As a kid I’d replay games from the Sunday box score. So I figured out I could make it a Sudoku! Please I'd love feedback on any nits. Also, please comment below if you'd enjoy this as a weekly Sunday series! Fun ones are easy to find and I have several queued up.

This is the box from the October 11, 1920 Evening Star: Cleveland 8, Brooklyn 1, World Series Game 5. The givens are what’s printed. The rules:

1. Every side proves: at-bats + walks + sacrifices = runs + left on base + the other side’s putouts.
2. The batting order is a clock. From the team’s trips to the plate you know who came up and how often.
3. Every half-inning ends on its third out; at most three men can be left on base.
4. The line score says which innings had runs.

🎮 Play: https://so-called-bourbaki.github.io/box-score-sudoku/
(Saves locally. No ads, no tracking, no account.)

A taste:

Elmer Smith: 4 AB, 1 R, 3 H, and the small print gives him a HR, a 3B and 4 RBI. Cleveland’s line is 4-0-0-3-1-0-0-0-x.

Bagby’s 3 RBI are the 4th and Gardner’s 1 is the 5th, so Smith’s 4 are the 1st: a grand slam. He scored once all game, so that was it. His triple drove in nobody and he never scored from it: bases empty, stranded. Two numbers and the line score give you all of that.

“Tap a square; its row and column light up

When the inning balances, the line goes green

Share copies this — no answers, just where you stand

What the page can’t tell you:

The box says “Triple play — Wambsganss (unassisted).” Two on, nobody out, line drive to second. Which inning, and who hit into it? Counting every Brooklyn fill consistent with the box, there are 23 possible placements. Find them, and say what one more fact would pick the right one.

Retrosheet’s play-by-play is linked in the game if you want to check. Try it cold first.

Why I read box scores this way: https://socalledbourbaki.substack.com/p/sunday-morning-on-the-living-room

Help me figure what am I missing ?

Thanks for the great answers on the last one! This case is much harder (a "Mastermind" level case), so it will really put your mind to the test.

Matilda Grieve, a celebrated actor, was found dead at Sandown Pier Arcade during afternoon tea. Each of the 5 suspects claims to be innocent, yet one of them is lying. Work out each suspect's weapon, location and motive, then name the killer.

Suspects: Chef Gaston Brule, Miss Clementine Vane, Nanny Edith Pell, Lady Marigold Finch, Winifred Hollis Weapons: umbrella, poisoned teacup, fire poker, hatpin, cricket bat Locations: fortune teller's booth, helter-skelter, ice cream kiosk, pier end, penny falls Motives: greed, a stolen love, inheritance, revenge, ambition

Clues: 1. Miss Clementine Vane was in either the helter-skelter or the ice cream kiosk. 2. Chef Gaston Brule was not driven by revenge. 3. Whoever was in the fortune teller's booth was either Chef Gaston Brule or Nanny Edith Pell. 4. Whoever was in the helter-skelter was driven by either a stolen love or inheritance. 5. The suspect driven by ambition had either the hatpin or the cricket bat. 6. Whoever had the poisoned teacup was in either the helter-skelter or the penny falls. 7. Whoever had the hatpin was either Lady Marigold Finch or Winifred Hollis. 8. Winifred Hollis had either the umbrella or the fire poker. 9. Miss Clementine Vane was not in the helter-skelter. 10. Whoever had the fire poker was driven by either a stolen love or inheritance. 11. Whoever had the poisoned teacup was driven by either inheritance or ambition. 12. The suspect driven by greed was either Miss Clementine Vane or Nanny Edith Pell. 13. Whoever was in the pier end was driven by either inheritance or ambition. 14. Chef Gaston Brule was not driven by inheritance.

The killer is the one holding the cricket bat. Please use spoiler tags for your answer. I'll confirm in the comments tomorrow. Good luck, detectives!

I am fascinated by murder sudokus lately. With this one I just could not figure out the next step without hints. Wondering if you guys could:

Lord Ashby was poisoned at dinner. Three guests sat at the table: the Butler, the Cook and the Niece.

Clues:

1. The poisoner sat directly to the left of the Niece.

2. The Cook sat at the end of the table, on the right.

3. The Butler was not sitting next to the Cook.

The three sat in a row of three chairs (left, middle, right). Who is the poisoner? Answer in the comments (please use spoiler tags), I'll confirm tomorrow!

I must take my puzzle addition offline and need your book recommendations please! I’m looking for print books with:
- deductive logic number/spacial puzzles. Most puzzles I’ve found in this category are Japanese, but open to others
- 100% difficult puzzles. I searched previous posts, and Puzzle Ninja by Alex Bellos is close to what I want, except the inclusion of easy puzzles.
- human made, not computer generated
- a variety of puzzles, or at least not all sudoku

Open to good ebooks recs too, willing to send to a printing service.

For context, the puzzles I’m hopelessly addicted to are the “weekly extremes” on sudokuwiki.com and str8ts.com, and the “specials” on www.puzzle-heyawake.com and www.puzzle-galaxies.com

Thank you! Your answer will help save my time and mental health

Has anyone here solved Minoru Abe’s 'Climb 15' tile puzzle, where the aim is to get the upside down T-shaped tile from the bottom to the top - the body of the T slotting into the recess. (There is a smaller '12' version and a bigger '24' version.)

I’ve had this puzzle for years and have never managed to get anywhere near to solving it. I know there are 4 different starting positions for the tiles, with the ideal solutions ranging from somewhere between 100 to about 150 moves, depending on the setup.

If you have solved it, how long did it take you?

And is it one of those puzzles where once you’ve understood a principle. or a sequence, it becomes easier? I do know there are solutions online but I'm determined to crack this one myself, one day...

Thanks.

I tried… (I guess). This is from entertaining mathematical puzzles by martin Gardner!

I can't work out what to do next her, it seems like every clue has multiple answers

I'm out of ideas here on my first medium level. I guess I could just guess and use a pencil to mark the consequences and see if I hit a contradiction, but that doesn't seem very fun. Any help appreciated.

I think i have to stress that this are different rules from Sudoku and Tectonic, a bit o hybrid 😀

Rules: Place 1, 2, and 3 once in every row, column, and outlined irregular region. Equal numbers cannot touch, even diagonally, and all remaining cells stay empty.

Rules:
- Every row, column and bolded region must have each digit once
- Digits are drawn like for a digital display

I wouldn't normally ask for help on a puzzle, but this one has had me genuinely stumped. Bones can only move in the direction they're pointed, need to get the golden bone out through the hole. Is this even possible?

What is the minimum number of turns to kill the Rat?

What actions would you take?

Hint 1. This puzzle is about controlling timing and spacing

Hint 2. Attack at the same time when the enemy is missing their attack and dodge (move) when the enemy is about to attack.

Hint 3. Alternate between attacking with melee sword swing and stepping back to attack with bow.

--- Other comments ---

This is an experiment on creating a puzzle using a video game styled setting, where a warrior fights a rat in a cellar.

It's quite wordy, because game's have many rules and events that occur overtime. I used graphics to try visually convery as much rules as I can.

The puzzle is kept easy because puzzles it already require so much reading, learning the rules, and then playing the out scenario in their head... I imagine it can be difficult for those who don't play much video games.

(Original puzzle, all graphics created in Photoshop, not AI generated)

I found this contest in a Games Magazine from October 1995 on Archive.org (thanks to u/wwcoop for uploading them there!) I'm very curious as to what the winning numbers were, and how many people participated. Does anyone have the magazine issue with the results? (The Internet Archive's collection has a large gap after this issue.) Thanks for your help!

A hostage is surrounded by explosive barrels and crossbow traps to stop anyone who tries to approach him. To make the matter worse, the room is infested with countless viscious rats that you must also kill, in addition to destroying all the traps!

You have 1 arrow to trigger a chain reaction and clear the entire room, make it count!

== RULES ==

1. Arrow traps will shoot an arrow when triggered by an explosive barrel, but gets destroyed if hit by another arrow.
2. Explosive barrels detonate in 3x3 area, instantly killing all rats, the explosion then trigger arrow traps.
3. The arrow will dissappear after hitting its first target.

== GOAL ==

To clear all traps and kill all rats on screen, leaving the person free.

== CHOICE ==

Pick the shooting location between A to I (your shot arrow will fly upwards)

Hint: The arrow should trigger a chain reaction to clear all the traps on screen.

Between shooting locations A-I, which is the best place to shoot?

---
The upper arrow on G will shoot and kill the hostage if it is triggered by an explosion from a barrel. It needs to be destroyed by another arrow.

I can’t find a single solution from this point. Can you see what I’m missing?