Asian Sudoku Championship 2025
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Parallel Universe — April Sudoku Test — 19th-21st April70 posts • Page 2 of 3 • 1 2 3
@ 2014-04-21 1:15 AM (#15025 - in reply to #14944) (#15025) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2014-04-21 1:15 AM

 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? Too many medium difficult puzzles
 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? Way too many puzzles (too little time)
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2014-04-21 3:23 AM (#15026 - in reply to #14944) (#15026) Top

krytterka



Posts: 3

Country : Czech Republic

krytterka posted @ 2014-04-21 3:23 AM

 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? Too many medium difficult puzzles
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Fairly 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 the point values reflect the difficulty? Many puzzles were worth too much or too little
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2014-04-21 4:23 AM (#15027 - in reply to #14944) (#15027) Top

greenhorn



Posts: 164
100202020
Country : Slovakia

greenhorn posted @ 2014-04-21 4:23 AM

 What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles? Too many medium difficult puzzles
 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? Way too few puzzles (too much time)
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty? Most puzzles were worth too much or too little
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


I enjoyed the puzzles, but most were not worth their awarded points. I had a feeling that they have the same difficulty. I do not know why, but the three most expensive sudokus (Quad max, Linked Cons and Hamle) were the easiest for me (besides the classics). On the other hand, I had many problems with both Arrows and Trio Sudoku. Also broke Palindrome Search few times, but it was just because of my stupidity, not the difficulty of that puzzle. Anyway, nice test, looking forward to the puzzle PU II.

Edited by greenhorn 2014-04-21 4:33 AM
@ 2014-04-21 11:44 AM (#15028 - in reply to #14944) (#15028) Top

shameem



Posts: 2

Country : India

shameem posted @ 2014-04-21 11:44 AM

Dear All,

Can anyone kindly explain, what does the question actually mean for "2 Even 2 Odd Sudoku - 70 Points"; which says

(“Their” Straight 2 Even 2 Odd Sudoku):- There can never be more than 2 consecutive digits of the same parity in a row or column.

What means parity over here? I am slightly lost in here.

Thanks
@ 2014-04-21 11:48 AM (#15029 - in reply to #14944) (#15029) Top

Administrator



20001000500202020
Country : India

Administrator posted @ 2014-04-21 11:48 AM

@shameem
Parity refers to odd (1 3 5 7 9) or even (2 4 6 8) property of the digits.

All the rule means is : There can not be more than 2 odd digits placed next to each other in a row/column. Also there can not be more than 2 even digits placed next to each other in a row/column.
@ 2014-04-21 2:04 PM (#15031 - in reply to #14944) (#15031) Top

shameem



Posts: 2

Country : India

shameem posted @ 2014-04-21 2:04 PM

Thanks.
@ 2014-04-21 3:16 PM (#15033 - in reply to #14944) (#15033) Top

xevs



Posts: 43
2020
Country : Japan

xevs posted @ 2014-04-21 3:16 PM

 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 the point values reflect the difficulty? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2014-04-21 3:29 PM (#15034 - in reply to #14944) (#15034) Top

tamz29



Posts: 225
10010020
Country : Thailand

tamz29 posted @ 2014-04-21 3:29 PM

 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 the point values reflect the difficulty? Many puzzles were worth too much or too little
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2014-04-21 3:58 PM (#15035 - in reply to #14944) (#15035) Top

MrLiang




Posts: 44
2020
Country : Thailand

MrLiang posted @ 2014-04-21 3:58 PM

 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? Too many medium difficult puzzles
 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 the point values reflect the difficulty? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2014-04-21 9:38 PM (#15037 - in reply to #14944) (#15037) Top

esther59



Posts: 8

Country : Switzerland

esther59 posted @ 2014-04-21 9:38 PM

 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 the point values reflect the difficulty? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2014-04-22 1:28 AM (#15039 - in reply to #14944) (#15039) Top

sanket



Posts: 17

Country : India

sanket posted @ 2014-04-22 1:28 AM

 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 the point values reflect the difficulty? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


Firstly, I liked the whole idea behind the 'Parallel Universe'. Congratulations !
Anyway, great set of sudokus, Prasanna ! Most were manageable for an average player like me.
Linked-consecutive looked simple, but swept away a lot of time. I had to skip Hamle as I did not understand the rules till the end. So maybe a bit more 'non-standard' and simplified rules for the not-so-easy-to-understand sudokus would be great !

Overall, it was great fun !

Someone, please throw some light on Hamle. I still havnt understood the rules and the anti-rules for starting this sudoku. Thanks :)
@ 2014-04-22 2:24 AM (#15041 - in reply to #15039) (#15041) Top

swaroop2011




Posts: 668
500100202020
Country : India

swaroop2011 posted @ 2014-04-22 2:24 AM

sanket - 2014-04-22 1:28 AM

Firstly, I liked the whole idea behind the 'Parallel Universe'. Congratulations !
Anyway, great set of sudokus, Prasanna ! Most were manageable for an average player like me.
Linked-consecutive looked simple, but swept away a lot of time. I had to skip Hamle as I did not understand the rules till the end. So maybe a bit more 'non-standard' and simplified rules for the not-so-easy-to-understand sudokus would be great !

Overall, it was great fun !

Someone, please throw some light on Hamle. I still havnt understood the rules and the anti-rules for starting this sudoku. Thanks :)


Hamle Rules:

It's just one basic rule i.e. It says each given number should be moved that much number of cells as that number's value ,within the grid i.e. not crossing the border of whole sudoku.
After you find new positions , you solve it like normal sudoku. There is no Anti-Rule as such.

For eg: in IB, r1c3 "5" it cant move left or right as not much space, so it can be only moved down. Similarly for r6c4 "5".
Other simple trick is numbers like r6c1 "1", it can be moved right or top so it can be at r5c1 or r6c2 in either case it remains in that 2*3 box. So clue "r5c1" must move to r4c1. This kind of technique is used most in the actual puzzle too.
Hope that helps. :)
@ 2014-04-22 3:01 AM (#15042 - in reply to #14944) (#15042) Top

wgryciuk



Posts: 24
20
Country : Poland

wgryciuk posted @ 2014-04-22 3:01 AM

 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? Way too many puzzles (too little time)
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2014-04-22 3:42 AM (#15044 - in reply to #14944) (#15044) Top

azalozni



Posts: 3

Country : Slovenia

azalozni posted @ 2014-04-22 3:42 AM

 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? Fairly 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 the point values reflect the difficulty? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2014-04-22 9:55 AM (#15050 - in reply to #14944) (#15050) Top

macherlakumar




Posts: 123
10020
Country : India

macherlakumar posted @ 2014-04-22 9:55 AM

 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? Perfectly balanced
 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 the point values reflect the difficulty? Most puzzles were worth the right amount


@ 2014-04-22 10:22 AM (#15052 - in reply to #14944) (#15052) Top

Administrator



20001000500202020
Country : India

Administrator posted @ 2014-04-22 10:22 AM

Password removed and solutions appended to the sudoku booklet.
@ 2014-04-22 2:04 PM (#15056 - in reply to #14944) (#15056) Top

Realshaggy



Posts: 69
202020
Country : Germany

Realshaggy posted @ 2014-04-22 2:04 PM

 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 the point values reflect the difficulty? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2014-04-22 6:44 PM (#15058 - in reply to #14944) (#15058) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2014-04-22 6:44 PM

 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? Too many hard puzzles
 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? Way too many puzzles (too little time)
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2014-04-24 3:14 AM (#15071 - in reply to #14944) (#15071) Top

prasanna16391



Posts: 1803
1000500100100100
Country : India

prasanna16391 posted @ 2014-04-24 3:14 AM

(Bit late to get to this due to getting PU-II ready) Parallel Universe is over.

Our Universe Prasanna - Congrats to Gotroch, deu and sinchai4547 who take the top 3 spots respectively. Also, congrats to Kishore (kishy72) for topping the Indian rankings with a well-planned performance. I was happy to see a good participation for this contest with 248 solvers in total. It was quite a wonderful experience authoring this one. Quad Max was the highest rated Sudoku, but its nice for me to see that 5 Sudokus (Linked Consecutive, Quad Max, 2 Even 2 Odd, Arrow Sequences, Palindrome Search) got a high rating. Even the classics, which I don't think I'm that good at writing in general, were well received. There were a few negatives of course, like points allocation being off for some solvers. But I feel there'll be an element of this in many contests, especially ones involving newer variants (like Hamle) because it comes down to the author taking factors into consideration like solvers being new to it, etc. It's not an exact process but obviously the intention is to have the points distribution as fair as possible. I think most of them were accurate, for which I thank my two great testers, Bram and Salih (and also for getting the testing done pretty fast as I was probably a bit on the late side with getting the set ready ).

In general I hope everyone enjoyed this contest, and I hope you enjoy the Puzzle version of it this coming weekend!


Their Universe Prasanna - Congrats to Gotroch, deu and sinchai4547 from your universe. I can't reveal the winners on this side because it'll break the time-space continuum. It was really fun translating the puzzles to my people and letting them enjoy the contest too. Obviously, we shall meet again, very soon, in Parallel Universe II! Check it out on the top right. I took a more active role this time in providing a list of types in our Universe for your Universe's Prasanna to pick from! I hope you enjoy the puzzle types from our side!
@ 2014-04-25 1:35 AM (#15092 - in reply to #14944) (#15092) Top

BTroisi



Posts: 7

Country : United States

BTroisi posted @ 2014-04-25 1:35 AM

Nice puzzles - good for mid-level players like myself. Didn't get the parallel universe part but that didn't seem to be significant.

Anyone else have trouble with Linked Consecutive? I wasted a lot of time on it and came up with an ambiguity that I couldn't overcome.
@ 2014-04-25 1:47 AM (#15093 - in reply to #15092) (#15093) Top

prasanna16391



Posts: 1803
1000500100100100
Country : India

prasanna16391 posted @ 2014-04-25 1:47 AM

BTroisi - 2014-04-25 1:35 AM


Anyone else have trouble with Linked Consecutive? I wasted a lot of time on it and came up with an ambiguity that I couldn't overcome.


Actually, one of my testers had this problem, and I had to show them the next step too, so yeah, it can be a bit difficult to spot. I assume the image they sent me covers the portion you're stuck with. In the bottom left grid, use coloring to prove that R1C1=R5C2=R2C3 and you should be able to finish things from there.



(LinkedCons.png)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments LinkedCons.png (25KB - 1 downloads)
@ 2014-04-25 2:04 AM (#15094 - in reply to #14944) (#15094) Top

BTroisi



Posts: 7

Country : United States

BTroisi posted @ 2014-04-25 2:04 AM

I don't know what "coloring" means. Perhaps this is the short-cut that I'm missing? Please explain.
I solved it both ways and had initially thought both worked tho' now I see the mistake in my "other" solution.
Thanks.
@ 2014-04-25 2:21 AM (#15096 - in reply to #15094) (#15096) Top

prasanna16391



Posts: 1803
1000500100100100
Country : India

prasanna16391 posted @ 2014-04-25 2:21 AM

BTroisi - 2014-04-25 2:04 AM

I don't know what "coloring" means. Perhaps this is the short-cut that I'm missing? Please explain.
I solved it both ways and had initially thought both worked tho' now I see the mistake in my "other" solution.
Thanks.


Coloring is basically a way to set placeholders meaning that certain cells will contain the same digit X. R1C1 is 3/6, so are R5C1 and R5C2. So if digit X is in R1C1, it'll be in R5C2 by eliminating itself from R5C1. This same digit will now eliminate itself from R1C5 (because its in R1C1) and R2C2 (because its in R5C2) and will therefore be in R2C3. Coloring's just a simple way of getting to this because you can color (or mark in some way like circling) the cells I mentioned instead of going 3/6 in your mind for each one.
Parallel Universe — April Sudoku Test — 19th-21st April70 posts • Page 2 of 3 • 1 2 3
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