Hidden Puzzle by John Bulten

In honor of Kakuro’s past as Cross Sums and Cross Addition, John wanted to share this version of the puzzle with an older presentation style. This presentation may help you find a “hidden puzzle” that John left for solvers to discover.

Kakuro by John Bulten

(view directly for a larger image)

PDF

Author/Opus: This is the 29th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster John Bulten.

Answer String: Enter the fifth row and fifth column of the hidden puzzle solution in standard format, separating the entries with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:00, Master = 3:30, Expert = 7:00

Solution: PDF

  • Aaron Chan says:

    I must say, I am completely lost with this one.

  • Jack Bross says:

    My guess is that you are looking for something too complicated.
    (And this was a very nice surprise — the second puzzle is rather elegant on its own)

  • Paul K says:

    Yeah, I spent a good chunk of time not solving the hidden puzzle with rules that existed only in my head.

  • Adam Thrasher says:

    Got any hints for the more daft puzzlers?

    • Avatar photo drsudoku says:

      Probably not a hint if you don’t know puzzle history, but this hidden puzzle is a nod towards the past.

      The old style formatting references the fact Kakuro used to be called Cross Sums in several western (US+Canadian) puzzle magazines. The hidden puzzle is of another genre that had a western origin in the same magazines before it got a new, foreign name.

  • Carl W says:

    A lovely hidden puzzle. Thanks, John!

  • skynet says:

    Can someone rot13 this puzzle type ? I have had enough staring at it stupefied.

  • Adam Thrasher says:

    I’m still at a complete loss. Typed the name given by drsudoku into Wikipedia, and got an article about a puzzle type that I know well. Just can’t see it here.

  • A☆ says:

    If I’ve got this right, (ROT13)gur terlrq-bhg nernf znex gur obhaqnevrf bs gur avar-ol-avar nern gung lbh’er fhccbfrq gb fbyir. Svyy va gur juvgr pryyf jvgu gur ahzoref gung ner cynprq va gurz va gur bevtvany Xnxheb, naq hfr gurz nf gur tviraf bs n “Ahzore Cynpr” chmmyr.

    Is it anything like that, or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely?

  • Rob says:

    It’s a Simple Loop! 🙂

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