Re: a slightly trickier Tectonic (Suguru)
rafaelhoukes wrote:
That is indeed a funny problem. Perhaps you can prevent it by not allowing the L- or U-shape at all, since they will always cause this problem.
Yes, that's one of the first things I added yesterday
There's also a quick check that fills each cage with numbers,
and checks if any neighbouring cell has become "impossible" because of it.
It's interesting because it makes you wonder if these cage layouts have certain properties.
Looking at other such puzzles online, there do seem to be a lot of "expansive" cages
(ones that cover more rows and columns). I also wonder if having more "boxy" cages
means you're forcing the numbers to alternate in a more regular pattern (if the puzzle
is possible at all).