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debmohanty
   
Country : India | |
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debmohanty
Country : India | After the monthly Sudoku and Puzzle tests, here we have LMI Screen Test #1
| Designed based on Screen Tests at WPCsNo pdfs, no printingNo Online SolvingFixed time for each puzzleBonus points for each puzzle25 puzzles - 30 minutes | | Different puzzle typesSudoku VariationsVisual PuzzlesStandard WPC typesWPC Puzzle variationsInnovative Puzzles | | Varying difficultiesEasy PuzzlesMedium PuzzlesTricky PuzzlesFun for everyoneChallenge to get bonus for each puzzle |
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Tejal Phatak
Posts: 81
Country : India | Wow!!! :)
Looking forward to it... |
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debmohanty
Country : India | As mentioned in the Guide, there is a Demo available. Everyone should check out the Demo.
For those (there are quite a lot of them) who have already taken the demo, lets know if you face any issues.
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me.rgupta
Posts: 4
Country : India | Just completed the Demo... It was awesome!!! But couldn't trace a place to check whether my submissions are correct or not. Actual answers were nowhere available.
Rest all, it is just toooooo awesome. Never thought this would be possible on the site!!! ;)
1 query regarding the demo: I think the "Brilliant Colour" puzzle has multiple solutions. |
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purifire
Posts: 460
Country : India | me.rgupta - 2010-11-28 7:13 PM
Just completed the Demo... It was awesome!!! But couldn't trace a place to check whether my submissions are correct or not. Actual answers were nowhere available.
Rest all, it is just toooooo awesome. Never thought this would be possible on the site!!! ;)
1 query regarding the demo: I think the "Brilliant Colour" puzzle has multiple solutions.
I completely agree with Ritesh.... This is an awesome break from regular sudoku/puzzle contests.... This is better exercise for the brain as it forces you to think on your feet without any paper solving aid.... Amazing set... cant wait to attempt the lot....
Rishi |
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debmohanty
Country : India | me.rgupta - 2010-11-28 7:13 PM
Just completed the Demo... It was awesome!!! But couldn't trace a place to check whether my submissions are correct or not. Actual answers were nowhere available.
Rest all, it is just toooooo awesome. Never thought this would be possible on the site!!! ;)
1 query regarding the demo: I think the "Brilliant Colour" puzzle has multiple solutions.
Thanks Ritesh. Feels nice to see a comment from you after so many months.
I'm glad that you liked the concept.
Fixed the Demo puzzle for BC. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | me.rgupta - 2010-11-28 7:13 PM
Just completed the Demo... It was awesome!!! But couldn't trace a place to check whether my submissions are correct or not. Actual answers were nowhere available.
You mean "a score page for Demo"? There will definitely be a Score page for the actual test.
After taking the test, you can see a button "Review Submissions". It does not tell you if you answered correctly, but it tells you what you submitted and in how many seconds. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | |
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ronald
Posts: 9
Country : United Kingdom | ronald posted @ 2010-11-28 8:47 PM Hey - in Knight Safe
squares "attacked" - does it include squares that knights are already sitting on?
Thanks :) |
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debmohanty
Country : India | ronald - 2010-11-28 8:47 PM
Hey - in Knight Safe
squares "attacked" - does it include squares that knights are already sitting on?
No.
The question was "How many blanks cells are not attacked by any knight?"
Will change it to "How many unoccupied cells are safe from knights (not attacked by any knight )?" I think this should be clear. |
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purifire
Posts: 460
Country : India | debmohanty - 2010-11-28 8:53 PM
No.
The question was "How many blanks cells are not attacked by any knight?"
Will change it to "How many unoccupied cells are safe from knights (not attacked by any knight)?" I think this should be clear.
This explanation would be much better : )
Rishi |
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euklid
Posts: 28
Country : Austria | euklid posted @ 2010-11-29 12:11 AM I just did the Demo Test, everything worked fine.
I would prefer to see in advance if the next puzzle will be a 45 second or a 60 second puzzle. Together with the rules and the example on the left there could be a line telling: 45/60 seconds or 45/60 points.
And then I would rephrase the Kakuro rules into something like: "The following Kakuro may have several solutions but it can be solved in a way that one digit will not be used. What is the unused digit?". The reason for my proposal is that the given Kakuro in the Demo is NOT a standard kakuro since it has multiple solutions!
Great idea, I am looking forward to the test!
Stefan |
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davmillar
Posts: 44
Country : United States | Interesting concept.
One note: it might be nice to have a letter representing each color shown in the bottom corner of cells in Brilliant Colour so that Colour-blind users can still have a fair chance to compete. I'm not sure if any other puzzles in the test use colour, but it is one consideration you may want to make. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | euklid - 2010-11-29 12:11 AM
I would prefer to see in advance if the next puzzle will be a 45 second or a 60 second puzzle. Together with the rules and the example on the left there could be a line telling: 45/60 seconds or 45/60 points.
All 45 seconds puzzles will appear first. Then all 60 seconds puzzles.
Exactly which puzzle will appear after which puzzle is specified in the guide (last page )
I realize that "The puzzles will appear in the order in which they appear" should be phrased correctly to reflect that. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | euklid - 2010-11-29 12:11 AM
And then I would rephrase the Kakuro rules into something like: "The following Kakuro may have several solutions but it can be solved in a way that one digit will not be used. What is the unused digit?". The reason for my proposal is that the given Kakuro in the Demo is NOT a standard kakuro since it has multiple solutions!
We'll decide if we have to change the Demo puzzle or the Instructions.
An update on this is due.
But I assume the puzzle is primarily clear to everyone. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | davmillar - 2010-11-29 4:51 AM
One note: it might be nice to have a letter representing each color shown in the bottom corner of cells in Brilliant Colour so that Colour-blind users can still have a fair chance to compete. I'm not sure if any other puzzles in the test use colour, but it is one consideration you may want to make.
Thanks for bringing it up. We'll modify Brilliant Colour image.
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debmohanty
Country : India | debmohanty - 2010-11-29 6:14 AM
euklid - 2010-11-29 12:11 AM
I would prefer to see in advance if the next puzzle will be a 45 second or a 60 second puzzle. Together with the rules and the example on the left there could be a line telling: 45/60 seconds or 45/60 points.
All 45 seconds puzzles will appear first. Then all 60 seconds puzzles.
Exactly which puzzle will appear after which puzzle is specified in the guide (last page )
I realize that "The puzzles will appear in the order in which they appear" should be phrased correctly to reflect that.
I also should mention that the order of the 25 puzzles is exactly same as the order of examples that you see now. |
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purifire
Posts: 460
Country : India | debmohanty - 2010-11-28 8:13 PM
Chinese translation of rules available at sudokufans.org site
Just needed a clarity on the rules for the ESB. Does it mean that there are multiple solutions to the image and we need to answer how many solutions are there?? Or am I missing something??
Rishi |
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debmohanty
Country : India | purifire - 2010-11-29 7:01 PM
Just needed a clarity on the rules for the ESB. Does it mean that there are multiple solutions to the image and we need to answer how many solutions are there?? Or am I missing something??
Rishi
That is not the question. There is exactly one solution to this puzzle.
In a valid ESB loop, every alternate turn is marked by a circle. In this puzzle, you have to draw few loops so that each loop satisfies ESB rule.
The question is "Exactly how many loops must be drawn."
Note that it is NOT being asked what is the minimum or what is the maximum number of loops that could be drawn.
Exactly n loops can be drawn so that each of the n loops satisfy ESB rule. You have to find out n. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | One more example to help you understand
Click 'Show' to see answer
Answer is 3 loops.
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purifire
Posts: 460
Country : India | debmohanty - 2010-11-29 7:39 PM
One more example to help you understand
Click 'Show' to see answer
Answer is 3 loops.
Thanks for the example... now I understood : )
Rishi |
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purifire
Posts: 460
Country : India | me.rgupta - 2010-11-28 7:13 PM
Just completed the Demo... It was awesome!!! But couldn't trace a place to check whether my submissions are correct or not. Actual answers were nowhere available.
Rest all, it is just toooooo awesome. Never thought this would be possible on the site!!! ;)
1 query regarding the demo: I think the "Brilliant Colour" puzzle has multiple solutions.
Hi,
Could you give a brief description of what the demo is and how it works... This will help all participants understand it better. Since this is a first time for a screen test, I assume most of us would not be familiar with the usage... Though the demo gives a nice feel of the test, but would appreciate a description for the benefit of all....
Rishi |
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debmohanty
Country : India | purifire - 2010-11-30 10:38 AM
Could you give a brief description of what the demo is and how it works... This will help all participants understand it better. Since this is a first time for a screen test, I assume most of us would not be familiar with the usage... Though the demo gives a nice feel of the test, but would appreciate a description for the benefit of all....
Rishi
Since this is the first time we are having a Screen Test, we decided to have a Demo page.
The Demo page works exactly like the actual puzzle test page.
You can login, start the test, puzzles will appear and you can answer.
The most critical part of the Demo page is you can see the 90-seconds review period in action. [ so you can plan how to best use the 90-seconds during the actual test ]
Of course, the demo page has only 5 puzzles and the actual test will have 25 puzzles.
So it will be good for everyone to login and start the test in Demo page. Note that we'll disable to Demo page 24 hours before ST#1 starts.
Irrespective of whether one takes the Demo or not, everyone should check the 25 puzzle types, instructions, examples.
There won't be much time during the test to understand the rules.
Hope that clarifies.
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debmohanty
Country : India | debmohanty - 2010-11-29 6:17 AM
euklid - 2010-11-29 12:11 AM
And then I would rephrase the Kakuro rules into something like: "The following Kakuro may have several solutions but it can be solved in a way that one digit will not be used. What is the unused digit?". The reason for my proposal is that the given Kakuro in the Demo is NOT a standard kakuro since it has multiple solutions!
We'll decide if we have to change the Demo puzzle or the Instructions.
An update on this is due.
But I assume the puzzle is primarily clear to everyone. the demo puzzle and example has been changed.
It is now a regular kakuro (with unique solution ). |
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DreamRose311
Posts: 24
Country : United States | So am I right in seeing that you are penalized for wrong answers, but you have to submit an answer to the puzzle to get to the next one? And the IB says something about being able to go back to puzzles you skipped in the review period... I guess by skipped it means 'intentionally guessed'? |
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debmohanty
Country : India | DreamRose311 - 2010-11-30 10:06 PM
So am I right in seeing that you are penalized for wrong answers, but you have to submit an answer to the puzzle to get to the next one? And the IB says something about being able to go back to puzzles you skipped in the review period... I guess by skipped it means 'intentionally guessed'?
1. You get penalized for wrong answers, but obviously no negative points for not answering a question.
2. After the timer is over, you will automatically be shown the next puzzle (irrespective of whether you have answered the previous one or not )
So, that means, you can't skip a puzzle - you have to wait till 45 (or 60 ) seconds are over to go to the next puzzle.
So if you decide to skip a puzzle (for whatever reasons ), don't select any answer, rather wait for the timer to be over.
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DreamRose311
Posts: 24
Country : United States | Yikes, that's pretty scary... But now that I think about it I guess there isn't a time advantage to skipping a puzzle early, since every puzzle has a set time. I guess if you encounter a puzzle you're sure you won't answer, it's a good chance to catch a breath!!
I rushed and did the Demo before reading the IB... because I was overly excited/intrigued... On the review page, is it possible to change an answer to 'no answer' ? |
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DreamRose311
Posts: 24
Country : United States | (And by scary I mean in an intense and exciting awesome way  ) |
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debmohanty
Country : India | DreamRose311 - 2010-11-30 10:13 PM
Yikes, that's pretty scary... But now that I think about it I guess there isn't a time advantage to skipping a puzzle early, since every puzzle has a set time. I guess if you encounter a puzzle you're sure you won't answer, it's a good chance to catch a breath!!
I rushed and did the Demo before reading the IB... because I was overly excited/intrigued... On the review page, is it possible to change an answer to 'no answer' ?
I agree with you. If I'm not comfortable with a puzzle type and decide to skip it, I would catch some breath while the timer runs out till next puzzle.
In the review page, you CAN change the answer to 'no answer'.
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neerajmehrotra
Posts: 329
Country : India | If we skip any puzzzle do we come back to it again if time is left..............I Mean if am able to do 10 out of 25 and miss 15 in between and have say 5 mins left.... will I be able to have a try on the missed ones...........
another point ....Can we have a skip button?? to save time and come back to the puzzle at a later time............. |
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neerajmehrotra
Posts: 329
Country : India | Another point... Can we have a bigger digital timer.....just below the puzzle (instead of Right hand corner) |
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debmohanty
Country : India | neerajmehrotra - 2010-11-30 11:21 PM
If we skip any puzzzle do we come back to it again if time is left..............I Mean if am able to do 10 out of 25 and miss 15 in between and have say 5 mins left.... will I be able to have a try on the missed ones...........
another point ....Can we have a skip button?? to save time and come back to the puzzle at a later time.............
It is not possible to come back to a puzzle like you mention.
Each puzzle has a 'fixed time', and it should be solved within that fixed time.
You can view / switch back-and-forth among any puzzle during the 90-seconds review period. But that time is fixed for everyone - whether you have solved 5 puzzles or 20 puzzles.
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debmohanty
Country : India | neerajmehrotra - 2010-11-30 11:25 PM
Another point... Can we have a bigger digital timer.....just below the puzzle (instead of Right hand corner)
A bigger digital timer or a different color progress bar is something we could do easily.
But trust me that it is very disturbing and intrusive.
Irrespective of the size of timer, the number of seconds you have is not going to change.
You should rather never look at the timer, and just try to solve a puzzle in as few seconds as possible. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | davmillar - 2010-11-29 4:51 AM
One note: it might be nice to have a letter representing each color shown in the bottom corner of cells in Brilliant Colour so that Colour-blind users can still have a fair chance to compete. I'm not sure if any other puzzles in the test use colour, but it is one consideration you may want to make. We also changed the Middle Stick colors.
Here is the updated example
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macherlakumar
Posts: 123
Country : India | Can anyone explain me the puzzle Lucky Column, if possible with an example.. |
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vopani
Posts: 739
Country : India | vopani posted @ 2010-12-02 10:42 PM macherlakumar - 2010-12-02 9:46 PM
Can anyone explain me the puzzle Lucky Column, if possible with an example.. Take a look at this puzzle below. A simple 6x6 puzzle. You need to shade all circles in some (generally two or more ) columns such that every row has exactly one shaded circle. So, if you shade the 1st, 4th and 6th columns, you can easily see the conditions satisfied.  (Puzzle.png) (Solution.png)Attachments ----------------  Puzzle.png (3KB - 5 downloads) Solution.png (3KB - 2 downloads) |
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vopani
Posts: 739
Country : India | vopani posted @ 2010-12-02 10:53 PM macherlakumar - 2010-12-02 9:46 PM
Can anyone explain me the puzzle Lucky Column, if possible with an example..
In the Screen Test, you will be given a puzzle like the one given below, though, bigger than a 6x6. If you solve this puzzle, you will realise there are two solutions. But both solutions contain the 2nd column. So, Column B is the 'lucky column' :- )
Click to show to see all the solutions
(Note: There might be more than two solutions of the puzzle, but EVERY solution contains the one LUCKY COLUMN )  (Puzzle.png)Attachments ---------------- Puzzle.png (3KB - 1 downloads) |
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macherlakumar
Posts: 123
Country : India | Thanks a lot Rohan. I guess I am ready for the competition 
 Edited by macherlakumar 2010-12-03 9:54 AM
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debmohanty
Country : India | Demo button has been disabled. |
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vopani
Posts: 739
Country : India | vopani posted @ 2010-12-03 2:08 PM The timings of the Screen Test is a little different from the usual monthly tests. It overlaps the usual timings and is for a longer period:
Start Time:
22:00 IST (16:30 GMT) on Friday.
End Time:
22:00 IST (16:30 GMT) on Monday.
That amounts to a period of 72 hours.
Screen Test 1 start 8hrs from now :-) |
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debmohanty
Country : India | Checkout some interesting feedbacks about ST1 here |
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vopani
Posts: 739
Country : India | vopani posted @ 2010-12-03 10:16 PM Screen Test 1 has started.
Good luck to all participants! :-) |
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Administrator
Country : India | Link for results is updated in ST1 landing page |
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debmohanty
Country : India | After reviewing the first 20 results that we have received, it looks like some players have started ST#1 without reading the Guide.
2 things about scoring that everyone must know before starting ST#1
1 ) Solving a puzzle early and Clicking on next puzzle will fetch you bonus points. [If you don't click on 'next puzzle', you don't get bonus. You just get the base points ]
2 ) A wrong answer fetches you -ve points.
please read the guide for details! |
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davep
Posts: 43
Country : United States | davep posted @ 2010-12-04 10:24 AM "After reviewing the first 20 results that we have received, it looks like some players have started ST#1 without reading the Guide"
Guilty as charged... 
My first time trying out a screen test puzzle, thought it was great fun -- I found myself wishing for another 30-45 seconds on several of the puzzles, but that was my own fault for not preparing better and knowing some of the solving tricks right off the bat.
Really well done interface and concept, compliments as always...
Dave |
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thesubro
Posts: 23
Country : United States | Three things I cant understand ...
1. I have checked and rechecked my answer for missing words and I am certain it is right but I do not think I was credited with a correct answer. Whih leads to number ...
2. I went back to check which ones on my result sheet I got wrong and it would not let me see the results I had again - until X number of minutes pass. (???)
3. Finally, I was ranked 10 of 28 when I was done. Now I am ranked 11 of 28 (???)... but no one else apparently took the test, yet I fell.
Great test. Loved taking it, just a bit confused now ...
Thanks for the hard work putting this together.
Regards,
TheSubro |
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debmohanty
Country : India | thesubro - 2010-12-04 10:58 AM
Three things I cant understand ...
1. I have checked and rechecked my answer for missing words and I am certain it is right but I do not think I was credited with a correct answer. Whih leads to number ...
2. I went back to check which ones on my result sheet I got wrong and it would not let me see the results I had again - until X number of minutes pass. (???)
3. Finally, I was ranked 10 of 28 when I was done. Now I am ranked 11 of 28 (???)... but no one else apparently took the test, yet I fell.
Great test. Loved taking it, just a bit confused now ...
Thanks for the hard work putting this together.
Regards,
TheSubro
1. Please check my PM
2. We had to put a constraint that while the tests are running, players can refresh only once in 30 minutes. [ We added this in Renban. Because we found that some players are refreshing the score page every other minute, which might affect the server performance while the test is running for others ]
3. For this test you are shown only your score. Some some other player would have finished between your 1st check and 2nd check. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | thesubro - 2010-12-04 10:58 AM
Three things I cant understand ...
1. I have checked and rechecked my answer for missing words and I am certain it is right but I do not think I was credited with a correct answer. Whih leads to number ...
My mistake.
The scoring page had an incorrect entry for Missing words. This has been fixed.
NOTE: This was a problem only in the score page. The puzzle has no problems.
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euklid
Posts: 28
Country : Austria | euklid posted @ 2010-12-04 4:11 PM I just checked my scores. It seems that all the changes that I did in the final 90 seconds have not been stored. I have entered two solutions of puzzles (Cell Sudoku, Multi ESB) that I did not finish before and I changed the solution of Brilliant Color.
Could you please check that? What could I have done wrong in that phase? When I remember correctly it was written that all changes will be submitted automatically after the 90 seconds period.
And then subro has written that he has been ranked nr.10/11. Where can I see my rank and the number of contestants (up to the current time of course)?
Thx for the event,
Stefan |
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debmohanty
Country : India | euklid - 2010-12-04 4:11 PM
I just checked my scores. It seems that all the changes that I did in the final 90 seconds have not been stored. I have entered two solutions of puzzles (Cell Sudoku, Multi ESB) that I did not finish before and I changed the solution of Brilliant Color.
Could you please check that? What could I have done wrong in that phase? When I remember correctly it was written that all changes will be submitted automatically after the 90 seconds period.
And then subro has written that he has been ranked nr.10/11. Where can I see my rank and the number of contestants (up to the current time of course)?
Thx for the event,
Stefan
Hi Stefan, I checked the database, and there is no entry during the review period. The only reason this could have happened is that you might have closed the browser before the 90 seconds period is over. I'm just saying that it is a possibility.
You can visit the test page again to see your rank. You should see a message in red that reads like 'You have completed LMI Screen Test #1. Your total score is x. Current rank is y (of z )'. If you are trying from a different computer, you need to login first.
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keshava.hs
Posts: 10
Country : India | Hi,
It was a fasinating 30 minutes!
Thanks a Ton for organizing such a wonderful test.
Frankly speaking, did couple of guesses, luckily it turned right.
3 Cheers,
Keshav |
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drsteve
Posts: 12
Country : United Kingdom | drsteve posted @ 2010-12-04 7:58 PM Thanks for that, guys, a great, if stressful, set of puzzles. |
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ronald
Posts: 9
Country : United Kingdom | ronald posted @ 2010-12-04 9:34 PM Hey,
I noticed that the labels (A,B,C and D) of the Sudoku Twins have changed order.
In the example they are labelled left to right as A-B-C-D, and in the test they are labelled as A-C-B-D
I input my answer as the letters appear in the example - I believe my intended answer was correct.
(I noticed this because I was surprised to get that one wrong!)
Great test!!,
Thanks
Ronald
Edited by ronald 2010-12-04 9:52 PM
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ronald
Posts: 9
Country : United Kingdom | ronald posted @ 2010-12-04 10:20 PM Forget it, I think I was wrong anyway
But I did not put the letters I intended - because they appeared in a different order. Might be worth noting for future.
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DreamRose311
Posts: 24
Country : United States | Man that was intense. It had my heart going the whole time... Thanks so much Deb. I'm pretty bummed, on the two I missed... LMI count I started to double count, and told myself 'you've never counted this type wrong, just get the bonus' ... go figure hah. And on Images count, I forgot that reflection was allowed!! Man, so close. I think if the example had a mirrored one I would have remembered. Oh well, so much fun. Thanks again to this site for having so much puzzle competitions. It seems so hard to believe now that just a few months ago I was having to wait a year at a time between the USPC. Thanks again LMI!! |
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DreamRose311
Posts: 24
Country : United States | Oh! One other thing... for next time, if there is any chance we could have just 30 more seconds in the review period.... I think I could've gotten two or three more answers with just another half minute heh... |
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Gotroch
Posts: 83
Country : Czech Republic | Gotroch posted @ 2010-12-05 1:20 AM Deb, Rohan: Great Screen test, thanks!
There were lot of puzzles in this test I left almost finished (for example with only 2 possible answers to decide) and I had to deal with them in the review period (~10 of these puzzles but managed to submit only 3)
I believe top solvers will be able to solve all puzzles in time limit, but I also think lot of people could find these puzzles too hard and given time is not enough for them.
So if we have bonus points for earlier sumbission, I think we can let competitors solve also after time limit of each puzzle for chance to get points for later submission (with points value decreasing 1point for each second after time limit)
Do you think it is good idea or do you like current system more? |
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debmohanty
Country : India | DreamRose311 - 2010-12-05 12:29 AM
And on Images count, I forgot that reflection was allowed!! Man, so close. I think if the example had a mirrored one I would have remembered.
It was a mistake on our part not to have reflection in the example image. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | DreamRose311 - 2010-12-05 12:30 AM
Oh! One other thing... for next time, if there is any chance we could have just 30 more seconds in the review period.... I think I could've gotten two or three more answers with just another half minute heh...
Not sure if/when ST#2 will happen.
We'll definitely review all the inputs from the forum.
In fact we had a longer list of feedback questions. One of the question was how long the Review Period should be.
So - request everyone to put any other specific feedback they have. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | Gotroch - 2010-12-05 1:20 AM
Deb, Rohan: Great Screen test, thanks!
There were lot of puzzles in this test I left almost finished (for example with only 2 possible answers to decide) and I had to deal with them in the review period (~10 of these puzzles but managed to submit only 3)
I believe top solvers will be able to solve all puzzles in time limit, but I also think lot of people could find these puzzles too hard and given time is not enough for them.
So if we have bonus points for earlier sumbission, I think we can let competitors solve also after time limit of each puzzle for chance to get points for later submission (with points value decreasing 1point for each second after time limit)
Do you think it is good idea or do you like current system more?
I would comment about the puzzle difficulties after the test.
But you have a nice idea of 'decreasing 1 point'. We are very likely to implement this or something similar, if/when we've ST2.
It is not that we like the current system. It is not that the current system is perfect.
This is first-ever Screen Test at LMI, and with inputs/feedbacks from everyone, I hope that we can improve it.
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debmohanty
Country : India | ronald - 2010-12-04 10:20 PM
Forget it, I think I was wrong anyway
But I did not put the letters I intended - because they appeared in a different order. Might be worth noting for future.
It is a miss.
It is best to have the example and the puzzle exactly labeled to avoid any confusion, especially given the short nature of the test.
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vopani
Posts: 739
Country : India | vopani posted @ 2010-12-05 9:45 AM Gotroch - 2010-12-05 1:20 AM
Deb, Rohan: Great Screen test, thanks!
There were lot of puzzles in this test I left almost finished (for example with only 2 possible answers to decide) and I had to deal with them in the review period (~10 of these puzzles but managed to submit only 3)
I believe top solvers will be able to solve all puzzles in time limit, but I also think lot of people could find these puzzles too hard and given time is not enough for them.
So if we have bonus points for earlier sumbission, I think we can let competitors solve also after time limit of each puzzle for chance to get points for later submission (with points value decreasing 1point for each second after time limit)
Do you think it is good idea or do you like current system more?
Thanks Gotroch. Like Deb mentioned, since this is the first ST, we were not sure how good the timings decided will be. We will surely work upon players' feedback and (hopefully ) organise a better ST in future (with changes ).
We'll probably start some polls regarding the timings, format, etc.
I'm glad you enjoyed :- ) |
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muralik7
Posts: 10
Country : India | I am not able to login to take ST1 test. It always displays my brother's result (who has taken this test couple of hours back).
I tried deleting cache and restarting laptop but it does not help.
I am able to post this message with my ID but strangely if I click on ST1 link it does not give me option to type my credentials.
Murali... |
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Administrator
Country : India | muralik7 - 2010-12-05 1:07 PM
I am not able to login to take ST1 test. It always displays my brother's result (who has taken this test couple of hours back).
I tried deleting cache and restarting laptop but it does not help.
I am able to post this message with my ID but strangely if I click on ST1 link it does not give me option to type my credentials.
Murali...
Check your inbox for alternate link |
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utkaarsh
Posts: 89
Country : India | Brilliant puzzles,
just a suggestion, if we answer ealier that 60 seconds in any puzzle , that time should be allowed to use in other puzzles before 90 sec review,
might even out strenghts in different type of puzzles |
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debmohanty
Country : India | utkaarsh - 2010-12-05 11:56 PM
Brilliant puzzles,
just a suggestion, if we answer ealier that 60 seconds in any puzzle , that time should be allowed to use in other puzzles before 90 sec review,
might even out strenghts in different type of puzzles
Similar to Neeraj's suggestion.
I'm not sure if we should do this. Because 'the order in which the puzzles appear' would affect players' performance.
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purifire
Posts: 460
Country : India | debmohanty - 2010-12-06 10:49 AM
utkaarsh - 2010-12-05 11:56 PM
Brilliant puzzles,
just a suggestion, if we answer ealier that 60 seconds in any puzzle , that time should be allowed to use in other puzzles before 90 sec review,
might even out strenghts in different type of puzzles
Similar to Neeraj's suggestion.
I'm not sure if we should do this. Because 'the order in which the puzzles appear' would affect players' performance.
most importantly, any amount of seconds saved for a puzzle is being converted to bonus points... so it doesnt serve a purpose giving a bonus for seconds saved and then carrying the time forward to next puzzle... |
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utkaarsh
Posts: 89
Country : India | agreed that bonus pts takes care of fast solving, i would prefer using that time in solvinhg other puzzles where i m not that quick, eg i cld solve the sudoku puzzles quickly but need more than avg time for the loops ,
thats my take, but i understand what we intend to test is also important, if we want to test time solving, or ability to solve all kinds of puzzle
Edited by utkaarsh 2010-12-06 8:10 PM
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vopani
Posts: 739
Country : India | vopani posted @ 2010-12-06 8:27 PM utkaarsh - 2010-12-06 8:09 PM
agreed that bonus pts takes care of fast solving, i would prefer using that time in solvinhg other puzzles where i m not that quick, eg i cld solve the sudoku puzzles quickly but need more than avg time for the loops ,
thats my take, but i understand what we intend to test is also important, if we want to test time solving, or ability to solve all kinds of puzzle
For Screen Test 1, we stuck to the format in which screen tests take place at WPCs. We added the 90-sec review period so that more puzzles can be solved by players and also to motivate new-comers and first-timers.
We will work upon all the feedback we get to improve in future.
As for your suggestion, if the saved time is again given back to you to solve any puzzle you want, it just transforms it into a direct 30-min normal test with 25 puzzles. Say for example a player doesnt like Arrows, she/he will just skip that puzzle and use those 60 secs to solve some other puzzle, which is not the idea of a screen test. |
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vopani
Posts: 739
Country : India | vopani posted @ 2010-12-06 10:00 PM After an exciting weekend of the short-and-quick format of the puzzle world, with a high participation of 183 players from 35 countries, we announce the winners and players with outstanding performance:
1st Martin Merker (Germany ) - 1477
2nd Thomas Snyder (USA ) - 1450
3rd Hideaki Jo (Japan ) - 1394
View complete results: http://logicmastersindia.com/ST/ST1/score.asp
Congrats to Martin Merker for winning Screen Test 1 and for scoring 1477 points . Congrats to Thomas Snyder and Hideaki Jo for finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Special thanks to Rishi Puri, Ritesh Gupta, Rajesh Kumar, Rakesh Rai and Tejal Phatak for solving and testing the interface of ST beforehand and to ensure a smooth weekend.
Please give your feedbacks and comments so that we can work on it for future STs. Hoping to see you all at ST2.
Regards,
Rohan Rao and Deb Mohanty. |
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phanaem
Posts: 1
Country : Romania | phanaem posted @ 2010-12-06 10:44 PM I submited all the answers but only 2 was counted... Did I start too late? |
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vopani
Posts: 739
Country : India | vopani posted @ 2010-12-06 10:45 PM phanaem - 2010-12-06 10:44 PM
I submited all the answers but only 2 was counted... Did I start too late?
Check other thread. |
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adityasaraf007
Posts: 45
Country : India | I participated in LMI Tests after a long time, was a bit rusty as the performance suggests.
Generally, the answers I submit are quite accurate. But this time I got 7 right and 7 wrong. Certainly, because of the time constraint associated with individual puzzles.
Overall, Screen Test is a great concept, as it requires the individual to solve each and every puzzle. As the whole test was based on WPC Style, I would suggest not to modify it further. But one thing that I would like is more time for all the individual puzzles in the next Screen Test. |
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vopani
Posts: 739
Country : India | vopani posted @ 2010-12-07 12:07 AM adityasaraf007 - 2010-12-06 11:45 PM
Overall, Screen Test is a great concept, as it requires the individual to solve each and every puzzle. As the whole test was based on WPC Style, I would suggest not to modify it further. But one thing that I would like is more time for all the individual puzzles in the next Screen Test.
Yes, we will probably have more time for each puzzle next time to enable more players to be able to solve the puzzles. |
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vopani
Posts: 739
Country : India | vopani posted @ 2010-12-07 12:07 AM |
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forcolin
Posts: 172
Country : ITALY | I fully agree with the latest comments, particulalry those of Rohan and adityasaraf. The ST perhaps needs adjustments but too many changes will result in making its nature completely different from WPC. I found it very demanding and fully enjoyable.
The statistics show that in the majority of the cases, the puzzles were well chosen and solvable on screen. The exceptions being the few cases in which the very low percentage of correct solution indicate a random distribution (=guesswork)
As an improvement, I would recommend a more visible time marker. (perhaps 5 beeps in the last 5 seconds??)
Stefano |
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vopani
Posts: 739
Country : India | vopani posted @ 2010-12-07 7:24 AM forcolin - 2010-12-07 12:16 AM
As an improvement, I would recommend a more visible time marker. (perhaps 5 beeps in the last 5 seconds??)
Stefano
Good idea. We can easily do something with the timer in the last 5 seconds to catch the eye of the participant. Maybe beep. Maybe changing colour or making bigger, since not all computers may have sound system in place.
Having a more visible timer during the entire session might be distracting to players. We wanted players to see the puzzle and solve it as quickly as possible rather than concentrating on the time left. Thats why we tried to camouflage the timer in the background. But we'll surely look into it if more people suggest a better timer :- )
I'm glad you enjoyed the Screen Test :- ) |
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debmohanty
Country : India | While we have got bigger green bars for most of the questions, we have got bigger orange / red bar for the question "Were most of the puzzles solvable on screen?"
See here for details.
That obviously means that while players liked the concept and interface, but the main area of improvement is puzzles.
In next few posts, I would cover my thoughts on the Screen Test puzzles.
To start with KnightSafe, Mazes, BeadCount
All three of them visual puzzles. Most players got them right. Mazes being the easiest one, I wanted mazes to be first puzzle in the test. But Rohan thought it might disable players' eyes if it the first puzzle :- )
Either way, I think all 3 puzzles were solvable easily on screen. They all have high percentages of success rate too.
The next 2 are Minimum Mines and Blank Hitori, both needing mild logical steps.
I had planned for a bigger Minimum Mines - an 8X8 one - but I'm glad that we didn't include it.
The 5X5 one needs minor additions, and many players cracked it in less than 30 seconds.
Blank Hitori - It had lot of "black" squares. Many players got it right, but few players answers 2 or 4.
I believe that these 2 puzzles are nice selections for the screen test.
The next two - CellSudoku and SudokuTwins
CellSudoku - One of the few puzzles where we probably didn't get it right.
We wanted a visual sudoku, and not a sudoku with standard solving approach with pencil marks etc.
It is a very simple puzzle, needing a two step approach. See spoiler below.
But given that only few players got it correct - we should have a smaller grid or more time for this puzzle.
SudokuTwins -
Unfortunately, grid A has two solutions because of a misplaced digit. Although the puzzle as a whole had single solution, it definitely pissed off many players.
And also, the labels were different between grids B and C.
I'm to be blamed for the mess in this puzzle.
While we wanted to have both the Sudokus easy and accessible to everyone, it didn't turn out that way.
This is one of my biggest disappointments in ST1. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | I was not very confident of Stubborn Snake in the Screen test. But to my pleasant surprise, many players solved it correctly.
MultiESB had 10 circles, so I would think many players simply answered 5.
I believe that this can be solved on screen without much problem (though the original planned puzzle was way too difficult ).
The first 3 loops can be drawn almost immediately.
Next puzzle LuckyColumn
If I were to remove exactly one puzzle from ST1, it would probably be LuckyColumn :- ) |
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debmohanty
Country : India | LMICount and MissingWords are two more visual / observation / counting puzzles.
Original LMICount was 8X8 and we decided to make it 6X6. May be we should have had the 8X8, since the 6x6 was solved correctly in 33 seconds on an average.
The original MissingWords puzzle was too error prone. See image below. We decided at the last moment to change it, and it was a much wise decision.
Operations Twist was the only arithmetic related puzzle. It turned out to be most correct 60 seconds puzzle.
ABCConnect - This was one standard puzzle type put in ST#1 without any modifications. The ideas was that many players solve ABC Connect mentally. We were correct, 75% players who answered it got it correct.
BlackAndWhite If I were to remove 2 puzzles from ST#1, this one will be the 2nd puzzle, the first one being LuckyColumn.
It is not a great B&W puzzle - but it insisted that player solve and count the puzzle on screen, which seemed little tough to me.
Players who had read the Guide must have noticed that we had provided the grid size for this puzzle (and some other puzzles )
The idea of providing grid sizes is that player may want to solve it on paper rather than on screen if the puzzle can be easily drawn on paper.
[ In some WPCs, players are allowed to redraw the images on paper ] |
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debmohanty
Country : India | The next two puzzles IrregularSplit and CorrectXV turned out to be as bad as the 45-seconds-sudoku puzzles, very few players solving them.
The IrregularSplit was not spectacular, it doesn't work like a sudoku, but more of a jigsaw fitting puzzle. It all depends upon how quickly one can do all the combinations.
While IrregularSplit had a decent success rate, CorrectXV turned out to be least favorite puzzle fetching -0.16 points per attempt.
I'll explain below how we expected players to solve it, but since most players didn't get it, I accept that there was not enough time for this puzzle.
Just like the example - the four 4 grids were similar looking. Either an X or a V was the only difference between the grids.
We thought players would focus on that, rather than solving the grid.
In grid B, there was an additional V on Column 6, Which made column 6 unsolvable.
In grid C, there was less V on Column 3, which made column 3 unsolvable.
In grid A, there was an additional V in Row1 (which means there was no place for 5 in Row1 and hence grid A is also unsolvable )
The example used a similar technique, and somehow we thought that players will be able to solve this in 60 seconds. It was not to be :- ) |
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macherlakumar
Posts: 123
Country : India | It was really good from the regular tests. I think we should go for this kind of test regularly may be once in a month. I am suggesting this because the time for every puzzle is fixed, and many of the times the best comes out when we are under pressure, this is a perfect test for bringing the best from the players and improving their skills.
Thanks a lot for all who made this initiative very successful. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | Next one is CarelessArrows another visual puzzle. But unlike many other visual puzzles, it can be quickly checked whether your answer is correct or not.
I liked this puzzle very much.
It is only because of this puzzle that we had a DropDownList rather than buttons for answer keys.
Mastermind is like standard Mastermind. Given that options were given, it again was more like a check-check-check puzzle.
ImagesCount - When I started thinking about ST#1 around 3 months back, ImagesCount was the first puzzle I created. Originally it had 9 images. We reduced it to 6. Given that there were still 120 circles, it seemed too difficult.
Also that, the reflection possibility was missing from the example image (though the instructions had it ), it made matters worse.
There could have been a better puzzle!
MiddleStick - Again one of the earliest puzzles. See image below for original version. One of the wisest decision to drop two sticks and make it 2-colored.
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debmohanty
Country : India | That brings us to the last 4 puzzles -
MissingDigitKakuro This type went to several iterations, we made multiple puzzles of this type and we thought we chose the easiest one.
It needed to be solved only in the left top region ( i would think that most players start looking that region first :- )
May be this could be have been easier. A smaller range 1-6 would definitely have helped.
CodedSkyscraper - Our original thought was that CodedSkyscraper and CorrectXV are the only 2 tough puzzles which would challenge the top solvers.
In Coded, it takes a while to realize that {A,D}={3,4} and 3+4 = 7
Looking at either column3 or row3, D can't be 4. so A=4
Given the very low success rate for this puzzle, it was not best fit in 60 seconds.
RareSkyscraper - Irrespective of the success rate, I think that this was an easy puzzle. Especially if one had solved the example carefully and found the pattern of 9-8-7-6....
BrilliantColour
The best puzzle of ST1 in my opinion, and we intentionally had kept it at the end. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | Finally, the technical part - It was a good technical challenge to implement the Screen Test since it was very different from what we've done so far at LMI.
But we all love challenges in some way, don't we?
We are glad that ST#1 worked as flawlessly as we designed. Thanks to everyone for sharing improvement ideas, we'll keep them in mind if/when we do ST#2. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | macherlakumar - 2010-12-07 10:18 AM
It was really good from the regular tests. I think we should go for this kind of test regularly may be once in a month. I am suggesting this because the time for every puzzle is fixed, and many of the times the best comes out when we are under pressure, this is a perfect test for bringing the best from the players and improving their skills.
I've no idea if making Screen Tests a monthly contest makes sense or whether it is feasible to write good puzzles so frequently. We've to wait and see.
One of the most satisfying things from ST#1 is there were lot of Indian solvers. Also, it really feels good to see many old solvers back (Omkar/Ritesh, are you reading this? )
30 minutes time and no printer requirement seem to be the key things that worked here.
Keshava Murthy continued from his FLIP performance, and got the best Indian rank (he admitted that he made some lucky guesses :- )
Rajesh did reasonably well, though I think he was very conservative.
Rishi stood 3rd, and it is good that he is spending more time on puzzles now.
Rakesh had a disappointing test - he should have got much more.
Amit - I'm not exactly sure what the problem was - but he certainly could have got more points.
Congratulations to everyone and thank you for participating.
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macherlakumar
Posts: 123
Country : India | Thank you Deb for sharing your views on my suggestion.
I agree that it is not easy to design these kind of puzzles which can fit the time frame (60 or 45 sec ).
I think we should increase and decrease time depending on the difficulty level of the puzzle.
We can work on this tests if some of the solvers can become authors and contribute some puzzles, may be not 25 puzzles all the time but decent enough number of puzzles with varying difficulty.
Let see how this goes I also will try to desgin puzzles which suits this test (although I have never designed puzzles )
Wish me luck.
Thank You. |
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rakesh_rai
Posts: 774
Country : India | It was a nice test, and a good change. And, most importantly, it introduced the ST concept to solvers like us who have never been to a WPC. The interface worked well overall and the puzzle selection was good. The main challenge was to create puzzles which can be solved without use of paper, and the test was largely successful at that.
Deb: Thanks for your views on the puzzles. They are very comprehensive and almost cover everything that I might have wanted to comment on.
One big mistake which I made in this test was to try to check/verify my answer. Inevitably, the time for the puzzle would run out. I'd try to note the answer for entering during the review period. But, during the review period, I instead concentrated on solving one "almost-finished" puzzle, ultimately getting minus points for that, and even not able to enter the planned ones. A better approach would be to enter answers as soon as you arrive at them. No need to double check. And, to not leave too much to do in the review period.
Many people have commented on the amount of time being inadequate. But, is there really a solution for that? If you make the time 90 seconds for each puzzle, inevitably the complexity would also increase a little bit. I think the timing was alright for 80-90% of the puzzles, as eight solvers were able to cross the par score - 1350.
The only cases which need a re-look are the ones which had the least solvers -
(1) Cell Sudoku (the main problem was the size of the sudoku, which put off most solvers...the in-out concept was actually very well applied)
(2) Correct XV (I was able to eliminate A and B in 60 seconds, then could not look at it in the review period)
(3) Coded Skyscraper (size of the grid was the main obstacle, again)
(4) Missing Digit kakuro (I think, due to the time pressure, most solvers were trying to eliminate digits rather than solve the kakuro. At least this was my approach, so I was able to eliminate 1,2,3,4,5,8,9 easily. But could not arrive at the final answer - between 6 and 7)
Maybe, one suggestion for ST2 could be to increase the review period a little bit (~150 seconds)...I was unable to do what I intended to do in the review period...it went off pretty fast. And, perhaps adequate time for sudoku/kakuro puzzles.
An interesting observation: There were 6-7 solvers who got more than 110 points for a single puzzle, i.e. solved a 60-point puzzle in less than 10 seconds (and two of them twice). But none of them finished in the top 50. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | Rakesh - thanks for your views.
After the end of day1 of the test, nobody had solved Cell Sudoku. Thats when we realized that it is trickier that we had expected.
The idea was borrowed from Mock9 Round 1 Page 8
Rohan also got the answer quickly, and we thought it should be solvable. But we were wrong by a huge margin.
I'm not exactly sure if a 6X6 grid with similar trick would have been much better.
As I wrote, I don't have a problem with CorrectXV and Coded Skyscraper being least solvable. We were expecting only the top solvers to do it.
Regarding Review Period :
I have mixed feeling about the review period. Does it really help?
In my original plan, Review Period didn't exist.
But Amit suggested that we must have a review period of at least 120 seconds. Rohan was not very certain too.
I was thinking of an "Add-on" time for each puzzle.
Every puzzle will have an "Add 15 seconds" button. If you are close to solving it but still need few more seconds, you could add 15 seconds to the puzzle (at the cost of losing x% of the points ).
To me that is better than Review Period - here is why I think so -
You are working on a puzzle, it is in your brain. It is easy if you have 15 more seconds to solve the puzzle.
If you switch to another puzzle, and again look at it in Review Period, you again have to bring the puzzle back in your brain.
We discarded Addon time for ST#1 because it looked complex to us.
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debmohanty
Country : India | rakesh_rai - 2010-12-07 1:51 PM
An interesting observation: There were 6-7 solvers who got more than 110 points for a single puzzle, i.e. solved a 60-point puzzle in less than 10 seconds (and two of them twice). But none of them finished in the top 50.
Some players made heavy guesses... Solving MinimumMines in 2 seconds, KnightSafe in 2 seconds.
I'm not sure how to prevent that. Suggestions welcome.
I also have mixed feelings about the -ve scoring that we had.
Ideally -ve scoring should be applicable to random guesses.
Let me take an example -
BeadCount - It is a visual puzzle. J has 11 beads, A has 10.
J is the correct answer. Some players made minor counting mistakes and answered as A. [ A is most incorrect submission ]
But there are players who would either randomly guess or made major counting mistakes, and answered as C / D / E or whatever else.
158 | J
17 | A
3 | C
2 | G
2 | D
1 | F
1 | E
Take MultiESB - The correct answer is 4. If someone answers 5, it could be a counting mistake. But how on earth can the answer be 7 (there are only 10 circles - so the answer could be max 5 without even drawing any loop )
54 | 4
43 | 5
14 | 6
7 | 3
6 | 7
The point I'm trying to make is -
the negative scoring didn't consider this difference - a minor counting/solving mistake OR a random guess.
May be there should not have been any negative scoring for the most incorrect submission.
The negative scoring was introduced to dissuade players from randomly guessing. But given the nature of the -ve scoring, lot of players played conservatively.
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macherlakumar
Posts: 123
Country : India | I think the drop down should be active after 4-5 sec this will force few of the solvers who try to guess to solve the puzzle since they dont't know what are the options
For cell sudoku:
The options will be clear because of grid size, to prevent from guessing, the answer must be manipulated to some other form may be some mathematical operations, in this case both the mathematical expression to be used and the drop down will be visible at the same time.
For Lucky Column:
The options will be clear because of alphabets used for the naming of columns, to prevent from guessing, numbers can used to name the columns an then the answer must be manipulated to some other form may be some mathematical operations, in this case both the mathematical expression to be used and the drop down will be visible at the same time.
For ABC Connect:
Same as lucky column replace the alphabets with numbers.
For Black and White:
Manipulate the answer using a mathematical expression which will be shown at same time of dropdown.
For IrregularSplit:
Interchange numbers and alphabets, again same process manipulating the answer.
For Middle stick:
Replace alphabets with numbers, again same process manipulating the answer.
For Missing digit Kakuro, Coded Skyscraper, Rare Skyscraper, Brilliant Color:
Same process of manipulating the answer, replace the colors with numbers in brilliant color puzzle.
Are there any puzzles in ST1 that can be solved in less than 4 sec?
The number of options in the dropdown should increase also not all the answers will fit the mathematical expression (to avoid reverse calculations).
I hope I explained it clearly, any modifications or suggestions to this are welcome.
Thank You. |
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rakesh_rai
Posts: 774
Country : India | macherlakumar - 2010-12-07 3:26 PM
I think the drop down should be active after 4-5 sec this will force few of the solvers who try to guess to solve the puzzle since they dont't know what are the options Are you suggesting something analogous to "answer key being displayed after some time in sudoku tests"? How does this change the situation? The heavy guessers will punch their answers in 5-6 seconds. ...to prevent from guessing, the answer must be manipulated to some other form may be some mathematical operations, in this case both the mathematical expression to be used and the drop down will be visible at the same time
... I did not understand this totally, perhaps. But it seems you are suggesting that we use a drop down (as in ST1 ) PLUS an answer key. Is that correct? And that the answer key should not be known beforehand. The idea is good and will certainly bring down guesswork but whether it goes with the spirit of a Screen Test or not needs to be determined... Are there any puzzles in ST1 that can be solved in less than 4 sec? Maybe not 4, but definitely within 10 seconds. The number of options in the dropdown should increase also not all the answers will fit the mathematical expression (to avoid reverse calculations). Can you explain your point with some example here? I am unable to understand it fully. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | rakesh_rai - 2010-12-07 4:26 PM
The number of options in the dropdown should increase also not all the answers will fit the mathematical expression (to avoid reverse calculations). Can you explain your point with some example here? I am unable to understand it fully. I am not able to understand it at all |
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rakesh_rai
Posts: 774
Country : India | debmohanty - 2010-12-07 2:49 PM
Some players made heavy guesses... Solving MinimumMines in 2 seconds, KnightSafe in 2 seconds.I'm not sure how to prevent that. Suggestions welcome. Do you really want to prevent that? Guessing is inevitable if you have multiple options as answers. But then, if you do not have options, the test will look more like a normal test. And, heavy guessers got more wrong than right. So its not as if someone is going to finish in top 20 by heavy guessing. Still, if you want to reduce the probability of success of guesses, simply increase the number of options. |
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macherlakumar
Posts: 123
Country : India | Hi guys I am extremely sorry for not making my points clear enough  .
As rakesh said to increase the number of options to prevent from guessing in not always possible, like in the case of missing digit kakuro, rare skyscraper, irregular split etc. the number of options are fixed or rather can be decreased but not increased.
The idea is
1 ) There will be a mathematical expression in which there will be one variable, i.e is the answer obtained after solving the puzzle. Say 6 (A ) + A^2 is the expression where A is the answer.
Player after solving the puzzle needs to calculate the result of the expression and then choose it from dropdown box, so now we can increase the number of options.
2 )Regarding the reverse calculation I guess I made a mistake it should have been like this, all the possible options that will result from the mathematical expression and some other numbers (to increase the options ) should be there in the dropdown.
3 )The dropdown and the mathematical expression will be active only after 4-5 sec (which I think should be fine ) so that no one gets to know the answers or the expression before hand.
Even after all this if a player is able to guess the answer then it can't be helped, but I think this will decrease the number of playes from guessing. |
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debmohanty
Country : India | Thanks for explaining, and I now understand what you are saying.
But it would simply increase the solving time unnecessarily, and adds an error-prone element to the puzzle.
To answer Rakesh's question "Do you really want to prevent that? " - I don't think we really need to do anything to prevent it. Definitely not by adding more complexities for genuine solvers. |
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keshava.hs
Posts: 10
Country : India | Hi,
I feel, we should not do anything to prevent Guess work, True Champions will always emerge in a long run.
Guess work will not produce results always, Just to prevent Guess work, we should not complicate Puzzle Interface.
Easier/simple Interface will attract more puzzlers, I think which is also one of the main aim of LMI.
This is my personal feeling.
Thanks again for your precious time in organizing wonderful event.
Best Reagrds,
Keshav
Edited by keshava.hs 2010-12-07 9:45 PM
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