In Compass TAPA is it a must to have a white cell below the arrow mark.

I assume you're mentioning this for arrows pointing upward. If so, then no. You could have a shaded cell below the arrow mark that could be a dead-end right? The rule is only that, that cell can reach the star only in the direction of the arrow.

Problems with the printer at the start, and one of the papers tearing on the way out isn't a good way to start off. Thankfully just lost about 2-3 minutes in this. The frustrations went away soon.

Its a good thing the Hexa Tapa was easy, if it was big plus hard, that'd be too much for a time-solving environment I think. As it is, it fitted in well and I really liked it. A big compass Tapa is scary. Really scary. Quite a relief when I saw that was right. The Double Back bottom was probably my favorite, just a few little double back deductions needed before the Tapa takes over, with a nice theme. The top one with the 3-3s affecting the ring around the middle was cool too. I usually am horrible at No Islands, but thankfully it went smoothly here.

Thanks for another fun test, Serkan.

How can you be "usually horrible" at a new variant?

How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were?	Fairly balanced
What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test?	A bit too few puzzles
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

Well I took an hour on the example in the IB and about 25 minutes on your practice puzzle

In Twopa there are two solutions but either solution could be 10a or 10b. Does this mean that when submitting answers there are two correct options for entering 10a and 10b?

Yes, it works exactly as you mention

How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were?	Fairly balanced
What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test?	Just right
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent?	All puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

I'm curious whether Deb/Serkan has guarded against submissions like "1,2,3 / 1,2,3" for Twopa (basically the same answer for both grids)... ;)

The score page does not handle such cases. But the admin's page has a warning about such cases, and we will be deleting one of the answers, if someone makes that mistake(?).

How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were?	Perfectly balanced
What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test?	Just right
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were?	Perfectly balanced
What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

Nice idea in Outside tapa (even if I haven't solved it in time ;_;).

How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were?	Perfectly balanced
What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test?	Just right
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent?	All puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were?	Perfectly balanced
What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test?	A bit too many puzzles
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were?	Fairly balanced
What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test?	Just right
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent?	All puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were?	Perfectly balanced
What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test?	Just right
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent?	All puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were?	Fairly balanced
What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test?	Just right
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

For people who don't always finish the test, do you tackle the giant puzzles first?
I usually avoid them entirely since its too much of a risk.
When you're almost finishing just to find out you went wrong somewhere - think of all that time spent on the one giant puzzle.
Ouch.

Since I've just recently finished TVC(s), I feel I'm still within the category who can answer this. The truth is I was never sure what to do with them. In the end I just settled on attempting the big puzzles first. In general, try to keep the easier ones for later so you can do a quick ending.

But more than that, its that I do a bigger one a little slower and more carefully. I took fairly long on the Hexa Tapa here for example, but I was fairly certain I was on the right track throughout. Thats why I'm fine with big ones as long as they're easy, for the competition format. The worst thing is solving for a while and then getting stuck somewhere midway and not knowing whether to guess and take a huge risk or just stay the course.

How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were?	Perfectly balanced
What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	A bit hard
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test?	Just right
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent?	All puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

@Tawan, you can think about this question before the contest starts, once you know the points value for each puzzle.
After doing a little practise, you should know which puzzle types you like and which you don't like.
Basically, that's how I decide. I always do giant puzzles if I like the type, and never if I don't like them.

If you don't have an opinion, then the other option is to wait until you are halfway through the test.
If you are going fast, then try the big one (otherwise you might end up with time remaining at the end but nothing small to do.
If you're going slowly, then stay with the small puzzles.
And I always leave the smallest puzzle until last, to fill the last gap if there is one.

Serkan's large puzzles aren't too tough, they just look big. Once you have some confidence they'll be easier to start.
But if you want a safety net: screenshot the puzzle, solve it in Paint instead of paper, keep copies of the solution as it progresses...

Edited by kiwijam 2013-09-17 3:21 AM

@Bram: Well done on your result. Thanks for the practice puzzles, and good call with the Hexa Tapa: "I somewhat expect Serkan to go big and do something nice with it."

Another gorgeous test. Thanks Serkan. I thought I was taking too long to check my answers (both on paper, and then entering into the online system) but I can't complain too much with my result.

How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were?	Perfectly balanced
What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test?	A bit too many puzzles
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount
What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing?	Just right

This was my favorite of all of the TVC tests I've participated in. Just a wonderful mix all around.