Posts filed under ‘Puzzles’
Geocache Puzzle #2 – Killer Sudoku
(This is the second in a series of puzzles that I’ve created for geocaches. You don’t need to like geocaching to appreciate them. You just need to enjoy number logic.)
This cache associated with this puzzle was hidden about halfway along my commute route. Alas, it was “muggled” frequently, and I had to archive it. (In geocaching parlance, a ‘muggle’ is a non-geocacher. If a geocache has been muggled, it was removed by the non-geocacher.)
The puzzle is called a “killer sudoku“. All standard sudoku rules apply. In addition:
- Each distinct colored region is a “cage”. The sum of the numbers in a particular cage must equal the number printed in that cage.
- No number may be repeated within a cage.
- Note that cages may extend across more than one 3×3 square. For example, there is a four cell cage, colored yellow with a sum of thirteen, that starts in the upper left and continues in the upper center 3×3.
Enjoy!
(Click on the image for a larger version.)
Geocache puzzle #1 – Kakuro
(Don’t worry! You don’t have to be a geocacher to enjoy this puzzle! You just need to like kakuro.)
My little ‘About Me’ summary mentions that I’m a geocacher. (If you’re unfamiliar with geocaching, you can probably get your questions answered at geocaching.com. If you are familiar with geocaching and want to find me, I go by ‘GCalum‘.) Unfortunately, I’ve been much less of a geocacher in the last year than I’d like – time and priorities, you know. But I still get out when I can.
One thing that I’ve enjoyed when hiding my own caches is to create puzzles for other cachers to solve. Unfortunately, if something happens to the cache*, then I have to “archive” it and the effort that I put into the puzzle is lost. So hooray for the blog! I have a new audience who might enjoy my little puzzles.
* The cache container associated with this particular puzzle was a Lock & Lock. An animal ate through it. 
The puzzle below is called a kakuro. As originally intended, the cells shaded blue and red would have provided part of the coordinates to a cache hidden in a forest preserve near where I work. But since I’ve removed the cache, they now just provide coordinates to a nice spot in the woods. (Spoiler warning: a partial solution is given on the cache page. However, you have to be logged in to see it.)
So – I hope you enjoy this puzzle. I’ll be posting a variety of them in the coming days.
(Click on the image for a larger version.)
