Kenken help

Someone asked me for help with this kenken puzzle and they assumed I would be able to do it because I study maths but I tried for 1/2 an hour and then gave up.

I've written in all the possible numbers in each box because it makes it a lot easier so I advise people trying it to do the same.

I'll give rep to anyone who can tell me how to get the next number (the numbers already there have been confirmed to be correct). I thought I'd post it now because only the best f38ers are working/puzzling at this hour. :p:

EDIT: If you've never seen a kenken puzzle before, this site will tell you the rules.

Okay, it's a bit complex, but here goes:

Let's draw a coordinate system, A1-F6. Looking at column D:

The 5- must contain and 1 and a 6. Now, if 3 is in square D1, 6 must be in C1, but this can't happen since 6 cannot be in both B2 and E2, but must appear somewhere in both those triangles. If the bottom right triangle is 323, not 316, then we get a similar contradiction, since a 3 must be in E1 or F1. So 3 is not in D1.

Suppose 3 is in D5. Now let's look at the +13 in the top right. It can't be 616, since then the bottom right triangle is violated, since 6 must be in one of these squares if it's a 316, or 2 must be in one of E1 and E2 if it's a 323. Looking again at the +13, since 5 cannot be involved, the only other way is 643. The 3 must go in F6 since there is now a 3 in D5. Then the 4 goes in F5, the 6 goes in E5. But now, to make the +10 (B5-D5), we need a 325 combo. This leaves 1 to go in square A5. But this implies 2 is in square A6. Contradiction, since 2 is in E6.

Therefore 3 is not in D5, and by elimination, 3 must go in square D2.

Hope this helps :smile:

.

Reply 2

danny111

3

why is the bottom right triangle violated if top right triangle is 616? you could have 323 in bottom right or even 613 with the 3 bottom left.

edit: i see why.

Reply 3

Simba

16

danny111

why is the bottom right triangle violated if top right triangle is 616? you could have 323 in bottom right or even 613 with the 3 bottom left.

edit: i see why.

Slight edit made to my post to factor in the 323 case (I thought it had to be 316).

Reply 4

Simba

16

notnek

I was confused after the first line!

'...Looking at column D: ... if 3 is in square D1...'

But there's a 5 in D1 :confused:

A = First column, 1 = bottom row. Coordinate grid :smile:

.

Reply 5

Notnek

OP

21

Simba

A = First column, 1 = bottom row. Coordinate grid :smile:

.

I realised that I was being thick as soon as I posted!

I tried not to do any 'suppose x is in square y' because I thought that there would be a nicer approach but after listing all the numbers in all the squares and looking at it for ages, I don't think there is.

Thanks a lot for the help. I've completed it now.

Reply 6

Simba

16

notnek

I realised that I was being thick as soon as I posted!

I tried not to do any 'suppose x is in square y' because I thought that there would be a nicer approach but after listing all the numbers in all the squares and looking at it for ages, I don't think there is.

Thanks a lot for the help. I've completed it now.

No problem, glad you've completed it now :biggrin:

! Is it a computer generated one from a website? If so, it's quite likely that the computer's self-question of "is this puzzle solvable logically?" takes logic to a fair few more steps than ones in a newspaper would. So my method may be the simplest way to progress, even though it's pretty horrendous.

Reply 7

Notnek

OP

21

Simba

No problem, glad you've completed it now :biggrin:

! Is it a computer generated one from a website? If so, it's quite likely that the computer's self-question of "is this puzzle solvable logically?" takes logic to a fair few more steps than ones in a newspaper would. So my method may be the simplest way to progress, even though it's pretty horrendous.

It was from the New York Times Kenken site which is why I struggled to find a non-horrendous method :smile:

.

Kenken help

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you