Questions regarding WSC round 10 (TEAM) - 3D

[Richard]

Questions regarding WSC round 10 must be asked here.

[Para]

In this puzzle, I assume the Arrow Sudoku like clues are always red? It's not clarified in the rules that it's only red arrows and the diagonal arrows in the first rule set could be such a clue for this type if they are in two different blocks.

[Richard]

Arrows in the Arrow sudoku are Always red.
There is no chance for misinterpretation in the competition puzzle.

[pwahs]

Feel free to answer "No comment" to anything here if you think it will be obvious once we see the puzzle, but here are some questions:
* Are all regions 3x3?
* Are there overlapping Sudokus, or are they all independent 9x9 areas once we have assembled the construction?
* If there is three-dimensional stuff going on, is it obvious what constitutes a "row" and "column"?
* How far does the "Absence of Kropki-circles" rule apply? Is it the whole 9x9-puzzle if there is any circle in the puzzle, or just the regions with circles, or just the regions + all adjacent numbers? what happens when puzzles overlap?
* Is there a unique solution to everything, or only the stuff on the central object?

[Richard]

Feel free to answer "No comment" to anything here if you think it will be obvious once we see the puzzle, but here are some questions:
* Are all regions 3x3?
* Are there overlapping Sudokus, or are they all independent 9x9 areas once we have assembled the construction?
* If there is three-dimensional stuff going on, is it obvious what constitutes a "row" and "column"?
* How far does the "Absence of Kropki-circles" rule apply? Is it the whole 9x9-puzzle if there is any circle in the puzzle, or just the regions with circles, or just the regions + all adjacent numbers? what happens when puzzles overlap?
* Is there a unique solution to everything, or only the stuff on the central object?

There are nog irregular regions; all puzzles are 3x3, and they don't overlap.
It is Obvious what a column is and what a row.
The other questions are becoming clear once you see the competition puzzle.

[detuned]

The instructions are very vague and mysterious, for sure. Maybe that’s the intention and there is a certain surprise element to be had once the round starts, but this also is not clear from the instructions.

If there are lots of questions below, it is only because (currently) so much of this round has been left to the imagination. If that’s the intention, please could you confirm that. 

If not, here goes (and the intention here is not to be annoying)

Re the “construction” - is this something that is to be assembled as part of the round?
(I assume yes but given these instructions I’m not taking anything for granted)

If so, what form do the constituent parts of the construction take?
- are they flat 9x9 grids cut out exactly?
- are they flat 3x3 regions cut out exactly?
- are they flat 9x9 grids printed on eg A4 paper?
- are there blank 3D boxes to which flat 9x9 grids need to be attached?
- how do any of the speculated descriptions above relate to this mysterious “central object”?
- what is the size/dimensions (e.g. in multiples of 3x3, number of cells
) of the “central object”?
- are there any other kinds of parts to be assembled not as per the above?

If so, what are the rules or constraints determining how the constituent parts are to be assembled?
- do digits have to match at the boundaries of two grids?
- do the constraints cross the boundaries of one constituent part to another?
- is there some diagram of the finished construction (eg like Lego/ikea instructions)?
- how does any of this work with outside clues?
- are there any other mechanisms I haven’t imagined? - if so please could you describe them!

Will any further manipulation (eg cutting, folding etc) of the constituent parts be required?

Finally, the constraints themselves:
- is there any reason or significance behind the inconsistent arrow constraint (inconsistent compared to example 9.10 Arrow Sudoku)
- is there any negative constraint with the diagonal arrows - ie is there any meaning to the absence of a diagonal arrow, if this is applicable?
- is it possible for outside clues to apply to more than 1 grid?

[Richard]

The instructions are very vague and mysterious, for sure. Maybe that’s the intention and there is a certain surprise element to be had once the round starts, but this also is not clear from the instructions.

If there are lots of questions below, it is only because (currently) so much of this round has been left to the imagination. If that’s the intention, please could you confirm that. 

Finally, the constraints themselves:
- is there any reason or significance behind the inconsistent arrow constraint (inconsistent compared to example 9.10 Arrow Sudoku)
- is there any negative constraint with the diagonal arrows - ie is there any meaning to the absence of a diagonal arrow, if this is applicable?
- is it possible for outside clues to apply to more than 1 grid?

The instructions are 'vague' on purpose; everything becomes clear once you see the provided parts.

- Arrow-instructions: In this team round the notation of Arrows is used that I introduced long ago in a Dutch Championship and after that also in multiple German Championships. Only after this team round was finished I decided that we should stick to the international notation as much as possible. For this puzzle that wasn't the best option. You will know why once you see the puzzle itself.
- No negative constraint on the absence of a diagonal Arrow.
- Outside clues refer to one grid only.

To take away some of the fear: this round was tested with vague instructions by a few teams as well as individuals and none of them had problems with the provided instructions and the way the construction needs to be assembled. I am convinced it is a very nice round.