Good catch. I think that somehow, the Instruction booklet's Outside Sudoku solution has been added here into this puzzle

Fixed now - Download updated version

Thanks for having organized a beautiful test.

Having sudokus from different authors permitted to vary the difficulty and styles. I think I recognized some authors' style while solving a few puzzles (especially kurve, renban, vudoku) but it should have been difficult to "authenticate" authors for all puzzles (I was surprised that the killer was written by Bastien, for example).

This test was a bit particular for me, because my grandmother died sunday, so I was not looking to make a good result, only tried to think of anything else.

Puzzles created by Thomas were really easy for confirmed players. Kurve, thermo and arrow were very nice for beginners or less experienced players, (as there are many for a national championship), and a good sprint for others. (I created a lot of classic sudokus last month, so I could not help noticing the lack of symmetry of the second classic, with 2 digits added on the bottom left. I think it was possible to make a symmetric one with that pattern, without adding the 2 digits, but it's really a tiny detail).

I even didn't notice the theme of the 6*6 irregulars while solving. Nice construction ! Overlapping, shifted and deficit were nice.
Diagonal was a nice construction, with only 18 symetric givens without clue on diagonals and a nice pattern . I liked the logic of killer and renban. I was not fast on smashed sums, but it had a nice logical path, too. GT consecutive had lot of non-consecutive logic in it.
I was stuck for a while in outside sudoku, but that's quite normal as it is worth 115 points.
Like Prasanna, I was stuck in the even killer, but after having spotted the 5 odds in the 1rst column I wasn't able to find the 9 in R3C7, which was quite easy. So I lost at least 10 minutes on that one (I left it and finished to solve it at the end).

Congrats to Prasanna, Rohan and Rishi, Jan and the "pack of hungry Japanese players" and thanks again to the organizers !

Fred

hello, please help me........

Can you specify your problem?

How did you come to know about Indian Sudoku Championship?	I am a regular visitor at LMI forum.
Did the Instructions Booklet (IB) provide enough information about participating in ISC?	Yes, mostly.
Did you understand the Sudoku variations rules and examples from the IB?	I understood most of them.
Did you find enough easy Sudokus to solve during the championship?	No, there were really few easy puzzles.
Did you find enough easy / familiar variations to solve during the championship?	No, there were really few familiar types.
After your experience in ISC, are you going to participate in future championshiops or contests at LMI?	Most likely

The second classic has diagonal reflective symmetry which is one I certainly count (others may only like spinning their puzzles in place). I was indeed going for a clover leaf with an all even middle and an all odd outside but there are no possible puzzles of this form without another even digit somewhere. Making a stem for the clover was my compromise, along one diagonal axis, as that then kept the very naked single start I had set-up fully preserved.

Edited by motris 2013-08-16 12:24 AM

You are right, it has a diagonal symmetry. Also, I didn't notice the even-odd "game" on this puzzle. Thanks for the explanation

Fred

That (the theme) is also the reason why the 6X6 irregular ones turned out to be tougher than usual, as noted by some participants. Thankfully, they were not in the first page of the pdf.

Sorry to harp back to ISC challenge, but I need some help in solving smashed sums, deficit and shifted sudokus. I am unable to go beyond a point in deficit whereas in the other two, I don't even know where to start. I also need help with the 6x6 of which I could solve only two. The last one in the left side column and all three in the right side column have proved difficult for me.

Here are the steps for Top Right 6X6 Sudoku.



In the last image here, I use something called "Placeholder". It can be explained like this : Lets say R1C5=X. So X can be 2 or 3 or 5. Then R2C3 = X, and then R5C1=X. Now where does X go in box6, and what will be its value?

Placeholder can be used to solve some of the other 6X6 that you have found difficult. I will be posting steps for them, but it will take a while (to create the images.)

Shifted Sudoku is as good as a classic, you just need to modify your region-wise reasoning, and concentrate on rows and columns too. At the start it is advisable to focus a lot more on rows and columns till you are able to adapt to the different ways the shifted regions come into consideration.

Smashed Sums becomes a lot easier if you mark (say by circle), the cells that must contain a number. Use the logic like "this sum is so big, it'll require at least 6 cells in between 2 shaded cells, so whatever way I look, some cells will always be between the sum, and so can't be shaded" and mark circles for wherever shaded cells can't be. That and sums will help you progress.

I won't tell you anymore for now, since you couldn't find where to start. Sometimes its just about grasping the rules and then you might be able to solve it yourself which is obviously the best way forward, but feel free to ask if still stuck.

Thank you very much, this is amazing ! I will certainly try the other 6x6 too using similar logic. The hints for the shifted and smashed sums are slightly greek to me but will chew on it for a while. Thanks a lot for the prompt response.

Steps for bottom left 6X6. After usual solving, you can mark R1C5 as X, and then mark three other Xs in the grid. Then you can find two 4s in the grid. It should be easy after that. Click on "Show" below if you want to check the image.

its usually offline, like from past few years.
I think things are not yet fixed, once everything is fixed, it will be announced on this site.

Edited by swaroop2011 2014-03-16 4:43 AM