Snail Sudoku (Daily Sudoku League #74)

My journey into puzzle creation started in 2004 at my first World Puzzle Championship in Croatia. The next year, I went to Hungary for the World Puzzle Championship and took part in the 24-Hour Puzzle Championship. That event really inspired me to start creating my own puzzles. Since then, I have been making puzzles regularly. I have contributed to the 24-Hour Championship twice—once with my Indian friends and once all by myself. Most of the puzzles I have created are published on this blog, but many are still on paper, waiting to be shared.

The Snail Sudoku type appeared in the Oğuz Atay Puzzle Contest (OAPC)-2 and later in The Last Sudoku Competition Before World Sudoku Championship (TLSCBWSC-1). At that time, Snail Sudoku became a favorite because it felt like solving 9 small puzzles that were all connected.

The Snail Sudoku puzzle is a bit different from regular Sudoku. You have to fill the grid with digits 1 to 4. Each digit must appear exactly once in every row, column, and 3x3 spiral. The digits must be placed in order inside the spirals, going from the entrance to the center. The numbers outside the grid tell you the first digit you see from that direction. This makes the puzzle a fun and interesting challenge.

I have been learning a lot about making puzzles with symmetry and themes. But many of my older puzzles, like this one, do not have those qualities. They may not look perfect, but they are still fun to solve. This Snail Sudoku is my 74th contribution to the Daily Sudoku League. Give it a try and see if you can solve it. Share your thoughts in the comments. Happy puzzling!