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09 June 2006 @ 11:05 pm
United States Jigsaw Sudoku  
So I was doing the first "irregular toroidal sudoku" I had seen made by r.e.s. and posted here and also here - depending on which of the sudoku forums you really prefer to visit. I wrote a solution up on Wayne's forum at sudoku.com and had actually commented about same of the names I had given to the nonets. Admittedly, I have a better way of drawing "New Hampshire" with 9 squares (shift the top 4 rows over one, NH has a bit of a hub on the lower right), but after another poster (jokingly?) referred to a different nonet as "Illinois" I asked myself this question: "Could you make a jigsaw sudoku out of US state shapes?"


Well, my answer after much fiddling this evening is below. It is very hard to draw states in just 9 squares, let alone pack them together, and have the puzzle solved with just their initials. I made this by hand, and would be glad to hear what people think of it. It is completely solvable with logic, but has a couple tricky steps so don't be discouraged if you get stuck. Enjoy:

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( 6 comments — Post a new comment )
[info]jrivet on June 10th, 2006 05:39 am (UTC)
Very nice.

I kept forgetting about Long Island, even with the states colored.
motris[info]motris on June 10th, 2006 06:21 pm (UTC)
I was going to mention the Long Island problem, but figured the map coloring would make it clearer. Its the easy LoL link to VA's hump at least if you start on that part of it.
The Dan[info]thedan on June 10th, 2006 02:30 pm (UTC)
I haven't tried to solve it yet, but the aesthetic is awesome.
Maelstrom[info]mlstrm on June 12th, 2006 05:43 am (UTC)
I liked this a lot. Very good!
[info]jdyer on July 7th, 2006 10:05 pm (UTC)
You've been Googlefied, congrats.

This really is a marvellous puzzle. Still looking forward to your new Cross Sums.
motris[info]motris on July 8th, 2006 02:18 am (UTC)
Thank you - it was very exciting to hear this would happen and I'm glad with how Wei-Hwa put it together. My suggestion of the "solve with numbers" may also make it a little better online but I welcome opinions.

I'm visiting family this weekend but this gives me lots of time to write puzzles (I know I'm behind my promised date). I have about 4-5 kakuro ideas I'll try to put together now and then release over the next two weeks after I get back, and hopefully some of them may even inspire other ideas from other people for me to try to construct.