It seems that the final answer of Fence in the IB is wrong? I think "113,212" is true.

Looks like the booklet has been corrected.

I m not being able to understand the answer key for fence

I am not able to solve the slant puzzle. Any tips would be welcome

--Venkatesh

For the basic techniques, you might want to check some teaching puzzles on the Rätselportal: http://www.logic-masters.de/Raetselportal/Raetsel/zeigen.php?id=000... http://www.logic-masters.de/Raetselportal/Raetsel/zeigen.php?id=000... http://www.logic-masters.de/Raetselportal/Raetsel/zeigen.php?id=000...

Thanks !

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Fence
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

Very nice!

Favorites:
Fence 2
Star Battle 3
Star Battle Instructionless 1
Shikaku 2

Thank you!

Note to self - check the discussion thread before starting the test! I made it through the old version by solving the puzzle assuming that one region had to contain four stars. Nice test; thank you Robert Vollmert and Prasanna!

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Fairly Nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Spiral Galaxies
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Too many medium difficult puzzles
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Star Battle
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

Nice set.
Loved both the instructionless puzzles.

I wasted time solving the Star Battle instructionless example :-| (realized only towards the end that it is not the actual puzzle)
Very stupid of me, but the grid is so big! (compared to the Shikaku instructionless)

Thanks Rob!

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Fillomino
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Many puzzles were worth too much or too little
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Spiral Galaxies
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Many puzzles were worth too much or too little
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Too many easy puzzles
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Shikaku
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

Very nice puzzles. Of course, easy because it's Puzzle Ramayan, but still nice. The Shikaku variant is a good twist, because I expected Knapp-Daeben (off by one) Shikaku.

Answer keys were not very perfect (see: Shikaku having inverted letters; also, answer key for one puzzle, Spiral Galaxies I think, asked for rows C/D/E but there were E/F/G in the puzzle). But not a very big deal.

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Fillomino
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

ARGH! I downloaded the instruction booklet and looked at the forum after the test started but before the correction was posted... and lost 5 minutes redoing that star battle puzzle over and over again before counting and realizing it had to be wrong. :( Probably would have finished otherwise...

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Fillomino
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Spiral Galaxies
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

Had so many break in's. Wasted time in fixing some of them. Could have completed the test. Short of 3 min.

Fantastic set of puzzles with nice logic.

Thanks LMI and Robert for wonderful test.

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Shikaku
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Too many easy puzzles
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Fairly Nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Shikaku
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Shikaku
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Fence
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Fairly Nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Star Battle
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	I have a different complaint

Somehow some grids got a bit deformed, had to correct by hand before starting to solve. A bit annoying and 1-2 min lost spent with checking from the display.

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Shikaku
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Spiral Galaxies
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

Nice puzzles, Shikaku 3 was very funny! Fillomino 3 also stood out.

I don't know how other solvers find the Shikaku instructionless. It's an interesting type but it seems a bit off-putting,
since it is not purely unique in the sense that some clue numbers could be shifted left or right and will still work (producing the same unique solution).

Sadly both of my penalties were from messy notes and I wasted precious minutes finding where I went wrong when I had correctly solved the puzzles.
Thanks for the fun set Rob!

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Star Battle
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Star Battle
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Slant
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice

Passwort

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Too many easy puzzles
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Star Battle
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Shikaku
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Answer keys were horrible
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Spiral Galaxies
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Shikaku
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	I have a different complaint

Star Battle grid did not seem to agree with my printer and borders extended half a block longer than they should have (including connecting where they shouldn't), requiring me to reference the PDF for solving.

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Too many medium difficult puzzles
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Fairly Nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Star Battle
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

Lovely set of Puzzles. Enjoyed Star battle instructionless-1. Could have done better.

Excellent puzzles, thanks a lot to Rob and LMI for a fun contest.

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Star Battle
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Fairly Nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Star Battle
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Answer keys could have been better
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Too many easy puzzles
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Slant
What was your opinion about the answer key extraction?	Mostly perfect answer keys
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

I hope scoring issues have been addressed to everyone's satisfaction by now, else please contact Prasanna or Deb. Time for some closing remarks.

First off, thanks to the LMI team for giving me the opportunity to provide the puzzles for this contest. It's always a pleasure to solve here, and it's great to be able to give back in this way. I would have preferred the contest to run perfectly smoothly, but in the end I hope the experience didn't suffer too much from the rough start and some suboptimal answer keys.

Then, thanks to all participants, I hope everyone had a bit of fun. It's good to see more than 200 players solving my puzzles! Congratulations to Rohan, Ashish and Swaroop for topping the Indian leaderboard, and Ken, Bram and Hideaki for making the overall podium. Ken dominant as expected, finishing in under 34 minutes with a lead of over 7 minutes over second place, and 15 minutes over the rest of the pack starting with place 3. 47 players solved all puzzles within the 90 minutes, 222 have a non-zero score.

From an author's perspective, this was a good exercise in making not-too-hard puzzles for standard puzzle types. The more I've constructed, the more I find making interesting and pretty easy puzzles to be harder than making them tricky. I think the difficulty worked out fine, though I'll admit that after going through the Fillominos with a friend recently, maybe an easier one would have been fitting. I'm a bit surprised Shikaku turned out to be so popular; apart from the variant, I felt that those were some of the weaker puzzles.

Now I'm looking forward to the next contest, and the remainder of Puzzle Ramayan 2017. If there are any questions I'm happy to answer, particularly if the solving path for some puzzle is unclear.

Also, thanks to Aga, Sebastian and Swantje for test-solving.