(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.)
This puzzle combines regular Sudoku logic with ideas from the card game Blackjack. Tell us in the comments if you think it is a hit or not?

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Bust a Move

Author/Opus: This is the 28th puzzle from Philip Newman, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) team.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region. Also, the clues outside the grid are inspired by Blackjack and show when a player has gone “Bust”. Specifically, for a clue N, the sum of the first N numbers in that direction in that row or column is larger than 21, but this is not true for the first N-1 numbers which will have a sum of 21 or less.

(In this puzzle, for example, the clue at the top of column 8 means the sum of R1-5C8 > 21 but the sum of R1-4C8 is ≤ 21.)

GAS Time Standards (highlight to view): Two party hats (🎩🥳): 8:30; One party hat (🥳): 18:00. All other solvers earn a 🦕: August Apatodon.

Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view): 3:51, with SudokuPad replay file shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).

Solution: PDF; solving video with explanation to be added later from GAS team.

Note: Follow this link for other less common variations of Sudoku.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Daily GAS discussion post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.