Most of the examples are from previous LMI contests.

Source of Sudokus in this IB :

I created following examples
6X6 Classics : originally for IB of SM first round last year
8X8 Classic : originally for IB of SM first round of SM last year
9X9 Classic 1,2,3 : originally for LMI Beginners' Sudoku Test - August 2012
Thermo 6X6 : originally for LMI Screen Test #3
Thermo 9X9 : originally for Sudoku Grand Prix Indian Round 2013
Touchy 6X6 : originally for LMI Screen Test #3
Touchy 9X9 : originally for IB of mock12
Repeated Neighbours 9X9 : I created for Sudoku Grand Prix Indian Round 2013
New Example of Quadruple 6X6 : originally for LMI Screen Test #3
Renban 9X9: originally for example of Beginners Sudoku Contest

Repeated Neighbours 6X6 : Prasanna created

Examples for Quadruple 6X6, 9X9 are taken from Times Sudoku Championship IB. I don't recollect who created them.
Renban 6X6 : I can't recollect where I took this from

The new example for Quadruple 6X6 was created by me for LMI Screen Test #3





Edited by debmohanty 2015-09-14 11:13 AM

Regarding the variant choices, last year's contest had Renban and Quad Max, and there weren't any specified notes that these didn't fit the theme, so I am a bit surprised to see it now that they are repeated (well, I'm equating Quad Max to Quadruple in terms of relation to neighbours). Either way, I think it is mainly an issue of definition here. I wouldn't limit Neighbours to a 1-1 connection, but anything to do with neighbourhood of cells. This can mean multiple cells defined by a common factor, or cells which are next to each other interacting. Just as a real-world example, if a person stays in an apartment on the same floor as 5 other apartments, all 5 would be called neighbours and together they can be called a neighbourhood. Of course, definitions can differ from individual to individual, this is just the way that we looked at it last year when we were coming up with the categories.

In the Neighbours-round of 2014/2015 I had the same feeling, but less strong, so I didn’t write about it then. The reason I mentioned it this time, was to explain the orange colored result of my choice to say the variants didn’t represent the theme well.
In my opinion, the neighbours theme sees on relations between two neighbouring cells, where the number in one cell has a direct influence on (the possibilities in) the other cell. There are numerous variants that meet this criterium: (non)consecutive, kropki, odd/even-consecutive, answer eight, give me five, XV, next to nine, even sandwich, greater than are the first ones that cross my mind. Touchy and Repeated Neighbours fit well in that theme too.
It is all a matter of personal taste of course, and maybe I have a too narrow view on it. And the last thing I want is make a big issue of it. What counts most is that the variants were fantastic and that I enjoyed them very, very much. Knowing the writing skills of Prasanna, I wasn’t surprised about this, by the way. ?

How well did the variants represent the theme of the test ?	variations represented the theme well
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 the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

The problem is that we have a separate category of Converse and one Outside category, where most of the variants you named would fit well. Greater Than is the same as Thermo logically, with presentation differences, maybe Thermo has the added diagonal inequality. In general my Greater Thans would be same as a Thermo with just straight Thermos :)

It is definitely not a big issue, and I'd rather that some discussion comes of it and we get to know different perspectives when thinking of the categories next time. I'd say this one is just a matter of difference in definition of what Neighbours are though.

Another thing to consider is if a Renban doesn't come into this round it won't fit in any other since I wouldn't call it a standard variant (not for a beginner anyway) and it isn't Irregular, Odd Even, Converse, Math, Outside or Twisted Classic either. Our definition of Neighbourhood just allows there to be more difference between this one and a converse round and allows for more variety within the category. Maybe we just need to make it clearer when we present a future Neighbours round that it features 'Neighbourhood' and not 'Orthogonal Neighbours'.

I agree that the most important part is that the contest is enjoyable and I'm glad you enjoyed it :) I should say that 4 of the Sudokus were by Aditi. I will add more detail to that at the end of the contest.

How well did the variants represent the theme of the test ?	variations represented the theme well
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 the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

How well did the variants represent the theme of the test ?	variations represented the theme well
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 the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

How well did the variants represent the theme of the test ?	variations represented the theme well
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 the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

How well did the variants represent the theme of the test ?	variations represented the theme well
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
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

How well did the variants represent the theme of the test ?	variations represented the theme well
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 the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

Thanks a lot Prasanna and Aditi for nice set of sudokus - a real entertainment. I too agree with Kishy that the puzzles (especially the repeated neighbours and touchy) were little tough for the beginners. Infact I was totally clueless about both the versions of repeated neighbours and would request a step by step solution after the end of test.

Edited by neerajmehrotra 2015-09-15 12:04 AM

How well did the variants represent the theme of the test ?	variations represented the theme well
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
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

How well did the variants represent the theme of the test ?	variations represented the theme well
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
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

With no more participants, this episode of Sudoku Mahabharat is over.

Here is the link to Cumulative Scores - http://logicmastersindia.com/SM/2015-16-ranks.asp

Password removed and solutions appended.

How well did the variants represent the theme of the test ?	variations represented the theme well
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 the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

A great round by Prasanna and Aditi. I really enjoyed the round inspite of the wrong time I took the test. The round was harder when compared with the first round but this will be a solving experience on its own for everyone. My favourite among the attempted ones was the Touchy 15, which I broke once and missed out on submitting in the last minute. Waiting for the next round.

How well did the variants represent the theme of the test ?	variations represented the theme well
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 the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

Before I start summarizing the contest I want to make a note. Some participants' results are showing a sudden and drastic spurt of improvement between Round 1 and Round 2. There is a possibility that must be considered, that some of this is via unfair means. Just remember that if you make it to the top 50 you will be invited to an offline final, and the final selection is made there for the team and for the Sudoku Mahabharat winners, so there is no point in using unfair means in the online rounds. You will also be costing someone deserving a spot in the offline finals.

If you have used unfair means in this or the earlier round, you can step up now and mention it, and have a clean slate for the remaining 6 rounds.

I will be posting some thoughts on the contest and a rough walkthrough for Repeated Neighbours by the end of the day. Thank you all for participating!

i vu2hrh rudresh had participated and submitted on 13 september but my score is not appearing in leadership board please clarify

rudresh h

I can see you at rank 278.

Edited by rakesh_rai 2015-09-15 4:34 PM

please send link to see it

http://logicmastersindia.com/SM/201509/score.asp

The Neighbours round had 348 participants including 129 Indians. 117 Indians solved at least one Sudoku correctly.

Congrats to Rohan Rao, Jayant Ameta and Kishore Kumar who are the top 3 Indians in this round. Jayant has posted a very impressive score on a contest which was tougher than Round 1 going by the standings. Please improve on the consistency, Jayant :) Rakesh and Rajesh completed all 18 Sudokus before time too, bringing the total to 5 finishers. That's 8 less than the previous round, and a little below the ideal target, probably.

In the International standings, Timothy Doyle (France), Seungjae Kwak (South Korea) and Jakub Ondrousek (Czech Republic) who are the toppers, but Nikola was very close with just 34 seconds separating him from 3rd place. Kudos to Rohan who finished 5th, just ahead of some excellent solvers like Kota, Tiit, etc.

This round is the first of many where we tried to include an inexperienced author with an experienced one. A bit of background on Aditi Seshadri - she is the Bangalore winner in the 2015 edition of our youth competition, Sudoku Champs. She was part of the U-18 team which represented India at the World Junior Sudoku Championship and won a silver medal. Aditi herself stood 9th in that competition. For this round, she contributed the first 3 6x6 Standard Sudokus and the 3rd 9x9 Standard Sudoku. Side note - She is NOT my sibling :)

This round seems to have some mixed results. I think it became divided into solvers who are good at Repeated Neighbours and solvers who aren't, to an extent. Also, the Classics were easier than the ones in Round 1, which contributed to more beginners solving a bigger number of Sudokus. I think that's a good thing but ideally, you don't want one difficult Sudoku being the decider between top ranks.

Rishi Puri test solved the set and his total time is around 39 minutes, which is around the same as his time of 37 minutes for round 1. This just illustrates that, if you know how to go about the variant, they should get done quickly. I did have an idea that many may not know how to approach the variant, and that the results may look somewhat as they do, but I decided to go with it anyway because the technical difficulty was still according to format restrictions, and also because, in my opinion, Sudoku Mahabharat should have an aspect of learning new techniques through experience.

The late change to the Quadruple rules wasn't ideal, and was mostly my goof-up because I assumed the rules covered what I had already created, until I realized they didn't. Changing the Sudokus at this point would mean re-testing, changing the points distribution, and changing the Sudoku across PDF + Online interface, and in a rush that just means susceptibility to errors. So changing the rules was the better option. While it did make the Sudoku harder, I don't think the rule concept was that hard to digest, or that it necessitated a significantly different thought process.

There was also discussion about the theme being represented. While I don't think we will be changing the variants for this round in future SMs, I think we can work on making our definition of the term clearer, or using 'Neighbourhood variants' instead of 'Neighbours'. We'll look into that. Thanks to Richard and Rakesh for bringing it up.

All in all, I hope everyone enjoyed the Sudokus, and got a smile at the end ;) Thank you all once again for participating and we hope to see you soon in the Number Placement Round of Puzzle Ramayan by Deb, which is the closest that PR puzzles will get to Sudoku, and then in the Odd Even round of SM by Swaroop and Ashish.

In the meantime, I'll post the Repeated Neighbours walkthrough sometime later tonight.

Here is a very rough walkthrough for the crucial steps in both Repeated Neighbours. Post here if it is still unclear, try to pinpoint what is unclear.



Attachments
----------------
RepeatedNeighboursHowTo.pdf (137KB - 63 downloads)

Real gem creation Prasanna, Thanks for such wonderful walk through.
I could even able to solve Monster from your blog (https://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/puzzle-no-415-repeated-neighbours-sudoku-daily-league/) after this wonderful explanation, real quick.

Please allow us to submit the answers even after the event is over. Some of us, are not able to solve within the prescribed time and during the event. But if we are able to solve at a later stage, it would still give us some satisfaction