Thread - Puzzle Solving Techniques

@ 2015-08-30 3:35 PM (#19205 - in reply to #19204) (#19205) Top

kishy72

Posts: 419

Country : India

kishy72 posted @ 2015-08-30 3:35 PM

This was a broken puzzle (I suppose you have taken this from one old LMI test)

Ah! I see.....It was taken from Nikoli Selection 2010 LMI monthly test.

Talking about Numberlink in general, this write up (Numberlink Primer) by Palmer will be an eye-opener for most.

Thanks a lot Deb!I will look through this primer.

@ 2015-08-31 6:45 PM (#19209 - in reply to #19205) (#19209) Top

kishy72

Posts: 419

Country : India

kishy72 posted @ 2015-08-31 6:45 PM

I ran into some problems in the following Hitori puzzle with just a few steps away from completion.Despite being so close,I fail to see a logical continuation here. Can someone post the solution ?

Edited by kishy72 2015-08-31 7:10 PM

@ 2015-08-31 8:07 PM (#19210 - in reply to #19209) (#19210) Top

swaroop2011

Posts: 668

Country : India

swaroop2011 posted @ 2015-08-31 8:07 PM

kishy72 - 2015-08-31 6:45 PM

I ran into some problems in the following Hitori puzzle with just a few steps away from completion.Despite being so close,I fail to see a logical continuation here. Can someone post the solution ?

one quick next step: R1C2 will be shaded.
Reason: Either of R8C1 or R8C2 will be shaded so that means R7C2 is unshaded in any case. Hence above step.

@ 2015-08-31 9:36 PM (#19211 - in reply to #19210) (#19211) Top

kishy72

Posts: 419

Country : India

kishy72 posted @ 2015-08-31 9:36 PM

swaroop2011 - 2015-08-31 8:07 PM

one quick next step: R1C2 will be shaded.
Reason: Either of R8C1 or R8C2 will be shaded so that means R7C2 is unshaded in any case. Hence above step.

Thank you ! I failed to see the 7 getting trapped.Done with the puzzle.

@ 2015-09-02 1:42 AM (#19216 - in reply to #19211) (#19216) Top

kishy72

Posts: 419

Country : India

kishy72 posted @ 2015-09-02 1:42 AM

A very difficult Hitori Puzzle ! Can someone please post the continuation here where I am stuck?

Edited by kishy72 2015-09-02 1:43 AM

@ 2015-09-02 2:18 AM (#19217 - in reply to #19216) (#19217) Top

swaroop2011

Posts: 668

Country : India

swaroop2011 posted @ 2015-09-02 2:18 AM

hi,
can you share the original puzzle link ?
I am confused whether what you have circled or not.
E.g. Is R6C5 "4" clue circled or not ?

@ 2015-09-02 2:59 AM (#19218 - in reply to #19217) (#19218) Top

kishy72

Posts: 419

Country : India

kishy72 posted @ 2015-09-02 2:59 AM

swaroop2011 - 2015-09-02 2:18 AM

hi,
can you share the original puzzle link ?
I am confused whether what you have circled or not.
E.g. Is R6C5 "4" clue circled or not ?

Sorry.You are right.It's not something which I deduced logically.I forgot to erase it.

@ 2015-09-02 8:57 AM (#19219 - in reply to #1525) (#19219) Top

ashaash11ash

Posts: 55

Country : India

ashaash11ash posted @ 2015-09-02 8:57 AM

R6c5 "4:" clue should be unshaded only.

@ 2015-09-02 9:18 AM (#19221 - in reply to #1525) (#19221) Top

ashaash11ash

Posts: 55

Country : India

ashaash11ash posted @ 2015-09-02 9:18 AM

If u see all the digits above and below the numbers at R7C5/7/9/11. for each number the digits above and below is same.. so if R6C5 is shaded then for the other numbers if any of the above or
below clue is shaded the white cells get closed at top

@ 2015-09-02 12:27 PM (#19225 - in reply to #19221) (#19225) Top

kishy72

Posts: 419

Country : India

kishy72 posted @ 2015-09-02 12:27 PM

ashaash11ash - 2015-09-02 9:18 AM

If u see all the digits above and below the numbers at R7C5/7/9/11. for each number the digits above and below is same.. so if R6C5 is shaded then for the other numbers if any of the above or
below clue is shaded the white cells get closed at top

Indeed.I missed this totally.The puzzle is still very sticky even after this deduction.But it helped a lot and I completed it .Thanks.

@ 2015-09-22 2:45 PM (#19441 - in reply to #1525) (#19441) Top

puzzleduniya

Posts: 56

Country : India

puzzleduniya posted @ 2015-09-22 2:45 PM

Just gone through the puzzle solving techniques. It's just amazing and very knowledgeable. I have learned a lot from it.

@ 2015-12-22 6:58 PM (#20328 - in reply to #1525) (#20328) Top

kishy72

Posts: 419

Country : India

kishy72 posted @ 2015-12-22 6:58 PM

The incorrectly done Mochikoro puzzle where all islands are not connected solved in the last few mins of the test .Apparently,there are ways one can gain points by solving incorrectly too !

Edited by kishy72 2015-12-22 6:59 PM

@ 2015-12-22 11:24 PM (#20332 - in reply to #1525) (#20332) Top

prasanna16391

Posts: 1801

Country : India

prasanna16391 posted @ 2015-12-22 11:24 PM

I too gained points by solving incorrectly, in a more indirect way. I solved the Japanese Sums 25 pointer incorrectly by placing a digit by mistake where it shouldn't be, which enabled me to reach an incorrect solution and move to the 105 pointer much faster than I would have if I had solved correctly. Considering I solved the 105 pointer with 1 minute to spare, I'd say the mistake gained me 80 points

@ 2015-12-22 11:54 PM (#20333 - in reply to #20332) (#20333) Top

swaroop2011

Posts: 668

Country : India

swaroop2011 posted @ 2015-12-22 11:54 PM

kishy72 - 2015-12-22 6:58 PM

The incorrectly done Mochikoro puzzle where all islands are not connected solved in the last few mins of the test .Apparently,there are ways one can gain points by solving incorrectly too !

prasanna16391 - 2015-12-22 11:24 PM

I too gained points by solving incorrectly, in a more indirect way. I solved the Japanese Sums 25 pointer incorrectly by placing a digit by mistake where it shouldn't be, which enabled me to reach an incorrect solution and move to the 105 pointer much faster than I would have if I had solved correctly. Considering I solved the 105 pointer with 1 minute to spare, I'd say the mistake gained me 80 points

haha interesting things.

@ 2016-01-28 8:02 PM (#20841 - in reply to #1525) (#20841) Top

brecher92

Posts: 30

Country : United States

brecher92 posted @ 2016-01-28 8:02 PM

Not sure where this question belongs, but I'm curious how much time a competitive puzzler might typically take to double-check their entries of the answer key during a timed competition. I just lost 78 points in GP Round 1 because I didn't double-check my entries. Do most people always set aside time at the end to double-check? Or after each puzzle? Or just continue to plow through the remaining puzzles and hope for the best?

@ 2016-01-28 10:16 PM (#20842 - in reply to #1525) (#20842) Top

prasanna16391

Posts: 1801

Country : India

prasanna16391 posted @ 2016-01-28 10:16 PM

For me I just plow through and hope for the best. My accuracy has improved in general with more experience though.

@ 2016-01-31 12:09 AM (#20864 - in reply to #20842) (#20864) Top

rajeshk

Posts: 542

Country : India

rajeshk posted @ 2016-01-31 12:09 AM

I could not proceed much Logical in this Fillomino Stars puzzles. Please do help me to get any logical continuation to this puzzle.

Edited by rajeshk 2016-01-31 12:17 AM

@ 2016-01-31 9:49 PM (#20870 - in reply to #20864) (#20870) Top

kishy72

Posts: 419

Country : India

kishy72 posted @ 2016-01-31 9:49 PM

rajeshk - 2016-01-31 12:09 AM

I could not proceed much Logical in this Fillomino Stars puzzles. Please do help me to get any logical continuation to this puzzle.

You are missing a crucial deduction here just like I did when I solved it before .

1) R4C1 can't be a star .If it is a star,R3C1 can't be filled by anything.
2)Following the earlier deduction ,you have R5C2 not being a star.If it's a star,R4C2 can't take any digit 1,2 or 3.
3)Now we have R5C4 as a star as otherwise Rows 4 and 5 can't take a total of 4 stars.

Just a suggestion.Please post bigger images next time so that people find it easy to look where you are stuck : )

Edited by kishy72 2016-01-31 9:51 PM

@ 2016-01-31 9:54 PM (#20871 - in reply to #1525) (#20871) Top

kishy72

Posts: 419

Country : India

kishy72 posted @ 2016-01-31 9:54 PM

By the way,the bottom 3's can't yet be connected(logically).This image was taken from the same stuck puzzle posted earlier in LMI.

http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=126&s...

@ 2016-03-02 6:32 AM (#21172 - in reply to #1525) (#21172) Top

brecher92

Posts: 30

Country : United States

brecher92 posted @ 2016-03-02 6:32 AM

Could someone point me in the right direction on Kropki #39 from the WPF GP Round 2? I'm not an expert on this puzzle type, so I'm sure I'm missing some elementary logic here, but I've gotten absolutely nowhere on this.

@ 2016-03-16 1:25 AM (#21280 - in reply to #1525) (#21280) Top

kishy72

Posts: 419

Country : India

kishy72 posted @ 2016-03-16 1:25 AM

Encountered this frustratingly irritating Linesweeper variant that plays around with the rules in the Loop PR round.I couldn't complete it during the test (and even later), discarded it in a corner and totally forgot about it until I saw it creeping up in the LMI fun contest again.So I decided to clear up this puzzle once and for all .I continued until this point unsure of whether it is right or wrong.Could someone post the steps until the end?

What is the logic for solving this particular puzzle other than the obvious ones at the lower right and top left and the not so apparent top right ?

Edited by kishy72 2016-03-16 1:26 AM

@ 2016-03-16 2:10 AM (#21281 - in reply to #21280) (#21281) Top

swaroop2011

Posts: 668

Country : India

swaroop2011 posted @ 2016-03-16 2:10 AM

kishy72 - 2016-03-16 1:25 AM

Encountered this frustratingly irritating Linesweeper variant that plays around with the rules in the Loop PR round.I couldn't complete it during the test (and even later), discarded it in a corner and totally forgot about it until I saw it creeping up in the LMI fun contest again.So I decided to clear up this puzzle once and for all .I continued until this point unsure of whether it is right or wrong.Could someone post the steps until the end?

What is the logic for solving this particular puzzle other than the obvious ones at the lower right and top left and the not so apparent top right ?

Firstly, your bottom left part is wrong. I don't know how you got that.
These are starting steps, which i followed. I hope it helps.

@ 2016-03-16 2:37 AM (#21282 - in reply to #1525) (#21282) Top

prasanna16391

Posts: 1801

Country : India

prasanna16391 posted @ 2016-03-16 2:37 AM

I thought the top right counts as obvious, since there is no other way to satisfy the double 4. Swaroop has the intended start.


	@ 2015-08-30 3:35 PM (#19205 - in reply to #19204) (#19205) Top
kishy72 Posts: 419 Country : India	kishy72 posted @ 2015-08-30 3:35 PM This was a broken puzzle (I suppose you have taken this from one old LMI test) Ah! I see.....It was taken from Nikoli Selection 2010 LMI monthly test. Talking about Numberlink in general, this write up (Numberlink Primer) by Palmer will be an eye-opener for most. Thanks a lot Deb!I will look through this primer.
	@ 2015-08-31 6:45 PM (#19209 - in reply to #19205) (#19209) Top
kishy72 Posts: 419 Country : India	kishy72 posted @ 2015-08-31 6:45 PM I ran into some problems in the following Hitori puzzle with just a few steps away from completion.Despite being so close,I fail to see a logical continuation here. Can someone post the solution ? Edited by kishy72 2015-08-31 7:10 PM
	@ 2015-08-31 8:07 PM (#19210 - in reply to #19209) (#19210) Top
swaroop2011 Posts: 668 Country : India	swaroop2011 posted @ 2015-08-31 8:07 PM kishy72 - 2015-08-31 6:45 PM I ran into some problems in the following Hitori puzzle with just a few steps away from completion.Despite being so close,I fail to see a logical continuation here. Can someone post the solution ? one quick next step: R1C2 will be shaded. Reason: Either of R8C1 or R8C2 will be shaded so that means R7C2 is unshaded in any case. Hence above step.
	@ 2015-08-31 9:36 PM (#19211 - in reply to #19210) (#19211) Top
kishy72 Posts: 419 Country : India	kishy72 posted @ 2015-08-31 9:36 PM swaroop2011 - 2015-08-31 8:07 PM kishy72 - 2015-08-31 6:45 PM I ran into some problems in the following Hitori puzzle with just a few steps away from completion.Despite being so close,I fail to see a logical continuation here. Can someone post the solution ? one quick next step: R1C2 will be shaded. Reason: Either of R8C1 or R8C2 will be shaded so that means R7C2 is unshaded in any case. Hence above step. Thank you ! I failed to see the 7 getting trapped.Done with the puzzle.
	@ 2015-09-02 1:42 AM (#19216 - in reply to #19211) (#19216) Top
kishy72 Posts: 419 Country : India	kishy72 posted @ 2015-09-02 1:42 AM A very difficult Hitori Puzzle ! Can someone please post the continuation here where I am stuck? Edited by kishy72 2015-09-02 1:43 AM
	@ 2015-09-02 2:18 AM (#19217 - in reply to #19216) (#19217) Top
swaroop2011 Posts: 668 Country : India	swaroop2011 posted @ 2015-09-02 2:18 AM hi, can you share the original puzzle link ? I am confused whether what you have circled or not. E.g. Is R6C5 "4" clue circled or not ?
	@ 2015-09-02 2:59 AM (#19218 - in reply to #19217) (#19218) Top
kishy72 Posts: 419 Country : India	kishy72 posted @ 2015-09-02 2:59 AM swaroop2011 - 2015-09-02 2:18 AM hi, can you share the original puzzle link ? I am confused whether what you have circled or not. E.g. Is R6C5 "4" clue circled or not ? Sorry.You are right.It's not something which I deduced logically.I forgot to erase it.
	@ 2015-09-02 8:57 AM (#19219 - in reply to #1525) (#19219) Top
ashaash11ash Posts: 55 Country : India	ashaash11ash posted @ 2015-09-02 8:57 AM R6c5 "4:" clue should be unshaded only.
	@ 2015-09-02 9:18 AM (#19221 - in reply to #1525) (#19221) Top
ashaash11ash Posts: 55 Country : India	ashaash11ash posted @ 2015-09-02 9:18 AM If u see all the digits above and below the numbers at R7C5/7/9/11. for each number the digits above and below is same.. so if R6C5 is shaded then for the other numbers if any of the above or below clue is shaded the white cells get closed at top
	@ 2015-09-02 12:27 PM (#19225 - in reply to #19221) (#19225) Top
kishy72 Posts: 419 Country : India	kishy72 posted @ 2015-09-02 12:27 PM ashaash11ash - 2015-09-02 9:18 AM If u see all the digits above and below the numbers at R7C5/7/9/11. for each number the digits above and below is same.. so if R6C5 is shaded then for the other numbers if any of the above or below clue is shaded the white cells get closed at top Indeed.I missed this totally.The puzzle is still very sticky even after this deduction.But it helped a lot and I completed it .Thanks.
	@ 2015-09-22 2:45 PM (#19441 - in reply to #1525) (#19441) Top
puzzleduniya Posts: 56 Country : India	puzzleduniya posted @ 2015-09-22 2:45 PM Just gone through the puzzle solving techniques. It's just amazing and very knowledgeable. I have learned a lot from it.
	@ 2015-12-22 6:58 PM (#20328 - in reply to #1525) (#20328) Top
kishy72 Posts: 419 Country : India	kishy72 posted @ 2015-12-22 6:58 PM The incorrectly done Mochikoro puzzle where all islands are not connected solved in the last few mins of the test .Apparently,there are ways one can gain points by solving incorrectly too ! Edited by kishy72 2015-12-22 6:59 PM
	@ 2015-12-22 11:24 PM (#20332 - in reply to #1525) (#20332) Top
prasanna16391 Posts: 1801 Country : India	prasanna16391 posted @ 2015-12-22 11:24 PM I too gained points by solving incorrectly, in a more indirect way. I solved the Japanese Sums 25 pointer incorrectly by placing a digit by mistake where it shouldn't be, which enabled me to reach an incorrect solution and move to the 105 pointer much faster than I would have if I had solved correctly. Considering I solved the 105 pointer with 1 minute to spare, I'd say the mistake gained me 80 points
	@ 2015-12-22 11:54 PM (#20333 - in reply to #20332) (#20333) Top
swaroop2011 Posts: 668 Country : India	swaroop2011 posted @ 2015-12-22 11:54 PM kishy72 - 2015-12-22 6:58 PM The incorrectly done Mochikoro puzzle where all islands are not connected solved in the last few mins of the test .Apparently,there are ways one can gain points by solving incorrectly too ! prasanna16391 - 2015-12-22 11:24 PM I too gained points by solving incorrectly, in a more indirect way. I solved the Japanese Sums 25 pointer incorrectly by placing a digit by mistake where it shouldn't be, which enabled me to reach an incorrect solution and move to the 105 pointer much faster than I would have if I had solved correctly. Considering I solved the 105 pointer with 1 minute to spare, I'd say the mistake gained me 80 points haha interesting things.
	@ 2016-01-28 8:02 PM (#20841 - in reply to #1525) (#20841) Top
brecher92 Posts: 30 Country : United States	brecher92 posted @ 2016-01-28 8:02 PM Not sure where this question belongs, but I'm curious how much time a competitive puzzler might typically take to double-check their entries of the answer key during a timed competition. I just lost 78 points in GP Round 1 because I didn't double-check my entries. Do most people always set aside time at the end to double-check? Or after each puzzle? Or just continue to plow through the remaining puzzles and hope for the best?
	@ 2016-01-28 10:16 PM (#20842 - in reply to #1525) (#20842) Top
prasanna16391 Posts: 1801 Country : India	prasanna16391 posted @ 2016-01-28 10:16 PM For me I just plow through and hope for the best. My accuracy has improved in general with more experience though.
	@ 2016-01-31 12:09 AM (#20864 - in reply to #20842) (#20864) Top
rajeshk Posts: 542 Country : India	rajeshk posted @ 2016-01-31 12:09 AM I could not proceed much Logical in this Fillomino Stars puzzles. Please do help me to get any logical continuation to this puzzle. Edited by rajeshk 2016-01-31 12:17 AM
	@ 2016-01-31 9:49 PM (#20870 - in reply to #20864) (#20870) Top
kishy72 Posts: 419 Country : India	kishy72 posted @ 2016-01-31 9:49 PM rajeshk - 2016-01-31 12:09 AM I could not proceed much Logical in this Fillomino Stars puzzles. Please do help me to get any logical continuation to this puzzle. You are missing a crucial deduction here just like I did when I solved it before . 1) R4C1 can't be a star .If it is a star,R3C1 can't be filled by anything. 2)Following the earlier deduction ,you have R5C2 not being a star.If it's a star,R4C2 can't take any digit 1,2 or 3. 3)Now we have R5C4 as a star as otherwise Rows 4 and 5 can't take a total of 4 stars. Just a suggestion.Please post bigger images next time so that people find it easy to look where you are stuck : ) Edited by kishy72 2016-01-31 9:51 PM
	@ 2016-01-31 9:54 PM (#20871 - in reply to #1525) (#20871) Top
kishy72 Posts: 419 Country : India	kishy72 posted @ 2016-01-31 9:54 PM By the way,the bottom 3's can't yet be connected(logically).This image was taken from the same stuck puzzle posted earlier in LMI. http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=126&s...
	@ 2016-03-02 6:32 AM (#21172 - in reply to #1525) (#21172) Top
brecher92 Posts: 30 Country : United States	brecher92 posted @ 2016-03-02 6:32 AM Could someone point me in the right direction on Kropki #39 from the WPF GP Round 2? I'm not an expert on this puzzle type, so I'm sure I'm missing some elementary logic here, but I've gotten absolutely nowhere on this.
	@ 2016-03-16 1:25 AM (#21280 - in reply to #1525) (#21280) Top
kishy72 Posts: 419 Country : India	kishy72 posted @ 2016-03-16 1:25 AM Encountered this frustratingly irritating Linesweeper variant that plays around with the rules in the Loop PR round.I couldn't complete it during the test (and even later), discarded it in a corner and totally forgot about it until I saw it creeping up in the LMI fun contest again.So I decided to clear up this puzzle once and for all .I continued until this point unsure of whether it is right or wrong.Could someone post the steps until the end? What is the logic for solving this particular puzzle other than the obvious ones at the lower right and top left and the not so apparent top right ? Edited by kishy72 2016-03-16 1:26 AM
	@ 2016-03-16 2:10 AM (#21281 - in reply to #21280) (#21281) Top
swaroop2011 Posts: 668 Country : India	swaroop2011 posted @ 2016-03-16 2:10 AM kishy72 - 2016-03-16 1:25 AM Encountered this frustratingly irritating Linesweeper variant that plays around with the rules in the Loop PR round.I couldn't complete it during the test (and even later), discarded it in a corner and totally forgot about it until I saw it creeping up in the LMI fun contest again.So I decided to clear up this puzzle once and for all .I continued until this point unsure of whether it is right or wrong.Could someone post the steps until the end? What is the logic for solving this particular puzzle other than the obvious ones at the lower right and top left and the not so apparent top right ? Firstly, your bottom left part is wrong. I don't know how you got that. These are starting steps, which i followed. I hope it helps.
	@ 2016-03-16 2:37 AM (#21282 - in reply to #1525) (#21282) Top
prasanna16391 Posts: 1801 Country : India	prasanna16391 posted @ 2016-03-16 2:37 AM I thought the top right counts as obvious, since there is no other way to satisfy the double 4. Swaroop has the intended start.