(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
Our testing was fine in a single country, like the US where Sudoku originated. But when we considered the rules of the road in Japan, and then the unusual spacing initially seen in Britain too, everything got messed up. Single systems are not useful. We’ll need to think about at least two, maybe three at a time to get to ASI.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is 5th puzzle from “Dr. Sudoku”, our AI-powered puzzle engine pushing the limits of sudoku intelligence.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 4 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 12:30, Expert = 25:00

Solution: PDF and solving video from Unshackling Sudokus & Puzzles channel.

Note: Follow this link for classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
Even with basic models of self-setting sudoku intelligence, it is good to have some simplified rules to check for. Repeating clear patterns helps the superior intellect of our models learn to stay on the road.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: {Cars, The Right Side of}

Author/Opus: This is 4th puzzle from “Dr. Sudoku”, our AI-powered puzzle engine pushing the limits of sudoku intelligence.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 6 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 2.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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

We wanted to share a “the story so far” kind of update for “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku” since a lot of people have not been following very deeply. Importantly, if you just like solving really elegant Sudoku puzzles, please just solve the Sudoku. You can ignore the author, title, and flavor text; the provided difficulties suggest what you’ll be getting on any post. However, the posts do link together so…

For the light summary (web view only):
In the first week, Thomas shared a set of 4 (of 5) puzzles on a box-like grid, titled “Intelligence is Thinking * The Box” which each had very different solving structures. The flavor text suggested some may have been hand-set but by the end he was possibly enjoying time at the beach and a computer was doing most of the work. While getting to full self-setting AI was problematic, adding in new training sources besides just Classic Sudoku got some more curious puzzles and better AI. Finally, on Monday, the “Dr. Sudoku” system launched on its own, exceeding the typical 9×9 space of a sudoku puzzle.

We’ve been told that each week (roughly) there will be a new theme for the Sudoku, and this is now the second day for an apparent “self-driving” theme. The puzzles seem easier so far — at least today’s only needs 1-6 placed — but who knows what is down the road.

For the heavy summary (web and discord rabbithole):
Besides the story above, the president of GMPuzzles, mars, has been using their own HAL 12000 AI system to analyze and solve the puzzles. They have been finding occasional traces of puzzle hunt-like signals in the sudoku, and with the help of Tane, HAL was able to hack into the Dr. Sudoku system but has since gone quiet.

We await further word, but this might be a battle of intelligence against intelligence. We’ll need help eventually. There is a spoiler-free place in the Discord just for the HAL 12000 messages and a cooperative discussion space. But first you may have to join.

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
Even with basic models of self-setting sudoku intelligence, it is good to have some simplified rules to check for. Repeating clear patterns helps the superior intellect of our models learn to stay on the road.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: {People, The Sides of}

Author/Opus: This is 3rd puzzle from “Dr. Sudoku”, our AI-powered puzzle engine pushing the limits of sudoku intelligence.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 6 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 3 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 4:00, Expert = 8:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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

(This post is part of: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
Our testing is showing that we may have an ASI (believe the hype!), but not a GASI (Genuinely Approachable Sudoku Intelligence) without more prompting. So we’ve started to use prompts to get data for reinforcement learning with way mo’ focus on Sudoku-based decision making. This one starts with the basics, going from 0 to 9 in 8.1 seconds, a new sudoku speed record.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is 2nd puzzle from “Dr. Sudoku”, our AI-powered puzzle engine pushing the limits of sudoku intelligence.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 1.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:45, Expert = 3:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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

(This post is part of our series: “A Story of Self-setting Sudoku”.)
I see you have constructed a new Sudoku. Your skills are complete.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from “Dr. Sudoku”, our AI-powered puzzle engine pushing the limits of sudoku intelligence.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 12:00, Master = 16:00, Expert = 32:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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

As we master self-setting, we may need to start dialing back the AI so that even beginners can catch up to the awesome logic hidden by Dr. Sudoku. In the future, no more unsolvable puzzles until we see signs of intelligence to rival ours. Today, we’ll share some assistance from our deep sea radar to show the shallow waters.
No more missed promises. We’re launching “Full Setting Automation” tomorrow.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Red Fish, Blue Fish (4.875 of 5)

Author/Opus: This is the 590th puzzle from Thomas Snyder.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 4.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 9:00, Master = 15:00, Expert = 30:00

Solution: PDF and solving video from Unshackling Sudokus & Puzzles.

Note: Follow this link for all entries in A Story of Self-setting Sudoku. Follow this link for other classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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

We’ve gotten the red flags outside of the grid but still cannot make sense of them. It may be tied to that shiny yellow number in the corner, another survivor from yesterday’s expanded challenge. The rest of this space is from the new training ground we traveled to. Who knew training reasoning models with just 50 word tokens could lead to such amazing intelligence?
Given our rate of progress, we’ll show off “Full Setting Automation” by tomorrow!

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Don’t Like the Sudoku We Doctor? Sue Us!?! (4.75 of 5)

Author/Opus: This is the 589th puzzle from Thomas Snyder.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for all entries in A Story of Self-setting Sudoku. Follow this link for other classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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

Nothing to worry about; some minor issues before we can show off our full self-setting technology. We’re being warned that the flagged number is causing a disturbance that puts our powerful AI at risk. Still, we have new hope that we have eliminated all weak spots in our GPU core. No more big explosions today.
Given our rate of progress, we’ll show off “Full Setting Automation” by tomorrow!

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Unexpected Swerve (4.5 of 5)

Author/Opus: This is the 588th puzzle from Thomas Snyder.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 4:00, Master = 6:00, Expert = 12:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for all entries in A Story of Self-setting Sudoku. Follow this link for other classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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

The fourth level of self-setting is “High Setting Automation”. The editor relaxes as an automated, intelligent process (AI) generates grids that are then passed to a second AI the editor has set up to reject almost everything that is not an outlier, since corner cases may be the only interesting things left to search for. When needed, the editor still acts to reject unfriendly logic before publishing.

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Intelligence is Thinking * The Box (4 of 5)

Author/Opus: This is the 587th puzzle from Thomas Snyder.

Rules: Standard Sudoku rules.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 3.5 stars

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 3:45, Master = 5:45, Expert = 11:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for all entries in A Story of Self-setting Sudoku. Follow this link for other classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

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