudokus that he's got a very good intuition of where to look to find his next digit. I don't have that, but I was much more able to wrap my head around rules that just bend his mind out of shape.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure which sudoku specifically it was where I beat his time, but judging from the list of vids I've watched, it might've been this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrzIDnDxJqY
I really like that channel. I've been following them since before Covid-19 and they are really wholesome. I'm so glad they are growing. I really like when they do alternate puzzles not based on Sudoku.
When I hear their opening music, I'm always happier.
That was lovely to watch. Thank you for sharing.