Samunamupure (Killer Sudoku) Center

Killer Samurai

2005-12-19T15:29:00.000-08:00

DJApe created a life-ending samurai killer sudoku!

I haven't finished it yet......

Trying the Japanese Solver, AGAIN

2005-12-13T01:01:00.000-08:00

OK, ever since the history of time I have known about this one Japanese solver here:

http://homepage3.nifty.com/funahashi/game/game676eng.html

It didn't seem to work, but that may be because I tried to use it with useless-ass Internet Explorer. (Dear Bill Gates: I hate you.) It also uses Javascript. But now I'm going to try it with Firefox -- and test it with Miyuki's worst killer sudoku. Ha ha ha!

The simple instructions are:

1) Click on a cage button (like the one labelled "se01"). An asterisk will identify the active cage.

2) Fill in the cage value to the right of the button. Then, select the squares that make up the cage by clicking on the underscore in each square. (You can do this in any order, and even edit the cage value later.)

3) To start a new cage, click the next cage button (i.e., "se02") or click the "set next area" button.

4) Once you have all the data entered, you press "Solver" and pray that it's doing something.

And I've learned, it can't handle cages with more than 9 squares, and it can't handle non-contiguous cages. So it didn't work. I'll just have to try it again on a more normal samunamupure. When I'm less tired....

A working killer sudoku solver!

2005-12-09T16:49:00.000-08:00

Teostress mentions a killer sudoku solver previously unknown to me. Three strikes against it: it's in Java, it's in Spanish, and it's in Beta. But it does work -- on Firefox, at least. (I had troubles using it on Explorer.) Yay!

Here is my (highly improved) translation of the instructions:

"Right-click the squares that make up each of the Killer Sudoku's groups. (You can only click a black "0", not a grey one.) When you click on a square, an "Abrir Grupo" (Open Group) menu will ask you for two pieces of data: (1) the number of squares that make up the group, and (2) the sum total of the squares in that group. To add a neighboring square to the open group, right-click on the square and select "Anadir al Grupo" (Add to Group). When you run out of squares to add to the group, the solver will put you in a new spot to open a new group. Once you've taken care of all 81 squares, press "Resuelve" (Solve). Solving a killer sudoku takes more time than a normal Sudoku, but only by a matter of seconds. On a Pentium II 300 Mhz, this applet solved a killer sudoku in 40 seconds."

It takes FOREVER to fill in. Don't make a mistake, either, because if you do, you will have to erase everything and do it all over. (And it's pretty easy to make mistakes because you want to put in the total first, not the number of squares!) But it solved my samunamupure in less than 2 seconds!

One thing I've learned: do samunamupures that have answer keys available. Because using these solvers is a pain in the butt.

DJApe's solution tip discussion

2005-12-09T13:17:00.000-08:00

I realize that I have a thing against DJApe. Maybe it's the name, or his comment spam all over the universe to promote his over-automated sudoku maker, or whatever. Or perhaps it's just the utter hideousness of his website.

But there are some complicated discussions of solving tips, which may be helpful to you. Have fun!

Link

Allora -- Killer Sudoku in italiano!

2005-12-08T16:33:00.000-08:00

For the "appassionati" of killer sudokus in Italy, I present you:

killersudoku.it

It's an Italian-language site with a blog (which it will be hoped, will be better maintained than my own), instructions, solving tips, and pasta recipes. Eh, maybe not the last one -- my Italian, she's not so good.

Grazie mille, Teostress!

Weekly samunamupure source

2005-12-03T15:03:00.000-08:00

A place to get free weekly killer sudokus. They're generally too easy, but they print well.

Derrr - the Times has them too!

2005-11-26T20:54:00.000-08:00

Print out the Times' daily sudoku -- it now includes one killer per day. They are on #63 today! They actually seem to be easier than DJ Ape's -- perhaps because they are made by a meticulous Japanese woman, while DJ Ape's are obviously created by some random computer. The November 17th puzzle, however, is really hard. Haven't finished it yet, even though it is merely rated "Tough."

Miyuki's Sudokus and Solving Techniques

2005-11-21T07:20:00.000-08:00

The incredible, indefatigable Miyuki Misawa created a few killer sudokus with possible solving methods! Which is helpful to compare/contrast techniques. Plus, at the end of the page, a horrifying one (pictured), with a large area of missing cages, and which I haven't managed to solve yet even though she gives you some help. And in the solutions section, there is a helpful chart listing all possible sums that I use practically everyday.

By the way, Miyuki is the one who did all the samunamupures for the Times' Killer Sudoku Book.

And speaking of the Times, they have more solving tips.

A Daily Source -- now improved!

2005-11-20T23:00:00.000-08:00

DJ Ape still has the ugliest samunamupure website in all Christendom BUT it does provide free, printable daily killer sudokus.

UPDATE: There are now improved: generally symmetric and getting better.

Times solving tips

2005-10-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

The Times provides some solving tips for the samunamupure....

Sudoku variations

2005-10-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Here's a well-written list (with examples) of all the different types of sudokus. Finally, someone explains to me what the heck the diagonal sudokus are.

I can't find a killer sudoku solver, PERIOD

2005-10-17T15:53:00.000-07:00

There are no working samunamupure solvers out there. Prove me wrong, please!

Of course, here's my wishlist for them:

Easy to input game
Provides step-by-step solving
Provides hints

In essence, it would be nice if it were as easy to use as Sudoku Solver by Logic.

UPDATE: There are some, but they are unpleasant to use!

Any good sources of daily killer sudokus online?

2005-10-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

Ideally, of course, I want an infinite supply, not just a daily one. And graded by difficulty. (Like Web Sudoku.)

And playable online. (In this case, NOT like Web Sudoku.)

By the way, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Miniclip's Sudoku implementation. It is by the far the fastest and easiest (regular) sudoku to play online. Unfortunately, the sudokus just aren't that difficult -- I can tear through the hardest ones in 7 minutes, on average. (OK, maybe I'm slow and retarded -- I don't know how I compare -- but that's pretty fast, I find.) I wish I could have something Miniclip-like with evil sudokus only. A man can dream, can't he?

Oh, and when you print them, please make them bigger than 10 cm square? We need space for the pencilmarks. Thanks oh so much.

Sudoku dreams

2005-10-14T23:17:00.000-07:00

I'm glad I found the samunamupure.

I was doing so many sudokus I was dreaming about them. Or perhaps worse, I wasn't even dreaming about scribbling numbers into grids, but was rather dreaming about rearranging non-numerical objects (people, animals, appliances) in rows and columns to create kabballistic designs of asymmetric harmony.

I'm a freak, I know.

So far, the killer sudoku has banished the casual sudoku from my mind. I am free, for now.

Any sudoku freaks out there want to help moderate this thing too?

2005-10-14T23:12:00.000-07:00

Leave an email like this: somebody (at) domain (dot) com, or something.... I'll write you.

An Icky Solver

2005-10-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

This killer sudoku solver will supposedly solve your samunamupure, but I can't get it to work. (Has anybody had any success with this thing?) It definitely gets a "D" on the usability scale: You click on the little blue lines on the left to select each cage, and then assign the cage total on the right hand side. (As the headline says, it's icky!) But if you're stuck, this is what desperation will do to you...

Oooh! Solution tips!

2005-10-14T22:51:00.001-07:00

Nate Dorward seems to have created the first extensive how-to on strategies for solving with Killer Sudokus! They're pretty clever, although it isn't yet down to an repeatable algorithm. I just wish it would help solve the Tough example from the Times.

Samunamupure official fish

2005-10-14T22:51:00.000-07:00

The official fish of the samunamupure is hereby the Hawaiian Reef Triggerfish.

Why? Because the fish's Hawaiian name is the humuhumunukunukuapua'a, which is the only name that makes the Engrish portmanteau "samunamupure" look good. (Its name means something like "fish who comes out of the water and sounds like a pig.")

Oh, and as the song says, the fish goes swimming by, presumably in a leisurely manner. A lot like my brain when I'm talking to somebody on the phone while trying to puzzle out a sudoku. I("I'm sorry, did you say something? Oh yeah, right, that make sense.")

Hi Everybody!

2005-10-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

OK, I did sudokus. Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt. (Which says "I survived Ariadne's thread.")

I wanted something more interesting, and found it with the samunamupure -- the "Killer Sudoku," as the Times of London has it. They have a good summary of it, with five examples ordered by difficulty.

This blog is just a little place to aggregate best sources of samunamupure/killer sudokus, as well as the best solving strategies. Hope it helps you all out. You can always find this blog at: samunamupure.com. Why, it's so easy to type, I'm sure everyone will use it!