@ 2013-04-29 12:55 PM (#10860 - in reply to #10788) (#10860) TopPosts: 42
Country : United States
PuzzleScott posted @ 2013-04-29 12:55 PM
Nice puzzles and contest!
The simple entry format (easy to count, not prone to errors) was a real pleasure.
The beginner sudoku contest format, with two short 40 min segments and a break between segments, is nice. That would also have been nice here (select 2 groups of puzzles, even though the rules are the same). For that matter, I'd be happy to see multiple shorter segments even in non-beginner contests :)
Enjoyed the puzzles. I also found H to be hard. I resorted to uniqueness logic in various puzzles several times (unsatisfying), and also some guesses (even less satisfying).
I do most of my masyu solving on nikoli. Overall these puzzles seemed on the hard side, especially for a beginner contest. I notice several beginners have already placed well. Congratulations!
The simple entry format (easy to count, not prone to errors) was a real pleasure.
The beginner sudoku contest format, with two short 40 min segments and a break between segments, is nice. That would also have been nice here (select 2 groups of puzzles, even though the rules are the same). For that matter, I'd be happy to see multiple shorter segments even in non-beginner contests :)
Enjoyed the puzzles. I also found H to be hard. I resorted to uniqueness logic in various puzzles several times (unsatisfying), and also some guesses (even less satisfying).
I do most of my masyu solving on nikoli. Overall these puzzles seemed on the hard side, especially for a beginner contest. I notice several beginners have already placed well. Congratulations!
@ 2013-04-29 2:57 PM (#10861 - in reply to #10788) (#10861) TopPosts: 8
Country : Hong Kong
edderiofer posted @ 2013-04-29 2:57 PM
This contest taught me quite a bit more about Masyu patterns. Well done.
Had my internet not cut out temporarily, I think I would have finished sometime around the 68-minute mark, as opposed to the 74-and-a-half-minute mark. I really need to have a word with my ISP about these problems.
Had my internet not cut out temporarily, I think I would have finished sometime around the 68-minute mark, as opposed to the 74-and-a-half-minute mark. I really need to have a word with my ISP about these problems.
@ 2013-04-29 6:49 PM (#10862 - in reply to #10860) (#10862) TopPosts: 241
Country : Indonesia
chaotic_iak posted @ 2013-04-29 6:49 PM
PuzzleScott - 2013-04-29 1:55 PM
The simple entry format (easy to count, not prone to errors) was a real pleasure.
The simple entry format (easy to count, not prone to errors) was a real pleasure.
Not prone to errors? And I missed one empty cell at one time... Either I have to use a thicker brush or this claim is not exactly correct.
A method that I think more error-proof is to count the numbers of horizontal line segments in the rows instead. Should be fairly easy to count too, and more visible...I don't know.
Perhaps another method would be placing the arrows so they point along gridlines, and count the number of times the line is cut. This way, it also serves as a double-check; because there must be an even number of cuts, if you get an odd result then you know something is wrong, and it should be really visible. But this method gives the same answer a rather large portion of the time, so it might not be able to check some incorrectly solved areas.
...Answer key problem. Always one of the most bugging problems for test makers. That said, this choice is fairly nice too; only that it's still more error-prone than what is expected.
@ 2013-04-29 7:08 PM (#10863 - in reply to #10862) (#10863) TopPosts: 164
Country : Slovakia
greenhorn posted @ 2013-04-29 7:08 PM
chaotic_iak - 2013-04-29 6:49 PM
Not prone to errors? And I missed one empty cell at one time... Either I have to use a thicker brush or this claim is not exactly correct.
A method that I think more error-proof is to count the numbers of horizontal line segments in the rows instead. Should be fairly easy to count too, and more visible...I don't know.
Perhaps another method would be placing the arrows so they point along gridlines, and count the number of times the line is cut. This way, it also serves as a double-check; because there must be an even number of cuts, if you get an odd result then you know something is wrong, and it should be really visible. But this method gives the same answer a rather large portion of the time, so it might not be able to check some incorrectly solved areas.
...Answer key problem. Always one of the most bugging problems for test makers. That said, this choice is fairly nice too; only that it's still more error-prone than what is expected.
PuzzleScott - 2013-04-29 1:55 PM
The simple entry format (easy to count, not prone to errors) was a real pleasure.
The simple entry format (easy to count, not prone to errors) was a real pleasure.
Not prone to errors? And I missed one empty cell at one time... Either I have to use a thicker brush or this claim is not exactly correct.
A method that I think more error-proof is to count the numbers of horizontal line segments in the rows instead. Should be fairly easy to count too, and more visible...I don't know.
Perhaps another method would be placing the arrows so they point along gridlines, and count the number of times the line is cut. This way, it also serves as a double-check; because there must be an even number of cuts, if you get an odd result then you know something is wrong, and it should be really visible. But this method gives the same answer a rather large portion of the time, so it might not be able to check some incorrectly solved areas.
...Answer key problem. Always one of the most bugging problems for test makers. That said, this choice is fairly nice too; only that it's still more error-prone than what is expected.
Disagree. Counting the empty cells is probably the easiest answer format ever. This was the best puzzle contest for me from the view of submiting answers. I really apreciate this idea and hope that there will be more contests with such an easy and clear answer format.
Edited by greenhorn 2013-04-29 7:08 PM
@ 2013-04-30 6:39 AM (#10867 - in reply to #10862) (#10867) Top
Country : India
debmohanty posted @ 2013-04-30 6:39 AM
chaotic_iak - 2013-04-29 6:49 PM
A method that I think more error-proof is to count the numbers of horizontal line segments in the rows instead. Should be fairly easy to count too, and more visible...I don't know.
A method that I think more error-proof is to count the numbers of horizontal line segments in the rows instead. Should be fairly easy to count too, and more visible...I don't know.
Probably not. This has been used in multiple tests after 2011. Each and every time, I have seen players claiming they made a typo.
@ 2013-05-01 2:17 PM (#10905 - in reply to #10788) (#10905) TopPosts: 542
Country : India
rajeshk posted @ 2013-05-01 2:17 PM
Thanks Ravi for the great puzzles. Enjoyed all the puzzles. For me I made mistake twice while solving L. Only third time I could find my mistake. Thanks to LMI for this great initiative.
@ 2013-05-02 3:55 PM (#10910 - in reply to #10788) (#10910) TopPosts: 187
Country : New Zealand
kiwijam posted @ 2013-05-02 3:55 PM
Congratulations to: All of Japan! Currently in the top 9 places - Sugoi!
Many thanks to Ravi, great set of puzzles.
I like the answer keys. Counting 5 digits is quick enough.
I would have prefered the points for each puzzle to be printed too.
Even the easy 4 were still "clever" puzzles.
I was wondering if this test could be given to people that are new to puzzling, but I think not. A little experience in Masyu is still needed.
Many thanks to Ravi, great set of puzzles.
I like the answer keys. Counting 5 digits is quick enough.
I would have prefered the points for each puzzle to be printed too.
Even the easy 4 were still "clever" puzzles.
I was wondering if this test could be given to people that are new to puzzling, but I think not. A little experience in Masyu is still needed.
@ 2013-05-02 6:25 PM (#10912 - in reply to #10910) (#10912) Top
Country : India
Administrator posted @ 2013-05-02 6:25 PM
kiwijam - 2013-05-02 3:55 PM
Congratulations to: All of Japan! Currently in the top 9 places - Sugoi!
It is perfect 10 now.Congratulations to: All of Japan! Currently in the top 9 places - Sugoi!
@ 2013-05-03 8:16 AM (#10918 - in reply to #10788) (#10918) TopCountry : India
Administrator posted @ 2013-05-03 8:16 AM
Classic Masyu Contest is over now.
Password removed from puzzle booklet, and solutions appended. Link
Password removed from puzzle booklet, and solutions appended. Link
@ 2013-05-03 6:34 PM (#10921 - in reply to #10788) (#10921) TopPosts: 3
Country : India
thejaguarpawii posted @ 2013-05-03 6:34 PM
Thank you for the solutions. It helped a lot in identifying my mistakes.
Though I have know this site for long, I had never participated in the past. This is my first attempt at Masyu and I cannot believe that I spent 3 days in learning Masyu for his event. This Monthly puzzle really helped me get back to puzzles.
Thank you for organizing the events on regular basis. Please do keep posting more and more puzzles in the near future.
Though I have know this site for long, I had never participated in the past. This is my first attempt at Masyu and I cannot believe that I spent 3 days in learning Masyu for his event. This Monthly puzzle really helped me get back to puzzles.
Thank you for organizing the events on regular basis. Please do keep posting more and more puzzles in the near future.
@ 2013-05-03 7:10 PM (#10922 - in reply to #10788) (#10922) TopPosts: 1801
Country : India
prasanna16391 posted @ 2013-05-03 7:10 PM
Some thoughts on the first Beginners' Puzzle Contest -
Ravi is a relatively new author, and he approached us a few months ago about holding a Masyu contest. We've been wanting to hold Beginners' Puzzle Contests for a while now, so thought we'd merge both ideas and build from here.
In hindsight, its probably not an ideal setting for Beginners, because of the quantity and partly because of the difficulty of a few of the puzzles, but with the Beginners' feature of extra time, there was at least enough incentive for everyone to carry on solving.
On the positive side though, it turned out to be a sprint that everyone who participated seems to have enjoyed, which I think is mainly due to the nice quality of puzzles in the set. Thanks Ravi, and I hope you enjoyed the experience of authoring the first Beginners' Puzzle Contest.
As for the competitors, congrats to Joo M. Y (South Korea), apollo1001 (UK) and foxfirex (USA) for topping the Beginners' standings. As for Seasoners, that is some serious Japan domination there. Congrats to the top 3 of deu, EKBM and nyuta. Kudos to all 11 of you in the top 11, and also to Anderson (USA), Muhorka (Slovakia) and Semax (Germany) for being the "best of the rest".
In future, we will have changes to the format of Beginners' puzzle contests, and you can all definitely expect more of them to come in tandem with the Beginners' sudoku contests.
Thank you all for participating!
Ravi is a relatively new author, and he approached us a few months ago about holding a Masyu contest. We've been wanting to hold Beginners' Puzzle Contests for a while now, so thought we'd merge both ideas and build from here.
In hindsight, its probably not an ideal setting for Beginners, because of the quantity and partly because of the difficulty of a few of the puzzles, but with the Beginners' feature of extra time, there was at least enough incentive for everyone to carry on solving.
On the positive side though, it turned out to be a sprint that everyone who participated seems to have enjoyed, which I think is mainly due to the nice quality of puzzles in the set. Thanks Ravi, and I hope you enjoyed the experience of authoring the first Beginners' Puzzle Contest.
As for the competitors, congrats to Joo M. Y (South Korea), apollo1001 (UK) and foxfirex (USA) for topping the Beginners' standings. As for Seasoners, that is some serious Japan domination there. Congrats to the top 3 of deu, EKBM and nyuta. Kudos to all 11 of you in the top 11, and also to Anderson (USA), Muhorka (Slovakia) and Semax (Germany) for being the "best of the rest".
In future, we will have changes to the format of Beginners' puzzle contests, and you can all definitely expect more of them to come in tandem with the Beginners' sudoku contests.
Thank you all for participating!
@ 2013-05-03 8:15 PM (#10923 - in reply to #10788) (#10923) TopPosts: 13
Country : Germany
purzelbaumfan posted @ 2013-05-03 8:15 PM
I actually printed out the puzzles just for the fun of it and I also never had tried Masyu before. Then I started to solve the puzzles and thought it was great fun! It was very simple to see easy strategies you can use in every puzzle at the beginning. Thank you for these puzzles. I think it's very hard to find puzzles that are easy but nice and it's also very hard to find them on the internet in their usual form when they're not a variation or two puzzle types in one. I enjoyed it very much (and still am, since I didn't solve all) and hope I will like the next test as much or even more than this one. I think this is a really good way to get people to enjoy ALL puzzle types and not just sudoku.
@ 2013-05-04 1:57 AM (#10926 - in reply to #10910) (#10926) TopPosts: 123
Country : India
macherlakumar posted @ 2013-05-04 1:57 AM
kiwijam - 2013-05-02 3:55 PM
I would have prefered the points for each puzzle to be printed too.
Hi,I would have prefered the points for each puzzle to be printed too.
The puzzles do not have individual points, points are given depending on the number of puzzles solved (order of solve does not matter).
Regards,
Ravi
@ 2013-05-04 6:03 PM (#10929 - in reply to #10788) (#10929) TopPosts: 8
Country : Greece
term posted @ 2013-05-04 6:03 PM
This was a fun contest for me, with nice puzzles, stellar submission mechanics and a great scoring scheme. In fact, I probably had too much fun; the bright and eager novices in my puzzle community would have suffered rather early on. Ending the contest on a larger grid is an excellent idea, but this one was far, far too hard for the stated purpose, and completely demoralising for actual (as opposed to site) novices. Maybe renaming future contests in this mould to "intermediate" would be best.
@ 2013-05-06 7:48 PM (#10934 - in reply to #10929) (#10934) TopPosts: 225
Country : Thailand
tamz29 posted @ 2013-05-06 7:48 PM
I thought the last puzzle was quite senseless for a "Beginners contest". I bifurcated twice and just couldn't be bothered with it.
@ 2013-05-07 4:12 PM (#10939 - in reply to #10788) (#10939) TopPosts: 123
Country : India
macherlakumar posted @ 2013-05-07 4:12 PM
First of all thanks to everyone for your participation and making this a huge success.
Few months back I have approached Deb for authoring a Masyu contest, at that time I am still new to puzzle construction. Deb and Prasanna looked at my puzzles and gave many suggestions on how to make puzzles that fit into competitions, because many of them are completely symmetrical (solving one half was enough to complete the puzzle). Many weeks have passed and I have designed 20 puzzles along with one 20X20 grid.
I have sent all the puzzles to Deb and he tested them and said they are good to go for competition but then again the number was an issue, after some discussion I have convinced them for 16 grids (10X10) and one 20X20 grid.
Out of the 4 rejected puzzles one I used for the instructions booklet and one found a good place which will be revealed in 3-4 months :)
I have to thank Branko for taking time from his busy schedule to test all the puzzles just few days before the start of Serbian GP. The answer format credit goes to Branko, who has come up with the idea of number of blank cells.
Deb and Prasanna helped me a lot, they always provided quick support to me. I am really happy to work with Deb and Prasanna.
I enjoyed a lot looking at almost everyone solving times. I never expected this contest to become this successful, mainly because I am new to puzzle construction. Many people have solved all 17 puzzles and I got the feeling that many are happy with the contest, which is what I wished for.
Stay tuned for another Classic Masyu Contest :D
Regards,
Ravi
Few months back I have approached Deb for authoring a Masyu contest, at that time I am still new to puzzle construction. Deb and Prasanna looked at my puzzles and gave many suggestions on how to make puzzles that fit into competitions, because many of them are completely symmetrical (solving one half was enough to complete the puzzle). Many weeks have passed and I have designed 20 puzzles along with one 20X20 grid.
I have sent all the puzzles to Deb and he tested them and said they are good to go for competition but then again the number was an issue, after some discussion I have convinced them for 16 grids (10X10) and one 20X20 grid.
Out of the 4 rejected puzzles one I used for the instructions booklet and one found a good place which will be revealed in 3-4 months :)
I have to thank Branko for taking time from his busy schedule to test all the puzzles just few days before the start of Serbian GP. The answer format credit goes to Branko, who has come up with the idea of number of blank cells.
Deb and Prasanna helped me a lot, they always provided quick support to me. I am really happy to work with Deb and Prasanna.
I enjoyed a lot looking at almost everyone solving times. I never expected this contest to become this successful, mainly because I am new to puzzle construction. Many people have solved all 17 puzzles and I got the feeling that many are happy with the contest, which is what I wished for.
Stay tuned for another Classic Masyu Contest :D
Regards,
Ravi
@ 2013-05-07 4:51 PM (#10940 - in reply to #10939) (#10940) TopCountry : India
debmohanty posted @ 2013-05-07 4:51 PM
macherlakumar - 2013-05-07 4:12 PM
Deb and Prasanna looked at my puzzles and gave many suggestions on how to make puzzles that fit into competitions, because many of them are completely symmetrical (solving one half was enough to complete the puzzle).
Deb and Prasanna looked at my puzzles and gave many suggestions on how to make puzzles that fit into competitions, because many of them are completely symmetrical (solving one half was enough to complete the puzzle).
Just to clarify, I solved the puzzles, Prasanna just gave suggestions about the format based on my feedback.
@ 2013-10-27 1:12 AM (#13241 - in reply to #10788) (#13241) TopPosts: 1801
Country : India
prasanna16391 posted @ 2013-10-27 1:12 AM
Structure for future LMI Beginners' Puzzle Contests
Basic :
There will be 2 rounds of 40 minutes each. Each round will contain 8 puzzles of a distinct type, meaning the contest as a whole will cover 2 types.Each round's puzzles will be divided into four categories, with 2 puzzles per category :
1. Introductory - These will strictly be extremely basic puzzles, of trivial sizes.
2. Intermediate - The sizes may vary but logically these must be trivial. (10x10 can be maximum size unless it is a puzzle type with different dimensional characteristics e.g. Skyscrapers would have a 6x6 cap.)
3. Challenging - Here we reach the typical Monthly test lower pointer level. A few techniques/patterns can be used, and the sizes may vary. (10x10 cap on size unless it is a puzzle type with different dimensional characteristics e.g. Skyscrapers would have a 9x9 cap).
4. Exploratory - This is defined as a twisted version of the rules of the puzzle type. The twist must provide a different perspective while not deviating much logically.
There will be bonuses separately available for finishing each of these categories. These bonuses are not fixed and will be computed based on each contest's puzzle points distribution.
Notes :
In case Explorative versions of a type are not possible, there will be a puzzle each added to the Intermediate and Challenging categories.The size cap clarifications will be given at the time of communicating the types to someone interested in authoring.
Features :
As noted in the opening post, Instant Grading and Extended Time features will be used in Beginners' Puzzle Contests.Please note that the category bonuses will not be applicable during extended time. All puzzles submitted in extended time will count for 50% of their assigned points with no bonuses
There will also be an overall bonus of 1 point per minute saved for completing all puzzles within normal time.
Beginners and Seasoners :
There will be Beginner and Seasoner categorization here as in Beginners' Sudoku Contests. However, it is difficult to put a system in place to promote players to Seasoners based directly on their Beginners' performances. A player will be a Seasoner by default if they meet one of the below criteria -1. Those who have attained, at any point, an LMI Puzzle rating of 500+.
2. Those who have achieved a rank of 25 or better in an LMI monthly Puzzle test.
3. In case of a string of performances deemed exceptional by the organizers (this is pretty free-flowing as of now. We'll try to work up a system later).
@ 2013-10-27 1:20 AM (#13242 - in reply to #10788) (#13242) TopPosts: 1801
Country : India
prasanna16391 posted @ 2013-10-27 1:20 AM
November Beginners' Puzzle Contest
Types
Slitherlink and Star Battle (more details like examples and explanation about the Explorative side employed here will be posted soon)Dates
1st - 6th November (including both dates) @ 2013-10-27 1:05 PM (#13252 - in reply to #10788) (#13252) TopPosts: 15
Country : India
mjaipal posted @ 2013-10-27 1:05 PM
Great initiative Prasanna. Keep going.
@ 2013-10-28 7:56 AM (#13267 - in reply to #10788) (#13267) TopPosts: 542
Country : India
rajeshk posted @ 2013-10-28 7:56 AM
Looking forward to this test. Good initiative by LMI.
@ 2013-10-31 2:34 PM (#13302 - in reply to #13241) (#13302) TopPosts: 1801
Country : India
prasanna16391 posted @ 2013-10-31 2:34 PM
@ 2013-11-01 12:44 AM (#13307 - in reply to #10788) (#13307) TopPosts: 145
Country : France
auroux posted @ 2013-11-01 12:44 AM
Looks great! I still don't think I understand the "exploratory" thing though -- I thought those were going to be slight variants and would come with their own instructions, but saw no such instructions in the IB.
Are they just normal puzzles (or variations on the usual layout that will surprise us a bit but don't actually require any new instructions) this time around?
Thanks,
Denis
Are they just normal puzzles (or variations on the usual layout that will surprise us a bit but don't actually require any new instructions) this time around?
Thanks,
Denis
@ 2013-11-01 1:19 AM (#13308 - in reply to #13307) (#13308) TopPosts: 1801
Country : India
prasanna16391 posted @ 2013-11-01 1:19 AM
auroux - 2013-11-01 12:44 AM
Looks great! I still don't think I understand the "exploratory" thing though -- I thought those were going to be slight variants and would come with their own instructions, but saw no such instructions in the IB.
Are they just normal puzzles (or variations on the usual layout that will surprise us a bit but don't actually require any new instructions) this time around?
Thanks,
Denis
Looks great! I still don't think I understand the "exploratory" thing though -- I thought those were going to be slight variants and would come with their own instructions, but saw no such instructions in the IB.
Are they just normal puzzles (or variations on the usual layout that will surprise us a bit but don't actually require any new instructions) this time around?
Thanks,
Denis
I will say this much - the given instructions are enough to understand the exploratory part. If it were necessary to add new ones, we would have. But Exploratory can also be a different mode of presentation of the puzzle. Experienced players may not find these surprising, but we thought it would be a nice additive for beginners, to get used to the twists and surprises that accompany puzzle solving, without stepping out of the normal form too much.
@ 2013-11-01 1:22 AM (#13309 - in reply to #10788) (#13309) TopPosts: 1801
Country : India
prasanna16391 posted @ 2013-11-01 1:22 AM
Also, many thanks to Vladimir Portugalov for test solving the set. Deb provided some useful feedback too, as always.