{"id":34288,"date":"2025-10-12T00:00:59","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T07:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/?p=34288"},"modified":"2025-10-13T13:23:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T20:23:49","slug":"bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/","title":{"rendered":"Bent Diagonals Sudoku by Bill Murphy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(This post is part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/tag\/gas\/\">Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS)<\/a> series.)<br \/>\n<em>Unlike yesterday&#8217;s straight diagonals, this puzzle features four different bent diagonals and may twist your brain a bit until you figure out how to use this information.<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2025\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku.png\" alt=\"Bent Diagonals Sudoku by Bill Murphy\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2025\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku.pdf\">PDF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>or <a href=\"https:\/\/gmpuzzles.com\/s\/251012Bent\">solve online<\/a> (using SudokuPad)<\/p>\n<p><b>Author\/Opus:<\/b> This is the 43rd puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (<a href=\"https:\/\/sudokutheory.com\/gas\/\">GAS<\/a>) team.<\/p>\n<p><b>Rules:<\/b> 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). Numbers must not repeat along the four \u201cbent\u201d diagonals that turn 90 degrees in the center cell. (An example of a bent diagonal starts at R1C1, moves to the center at R5C5, and then goes back out to R9C1 in the same column it started in.)<\/p>\n<p><b>GAS Time Standards (highlight to view):<\/b> Two party hats (\ud83c\udfa9\ud83e\udd73): <span style=\"color: white; background-color: white;\">7:30<\/span>; One party hat (\ud83e\udd73): <span style=\"color: white; background-color: white;\">14:00<\/span>. All other solvers earn a \ud83e\udd95: <span style=\"color: white; background-color: white;\">Ageing Abydosaurus<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Thomas Hits the GAS (highlight to view):<\/b> <span style=\"color: white; background-color: white;\">3:28<\/span>, with <a href=https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2025\/sudokupad-Bill_Murph-Bent_Diagonals_Sudoku-a1063-d208.replay>SudokuPad replay file<\/a> shared as a download for now (requires loading via settings menu with improvements expected before people should use this regularly).<\/p>\n<p><b>Solution:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2025\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku-soln.pdf\">PDF<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/9_U_eAJGj54\">solving video<\/a> with explanation from GAS team.<\/p>\n<p><b>Note:<\/b> Follow this link for other less common variations of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/tag\/sudoku-3+variation-2\/\">Sudoku<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Note 2:<\/b>\u00a0Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/discord.com\/channels\/1059513302847336469\/1380897111599616020\">Daily GAS discussion<\/a>\u00a0post\u00a0on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/discord.gg\/RNNfEBEbQS\">this link<\/a>\u00a0for basic access.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(This post is part of the Genuinely Approachable Sudoku (GAS) series.) Unlike yesterday&#8217;s straight diagonals, this puzzle features four different bent diagonals and may twist your brain a bit until you figure out how to use this information. PDF or solve online (using SudokuPad) Author\/Opus: This is the 43rd puzzle from Bill Murphy, part of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":443,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,126],"tags":[8,15,56,237],"class_list":["post-34288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-puzzle","category-othersudoku","tag-sudoku-3","tag-wednesdaythursday","tag-variation-2","tag-gas"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bent Diagonals Sudoku by Bill Murphy - The Art of Puzzles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Unlike yesterday&#039;s straight diagonals, this puzzle has 4 bent diagonals and may twist your brain a bit until you figure out how to use them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bent Diagonals Sudoku by Bill Murphy - The Art of Puzzles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unlike yesterday&#039;s straight diagonals, this puzzle has 4 bent diagonals and may twist your brain a bit until you figure out how to use them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Puzzles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-12T07:00:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-13T20:23:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2025\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bill Murphy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drsudoku\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@drsudoku\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bill Murphy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bill Murphy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/552de1c88fa03b2180785f81655f8014\"},\"headline\":\"Bent Diagonals Sudoku by Bill Murphy\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-12T07:00:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-13T20:23:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":248,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/images\\\/puzzles2025\\\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku.png\",\"keywords\":[\"sudoku\",\"wed\\\/thurs\",\"variation\",\"gas\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Puzzle\",\"Other Sudoku\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bent Diagonals Sudoku by Bill Murphy - The Art of Puzzles\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/images\\\/puzzles2025\\\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-12T07:00:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-13T20:23:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/552de1c88fa03b2180785f81655f8014\"},\"description\":\"Unlike yesterday's straight diagonals, this puzzle has 4 bent diagonals and may twist your brain a bit until you figure out how to use them.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/images\\\/puzzles2025\\\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/images\\\/puzzles2025\\\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bent Diagonals Sudoku by Bill Murphy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Puzzles\",\"description\":\"Grandmaster Puzzles\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/552de1c88fa03b2180785f81655f8014\",\"name\":\"Bill Murphy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-24-at-19.41.47_f8c48089-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-24-at-19.41.47_f8c48089-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-24-at-19.41.47_f8c48089-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Bill Murphy\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmpuzzles.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/bill-murphy\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bent Diagonals Sudoku by Bill Murphy - The Art of Puzzles","description":"Unlike yesterday's straight diagonals, this puzzle has 4 bent diagonals and may twist your brain a bit until you figure out how to use them.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bent Diagonals Sudoku by Bill Murphy - The Art of Puzzles","og_description":"Unlike yesterday's straight diagonals, this puzzle has 4 bent diagonals and may twist your brain a bit until you figure out how to use them.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/","og_site_name":"The Art of Puzzles","article_published_time":"2025-10-12T07:00:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-13T20:23:49+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2025\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Bill Murphy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drsudoku","twitter_site":"@drsudoku","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bill Murphy","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/"},"author":{"name":"Bill Murphy","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/552de1c88fa03b2180785f81655f8014"},"headline":"Bent Diagonals Sudoku by Bill Murphy","datePublished":"2025-10-12T07:00:59+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-13T20:23:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/"},"wordCount":248,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2025\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku.png","keywords":["sudoku","wed\/thurs","variation","gas"],"articleSection":["Puzzle","Other Sudoku"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/","name":"Bent Diagonals Sudoku by Bill Murphy - The Art of Puzzles","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2025\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku.png","datePublished":"2025-10-12T07:00:59+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-13T20:23:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/552de1c88fa03b2180785f81655f8014"},"description":"Unlike yesterday's straight diagonals, this puzzle has 4 bent diagonals and may twist your brain a bit until you figure out how to use them.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2025\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/images\/puzzles2025\/251012-BentDiagonalsSudoku.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/bent-diagonals-sudoku-by-bill-murphy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bent Diagonals Sudoku by Bill Murphy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/","name":"The Art of Puzzles","description":"Grandmaster Puzzles","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/552de1c88fa03b2180785f81655f8014","name":"Bill Murphy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-24-at-19.41.47_f8c48089-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-24-at-19.41.47_f8c48089-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-24-at-19.41.47_f8c48089-96x96.jpg","caption":"Bill Murphy"},"url":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/author\/bill-murphy\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/443"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34288"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34320,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34288\/revisions\/34320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}