There are saints and then there are Saints and then there are SAINTS: those tireless people who volunteer time to keep Perl Monks tidy, well organized, and functioning: the members of the various Cabal groups.

So in honor of and gratitude for those people without whom Perl Monks could not survive I decided to modify my solution to magic squares generate Sudoko fill-in-the-blank magic square puzzles. I then ran the names of every Cabal member who belongs to two or more Cabal groups. Turns out some of them have a sudoku puzzle with their name written on it (sadly not all).

Each puzzle has the letters of the person's name in the center and one block with a magic square placed in a random location (i.e. not necessarily the center). The 9 letters that should be used to fill the puzzle can be determined from the cell containing the magic square. Rows, columns, and blocks must all add to the same sum (puzzle length diagonals do not need to). Have fun!

Wishing all a wonderful spring holiday - Easter, Pesach or whatever brings you joy! Beth

BigLug  

     G  *  *|  S  *  U|  *  *  L|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     *  *  U|  *  *  *|  G  *  *|
   ------------------------------
     I  *  *|  U  *  B|  *  *  N|
     *  *  *|  I  G  *|  *  *  *|
     U  *  *|  L  *  *|  *  *  Z|
   ------------------------------
     *  *  G|  *  *  *|  N  *  *|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     B  *  *|  N  *  P|  *  *  G|
   ------------------------------

bobf    

     F  *  *|  K  *  X|  *  *  B|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     *  *  X|  *  *  *|  F  *  *|
   ------------------------------
     M  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  O|
     *  *  *|  *  F  *|  *  *  *|
     X  *  *|  B  *  O|  *  *  T|
   ------------------------------
     *  *  F|  *  *  *|  O  *  *|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     D  *  *|  O  *  V|  *  *  F|
   ------------------------------

cog     

     M  *  *|  B  *  G|  *  *  N|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     *  *  G|  *  *  *|  M  *  *|
   ------------------------------
     C  *  *|  G  *  O|  *  *  A|
     *  *  *|  C  *  *|  *  *  *|
     G  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  H|
   ------------------------------
     *  *  M|  *  *  *|  A  *  *|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     O  *  *|  A  *  I|  *  *  M|
   ------------------------------

holli   

     O  *  *|  A  *  K|  *  *  I|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     *  *  K|  *  *  *|  O  *  *|
   ------------------------------
     D  *  *|  *  *  L|  *  *  G|
     *  *  *|  *  O  *|  *  *  *|
     K  *  *|  I  H  *|  *  *  E|
   ------------------------------
     *  *  O|  *  *  *|  G  *  *|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     L  *  *|  G  *  H|  *  *  O|
   ------------------------------

Russ    

     H  *  *|  P  *  R|  *  *  K|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     *  *  R|  *  *  *|  H  *  *|
   ------------------------------
     S  *  *|  R  *  *|  *  *  M|
     *  *  *|  S  *  U|  *  *  *|
     R  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  U|
   ------------------------------
     *  *  H|  *  *  *|  M  *  *|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     N  *  *|  M  *  X|  *  *  H|
   ------------------------------

shmem   

     S  *  *|  E  *  O|  *  *  M|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     *  *  O|  *  *  *|  S  *  *|
   ------------------------------
     H  *  *|  *  E  *|  *  *  K|
     *  *  *|  H  S  *|  *  *  *|
     O  *  *|  M  *  *|  *  *  I|
   ------------------------------
     *  *  S|  *  *  *|  K  *  *|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     P  *  *|  K  *  L|  *  *  S|
   ------------------------------

ww      

     B  *  *|  M  *  V|  *  *  C|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     *  *  V|  *  *  *|  B  *  *|
   ------------------------------
     K  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  L|
     *  *  *|  *  *  W|  *  *  *|
     V  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  W|
   ------------------------------
     *  *  B|  *  *  *|  L  *  *|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     A  *  *|  L  *  U|  *  *  B|
   ------------------------------

ysth    

     S  *  *|  O  *  M|  *  *  I|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     *  *  M|  *  *  *|  S  *  *|
   ------------------------------
     T  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  Y|
     *  *  *|  T  S  *|  *  *  *|
     M  *  *|  *  H  Y|  *  *  C|
   ------------------------------
     *  *  S|  *  *  *|  Y  *  *|
     *  *  *|  *  *  *|  *  *  *|
     N  *  *|  Y  *  H|  *  *  S|
   ------------------------------

[download]

The following monks belonging to two or more cabal groups but did not have magic squares. Many thanks all the same for making Perl Monks such a wonderful place.

   ambrus (1 13 2 18 21 19)
   Arunbear (1 18 21 14 2 5 1 18)
   athomason (1 20 8 15 13 1 19 15 14)
   castaway (3 1 19 20 1 23 1 25)
   chromatic (3 8 18 15 13 1 20 9 3)
   Corion (3 15 18 9 15 14)
   davido (4 1 22 9 4 15)
   davorg (4 1 22 15 18 7)
   demerphq (4 5 13 5 18 16 8 17)
   dfaure (4 6 1 21 18 5)
   dvergin (4 22 5 18 7 9 14)
   footpad (6 15 15 20 16 1 4)
   GrandFather (7 18 1 14 4 6 1 20 8 5 18)
   gryphon (7 18 25 16 8 15 14)
   jdporter (10 4 16 15 18 20 5 18)
   liverpole (12 9 22 5 18 16 15 12 5)
   McDarren (13 3 4 1 18 18 5 14)
   mikfire (13 9 11 6 9 18 5)
   Petruchio (16 5 20 18 21 3 8 9 15)
   planetscape (16 12 1 14 5 20 19 3 1 16 5)
   theorbtwo (20 8 5 15 18 2 20 23 15)
   turnstep (20 21 18 14 19 20 5 16)
   tye (20 25 5)
   VSarkiss (22 19 1 18 11 9 19 19)
   ybiC (25 2 9 3)

[download]

Best, beth

Update 1: modified (temporarily I hope) until I have a chance this evening to turn these into true sudoku puzzles.

Update 2: replaced magic squares with sudoku puzzles. My apologies for the earlier mistake.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Sudoku for Saints
by JavaFan (Canon) on Apr 06, 2009 at 15:04 UTC
    A sudoku is a grid in which each symbol appears only once on each of three different subdivisions (typically row, file and nxm block). But you show for each name a 3x3 block, even while some names contain more than three different letters, and one contains just one letter. What am I missing?
[reply]

      Dang it you are right! Mental mush today. My mind was stuck on fill-in-the-blank-ness and oneness inside the blocks (the 3x3 sub-blocks of a sudoku puzzle are magic squares) and I forgot about the repetition.

      Magic squares are N items used only once within a single block as opposed to a 3x3 grid of blocks. To turn this into a sudoku one would need to do a bit more ... have to make dinner now, so I hope readers will be patient while I decide whether to amend the title and original post or amend the software to generate a true sudoku puzzles.

      However, couldn't you create a 9x9 sudoku puzzle from a set of magic squares by properly rotating and transposing a magic square?

      Best, beth

      Update:Re-added line so that JavaFan's comment makes more sense. I realized was wrong and deleted the question while JavaFan was preparing his post below, not realizing that he was already preparing a response - Whoops! To further his point, since all magic squares have the same middle, the diagonal as well as any (3*N+1)%3 (where N=0..2) row or column of a 9x9 matrix would have the middle of the magic square three times.

[reply]
        However, couldn't you create a 9x9 sudoku puzzle from a set of magic squares by properly rotating and transposing a magic square?
        No.

        There's only one 3x3 magic square using the numbers 1 to 9 (excluding rotation and symmetry)1. Which means that in any 3x3 magic square, regardless of how you rotate or mirror it, 5 will be in the middle. So you cannot have two magic 3x3 squares next to each other in a Sudoku.

        Now, making a Sudoku with semi-magic squares is of course trivial.

        1Magic Square

[reply]
        Since there are 880 different 4x4 magic squares, not counting rotations and reflections, it may be possible to generate a Sudoku from 16 4x4 magic squares.
[reply]
Re: Sudoku for Saints
by ELISHEVA (Prior) on Apr 07, 2009 at 06:26 UTC

    Replaced magic squares with sudoku puzzles.

    Sorry about the earlier mistake, beth

[reply]

Back to Perl Monks Discussion