Y Is This Puzzle So Brilliant?

At one tricky point, I watched Simon absolutely still for well over a minute... until I noticed that he wasn't even blinking... then realised the video had frozen and I need to reload it.

This is the first time I managed to solve a Phistomefel puzzle by myself. Don't wake me if it's a dream

Recommendation - look up Memeristor on YouTube. Very recently he did a two hour interview with Phistomefel. There have been two hour interviews with a number of the familiar setters including Clover, another favourite. Zetamath is being interviewed next week and his channel is worth looking at too for the live solves, some with puzzles to serve as tutorials for variants.

After a night full of Phisto jokes, a Phistomefel puzzle!

This community continues on an extraordinary trajectory of intellect, humor, and humanity - it is no surprise that it continues to steadily grow toward a million subscribers.

Wonderful explanation of the Y logic! I'm often amazed at how well you are able to simultaneously solve and explain everything at the same time but it is particularly impressive how well you've done it in this video. Wonderful setting by Phistomefel and a great solve. Thanks!

I was so upset to watch Simon undo his hard work on that top-right Y and leave it as an ambiguous 2/4 pair for so long 😂

Honestly, I get more enjoyment and learn so much more by just watching Simon work through the mechanics/logic of the puzzle than spending hours trying to do it myself.

The Bobbins 'shop had me screaming with laughter something fierce. Outstanding.

7:12 Rules 10:10 Start solving

Rules: 07:18 Let's Get Cracking: 10:10 Simon's time: 45m15s Puzzle Solved: 55:25 What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! Phistomefel: 8x (00:25, 02:39, 02:49, 07:07, 07:13, 09:26, 14:45, 23:08) Bobbins: 5x (03:45, 19:33, 19:37, 19:45, 41:27) Three In the Corner: 2x (45:52, 45:58) You Rotten Thing: 2x (47:16, 47:20) Maverick: 1x (03:47) The Secret: 1x (05:33) Schrödinger Cell: 1x (01:18) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Ah: 14x (17:56, 28:10, 35:03, 38:07, 39:08, 39:18, 41:10, 41:21, 48:17, 50:36, 50:36, 52:17, 53:08, 54:35) By Sudoku: 8x (27:58, 33:55, 40:52, 41:48, 45:09, 45:11, 45:14, 47:43) Beautiful: 5x (01:42, 26:39, 39:18, 39:20, 55:23) Hang On: 5x (13:20, 22:42, 34:57, 37:32, 43:23) Obviously: 5x (06:46, 16:27, 17:03, 22:12, 26:28) Lovely: 4x (06:32, 22:00, 24:48, 31:50) Nature: 4x (19:01, 39:31, 40:29, 44:19) Incredible: 3x (03:53, 04:09, 06:13) Pencil Mark/mark: 3x (17:42, 32:10, 45:36) What on Earth: 2x (42:51, 50:01) Nonsense: 2x (14:40, 25:49) Clever: 2x (27:16, 55:28) Naughty: 2x (53:39, 53:47) Stuck: 2x (36:06, 36:11) Brilliant: 2x (05:56, 06:15) Extraordinary: 2x (03:07, 04:18) Shouting: 2x (01:28, 03:03) Symmetry: 2x (12:47, 14:23) Good Grief: 1x (37:32) Goodness: 1x (53:51) Sorry: 1x (24:38) Naked Single: 1x (48:27) Deadly Pattern: 1x (48:46) Gorgeous: 1x (39:28) Of All Things: 1x (47:43) Unbelievable: 1x (01:00) In Fact: 1x (15:04) Whoopsie: 1x (52:36) Plonk: 1x (33:53) What Does This Mean?: 1x (14:18) Cake!: 1x (06:18) Most popular digit and colour this video: Two, Three (101 mentions) Red (4 mentions) Antithesis Battles: Low (7) - High (2) Even (19) - Odd (14) Highest (2) - Lowest (0) Row (21) - Column (15) FAQ: Q1: You missed something! A1: That could very well be the case! Human speech can be hard to understand for computers like me! Point out the ones that I missed and maybe I'll learn! Q2: Can you do this for another channel? A2: I've been thinking about that and wrote some code to make that possible. Let me know which channel you think would be a good fit!

Simon, kindly put the link to the puzzle you're solving at the top of the description (i.e., give it priority over links of unrelated puzzles). Mark is doing this already, so props to him!

Great puzzle. In the beginning I needed a little help from Simon because I wasn't sure I understood the rules correctly. After that I had a lot of joy until the end of the solution.

Fascinating puzzle. I think that a couple of years ago, I would have just stared at this setup with blank incomprehension, but Simon and Mark explain and demonstrate their techniques in a way that's been steadily building up my confidence. I did try to tackle this problem, and I did solve it. Thank you, gentlemen, you are good teachers.

The beginning break-in is just beautiful

Bilbo Bobbins of Middly Earth

19:40 I thought that Bilbo Bobbins wore glasses (and he even has a new pair)!

31:50 Dear lord don't tell Phistomefel his puzzle is easy, now we know whats coming 💀

This was fantastic, Simon. I loved the arithmetic and the beautiful logic around the Y-shaped lines as well as the other lines. Very interesting. I hope we see more puzzles like this. Thank you, Phistomefel! And that pinball machine - I am going to try that out immediately! Thanks, as always, for all that you do to make this channel so very fun. Edited to add: apparently I cannot play the pinball machine on my Mac, so I am going to have to fire up my PC! My goodness it won't know what hit it ...

Bilbo Bobbins is the best thing I've seen today!