By Tom Prestopnik
Even though the Erie Canal replica boat Seneca Chief has passed through Little Falls, and the state-wide Bicentennial celebrations of the canal’s completion in 1825 have wound down, there was one other recent Erie Canal commemoration of sorts online and from across the pond in the United Kingdom, courtesy of the YouTube sudoku puzzle channel Cracking the Cryptic.
The channel, hosted by British gents Simon Anthony and Mark Goodliffe, provides two sudoku puzzles and their solves each day, explaining the rules and solving strategies along the way. Viewers can click on links to try and solve the puzzles on their own, too. The popular channel is currently closing in on 700,000 subscribers.
A classic sudoku puzzle consists of a 9 x 9 grid of 81 square cells divided into nine 3 x 3 boxes. Each row, column and box of the grid must contain the digits 1 through 9. Some puzzle constraints, such as arrows, thermometers and whisper lines, can be added to create more complicated and intriguing puzzles in the world of variant sudoku.
Cracking the Cryptic (CTC) also considers puzzle submissions from the public, and the channel has kindly featured several of my constructions over the past few years, most under the name Walking Writer, my YouTube channel title. And on this past November 1, CTC’s Mark Goodliffe solved one of my submissions titled From Albany to Buffalo, a puzzle themed on the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal’s completion in 1825. The sudoku’s title is from Thomas S. Allen’s 1912 folk song Low Bridge, Everybody Down.
Before he solved the puzzle on the video post, Goodliffe explained the rules and also shared a story of his familiarity with the Erie Canal song from childhood memories in England, along with some other commentary. After that, he got down to business and completed the puzzle in under seventeen minutes. So far, over seven thousand people have solved the Erie Canal-themed puzzle since it appeared on the channel.
Before he solved the puzzle on the video post, Goodliffe explained the rules and also shared a story of his familiarity with the Erie Canal song from childhood memories in England, along with some other commentary. After that, he got down to business and completed the puzzle in under seventeen minutes. So far, over seven thousand people have solved the Erie Canal-themed puzzle since it appeared on the channel.
To view Goodliffe explaining the rules and solving this puzzle on YouTube, click the link below.
To attempt solving the puzzle on your own on the SudokuPad website, click below.
From Albany to Buffalo by Walking Writer (Sven’s SudokuPad v0.592.1)
And if you’re more daring and want to create your own puzzles, consider watching a few videos on their channel to learn the rules of variant sudoku and the basics of puzzle construction. CTC solves many puzzles from veteran setters, yet it continually features the works of new setters, too. So, start out slow and steady, just like a boat ride along the Erie Canal in the olden days, and inch your way up to a workable and entertaining puzzle. The sudoku maker link below can help you with puzzle setting.
Nameless sudoku – Sudoku Maker
Good luck!