Hai Di Lao Gives Free Dish If You Can Solve a Sudoku Puzzle But Netizens Claim It’s ‘Unsolvable’

For Singaporeans, nothing screams excitement like “freebies” and “steamboats” do.

What more if these words appear in the same sentence alongside numero uno-steamboat purveyor, Haidilao.

Image: Haidilao Singapore Facebook

Sudoku for $6 dish

Word is that Haidilao has been offering customers a chance at leveling up their steamboat game by providing a Sudoko puzzle which can be solved in exchange for a free $6 dish of your choice.

Image: http://kokcheehou.blogspot.com

For the unacquainted, the $6 range grants you access to mostly vegetables like lettuce, corn and certain mushrooms as their meats typically range from $20 upwards.

Image: Haidilao Singapore Facebook

Is it me or is their broccoli especially green….

Image: Haidilao Singapore Facebook

…scallop especially white…

Image: Haidilao Facebook Singapore

… and sausages especially red?

The sudoko hence ,like many of their other their welcomed and time-killing gimmicks which include free manicure, free snacks, kids’ play-zone should sit well with us kiasu Singaporeans and further cement Haidilao’s status as the go-to brand for steamboat.

Except that it hasn’t quite.

Seeing Red over Sudoko

Posted on 14 January by reddit user u/Apocsky, his/her thread titled “[Assholedesign] HaiDiLao offers a literally unsolvable Sudoku puzzle in exchange for $6 dish..” has since garnered 425 upvotes and 66 comments in slightly less than 24 hours.

Judging from his reddit profile, user u/Apocsky appears to be originally from Australia, is currently based in Singapore, likes Haidilao and is also a confident Sudoku enthusiast.

Image: Reddit/assholedesign_haidilao_offers_a_literally/

In his original post, u/Apocsky shares that Haidilao’s sudoku’s puzzle is but an unsolvable one that was actually taken from the “hardest solvable puzzle” devised by Arto Inkala, a Finnish mathematician.

Image: The Telegraph

What’s worse is that Haidilao allegedly removed 3 numbers from this already “hardest solvable puzzle” to essentially make this unsolvable.

Here’s a cropped version of them side by side:

The Discussion

This naturally drew redditors from all over to give their $6 worth.

Some argued that this puzzle was solvable, albeit with multiple ‘correct answers.’

Image: Reddit/assholedesign_haidilao_offers_a_literally/

Others explained that a good Sudoku puzzle should only have 1 possible answer set

Image: Reddit/assholedesign_haidilao_offers_a_literally/

Others inevitably took the chance to criticize Singaporean mindset and education system

Image: Reddit/assholedesign_haidilao_offers_a_literally/
Image: Reddit/assholedesign_haidilao_offers_a_literally

Some suggested ways around this ‘unsolvable puzzle’

Image: Reddit/assholedesign_haidilao_offers_a_literally
Image: Reddit/assholedesign_haidilao_offers_a_literally

One person though, had the sanity to post the comment that we’ve all been waiting for.

Image: Reddit/assholedesign_haidilao_offers_a_literally

Yes, someone did actually solve it to get his/her $6 dish.

So there it is folks, no matter the definition of what a ‘solvable’ or ‘unsolvable’ sudoku puzzle is, Haidilao does appear to honour their $6 complimentary dish promise.

For how much longer, well, that’s for me to find out and for you to find out, too.