I thought I could contribute to the PAX West Online SpyParty “booth” via the Variant Sudoku setting I was temporarily enthralled by. All of the main puzzles are linked by a common theme/rule: Exactly one unknown digit will never see itself on the diagonal (in all four diagonals, in addition to regular Sudoku rules of up/down/left/right). To be clear, this unknown digit can change with every puzzle, but is not necessarily different across all puzzles. Of course for flavor, this is called the Spy, but anyone familiar with Variant Sudoku will understand calling it unknown Queen Sudoku. So maybe Queen is the Spy, heh.
There are other Sudoku variants included in all of the puzzles. Thermos, Sandwiches, Killer Cages & more, oh my! Rules for each are provided with the puzzles.
To try and provide entertainment for all SpyParty fans, I tried to make “easier” versions of each puzzle. I’m still somewhat of a novice Sudoku setter, and not entirely a superb solver either. So I don’t really know well how to rate the difficulty of each puzzle in either set. You will have to know your own set of skills and decide if you want to tackle the “easier” or “harder” versions as a set, or you could always try the “harder” one, and see how far you get before moving to the “easier” one of that puzzle. Just know that the “harder” set is basically the True Ending of a video game, and you get to notice all the nice little bits of logic I’ve placed, and basically every clue is vital. For some of the “easier” puzzles, excess clues are provided, and you may not need all of the constraints built in to finish. Or they may still be too hard for Sudoku novices, depending on the puzzle.
I set up a channel in my discord for feedback and discussion of these puzzles. Maybe if you get stuck, you can ask there for a hint, and people can help you. Or be a helper yourself! Click here to join! Please liberally use spoiler tags.
I kinda didn’t really write hints very well, and I don’t have time to re-solve all puzzles. Maybe you can help with that?
And feedback can be very important! Let me know how you came along with the puzzles, and which ones you tried, and your general experience with Sudoku and/or Variant Sudoku. I might be able to rush out an even easier version of a tricky puzzle, or a medium difficulty one if easy is too easy, or hard is too hard.
The software I’m linking you to to solve is f-puzzles.com. It does have built-in error highlighting, but it doesn’t know the solution of each puzzle, it just highlights cells that have conflicts. It also does not understand that you need to find a hidden digit that cannot see itself on the diagonal, so if you semi-correctly place digits that do not follow that rule (for example, making every digit see itself on the diagonal), it won’t complain.