yes, the number is greatly reduced, but you're leaving out a source of more variation. A sudoku puzzle not the solution, it's the constrained choice of what is

yes, the number is greatly reduced, but you're leaving out a source of more variation. A sudoku puzzle not the solution, it's the constrained choice of what is shown vs hidden in the initial state. One solution could be parent to a number of solvable puzzles of varying difficulty.