Puzzle Description Suppressed:Click below to view spoilers

#1: Joe (infrapinklizzard) on Jan 16, 2018

This puzzle has a new restriction: Do not click on the puzzle.

It can be solved with only the H and V keys* (and S to save when you're done). As with all puzzles, adding a restriction also adds solving techniques.

See the next [hint] comment for one new technique.

*For those who don't know about the H & V keys:
If you hover the mouse over the puzzle and press either the H or V key it will fill in between two pixels of the same color or from one pixel to the edge either (H)orizontally or (V)ertically. It will also do this on a blank puzzle if there is a clue that is the same height or width of the puzzle. That is the only checking it does, however. It's up to you to use it wisely.

One new technique opened up by this new rule:

Since only H and V are permitted, there must always be at least one clue that will go the whole distance from a current line to either the edge or another line.

And thus, if there is only one clue that satisfies that criterion, then that must be true (even if you couldn't say that within the normal rules of pbn).

There is at least one more that is in the play-through beneath this.

This is a total play-through of this puzzle.


H 20 r18
V 18 c19 (only possibility)
H 19 r11 (only possibility)

Now we have three possibilities: 11 c3, 8 c7, & 8 c15.
Since there is more than one, we must find further proof (since one might affect the others).

Lets start with the 8 in c7 because it's simpler than the 11 in c3. The 8 must include r18 because it's the bottom clue. Therefore it must end in either r18 or r20. (If it ended in r19 it would become 9 long -- oops)
> If the 8 ends in r18, then it will have to have started in r11 which is black, so a V would work.
> If it ends in r20, then it will have to have started in r13 which is currently white. That doesn't automatically count this position out since a future move might turn that pixel black. However, look at r13. R13 is solely composed of 1s. There is no line that goes horizontally along r13. Therefore no vertical line can end in r13. So this option would not work.
= Therefore the 8 must be in r11-r18 (V)

The same works for the 8 in c15 (V)

Line Logic gets the 5 in r14 (H)

OK, the obvious ones now are the 11 in c3 and the 7 in r16. The simpler of these is probably the 11.

The 11 must end somewhere between r11-r16. Of those, r12, r13, r14, & r15 would all end on a crossing 1 clue. Remember, with our new rule, we can't end on a crossing 1 since we must end on a line (or the edge of a puzzle). So the only choices are ending on r11 or r16:
> If we end on r11 then we start on r1 - the edge of the puzzle - OK.
> If we end on r16, then we start on r6 which has only 1s. Not possible.
= So the 11 in c3 must go from r1-r11 (V)

LL to finish (ONLY H & V):
H 17 r5, V 7 c13, H 11 r8, V 4 c7, V 4 c10, H 7 r16, V 6 c4
(S to save)

Remember to press S when you're done so you get credit for solving it!

As a person who loves to use H&V in my normal solving, this was a fun departure. The fact that I couldn't easily use the "blank" right-click was a definite challenge, as well. More of these!

Technically, the 3 clue in C12 after the first move is also a possibility, so the 18 clue is not the only possibility at that point.

I thought it was going to say, "Incoming ballistic missile; this is not a test."

Argh, you're right Gator. Well, this is my first attempt at this, I was bound to make a mistake.

It doesn't affect the outcome, as it can be shown that the 18 goes where it does using the same logic as the 8s lower down. But I guess I should rewrite the walk-through so it is actually correct.

And I meant to say "Press S to finish it", but I forgot that, too, Wombat!

I didn't know about the use of the keys so it was an enjoyable new experience for me. Plus I was able to complete it without following your walkthrough. Thanks heaps Joe.

This was fun. You know, I've been thinking about this concept for a while, but never thought about making an actual puzzle out of it. So because I thought about it too, I'm gonna say it's not stupid at all. Save face for both of us. :p

While the 3 in C12 is a possibility for the second move, it is not known yet whether it goes R18 - R20, or R16 - R18, since there is a 7 on R16 that might intersect the other end of the 3. Since the position of the 7 is not known yet, the direction of the 3 from R18 is not known yet either, so the 3 on C12 cannot be done yet.

Wow. That was fun. At first I thought I'm not going to get this. But as I looked at it I kept seeing one more move and then one more and one more until suddenly it was solved.

I absolutely love this new rule!

cool

I''m trying to follow the step-by-step.
What does the LL mean??

I hover my pointer in row 14 between the lines in columns 15 and 18 and press H and nothing happens.
I do some experimenting.
AHA! the pointer needs to be next the colored pixel.

But how do I produce a dotted pixel, since I can't click left?? Oh, I needed to read a little more(#4), S fills in all of the dots.

My brain hurts.

Darn, I should have read the clue first. Now I have to re-solve. :)

New version published by infrapinklizzard.

Sorry about the new version, but Gator was right. That 3 got in the way of the first kind of logic and so it had to go. I'm ruthless.
https://youtu.be/q-H62GgHjeg?t=59s

Thanks, everyone. I'm glad it was received well. I have another one I'm working on. It's a bit more complicated than this one.
I think there really can't be too many in this vein, though, unless people are willing to give up picture for the sake of puzzle mechanics.

Love it!

The second version is solvable with the restiction.
Pretty awesome indeed.

Well, you know I will enjoy a puzzle for the mechanics regardless of the picture. So create as many as you like. :)

That was fun! I was challenged to find the 3 clue in C12 until I noticed I was solving version 2! :-)

Yay! That was fun!

I had known about H and V... thanks for mentioning S!

At first, I didn't realize that the HV logic was an additional clue. But once I read comment #2 it was off to the races. by your ingenuity, I am Very Humbled.

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