MAA Fall Meeting Padovan Sum Puzzle
I just finished speaking on the Padovan numbers at the Fall MAA Section meeting and I decided to create a puzzle based on my talk to give away at the conference. This is that puzzle. Rules are on the puzzle but I'll summarize here. Every clue reveals two things. First, whether or not the sum is less than 9, between 9 and 11, or greater than 11 is revealed by the shape. Next, whether or not the sum is a Padovan number is revealed by the letter inside the shape. A 'P' is used to indicate the sum is a Padovan number and an 'N' is used to indicate that it is not. Because of the constraints of sudoku, the only possible Padovan numbers are the ones in the set {3,4,5,7,9,12,16}. Some puzzles are really hard at the beginning but once you start getting clues, everything becomes obvious and you can quickly fill things in. It's like a landslide happens, and this tends not to be too fun since entering the obvious numbers gets boring. Other puzzles have some clues
