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Comment by cevi

Phistomefel’s Theorem (and the more general "set equivalence theory" described in the article) pops out directly from a standard technique known as the "Linear Programming relaxation" for Sudoku.

Essentially, the Linear Programming relaxation of a puzzle is a standard way of approximating the solution space with a system of linear equations and inequalities, replacing discrete yes/no answers to questions like "is the digit inside this box a 7?" with real numbers between 0 and 1 (which can be interpreted as probabilities, if you like). This system of linear inequalities and equations can then be solved efficiently with techniques from convex optimization.

Even the example from the Cracking the Cryptic video, with the conclusion that those three boxes at the bottom have to be 1, 2, and 3 in some order, would be deduced immediately from the Linear Programming relaxation of Sudoku. You don't need ontological remodeling when you know how to apply convex optimization :)

parent cevi 4 years ago

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