Thanks so much for your kindness, everyone! I didn't share what Qodec's concept was specifically because I believe he is still working on that puzzle, but he's shared it in the comments here: The idea was to have an arrow that was both minimized and maximized by what it sees.
Even though Qodec has shared what his concept was/is in the comments here, you’re absolutely right: whether or not he wanted to share it publicly was his decision to make, not yours. :)
@jovi_al is not just a great setter but a great and clear communicator too. I am also impressed he is able to recall so much of the process. Or maybe he has incredibly detailed notes, which would be just as impressive.
Yup, I totally shared that idea in the comments here. I stopped working on that puzzle a while ago actually. If someone else wants to take it up, go right ahead!
Thanks for the great insights. One thing special to arrows is that if you have 'strong' and 'weak' cells if you can somehow put the head of an arrow on a weak cell and the rest of it on strong cells that's ideal.
Hey jovi_al, this was a fascinating documentation, but what I appreciate most is your humility and grace in repeatedly mentioning your collaborators - this is probably the most valuable lesson about puzzle setting indeed! I am certainly guilty of soliciting far too little feedback about my own puzzles.
Apart from the interest of seeing the process that goes into creating a puzzle, I find it fascinating how he is designing the puzzle for "maximum enjoyment" rather that for "maximum cleverness". That might be the difference between creating a good puzzle and creating a really great one.
@@jovi_al It's a great philosophy. Mental challenge creates difficultly, but not all difficultly creates challenges. If we want to spend a bunch of time tediously crunching away at a problem, we could all go try and find prime factors of 9 digit numbers or whatever.
The lack of sleep was totally worth it. A peek into the mind of someone much smarter than myself, creating ingenious things, is always amazing. Great video, thank you :)
I'm sure many will agree we are very grateful for you showing us how you create your puzzles and the tools that you use. I feel I've learned a few things and again I want to say thank you.
A year ago I was barely even aware of anything other than 'classic' sudokus, and it never occurred to me that people create them by hand. When I tell people about this channel and that not only puzzles, but individual steps of logic can be 'beautiful' they often laugh. Watching and listening to this video feels like a huge privilege, hearing the names of the people who helped in the creation of this one puzzle and recognising them from past videos, and getting some insight into the time, effort and mental anguish that goes into making something 'good'. Most of the time in life, beauty is this intangible concept that cannot be explained and is only 'in the eye of the beholder' but this time, beauty is tangible and intelligent, and that's something I can appreciate an awful lot. Thank you for such a detailed explanation of the creative process behind this one, and for the generosity to mention and thank all the people who helped test it at various stages, and especially for going beyond the basic logic to explain some of the more abstract elements of what made it so good.
PS Your narrative and presenting skills on this are really, really good, I was hooked from start to finish (and if I'm honest, I did not expect to watch the whole video without skipping any part of it). Really well done.
You did earn a rare “Oh my giddy aunt!” from Simon when he realized the 3 was the repeated digit. I loved learning the struggles behind the set and am grateful you love doing this in your “spare” time! Thank you and I am looking forward to the next one!
This was truly fascinating. Thanks to Jovial for putting it together and to Simon and Mark for showing it to us. I look forward to this being the start of a series where some of the other setters share their thoughts on puzzles they made.
Thank you and Mark&Simon for this insight into the Big Brains behind the puzzles. The sheer amount of hours put into a puzzle to keep Simon busy for just one is, while expected, quite astounding. Of course I can understand very well the joy you get out of setting. Thank you for sharing a bit of setters philosophy and psychology as well!
I think these behind the scenes videos are going to increase the fandom's appreciation for these world class puzzles exponentially. Boy are we grateful for all the time and work that setters put into making such master pieces to bless us with. It's such a privilege!
Wow. I never imagined that sudoku setting is done with so much collaboration between different setters. I always imagined it was a one-(wo)man show, just like the solves on this channel. I also love the info that a grid with 298 solutions counts as very close to unique.
Well if you have a blank sudoku grid with just the normal rules for sudoku, there are over 5 billion 'essentially different' sudoku, which are all distinct even when you apply various transformations which do not change the validity of the grid (rotating the grid, mirroring the grid, swapping all the 1s and 5s, etc etc etc.) So given that, 298 is in fact pretty close to 1.
I don't know about others, but this seems to have become more common since setters started to get to know each other better through the discord server. I mostly do my puzzles on my own, but get very good feedback from other setters that test them and in that way help me tweak them (often to make sure the puzzle or the solve path isn't broken). I've been part of collab setting a few times, though. / Aspartagcus
This was so awesome. Thanks for your time to put this explanation together. It really is a side of the puzzles that I've not even considered how challenging and rewarding can be.
That was fantastic. I've been following CTC for 8months or so? And I'm always fascinated by the fact that these puzzles are hand-designed by people. Great watch!!
I found the Double Arrow in Box 9 visually interesting before the solve was even underway. And even though drawn to it, you quickly realise it is a red herring. Those are nice too.
What an inspirational journey, Jovi. Arrow is and always will be madness! I am blown away at your growth as a setter and am so happy to be part of such a wonderful community.
This is simply amazing stuff. I just don't know what else to say. 😘 It's like Mozart in 2020: "Yeah, I just had an idea for a theme. Uploaded it to some software. Tweaked it bit. Put in some strings. Piano. A drum? Not really sure about that. But hey." I'm now totally inspired. An aardvark themed sudoku is now only decades away.
This is great, thank you! I really love how setters talk amongst themselves to figure out all the little hooks! And I'm very surprised how much time it all takes...I had no idea, thank you setters! Also I think this brings my view of setters more down to earth. You're still way smarter than I'll ever be, but this helps me see this is more about "fun" tricks & breakins than having some magical puzzle moment where you vomit out a brilliant puzzle in 10 minutes (like I stupidly assumed). All this brings a very nice personal touch and humility to all the puzzles. It's like I now view each puzzle as a work of art! I love this video, thank you.
More videos like this. Seeing how setters think about their construction is such a valuable insight and always fascinating. Really grateful to jovi_al for being willing to share about his process. Also agree with his statement that difficult doesn’t automatically mean beautiful. Hits it on the nose.
What a brilliant insight into the time and effort that goes into creating one of these puzzles. We are so lucky that people are willing to share their hard work with us in this community!
18:25 is what I was looking for. Basically the start of "here's the information encoded in the grid after I chose some cool logic, and here's how I finished off that cool logic with a single solution".
I absolutely loved this video, thank you so much for sharing your setting techniques with us, jovi_al! I too would be very happy to see a couple more such videos, maybe at least one a month if other setters would be willing. Simon and Mark, through this process you may just find an individual who could be your “locum” so you can take some time off periodically!
I had wondered how people even get started on puzzles, and it seems from this one, that it is less about working out what numbers to put where, but trial and error of "does this pattern produce logic and a unique solution". Thanks for making it, and more so for telling us how!
Very interesting - I always enjoy watching the process of creating, different people's techniques, and so forth. Your point about how sometimes difficulty and beauty are conflated is, I think, similar to my instincts to really point out when I find the logic of one of the easier puzzles featured on the channel particularly fun, interesting, or - indeed - beautiful lately. It's not just hard puzzles that can have interesting logic to them.
Thank you jovi_al for that very generous sharing of the arduos process of puzzle creation. Now I understand Simons 'beautiful' and 'stunning', and I certainly appreciate the efforts of you coniving setters all the more.
Thank you for the insight. It really gives you a different perspective on how much effort and time is needed for creating a great puzzle. It makes you appreciate these puzzles a lot more.
🔥 More of this, please! 🔥 Watching/solving 2 a day is great! 💯 But then having a 'behind the scenes' look sprinkled into the line-up, is an excellent dynamic to the channel, IMO 👍
That was an awesome video. It gives me new appreciation for what setters go through to create these masterpieces for us to solve. I was also reminded of one of Simon's statements during a solve. "That was an absolutely beautiful piece of logic and it is completely useless". Providsd me with a good laugh.
I find interesting how this multi-arrow sum concept is parallel to the multi-killer cage trick showed in the video "A Gorgeous Killer Sudoku Trick" from two years ago. The main difference is here it focuses on arrows that share a row or column, but there it's more box-based.
Loved this! I’m trying to get into setting but have been deterred by some initial frustration. This has inspired me to push on with it. Hope to see more of these in the future.
After seing this, I played around and tried to make my own thing on f-puzzles. It really requires a lot of ahead thinking to get something interesting out of that brilliant tool. I only managed to make a easy level 8x8 sudoku myself, after nearly 1 and a half hours of thinking. Props to everyone that is actually able to design such amazing puzzles. It requires a one of a kind skill.
Thank you for the peek behind the curtain. I've been beginning to dabble in setting puzzles and it's great to hear about the process of a successful and thoughtful constructor. It's reassuring to see just how much time, energy, and reworking goes into making puzzles.
I love that it sounds like so many of you are in contact with each other :D That totally makes sense - sounds like a great community, Thanks for the awesome explanation, and brilliant puzzle!
Absolutely fascinating. I'm not fond of arrow, probably as I'm not very good at them, but having seen this, maybe I should try harder. And as others have said, well done for referencing people who helped along the way. Not everyone would do that!
I loved this. Solving and watching 2 challenges a day is fantastic, content like this makes the channel even better! Thanks to Jovial for sharing, very insightful. CtC be aware... If you start teaching people how to SET puzzles, they won't get easier!
Very insightful. Thanks. I tried setting, and it is much harder than it looks. Also, its impossible to create a puzzle harder than you can solve yourself...
Jovi_al, after watching the Frogger sudoku solve from a few weeks ago, I thought "what other games could be mashed with sudoku?". I think checkers [or draughts, as they call it in the UK] would be perfect. I would think odds could only jump evens and land on odds [but not itself] and evens could only jump odds and land on evens [but not itself]. Also since checkers uses an 8x8 grid, the solver would have to figure out which corner the checkers board is anchored in - upper left, upper right, lower left or lower right. Since all the jumps are along the diagonal, seems tailor made to use little killer clues. I can't set this, as I have enough trouble solving sudoku, much less trying to set one, but I think the result could be interesting. I invite and encourage you to try and create a puzzle along these lines.
I'm surprised by how much I wasn't surprised here. Making these puzzles just seemed so difficult, how could you ever do it, I thought there must be some amazing trick, but nope, it's just hard work and brute force effort, start to finish. Well, to make a good puzzle, at least.
Probably the most interesting thing I learned from this video is that many of these setters know one another. It honestly never occurred to me in all this time that this might be the case.
That was really interesting. I didn't know there was so much work involved in creating a puzzle, nor did I know there was software for helping you do it. Thank you.
That was very interesting, and makes me appreciate even more the amount of work and level of skill that goes into creating these puzzles. I feel bad now that my solving skill doesn't yet measure up :-( Must try harder.
what a great puzzle and video explaining the art of creating such a masterpiece. I really appriciate people like you to put so much effort in creating, even when I will never be able to solve them. Thanks a lot to you and the CTC team ! Also thank you a lot for making puzzles enjoyable and not so hard that the solvers loose their joy while solving. Vielen herzlichen Dank !
I'm sure you must know this already, but your work, and the work of your friends, is very very much appreciated. Absolutely brilliant. (And by the way, I had no idea how much trial and error has to go into these things! Especially after getting used to seeing Simon solve them in such a flawless, sequential manner.)
Amazing work! I guess just watching the solves one has no idea that there is such elaborate software. I have on my shelf a book about the "logic" of sudoku I bought maybe 10 years ago, but it is only about classics. I wonder if it would make sense to think about this more generally now. (Author is Denis Berthier, if people are interested.)
This is absolutely inspiring and very interesting. So many of your guidelines and themes are applicable in other fields of creation (such as music composition). I find that when I create music or write fiction, similarly to your method, I like to start with a strong concept (but I try not be afraid to abandon it if it doesn't prove itself to be as good as I thought at first). Though it's also very important, as you've suggested, to be patiant and let your creation time to "sprout" (as if it were a baby in an incubator, or as we say in Hebrew- "lidgor al ze"- to sit on it and wait and keep it warm, as a hen sits on it's eggs before they hatch). Also "exhausting the logic"- making the most out of each idea, using a single line of logic for as many things as possible- is a very profound method of developing a motif and balancing simplicity and coherence with complexity and an abundance of creative ideas. It's inspiring to see how similar is the process of creating anything that has a lot of thought and intention behind it, wheather it's a puzzle or a song. I also see resemblance in the process of constantly zooming in and out (details-> back to the concept-> and again..). The great amount of attention that goes into each detail definately shows in the final result, as well as your patience and thoughtfulness as you're revealing the greater picture, built upon the solid structures you've set. Thank you for this insight and for your creation!
Thanks so much for your kindness, everyone!
I didn't share what Qodec's concept was specifically because I believe he is still working on that puzzle, but he's shared it in the comments here:
The idea was to have an arrow that was both minimized and maximized by what it sees.
Even though Qodec has shared what his concept was/is in the comments here, you’re absolutely right: whether or not he wanted to share it publicly was his decision to make, not yours. :)
@jovi_al is not just a great setter but a great and clear communicator too. I am also impressed he is able to recall so much of the process. Or maybe he has incredibly detailed notes, which would be just as impressive.
@@elliottmanley5182 Guilty as charged! I wrote a script for this video :)
Yup, I totally shared that idea in the comments here. I stopped working on that puzzle a while ago actually. If someone else wants to take it up, go right ahead!
Thanks for the great insights. One thing special to arrows is that if you have 'strong' and 'weak' cells if you can somehow put the head of an arrow on a weak cell and the rest of it on strong cells that's ideal.
When Simon uses the word "genius", now I can see why.
Hey jovi_al, this was a fascinating documentation, but what I appreciate most is your humility and grace in repeatedly mentioning your collaborators - this is probably the most valuable lesson about puzzle setting indeed! I am certainly guilty of soliciting far too little feedback about my own puzzles.
Thank you for your kind words glum_hippo-- and yeah, I couldn't have done it without my friends! :)
Apart from the interest of seeing the process that goes into creating a puzzle, I find it fascinating how he is designing the puzzle for "maximum enjoyment" rather that for "maximum cleverness". That might be the difference between creating a good puzzle and creating a really great one.
Thank you for your kind words :D
It really is. Nail on the head.
@@jovi_al It's a great philosophy. Mental challenge creates difficultly, but not all difficultly creates challenges. If we want to spend a bunch of time tediously crunching away at a problem, we could all go try and find prime factors of 9 digit numbers or whatever.
The lack of sleep was totally worth it. A peek into the mind of someone much smarter than myself, creating ingenious things, is always amazing. Great video, thank you :)
I'm sure many will agree we are very grateful for you showing us how you create your puzzles and the tools that you use. I feel I've learned a few things and again I want to say thank you.
Thank you!
A year ago I was barely even aware of anything other than 'classic' sudokus, and it never occurred to me that people create them by hand. When I tell people about this channel and that not only puzzles, but individual steps of logic can be 'beautiful' they often laugh. Watching and listening to this video feels like a huge privilege, hearing the names of the people who helped in the creation of this one puzzle and recognising them from past videos, and getting some insight into the time, effort and mental anguish that goes into making something 'good'. Most of the time in life, beauty is this intangible concept that cannot be explained and is only 'in the eye of the beholder' but this time, beauty is tangible and intelligent, and that's something I can appreciate an awful lot. Thank you for such a detailed explanation of the creative process behind this one, and for the generosity to mention and thank all the people who helped test it at various stages, and especially for going beyond the basic logic to explain some of the more abstract elements of what made it so good.
PS Your narrative and presenting skills on this are really, really good, I was hooked from start to finish (and if I'm honest, I did not expect to watch the whole video without skipping any part of it). Really well done.
You did earn a rare “Oh my giddy aunt!” from Simon when he realized the 3 was the repeated digit. I loved learning the struggles behind the set and am grateful you love doing this in your “spare” time! Thank you and I am looking forward to the next one!
Even having just one 'setting' explanation video once a month would be most welcome. Very enjoyable.
This was truly fascinating. Thanks to Jovial for putting it together and to Simon and Mark for showing it to us. I look forward to this being the start of a series where some of the other setters share their thoughts on puzzles they made.
Thank you and Mark&Simon for this insight into the Big Brains behind the puzzles. The sheer amount of hours put into a puzzle to keep Simon busy for just one is, while expected, quite astounding. Of course I can understand very well the joy you get out of setting. Thank you for sharing a bit of setters philosophy and psychology as well!
I don't think working on a puzzle for 3 weeks or more is necessarily typical - but in this case I'd agree it was worth every moment spent making it!
@@glum_hippo Yeah, most of my puzzles take ~20 hours, this one was a bit atypical :)
I think these behind the scenes videos are going to increase the fandom's appreciation for these world class puzzles exponentially. Boy are we grateful for all the time and work that setters put into making such master pieces to bless us with. It's such a privilege!
Wow! I never imagined that so much work goes into these ingenious creations. I'll appreciate them all the more after watching this video.
Wow. I never imagined that sudoku setting is done with so much collaboration between different setters. I always imagined it was a one-(wo)man show, just like the solves on this channel.
I also love the info that a grid with 298 solutions counts as very close to unique.
Well if you have a blank sudoku grid with just the normal rules for sudoku, there are over 5 billion 'essentially different' sudoku, which are all distinct even when you apply various transformations which do not change the validity of the grid (rotating the grid, mirroring the grid, swapping all the 1s and 5s, etc etc etc.)
So given that, 298 is in fact pretty close to 1.
I don't know about others, but this seems to have become more common since setters started to get to know each other better through the discord server. I mostly do my puzzles on my own, but get very good feedback from other setters that test them and in that way help me tweak them (often to make sure the puzzle or the solve path isn't broken). I've been part of collab setting a few times, though. / Aspartagcus
@@aronlide For me as well, I used to very much be a lone wolf, but the Discord server fosters a great sense of communication :)
Oh most certainly, when I see a number of solutions under 1000 I start to get excited :)
@@jovi_al I guess I should change the settings so it doesn't stop at 100 solutions. :)
It's 4 am here but still gotta see the masterpiece. I've been waiting to see a puzzle setting several months ago and now it's time! Thanks jovi_al
This was so awesome. Thanks for your time to put this explanation together. It really is a side of the puzzles that I've not even considered how challenging and rewarding can be.
That was fantastic. I've been following CTC for 8months or so? And I'm always fascinated by the fact that these puzzles are hand-designed by people. Great watch!!
I found the Double Arrow in Box 9 visually interesting before the solve was even underway. And even though drawn to it, you quickly realise it is a red herring. Those are nice too.
I always wondered about making puzzles myself this is so interesting
It's really cool learning how collaborative the process was and how much the setter community communicates about this kind of thing
Not at all what I was expecting. This seems to be more art than engineering. Fascinating. Thank you.
This is brilliant. This is an artisan at work. I draw parallels between this and baumgartner restoration.
What an inspirational journey, Jovi. Arrow is and always will be madness! I am blown away at your growth as a setter and am so happy to be part of such a wonderful community.
This is simply amazing stuff.
I just don't know what else to say.
😘
It's like Mozart in 2020: "Yeah, I just had an idea for a theme. Uploaded it to some software. Tweaked it bit. Put in some strings. Piano. A drum? Not really sure about that. But hey."
I'm now totally inspired. An aardvark themed sudoku is now only decades away.
This is great, thank you!
I really love how setters talk amongst themselves to figure out all the little hooks! And I'm very surprised how much time it all takes...I had no idea, thank you setters!
Also I think this brings my view of setters more down to earth. You're still way smarter than I'll ever be, but this helps me see this is more about "fun" tricks & breakins than having some magical puzzle moment where you vomit out a brilliant puzzle in 10 minutes (like I stupidly assumed). All this brings a very nice personal touch and humility to all the puzzles.
It's like I now view each puzzle as a work of art!
I love this video, thank you.
I want to thank ALL of these setters for spending so much time (and sleepless nights) for our enjoyment!
Some brilliant insights on making a brilliant puzzle. Thanks so much for making this happen to everyone involved. Great video, jovi_al!
More videos like this. Seeing how setters think about their construction is such a valuable insight and always fascinating. Really grateful to jovi_al for being willing to share about his process. Also agree with his statement that difficult doesn’t automatically mean beautiful. Hits it on the nose.
What a brilliant insight into the time and effort that goes into creating one of these puzzles. We are so lucky that people are willing to share their hard work with us in this community!
Thanks so much for the video, jovi_al! Really informative and inspiring. :)
18:25 is what I was looking for. Basically the start of "here's the information encoded in the grid after I chose some cool logic, and here's how I finished off that cool logic with a single solution".
Also, super excited to see a Creating a Sudoku video. Definitely thanks for showing us your process!!!
I absolutely loved this video, thank you so much for sharing your setting techniques with us, jovi_al!
I too would be very happy to see a couple more such videos, maybe at least one a month if other setters would be willing.
Simon and Mark, through this process you may just find an individual who could be your “locum” so you can take some time off periodically!
I had wondered how people even get started on puzzles, and it seems from this one, that it is less about working out what numbers to put where, but trial and error of "does this pattern produce logic and a unique solution". Thanks for making it, and more so for telling us how!
We need more of these. After tough solves, give the creators a chance to walk through making it. It benefits everyone
Many thanks for sharing this fascinating process with us. You and all the other setters are greatly appreciated for your contributions.
Very interesting - I always enjoy watching the process of creating, different people's techniques, and so forth. Your point about how sometimes difficulty and beauty are conflated is, I think, similar to my instincts to really point out when I find the logic of one of the easier puzzles featured on the channel particularly fun, interesting, or - indeed - beautiful lately. It's not just hard puzzles that can have interesting logic to them.
Thank you jovi_al for that very generous sharing of the arduos process of puzzle creation. Now I understand Simons 'beautiful' and 'stunning', and I certainly appreciate the efforts of you coniving setters all the more.
Thank you for the insight. It really gives you a different perspective on how much effort and time is needed for creating a great puzzle. It makes you appreciate these puzzles a lot more.
🔥 More of this, please! 🔥 Watching/solving 2 a day is great! 💯 But then having a 'behind the scenes' look sprinkled into the line-up, is an excellent dynamic to the channel, IMO 👍
Thanks for sharing that. I wondered how puzzles were made. Absolutely brilliant.
Fantastic insight into the process you used and the decisions involved. A seldom seem or understood side of the vast puzzle genre. Thank you!
This was a fascinating perspective on the process. I only had vague guesses on how people approached this kind of thing.
I'm blown away by the amount of time and effort that goes into constructing a good puzzle. Hats off to you.
That was an awesome video. It gives me new appreciation for what setters go through to create these masterpieces for us to solve.
I was also reminded of one of Simon's statements during a solve.
"That was an absolutely beautiful piece of logic and it is completely useless". Providsd me with a good laugh.
I find interesting how this multi-arrow sum concept is parallel to the multi-killer cage trick showed in the video "A Gorgeous Killer Sudoku Trick" from two years ago. The main difference is here it focuses on arrows that share a row or column, but there it's more box-based.
Loved this! I’m trying to get into setting but have been deterred by some initial frustration. This has inspired me to push on with it. Hope to see more of these in the future.
This provides insight not only in sudoku puzzle design, but also in game design to a certain extent. Fascinating video in general!
This was an absolute delight to watch. Thanks for sharing
Loved the video! Extremely interesting seeing the thought process that went into creating such a brilliant puzzle!
After seing this, I played around and tried to make my own thing on f-puzzles.
It really requires a lot of ahead thinking to get something interesting out of that brilliant tool.
I only managed to make a easy level 8x8 sudoku myself, after nearly 1 and a half hours of thinking.
Props to everyone that is actually able to design such amazing puzzles.
It requires a one of a kind skill.
Thank you for the peek behind the curtain. I've been beginning to dabble in setting puzzles and it's great to hear about the process of a successful and thoughtful constructor. It's reassuring to see just how much time, energy, and reworking goes into making puzzles.
I literally cried in the middle of this lol the reason being the idea that your concern for the solver etc (I’m an empath but still)
Awesome to see how you set a great puzzle. I admire your patience and persistence throughout.
I love that it sounds like so many of you are in contact with each other :D That totally makes sense - sounds like a great community,
Thanks for the awesome explanation, and brilliant puzzle!
Absolutely fascinating. I'm not fond of arrow, probably as I'm not very good at them, but having seen this, maybe I should try harder. And as others have said, well done for referencing people who helped along the way. Not everyone would do that!
I've really been looking forward to this video, and it lived up to it. Thank you!
I loved this. Solving and watching 2 challenges a day is fantastic, content like this makes the channel even better!
Thanks to Jovial for sharing, very insightful.
CtC be aware... If you start teaching people how to SET puzzles, they won't get easier!
What a fantastically fascinating video. Thanks to all involved for your industry and generosity in keeping the rest of us so wonderfully entertained
Very insightful. Thanks. I tried setting, and it is much harder than it looks. Also, its impossible to create a puzzle harder than you can solve yourself...
Loved watching this. Really interesting. Now ive got a little bit of insight, im going to watch the final boss of arrow sudoku again.
This is the content I've been waiting for.
Wow thats astonishing to see how your mind works. Thanks!
That was super interesting to watch, Thank you for sharing this process!
Oh Jovi_al we also look forward to seeing your future puzzles.
Jovi_al, after watching the Frogger sudoku solve from a few weeks ago, I thought "what other games could be mashed with sudoku?". I think checkers [or draughts, as they call it in the UK] would be perfect. I would think odds could only jump evens and land on odds [but not itself] and evens could only jump odds and land on evens [but not itself]. Also since checkers uses an 8x8 grid, the solver would have to figure out which corner the checkers board is anchored in - upper left, upper right, lower left or lower right. Since all the jumps are along the diagonal, seems tailor made to use little killer clues. I can't set this, as I have enough trouble solving sudoku, much less trying to set one, but I think the result could be interesting. I invite and encourage you to try and create a puzzle along these lines.
Thank you very much for showing this process!
I liked this video way more than I expected. Very interesting!
I'm surprised by how much I wasn't surprised here. Making these puzzles just seemed so difficult, how could you ever do it, I thought there must be some amazing trick, but nope, it's just hard work and brute force effort, start to finish. Well, to make a good puzzle, at least.
Probably the most interesting thing I learned from this video is that many of these setters know one another. It honestly never occurred to me in all this time that this might be the case.
Very nice "story" and a lot of interesting background information.
This is wonderful; it's like having Mozart or Beethoven or another grand master of their field explain to me how they created a work of art!
May we have more videos like this please? :)
I absolutely love this video! Would love to see more like this!
Absolutely masterful!! Incredibly impressive. Thank you so much for sharing this video with us.
That was really interesting. I didn't know there was so much work involved in creating a puzzle, nor did I know there was software for helping you do it. Thank you.
I’ve only just seen the video and it’s brilliant. I would love to see more videos from you on how you co stricter some of your other great puzzles.
Thank you so much for this video! I've never set a puzzle, not sure if I can, but it was very interesting and I learned so much!!! :)
This is such wonderful content. A perspective that I've always wondered about, but never had a clue. Thank you jovi_al!
Thank you very much for this, new friend. It was really interesting to hear you talk about how you slowly developed this puzzle.
Take care,
Peter
This was fascinating! Thank you for walking through this. I never realized how long it takes to set a puzzle like this.
This was very interesting. I would love to see a few more videos like this if any of the other setters are willing.
Thank you for this one! Great job on the video
That was very interesting, and makes me appreciate even more the amount of work and level of skill that goes into creating these puzzles. I feel bad now that my solving skill doesn't yet measure up :-( Must try harder.
I loved this video, it's both interesting and educational. I would love to see more of these setter videos
A treat. Thank you all.
what a great puzzle and video explaining the art of creating such a masterpiece. I really appriciate people like you to put so much effort in creating, even when I will never be able to solve them. Thanks a lot to you and the CTC team ! Also thank you a lot for making puzzles enjoyable and not so hard that the solvers loose their joy while solving. Vielen herzlichen Dank !
Thank you so so much for bringing us this video!
I'm sure you must know this already, but your work, and the work of your friends, is very very much appreciated. Absolutely brilliant. (And by the way, I had no idea how much trial and error has to go into these things! Especially after getting used to seeing Simon solve them in such a flawless, sequential manner.)
So excited for this. I’d like to start setting puzzles.
Fantastic and fascinating explanation, thank you!
Amazing work! I guess just watching the solves one has no idea that there is such elaborate software. I have on my shelf a book about the "logic" of sudoku I bought maybe 10 years ago, but it is only about classics. I wonder if it would make sense to think about this more generally now. (Author is Denis Berthier, if people are interested.)
More of these please!! It’s great stuff😁
This was awesome, please make this a thing!!!
Crazy. I thought setters took hours. I guess greatness can’t be achieved in little time.
This is really fascinating. Thanks for the insight!
This is absolutely inspiring and very interesting. So many of your guidelines and themes are applicable in other fields of creation (such as music composition). I find that when I create music or write fiction, similarly to your method, I like to start with a strong concept (but I try not be afraid to abandon it if it doesn't prove itself to be as good as I thought at first). Though it's also very important, as you've suggested, to be patiant and let your creation time to "sprout" (as if it were a baby in an incubator, or as we say in Hebrew- "lidgor al ze"- to sit on it and wait and keep it warm, as a hen sits on it's eggs before they hatch). Also "exhausting the logic"- making the most out of each idea, using a single line of logic for as many things as possible- is a very profound method of developing a motif and balancing simplicity and coherence with complexity and an abundance of creative ideas. It's inspiring to see how similar is the process of creating anything that has a lot of thought and intention behind it, wheather it's a puzzle or a song. I also see resemblance in the process of constantly zooming in and out (details-> back to the concept-> and again..). The great amount of attention that goes into each detail definately shows in the final result, as well as your patience and thoughtfulness as you're revealing the greater picture, built upon the solid structures you've set. Thank you for this insight and for your creation!
And not confusing beauty with difficulty - so accurate. So true. So often one is easily mistaken for the other :)
Amazing content! Thank you very much for posting this :-)
Many thanks for sharing this. An inspiration
Great video. Thank you very much
Thank you, this was Amazing!