A Murder Most Fogged
A Murder Most Fogged
PlayLMD

Published

Difficulty
★★☆☆☆

This is a continuation of the concepts I started to explore in The Grid of Forking Paths. In this puzzle, how much fog you have (and therefore how hard the puzzle is) is entirely up to you!

Rules

There’s been a murder, and only you can solve it!

Sudoku: Fill the marked 3x3 boxes with digits 1 to 9, so that each digit occurs exactly once in every row, every column and every 3x3 box.

There are 4 types of clues in the grid, which will lead you to the victim (blood), the killer (footprints), the witness (paw prints) and the mastermind behind it all (paper trail).

These clues map to the following types (there is exactly one of each):

  • The difference between digits is N
  • The digit that the clue points towards is at least N larger than the other (like a thermo). A difference of N appears at least once in each box
  • The digits add to N
  • One digit is N times the other

The N for each clue is unique, and is the answer to that part of the mystery.

ROOMS/DOORS: Each 3x3 box is a room, and the cells marked with letters between boxes are doors. Follow a clue through a door by entering the marked letter into the door square. If you follow a clue all the way to the end, you’ll find the N for that clue circled at the end of the trail.

Any clues that continue through doors apply to the digits on either side of the door.

SOLVE THE MURDER: Deduce all 4 N’s and complete the middle room to solve the murder, while opening the fewest doors possible. A master detective can solve this by opening only 4 doors, can you do better?

CATCH THE KILLERS: Once you’ve solved the murder, kick open the remaining doors and solve the sudoku to catch the killers and bring them to justice.

Solving note: The first door you open is a bit of an arbitrary choice, so just pick the clue that speaks to you!

In this series