a 182 | ... | 457 POK Journal 060512 Five Dark Stars b 347 | 5.. | 691 12:24:37.566 060513 c .5. | 174 | 382 Sig 234455679 144555669 334555677 ----+-----+---- Iteration counts 6 0 0 d ..5 | ..7 | 81. <-- Blank cell count 36 e 8.. | 6.3 | 74. Nonblank cell count 107 f .7. | 8.. | 2.. | ----+-----+---- | g .18 | 7.5 | 9.. V h 56. | ... | 178 i 7.. | ... | 5.4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 .---------.---------.---------..---------.---------.---------..---------.---------.---------. a | | | || 3 9| 3 6 9| 6 9|| | | | a b | | | || | 2 8 | 2 8 || | | | b c | 6 9| | 6 9|| | | || | | | c |---------+---------+---------++---------+---------+---------++---------+---------+---------| d | 2 4 6 9| 23 9| || 2 4 9| 2 4 9| || | | 3 6 9| d e | | 2 9|1 9|| |12 5 9| || | | 5 9| e f | 4 6 9| |1 34 6 9|| |1 45 9|1 9|| | 3 6 | 3 56 9| f |---------+---------+---------++---------+---------+---------++---------+---------+---------| g | 2 4 | | || | 234 6 | || | 23 6 | 3 6 | g h | | | 34 9|| 234 9| 234 9| 2 9|| | | | h i | | 23 9| 3 9|| 23 9|123 6 89|12 6 89|| | 23 6 | | i '---------'---------'---------''---------'---------'---------''---------'---------'---------' 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
The key to solving this puzzle is to see that i2, i3, and i4 monopolize 2,3,9. Challenge: write a program to pick out the monopolizing subcircle in row i. Most circles have this pattern: From column 1: 2 4 | 24 4 6 9 | 46 6 9 | 69 2 4 6 9 | 92 From column 9: 3 6 | 36 3 6 9 | 69 5 9 | 95 3 56 9 | 53 You cannot do this with the cells in column 3 no matter how you reorder them. 6 9 | 1 9 | 1 34 6 9 | 34 9 | 3 9 | Challenge: decide if this is significant. If so, what can you deduce from that?