Kakuro Puzzles

FYB, you mentioned 'orphans' squares on the previous puzzle. Could you explain what that means? I think I'm missing out on a solving technique or too and would love to learn more.

9:13 I guess I am just slow today!

7:35

Oliver,
what I call 'orphans' squares are squares that are only connected to one sum (either horizontal or vertical). In the puzzle above, the top left square is only connected to vertical 24, and the bottom right square is only connected to vertical 6. Those 2 squares are the 'orphans' squares for that puzzle.

5:07

Substracting the sum of all the horizontal numbers from the sums of all the vertical numbers of the puzzle, will give you the result of the sum of all the 'orphans' squares (just use the absolute value, ie the positive value of the result of the substraction).

in the puzzle above, the sum of all the horizontal numbers is 87. The sum of all the vertical values is 98. The difference between those two sums is 11. You now know that the sum of the two digits found in the orphans squares is 11. (2+9,3+8,4+7,5+6)

Remember that if the orphans squares are not in the same line, they could be the same digit (for example if the sum of 2 orphans squares was 10, both of them could be 5). As far as yesterday comments, a no brainer orphans squares sum is 2 or 18, when you have 2 orphans squares. In the first case, both of them would have to be 1s (like yesterday), and 9s in the second case.

6:02

7:57 And thanks for the information FYB.

Huh, maybe that's why I always have such a hard time with the Hards. Never knew the orphans were anything special.

6:35

11:55

Got it.

about 10 with 1 failed chain

good treatise, fyb

orphans not needed

Nada 2016

I give up on this one, even with orphans, 2018