Snake (Cipher) by Serkan Yürekli
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to shift between a number entry mode and Yajilin composite mode where left click inside cell shades square, left click + drag draws line segment, right click inside cell adds dot, and right click on cell edge adds an x.)
Theme: Cipher Snake
Author/Opus: This is the 298th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.
Rules: Locate a numbered snake (a 1-cell wide path) that starts with 1 and goes to 45. The snake cannot touch itself, not even diagonally. All numbers are encrypted with C, I, P, H, E, R, S, N, A, K letters and each letter represent a different digit from 0 to 9. Digits outside the grid indicate how many cells in that row or column are occupied by the snake. Some snake segments are already given.
Difficulty: 4 stars
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 11:00, Expert = 22:00
Solution: PDF; a solution video is also available here.
Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles. More Snake puzzles and variations can be found in Snake and Variations by Serkan Yürekli.
Surprised nobody has commented yet on how amazing this puzzle is! Awesome intricate logic using every trick in the Snake toolbox to tease out the cipher and a finish that seems impossible until you realize the trick.
Excellent puzzle. Very difficult, but also with a very clean logical solving path. Thank you!
Great puzzle!