The scoring of the contest HCS 9 has been finalized. Congratulations to Hideaki Jo who beat Ulrich by an inch, to Ulrich Voigt and to Daisuke Takei, and to the runner-ups as well, of course.
Hausigel

Edited by Hausigel 2013-09-19 12:04 AM

Hello,
I have uploaded a new version of the instruction file for the contest HCS 10. The solution keys for the following puzzles have changed: 3, 6, 8, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 24, 27, 28, 30 and 39.
Basically, only the row information must be entered for several puzzle types (instead of row and column information), for example the number of black cells for Hitori/Heyawake, the number of mines in Minesweeper, etc. In the Hashi, only the number of horizontal and vertical double bridges is required; in Stations, the contents of two marked rows must be entered (like in Second turn).
Plus, I have rotated two examples by 90°.
Hausigel
PS: If I have overlooked any puzzles which appear suitable for a similar change of the solution key, or if I have made any mistakes in the process, you are welcome to let me know.

Hello,
the contest HCS 10 starts in a few hours. Enjoy!
Manual score adjustments wll be handled as in most of the HCS contests: there will be a 20% penalty, and I will inquire myself only in case of syntax errors. (If someone who has not read my last notice enters the old answer keys, I will correct them without penalty.)
One more thing: The puzzle files in my contests typically contain one page for each puzzle type. That means, you would have to print 40 pages. If you want to save paper, I am offering you this: There will be a second version of the contest file, with two puzzles on each page, but without instructions and without any explanations on the answer keys. Of course, that file will be encrypted, too; I will upload it in the German forum shortly before the contest begins.
Hausigel

Ouch - I was just told that, in the Stations puzzle, the arrows are missing which are supposed to mark the answer key rows. These are the rows 3 and 6 from above. Sorry!
(I have uploaded a corrected file version.)

The contest HCS 10 is over. Thanks to all participants, congratulations to Ulrich Voigt, Hideaki Jo, Tomasz Strózak and Philipp Weiß.
I will announce the next contest in a weak or two; meanwhile, good luck to the WSC/WPC participants.

Hello,
I have updated the total scoring and activated the next contest which will take place Nov 15-18.
Link to the contest page:
http://www.logic-masters.de/Wettbewerbe/wettbewerb.php?id=60
Hausigel

Hello,
the contest begins shortly; good luck to all participants. As usual, I will send you a message by myself in case of syntax errors and otherwise just wait for score adjustment requests. And the usual 20% penalty will applay if manual adjustments are necessary.
Hausigel

Hello,
please note: Just as page 1 of the contest file, page 3 does not contain any puzzles, but only the instructions for Persistence of Memory. They are very long, and there was not enough space left below them for any puzzle grids...
Hausigel

Hello,
the time window for the contest is closed; please send score adjustment requests no later than Wednesday.
Hausigel

Now that the contest is over, is it possible to get the password for those of us who didn't get to do it live, but would still like to attempt to solve the puzzles offline?

Thanks!

Hello,
the scoring has been finalized. Congratulations to Endo Ken who beat uvo by an inch, to uvo, Tomasz Strózak and to the runner-ups. Thanks to all participants.
@sbeck: This means that the contest can be started again (you will just not show up in the scoring table).
The contest HCS 12 (Mazes) will probably take play Dec 6-9. The instruction file and the contest file are not quite finished, but they will be uploaded shortly.
Hausigel

Hello,
at last, the final HCS contest has been set up, and the instruction file is available now. As always, feel free to ask questions about the puzzle types.
Link to the contest page:
http://www.logic-masters.de/Wettbewerbe/wettbewerb.php?id=61
In case you already had a look at the file: I have just uploaded an updated version which includes a few amendments to the puzzle instructions and a 3D image for the Rolling Block Maze. (Many thanks to uvo who gave me access to his image files for the HCS.)
Regarding the solution keys: In puzzles where the solution key consists of directions, an E may be entered instead of an O for Ost (=East). The notations RLOU (Rechts, Links, Oben, Unten) or RLUD (Right, Left, Up, Down) will also be accepted.
Hausigel

Hello,
the contest starts tomorrow, I hope you enjoy the puzzles. Regarding the solution keys:
As said earlier, different notations are accepted in puzzles where the directions must be entered. Other solutions than the intended ones (especially those with extra loops) will of course be accepted, too. If your entries differ only slightly - by my jugdement - from the correct ones, I will inquire myself. Apart from that, you are as usual welcome to request manual score adjustments until Wednesday (hcs@hausigel.de). Please note that some of the answer keys might be very long; that is why there will be no penalties for manual adjustments in this contest whatsoever, as long as I can expect that you have solved the puzzles correctly.
Hausigel

Hello,
another short remark: Since some of the mazes are very large, the pages 6-18 of the contest file contain only the puzzle diagrams; the instructions can be found on the pages 1-5. Please note furthermore that the second Escher maze (puzzle 8) has been rotated by 90° to fit on the page.
Hausigel

The contest HCS 12 is over. Congratulations to James on a great victory! You will find a few closing remarks in the German forum.
The total scoring table will be updated within the next few days.
Hausigel

Hello,
the total scoring has been updated; changes are still possible. If you find any mistakes, please let me know until Sunday. After that, I wll officially close the HCS.
Hausigel

Dear puzzle friends,
the HCS is now officially closed, there will be no more changes in the scoring table. Congratulations to Ulrich Voigt (uvo), Hideaki Jo (deu) and Nikola Zivanovic (nikolaz), and to the following participants in the table as well.
I would like to thank again all participants. Many thanks especially to the Japanese delegation which took part in all the individual contests in great numbers, and which has raised the overall level of the HCS considerably. Of course, I also thank all the other participants, the regular ones as much as the occasional ones.
You will find a few statistics in my blog.
Hausigel

Hello,
I have set up another contest on the LM initial page, "Dream within a Dream". The contest takes place in "Rallye" mode, which means that there will not be a short time window for solving the puzzles; the contest will run over a year in total. Since I designed the puzzles at the same time as the HCS, you are welcome to view this contest unofficially as "HCS 13". Otherwise - just view it as a Christmas present.
Hausigel