is.gd/Xstefan438

Thans Stefan for this one. Mostly CEs but doesnt solve easily.

@Stefan
a real masterpiece x-puzzle. No chain but really the whole toolbox for an x-puzzle. I really liked it! Thank you for your work on that!

Thanks, very laborious CE.

Very nice X-puzzle, Stefan.
The pair B2/C3 was relatively easy to define.
Then: CE and standard tools. I liked it really.

Thank you Stefan - brilliant!

is.gd/hoke438

hoke, after two not successful attempts (conflict setti 4), could it be that your pattern is not complete (what about a 4 in A6 ?) ?

No, this is solveable and has just one solution.

With a lot of CE you can solve 18 cells. There is also a setti consideration of a type mentioned recently; however, I don't know whether that's really needed for the solution.

The next step is to realize that in a certain row, one digit having two candidates is a must. One candidate leads to a contradiction (for the moment after a long chain); choosing the other candidate quickly solves another eight cells. At this point, an CE in a row generates a large gap which solves.

Oh, and the wrong candidate I mentioned does indeed generate a situation where you run out of 4s, i.e., a setti 4 contradiction.

Sorry, I shall check once more. Perhaps I have overlooked something.

ok, I checked once more. There is no need for a 4 in A6, however 4 in A6 would result in the same solution.
Sorry, for creating potential confusion.
Thanks, hoke.

@Christoph: The pattern is a modification from the puzzle in the SZ of Friday last week, a result of testing my program for redundancy removal. It contained a 4 in A6. How did you guess that?

@hoke: in my first two attempts a had a silly failure in the left top corner, respectively in row A.
Thus, in order to avoid another fruitless attempt,
I wanted to check row A in your "solution". Starting to check this row, I was confronted with your indication of 4 in the black cell A6, which confused me. Thus the 4 in A6 was nor a guess, nor the consequence of careful deliberation.

I chose one of two alternative possibilitys, which led to a complete solution. In order to use setti, I found the rows F sure digits by written all the possible combinations of compartments digits. Maybe I could handle more rationally?

is.gd/morl_438_2

Fiou, finally finished it... Everytime I would start to despair I would finally find a new pattern. Heavy on Fishes and settis for me. At some point I failed to see an obvious CE which unlocks many things.
Made me use my whole toolbox, which is nice.

very hard. A head chain solves hi/lo in row J (wrong fig in J8 creates a conflict in col 5).
Then I needed a contradiction chain to find the position of 4 in col 1. Even the rest was a challenge.

Thank you morl - hard, but very nice. Head chains on row J like Christoph and on GH7 (no 1 possible) were the keys. Settis and several x-wings afterwards.

Thank you, morl.

An xwing and 2 settis; no chains needed.
A good example of an early xwing, which are hard to detect.

I have checked it once more. Adfter solving hi/lo in J as described originally, I managed now to solve this very nice puzzle without further chaining. Originally I had overlooked a col-xwing 3, followed by two more wings and setti 2.

I'm with hone on this one: A hard to see x-wing generates an elimination in column 9 that breaks the symmetry there. After that, I used the x-wing probably equivalent to the first setti hone used, which however solves with just another single.

Thanks to all! After I saw the hard-to-find xwing, everything went out smoothly. But I would never have spotted for it without advice to do so.

thanks morl. Great puzzle!!!

is.gd/hone438_Lupus

Fairly easy - took me 17' by hand - but nonetheless very nice in its development! One large wing in one part of board and several overlapping ones elsewhere bring you towards the solution step by step. Watch you singles!

Thanks, very nice! After a 4x4 wing, many doubles appear and lead you throgh the game. Used some Settis towards the end.

Nice!
I didnt see the 4x4 wing, but some SI in the upper right. Afterwards, a setti and several X-wings, watching out for singles.
I used an UR too, but for the fun as it was very probably unnecessary.

I used setti 6, 2 URs, x-wing 9, x-wing 7, 4-wing on 5, singles.
Thanks, hone.

just CE, some singles and one x-wing ... maybe anyone has an extra puzzle in stock?

But the first single needs a large gap to appear, so it's not quite that simple!

@Jan: for me excluding large gaps is part of careful elimination ...

is.gd/morl_438_1

thanks a lot, morl, our posts overlapped

hard nut, very fine puzzle; finally a head chain starting from E7 brought the solution, thanks again.

I have failed so far to find a reasonable way to solve this puzzle.

ok, I got it. I had not seen the single 5 in C9.
Testing the wrong candidaate in E6 leads to a conflict in G3-G7
(head chain), as already mentioned by kolumbus.
Thanks , morl, for this nice challenge.

Sorry, TYPO: ,,,correct: ...the single 5 in E9.

second TYPO: E7 instead of E6. Sorry.

Very nice. Thanks for the puzzle, and for the hints.