January Patreon Reward - The Hobbit
Added 2025-01-01 16:00:16 +0000 UTCHello Patreons, and Happy New Year!
We are delighted to bring you the follow-up to Blobz's amazing Lord of the Rings sudoku hunt (from June 2024). This is The Hobbit, and Blobz himself describes it as his magnum opus.
We are so grateful to Blobz himself, and his testers (credited within the document), and also Ted Nasmith for giving Blobz permission to use the wonderful artwork that appears.
Do enjoy yourself with all 19 puzzles - a word of warning though: they must be solved in order as each puzzle carries over some information to the next! If you do get through them all, you can submit the answer key at (which comes from the solution to the final puzzle “Home At Last”), at https://tinyurl.com/hobbitsudoku before 4pm UK time on January 20th, 2025.
Blobz has included some notes on the story arc at the end, for your interest. Enjoy your quest!
Simon & Mark
Comments
Good Luck!
John Fiala
2025-02-24 14:04:56 +0000 UTCThanks for your reply, I'll just keep on grinding with it for a while and see if I can find a way in it :) Sometimes it helps just to take a day off from it.
Fredrik Kronander
2025-02-24 10:04:24 +0000 UTCNo, I never got anywhere good with that. I eventually waited until solutions were posted and tried continuing with the next puzzle, but I didn't finish that either - I think I'm just not good enough from then on.
John Fiala
2025-02-23 18:48:28 +0000 UTCHi John, how did it go with the Goblin Cave? I've been working on these puzzles for the last week and currently I'm stuck in the same cave... :) If you found your way in it, do you have any tips? I'm starting in the top right corner where the given 6 in the box demands a number of cave cells, but I can't find a way to make that work with the wall up there.
Fredrik Kronander
2025-02-23 18:46:39 +0000 UTCAh, finally the penny dropped here - always seems so easy once you see it! :)
Fredrik Kronander
2025-02-18 07:37:43 +0000 UTCI'm stuck with this one too and can't figure out which of the combinations that sum to 10 is the valid one. Any more tips on how to figure that out? :)
Fredrik Kronander
2025-02-17 18:17:06 +0000 UTCI needed that. Thank you!
Diane Roberts
2025-02-08 21:33:53 +0000 UTCI'm still not understanding how to do the key? Past date anyway now mind
Altnabreac
2025-01-23 09:13:49 +0000 UTCYour welcome! Glad I could be of assistance.
sara c
2025-01-21 08:17:46 +0000 UTCThis was so much fun to complete! I really enjoyed the variety of puzzles and the Hobbit theming is wonderful. A friend recommended CTC to me a few months ago and I've loved watching all the videos. I'm still a novice at variant sudoku, but was able to persevere and finish them all. Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into this, Blobz, testers and CTC.
Jason Mattis
2025-01-19 21:01:36 +0000 UTCJust finished! It was so much fun that I'm quite sad it's over. Why does the submission form ask for our names?
Gabrielle Martin
2025-01-19 18:59:40 +0000 UTCI did it !! Thank you so much for your help !!
Rachel Roubelet
2025-01-16 19:41:24 +0000 UTCIf I remember correctly, you should be able to solve the shorter line in box 1 if you solved box 7 correctly. The longer one will interact with box 7.
Niklas Nabbing
2025-01-16 14:19:41 +0000 UTCI got it, I was misreading the rules. I thought when it mentioned the other cloud tile, I thought it was saying clouded tiles ie. fog tiles and when there was no fog cleared I was messing up
Ian Eggleston
2025-01-15 22:16:16 +0000 UTCI’ve been stuck on puzzle 11 “when the thrush knocks…” for several days now, anyone have any advice on the break in? I’ve checked the starting digits several times and the puzzle just keeps breaking. I don’t think I’m misreading the rules but there may very well be some wording I’m misunderstanding
Ian Eggleston
2025-01-15 21:49:17 +0000 UTCI was doing so well with these puzzles picking them up when I could with some help from this thread have managed to stumble my way through - Just got to Lake-Town and I knew it would be a tricky one but I am completely stuck with it. I think I've figured out the green line escaping out of box 7 but from there any help would be appreciated :)
Aimee Frost
2025-01-15 17:34:35 +0000 UTCI did think about those digits, but did not think about where they go in the dragon ! thank you i will try it out !!
Rachel Roubelet
2025-01-15 10:41:01 +0000 UTCI’m not sure where you’re up to so these are the questions that got me my break-in in terms of numbers. What’s the total not in the cage in column 1? Where are those digits in the box with the dragon? Hope that helps.
sara c
2025-01-14 22:04:55 +0000 UTCSigh... Fresh eyes as soon as I sent this noticed the river section in box 1.
andy batts
2025-01-14 14:09:30 +0000 UTCGreat set of puzzles, but I am hopelessly, breathtakingly stuck on VIII: Flies and Spiders. If anyone that has solved this would DM me so I can get a bump, I'd appreciate it.
andy batts
2025-01-14 14:05:42 +0000 UTCI finally cracked it! On to the next one!
Shannon Kranich
2025-01-14 14:01:54 +0000 UTCHi ! I'm a bit stuck on Thror's Map, I've put the digits from the previous puzzle, put notes and colours every where i could but can't find a way to break in :( (i'm not the best with the killer cages)
Rachel Roubelet
2025-01-14 10:42:13 +0000 UTCAmazing puzzle pack. Lake-town I had to do some bifurcation to solve so hopefully can see a better solve of that 😁
Ryan W
2025-01-14 09:31:32 +0000 UTCGreat puzzles, took me 13 days to solve! thank you
Elif
2025-01-14 04:42:16 +0000 UTCAh, thank you!
Kenneth Jensen
2025-01-13 07:26:48 +0000 UTCNo, the rule follows the line down and doesn't affect those two digits
Yelena Alexandrova
2025-01-13 05:47:00 +0000 UTCGoblin Cave has me stuck - I'm not used to this sort of 'color in the walls' puzzles. Is there a good guide somewhere that would help me figure out the logic necessary?
John Fiala
2025-01-12 21:31:14 +0000 UTCI'm quite glad I joined up and started on this journey! But I have a question about Thror's map. Does row 5 column 4 see row 5 column 3? In other words, does the dragon's neck have to have a difference of at least with 5 with its back/tail?
Kenneth Jensen
2025-01-12 20:25:46 +0000 UTCI may have found my breaking point. I've been staring at "Flies and Spiders" for over 2 hours and can't figure out where to break in. I struggled with "Thror's Map" but the rest have worked out pretty well for me. I'm feeling defeated that a 2 star difficulty puzzle has me absolutely stuck.
Shannon Kranich
2025-01-12 18:59:52 +0000 UTCOk, solved this problem. Apparantly it is hard to follow the instructions on where to fill in the digits from the last puzzle....
Brian Esselaar
2025-01-12 10:59:41 +0000 UTCHi all, thanks for this nice set of puzzles. I am stuck on "The Dragons Wrath". I do not understand the rule concerning the arrows. As I understand it, C6R7 should be a 5. The digit the arrow comes from (c6r7) appears in the grid in the direction of the arrow at a distance of 1 cells. I must be misreading this. Can someone clarify this for me?
Brian Esselaar
2025-01-11 22:01:52 +0000 UTCOh, if it is solvable without assuming purple lines I just didn't see a step, thanks for the reply :)
Zamri Thüring
2025-01-11 15:37:32 +0000 UTCI'm going back on what I said, it looks like the cobwebs do act like white kropki dots.
Mobius Rex
2025-01-10 22:12:15 +0000 UTCI still have no clue :(
Jacob Payne
2025-01-10 20:21:49 +0000 UTCI think you must be right... I'm getting a situation where 7 can only be in two places that are both consecutive to a dwarf cell, which is clearly impossible.
Mobius Rex
2025-01-10 18:46:24 +0000 UTCPuzzle VIII: "Cells bound together by a cobweb contain consecutive digits." got me properly stuck as it is not 100% clear that ALL cells need to be consecutive (like a purple line) rather than white kropki dots (e.g. 7-8-7 would be valid if allowed by other rules). Or am I missing something? The puzzle is impossible to solve otherwise...
Zamri Thüring
2025-01-10 16:04:29 +0000 UTCJust finished the hunt - this was great fun, so cleverly designed!! Lovely hunt, thank you so much CtC and Blobz! And Ted for letting those beautiful illustrations be used. Now I feel an urge to go and re-read The Hobbit!!
Kim Wheeler
2025-01-10 10:12:16 +0000 UTCThank you so much. That makes sense
Jodi Nicklas
2025-01-09 23:33:07 +0000 UTCFor most puzzles, the value of a cell is the same as its digit. The Beorn puzzle is different. The "changer" cells and "victim" cells have values of 8 or 0, regardless of what digit is there. You still write in the digit that would be correct by sudoku, but when looking at the cage totals, you have to consider the values instead of the digits.
geneinkc
2025-01-09 23:25:16 +0000 UTCFinally worked my way to puzzle 7. Can someone explain what is meant by “value”. I haven’t come across this before. This puzzle hunt has been super challenging for me but I am enjoying it immensely. Thank you Blobz and CTC
Jodi Nicklas
2025-01-09 21:37:28 +0000 UTCWhat an absolut gem of a puzzle! 🤩 Thanks 🙏🍾
Anne Loftager
2025-01-09 14:07:40 +0000 UTCI'm now stuck on Lake-Town, I can barely get going, I'm only able to get out of Box 7 and fill the small bottom left corner whisper line in the town, then eliminate a few possibilities from the central box and then I'm lost... edit: oh no... is it the special ring...
Marc Richard Albert
2025-01-09 01:17:26 +0000 UTCThanks! I see it now. I wonder how I made that deduction that that was the point it had to touch...
EB
2025-01-08 23:48:41 +0000 UTCWhere your wall touches on the left, there is an alternative square elsewhere that you can shade instead.
Justin Cheadle
2025-01-08 23:31:01 +0000 UTCMy Goblin cave puzzle seems to have a non-orthogonally connected cave in the top left. Is anyone else seeing that? It tells me I solved it anyways.
EB
2025-01-08 22:49:51 +0000 UTCI just joined and solved my first puzzle of my first sudoku hunt! Super excited to see how far I will get! Don't expect I will solve everything, but still very enjoyable and a great way to spend my break from uni!
Eva van Schijndel
2025-01-08 21:39:41 +0000 UTCI'm so stuck on this one!
Louise Burnyeat
2025-01-08 11:41:33 +0000 UTCReally enjoying these but I'm stuck on puzzle 7. (I'm very shocked to have got this far!)
Louise Burnyeat
2025-01-08 11:40:29 +0000 UTCI've worked it out. I can't do simple arithmetic on summing to 18.
Laurence McLean
2025-01-08 10:41:46 +0000 UTCI'm going somewhere wrong on Thror's Map (Puzzle 3). I keep getting to a point late in the puzzle where I've made a mistake somewhere. I think I'm ruling something out of the runes early on that I shouldn't be...
Laurence McLean
2025-01-08 10:08:38 +0000 UTCWell looking forward to the solution videos so I can see how I was supposed to do it!
Louise Roser
2025-01-08 02:16:50 +0000 UTCAbsolutely nerd sniped by this puzzle series, I'm not getting much else done! Blobz, is that a subtle Dwarf Fortress reference I've spotted with the river in puzzle XV, or simply coincidence?
Justin Cheadle
2025-01-07 20:48:58 +0000 UTCI think you got lucky because it's not a negative constraint! I didn't use that in my break-in.
Valery
2025-01-07 14:06:43 +0000 UTCThanks, enjoyed these. Hard to pick a favourite but the one with victim cells sticks in the mind.
Athel Stan
2025-01-07 07:50:00 +0000 UTCReally enjoying this series! SPOILER: Does anyone know if the X and Black dot rules in "When the Thrush Knocks" are negative constraints? I inferred that they were and that really informed the break-in for me but then in the completed puzzle I had several non-marked instances of an X or black dot :') Perhaps just got lucky with the break in?
Louise Roser
2025-01-07 06:20:41 +0000 UTCThis is my first month as a Patron! I really enjoyed this series, especially the way that one puzzle flowed into the next. Lake-Town absolutely wrecked me, though. I finally solved it, but I sat there stuck for multiple hours, trying to resolve the whisper lines on the right. I'm sure I missed some important piece of logic that would have broken it open. Still, a delightful series overall!
geneinkc
2025-01-07 03:11:22 +0000 UTCThanks. I had tried much more elaborate schemes... ;-)
Andreas Praefcke
2025-01-06 14:50:45 +0000 UTCSum per cage
Ruthless John
2025-01-06 12:07:14 +0000 UTCAny hint as to how to decipher that final code?
Andreas Praefcke
2025-01-06 11:10:03 +0000 UTCSo satisfying that one!
Richard Buckingham
2025-01-06 06:36:17 +0000 UTCIt means take the entire "Bill" cage from Puzzle 2, and copy it into the "Forest River" Cage in puzzle 3
Jacob Hanson
2025-01-05 23:36:44 +0000 UTCNever mind, didn't notice it breaks immediately if you count the arrow's cel
Lias Verslyppe
2025-01-05 22:02:49 +0000 UTCi absolutely would've never noticed that on my own! thank you so much!
Benny Ng
2025-01-05 22:01:16 +0000 UTCIn "The dragon's wrath", do you count the cel the arrow is in for the distance, or do you start counting after the arrow?
Lias Verslyppe
2025-01-05 21:55:31 +0000 UTCThe boats aren't in the same order in the two puzzles. (I made that mistake and it kept breaking)
Lias Verslyppe
2025-01-05 21:53:18 +0000 UTCOh, I haven't scrolled down far enough then, thank you!
Zamri Thüring
2025-01-05 19:42:19 +0000 UTCi have broken 'when the thrush knocks' multiple times now, so i can only assume i'm misreading one of the rules; does anyone have any insight or tips on that one?
Benny Ng
2025-01-05 19:17:50 +0000 UTCThere’s a PDF attached to the post as well :)
Rasmus Kjærsgaard
2025-01-05 18:16:57 +0000 UTCIn puzzle 3, does “clone” mean that the digit in the Bill cell is found somewhere in the Forest River?
R S
2025-01-05 17:23:36 +0000 UTCI'm new to the Patreon and wanted to ask: How exactly can I play the monthly reward packs? The link isn't for the packs so I assumethere is annother way? :)
Zamri Thüring
2025-01-05 14:39:14 +0000 UTCFinally finished it, your guys comments helped a lot, for those still stuck, one more hint that got me started was to think, "what would the trees look like on the edge if the entire edge was one color?"
Jacob Hanson
2025-01-05 05:07:14 +0000 UTCSpoiler: The reason the corner cells need to have two direct neighboring digits be the same shade is because without it, you would box that shade in. If it only saw 2 digits, including itself, it would have to be boxed in, since you cannot form a 2x2 or a checkerboard pattern. Took me a while myself to figure that concept out.
Andy Davis
2025-01-05 02:13:59 +0000 UTCHi Scott. Thanks for the help about the perimeter, finally made some progress! However, the bit about the corner needing both neighbours to be the same colour I’m not quite wrapping my head around. Could you explain that? I took the advice of Martin above to find a CtC video about it, and in the example, I think I found a way to make only 1 neighbour match colour. It may not be a valid drawing I did, but it appears to fit (in a 6x6 sudoku, using red and green, it worked out as - GGGRRG GRGGRG GRRGRG GGRRRG GRRGRG GGGGGG)
Helen
2025-01-04 23:32:10 +0000 UTC@Lorraine - Good question, yes, you can infer this. Different wall segments don't touch each other.
Vedran Kordić
2025-01-04 23:11:57 +0000 UTCAh, I was thinking about other sudoku puzzles that use V to indicate greater that 5. Thank you
Constant Marks
2025-01-04 21:29:14 +0000 UTCThey have to differ by „at least 5“
Günter Gera
2025-01-04 21:19:51 +0000 UTCOn Puzzle 3, Some of the Dragon cells seem to differ by 5, which is not grater that 5. Do have the wrong values or a wrong understanding of the rule. I am a newbie
Constant Marks
2025-01-04 21:10:36 +0000 UTCIf you're not familiar with yin-yang, it's probably pretty hard. (If you're not, perhaps watch a video where Simon or Mark explains the basics of it). SPOILER: The trick is in the perimeter and the trees there. MORE SPOILER: Try to make the perimeter one colour and see what happens to the trees.
Martin Bull-Gundersen
2025-01-04 21:06:07 +0000 UTCLoving the puzzles! For "Riddles in the Dark", the instructions say to fill in digits for Bilbo and Gollum matching corresponding diamond digits in the previous puzzle. But there are 5 diamonds in "Goblin Cave" and none are marked as Bilbo or Gollum. Am I supposed to know which specific numbers to enter? Edit: Oh, it's the diamonds in the same *positions*.
whterbt
2025-01-04 19:43:14 +0000 UTCI just finished Out of the Frying Pan. It was a REAL challenge for me (not very used to yin yang), but such a very nice feeling to finaly see through it!
Matti Slabbaert
2025-01-04 19:09:32 +0000 UTCJust submitted the Key. Once again, a truly remarkable piece of work by Blobz. Absolutely fantastic. Puzzles are approachable and very addictive. I enjoyed them all. Logically sound. Can't wait for the next reward. Happy New Year to all.
Mario
2025-01-04 15:24:33 +0000 UTCAt last, I understand. I conflated rules b and c and never appreciated that it was each individual wall containing 1 to n. I must have reread a dozen times without fully understanding. Confirmation bias ( and stupity) is a powerful thing.
Colin Cook
2025-01-04 02:42:20 +0000 UTCIt doesn't directly say it, but it's inevitable because of the rules as written. "Each WALL segment includes exactly ONE diamond, and contains the digits 1 to N (with no repeats), where N is placed in the diamond." Since a region containing the digits 1 to N will have N cells, and N is the digit placed in the diamond, the diamond will always be the size of the region.
Erin Toler
2025-01-04 02:19:38 +0000 UTCWow!! So glad I continued to work through puzzle 3. It took a lot of coloring and letters to try to keep track of things, but I felt so proud when I finally got it! Great setting, even when I was stuck for bits I was eventually able to see the logic of the next step. Excited to continue!
Katsa Middluns
2025-01-03 22:08:37 +0000 UTCThe circle rule is clear and provides extra information. The diamond rule simply states that each one contains a different digit. It doesn't say that said digit also gives the size of that section of wall. Maybe the information isn't needed for the solve or it was just coincidence. All I'm saying is I inferred it and it helped reach a solution.
Colin Cook
2025-01-03 22:02:07 +0000 UTCThe important thing to remember is that each wall segment must touch the edge of the grid, and the cave must be one continuous area
Jacob Hanson
2025-01-03 21:32:29 +0000 UTCSame here, I'm out of ideas and I'm finding it much more difficult than the previous puzzles, despite it only have a rating of 3.
Benjamin Good
2025-01-03 19:57:52 +0000 UTCAlso a newbie to cave sudoku here. My query (though probably different to Colin) is whether we can infer the wall segments need to be distinctly separate from each other or whether they can touch?
Lorraine Blanks
2025-01-03 19:13:43 +0000 UTCThis unlocked it for me, thank you both! That's probably the hardest sudoku I've ever managed to finish.
Reece Powell
2025-01-03 16:47:21 +0000 UTCfor blobz, just to say i love the order of the dwarves popping up in the first puzzle, with one exception they were book order for me (think i forgot to do sudoku there) which is amazing to me! ♡
sovotchka art
2025-01-03 13:34:13 +0000 UTCSame here, stuck for about 30 min then cycling through the comments for help. Thanks a lot!
Gaurav Data
2025-01-03 13:04:26 +0000 UTCWhich unstated rule would you infer? The rules as given were fine for me. It's hard to say what might be going on without seeing your board, but maybe you aren't following the circle rule?
Vedran Kordić
2025-01-03 11:52:26 +0000 UTCIt’s 7 cells. Row 5 columns 2 to 5, row 6 columns 2 to 4.
Loonie C
2025-01-03 11:11:45 +0000 UTCOn Puzzle 3, is the Dragon 7 Cells or 6 Cells long?
Ubermensch
2025-01-03 10:04:35 +0000 UTCNewcomer to cave sudoku. So, is it normal to infer a rule which is otherwise unstated? I'd bludgeoned my way through mainly using suduku before appreciating the full meaning of the diamond in each wall. Even then, I seemed to have landing up with three ways of completing the bottom left corner cave and still maintain cave rules as given. Confused!
Colin Cook
2025-01-03 04:25:11 +0000 UTCSame. My brain is stuck on puzzle 2, and can’t reconcile how to get a 5 cell 17 cage to reconcile with the 2 cell 5 cage. What is wrong with me. lol
Erin Kesterson
2025-01-03 01:55:03 +0000 UTCHappy New Year to everyone from Scotland. Already on Smaug's puzzle but now I have to get some sleep as I can't think straight anymore. Wonderful!
Chris Noonan
2025-01-02 23:30:20 +0000 UTCAfter you figure out Jacob's clue, may I suggest the runes could use a bit of... color?
Kairamek
2025-01-02 22:15:23 +0000 UTCI had worked out what you mentioned about there only being one color change on the outside, but how did you work out that the neighbors of a corner have to be the same?
Jacob Hanson
2025-01-02 20:45:20 +0000 UTCLook at the runes in the leftmost box, and notice how all of them are also in the central box with the head of the dragon
Jacob Hanson
2025-01-02 20:31:19 +0000 UTCLong story short... I am stupid 🤣
Lord Mort
2025-01-02 20:20:49 +0000 UTCConsider that paths around the outside of the puzzle can only have a single change of color, and that the two immediate neighbors of a corner cell have to match its color. Also recall that no 2x2 box will be all the same color. You could start by applying these ideas to box 1 where there are lots of trees and you have a given digit taken from puzzle #5.
Scott Walker
2025-01-02 19:31:15 +0000 UTCQuestion for Blobz. I notice that only something like 2 puzzles are 4 stars. Everything else is 1-3. Largely approachable. The Hobbit was conceptualized as a children's story, as opposed to LotR which was for adults. Is that an intentional correlation or am I reading to much into that?
Kairamek
2025-01-02 17:45:06 +0000 UTCI got to the third puzzle when I started to get stuck
Lovlydragon
2025-01-02 16:53:58 +0000 UTCI am already lost in puzzle 1 😭
Lord Mort
2025-01-02 16:08:53 +0000 UTCThanks, I misread the rules the same way.
Menno Timmermans
2025-01-02 15:24:24 +0000 UTCThanks! I'm a bit of a newbie struggling on puzzle 3, the only numbers I've got are the given ones from puzzle 2. Any tips on where to focus my attention would be appreciated!
Reece Powell
2025-01-02 14:57:14 +0000 UTCWas stuck here as well, think about the edge!
Konsl
2025-01-02 12:38:27 +0000 UTCsame here, would appreciate any and all hints
Jeff Ahituv
2025-01-02 12:13:31 +0000 UTCLoving it so far! ... Until I hit Puzzle 6 (Out of the Frying Pan). Been staring at it for almost two hours without being able to break in. Anyone got a hint? All I've been able to figure out is to narrow down the circled cells
Jacob Hanson
2025-01-02 08:35:06 +0000 UTCI must be misinterpreting a rule on 4, Goblin Cave. Edit: 2x2s _ARE_ allowed. I misread the last line. :) Thanks! (And thanks to CTC and Blobz!)
Nathan Winchester
2025-01-02 00:15:03 +0000 UTCa puzzle for every day until just before the deadline, AND cool art! yay ♡♡
sovotchka art
2025-01-01 19:08:25 +0000 UTCYAY! Thank you CTC and Blobz for the New Year's gift! I've been very much looking forward to this!
Trevor Johnston
2025-01-01 16:50:11 +0000 UTC
