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WCPN — LMI December Puzzle Test — 19th to 21st December46 posts • Page 1 of 2 • 1 2
@ 2015-12-20 1:33 PM (#20294 - in reply to #20211) (#20294) Top

ghirsch



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100
Country : United States

ghirsch posted @ 2015-12-20 1:33 PM

Does anyone have any tips for the second XV sudoku? The upper left block is pretty straightforward, but after that I couldn't find anything.
@ 2015-12-20 1:55 PM (#20295 - in reply to #20294) (#20295) Top

rob



Posts: 170
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Country : Germany

rob posted @ 2015-12-20 1:55 PM

ghirsch - 2015-12-20 1:33 PM

Does anyone have any tips for the second XV sudoku? The upper left block is pretty straightforward, but after that I couldn't find anything.


There's a triple in the corners of the middle box: 16 is clear, and then the 2, due to the placement of 2s in the left, top and right outer middle boxes.

Edited by rob 2015-12-20 1:58 PM
@ 2015-12-20 2:00 PM (#20296 - in reply to #20211) (#20296) Top

ghirsch



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100
Country : United States

ghirsch posted @ 2015-12-20 2:00 PM

Thanks rob, that helped a lot.
@ 2015-12-20 3:23 PM (#20297 - in reply to #20286) (#20297) Top

vopani



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Country : India

vopani posted @ 2015-12-20 3:23 PM

rob - 2015-12-19 11:09 PM

Rohan Rao - 2015-12-19 3:08 PM
The Neighbours puzzles look a lot like there is some nice logical path, but I'm staring at it filled with pencilmarks. Would love to know how to put in some digits.


For the small one: The L in the bottom right corner falls into two pairs. It follows that R5C46 are the same digit, hence not 1. So the second 1 in row 5 must be in R5C5. Next, R4C5 can't "escape" left, since R4C3 and R5C4 are 2 and 3, both different. So R34C5 is a pair, which must be 3s. Then you've got a 2 in R34C6, hence 3s in R56C6, ...

For the large one: 1s in C5R46 are clear. Then there must be a 2 at the top of C5, hence the top of C4 is a pair of 3s. It follows that the bottom of C5 is 2 then 3. Then R9C4 needs to be a 3 (2 can't escape), 1s in R89C6, 2s in R9C12, 3 in R8C7. So R3C7 can't be a 3. Can't be 1, either: The 1 in R5C3 needs a horizontal neighbour, so the 1 in R5C7 needs a vertical neighbour, so there's no 1s left in C7. ...

Nice, completely missed these. Thanks!
@ 2015-12-20 3:51 PM (#20298 - in reply to #20211) (#20298) Top

wgryciuk



Posts: 24
20
Country : Poland

wgryciuk posted @ 2015-12-20 3:51 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? 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? 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


@ 2015-12-20 6:13 PM (#20299 - in reply to #20211) (#20299) Top

Swagatam



Posts: 45
2020
Country : India

Swagatam posted @ 2015-12-20 6:13 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? Way too many puzzles (too little time)
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty? Many puzzles were worth too much or too little


Enjoyed the puzzles. Mathrax1 was my favourite. Enjoyed to solve Mochikoro from practice-set. Thanks a lot for the practice-set before the test.
@ 2015-12-20 6:29 PM (#20300 - in reply to #20211) (#20300) Top

TiiT



Posts: 139
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Country : Estonia

TiiT posted @ 2015-12-20 6:29 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? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2015-12-20 9:34 PM (#20301 - in reply to #20211) (#20301) Top

debmohanty




1000500100100100202020
Country : India

debmohanty posted @ 2015-12-20 9:34 PM

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Fixed bonus points
@ 2015-12-20 9:53 PM (#20302 - in reply to #20211) (#20302) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2015-12-20 9:53 PM

 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? A bit skewed
 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


@ 2015-12-21 2:08 AM (#20303 - in reply to #20211) (#20303) Top

Bram28



Posts: 35
20
Country : The Netherlands

Bram28 posted @ 2015-12-21 2:08 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? 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


That was a great test, thanks Hns and Richard!!

Thought I got that Snake with 1 second to spare ... but had a small mistake. Adding insult to injury, I forgot to submit the Neighbors-1 solution: Argh!! But I always do love the 2 hour time span: much preferred over the 60 or 90 minute tests.

I see that some felt that the point distribution was a bit skewed, and personally I was a bit frustrated as well to struggle with some lower point ones, and have a fairly straightforward solve for some higher point ones. For example, I was kicking myself for not attempting the real-high-point Ripple-2 and Japanese Sums-2, as afterwards I found these to be fairly straightforward, while during the test I was mightily struggling with both Pentomino puzzles and Skyscrapers-1, all worth much less.

But this sort of thing is to be expected for two reasons:

1. Obviously, some puzzlers do better with puzzles of type X than of type Y, while for others this is the other way around.

2. For beginning or average puzzlers, spotting 'the next step' is more difficult than for experienced players, hence their solve times, as well as their perceived difficulty, will be more variable between puzzles, even of the same type. So I bet that the perceived difficulty of puzzles is much more consistent between experienced players, and hence is much more likely to correlate with the point distributions as indicated ... while beginning and average players are more likely to be more frustrated with perceived discrepancies.
@ 2015-12-21 2:36 AM (#20304 - in reply to #20211) (#20304) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2015-12-21 2:36 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 hard 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? 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


@ 2015-12-21 5:19 AM (#20305 - in reply to #20211) (#20305) Top

bob



Posts: 59
2020
Country : United States

bob posted @ 2015-12-21 5:19 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 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


Very nice, beautifully constructed hard puzzles; nowhere near enough time for average solvers...I shall enjoy these without the stopwatch, like I do most of these contest puzzles.
@ 2015-12-21 10:01 AM (#20306 - in reply to #20211) (#20306) Top

harmeet



Posts: 85
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Country : India

harmeet posted @ 2015-12-21 10:01 AM

Very good puzzle set. Thanks to the authors.
Deeply sorry to read the news of Florian. My sympathy for his family and loved ones.
@ 2015-12-21 11:46 AM (#20307 - in reply to #20211) (#20307) Top

chaotic_iak




Posts: 241
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Country : Indonesia

chaotic_iak posted @ 2015-12-21 11:46 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? 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


@ 2015-12-21 12:28 PM (#20308 - in reply to #20211) (#20308) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2015-12-21 12:28 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


@ 2015-12-21 12:34 PM (#20309 - in reply to #20211) (#20309) Top

Para



Posts: 315
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Country : The Netherlands

Para posted @ 2015-12-21 12:34 PM

Thanks, that was fun. I just can't solve Mathrax puzzles in competition. I seem to always mess them up repeatedly. I don't know what is up with that. Surely it will go the same as always, where I will sit down later and solve them in one go without problems.
@ 2015-12-21 1:37 PM (#20310 - in reply to #20211) (#20310) Top

swaroop2011




Posts: 668
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Country : India

swaroop2011 posted @ 2015-12-21 1:37 PM

Excellent Test. Beautiful set of puzzles. Really enjoyed the set.
Nothing much to regret except that 1 puzzle went wrong. But didn't waste much time except 10 minutes on Neighbors 2nd and Ripple Effect 2nd one.
Even I missed those steps of Neighbors which rob explained. Haven't solved yet Japanese Sums 2, Snake 2 and Mathrax 2.

It would be helpful if anyone can tell the steps/start for Ripple Effect 2nd, really, just all pencil marks is what I can put (Except few 1s and 2s in bottom left).

Rest all experience was good, down until last second. I submited 2nd Pentominoes at 1:59:59 (hand shivering while moving mouse pointer to submit button :p , because just had 2 seconds, but fortunately could submit it) :)

Thanks again for wonderful test.
@ 2015-12-21 1:40 PM (#20311 - in reply to #20211) (#20311) Top

swaroop2011




Posts: 668
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Country : India

swaroop2011 posted @ 2015-12-21 1:40 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? 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


@ 2015-12-21 2:36 PM (#20312 - in reply to #20310) (#20312) Top

Para



Posts: 315
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Country : The Netherlands

Para posted @ 2015-12-21 2:36 PM

swaroop2011 - 2015-12-21 1:37 PM

It would be helpful if anyone can tell the steps/start for Ripple Effect 2nd, really, just all pencil marks is what I can put (Except few 1s and 2s in bottom left).


Start with the 2's in the right top.
@ 2015-12-21 11:06 PM (#20318 - in reply to #20312) (#20318) Top

swaroop2011




Posts: 668
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Country : India

swaroop2011 posted @ 2015-12-21 11:06 PM

Para - 2015-12-21 2:36 PM

swaroop2011 - 2015-12-21 1:37 PM

It would be helpful if anyone can tell the steps/start for Ripple Effect 2nd, really, just all pencil marks is what I can put (Except few 1s and 2s in bottom left).


Start with the 2's in the right top.


Thank you.
Actually did that, but missed 1 step , after which the solve was smooth.
I focused only at that area after you mentioned, and found the step I was missing.

i.e. I got 2 pair in R2R3-C7C8. And eliminated 2 from R2R3C9, but somehow failed to use same logic to eliminate it from R4C7C8.

@ 2015-12-22 6:54 AM (#20320 - in reply to #20318) (#20320) Top

Para



Posts: 315
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Country : The Netherlands

Para posted @ 2015-12-22 6:54 AM

swaroop2011 - 2015-12-21 11:06 PM

i.e. I got 2 pair in R2R3-C7C8. And eliminated 2 from R2R3C9, but somehow failed to use same logic to eliminate it from R4C7C8.


That was exactly the bit I thought that you might be missing.
@ 2015-12-22 3:45 PM (#20326 - in reply to #20320) (#20326) Top

tamz29



Posts: 225
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Country : Thailand

tamz29 posted @ 2015-12-22 3:45 PM

Loved the test.
Nice to see international authors' contributions (other than SM and PRs, not that they are bad) slowly returning.
I hope this rise continues for 2016.
@ 2015-12-23 10:23 AM (#20336 - in reply to #20211) (#20336) Top

Richard



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Richard posted @ 2015-12-23 10:23 AM

WCPN-test is now officially over for more than 24 hours, so it is time to finish it in the forum too. :)

Congratulations to Kota, Hideaki and Nikola for the top 3-spots. I could not believe my eyes when I saw Kota needing a bit more than an hour and a half to submit all solutions. My expectations were round 110 minutes for the fastest solver. Incredible job!
Hans and I are happy to see over 200 players and the high rating for the test! Thanks for that!

Florian's decease is a sad coincidence; only three weeks ago we received his feedback from test-solving the set. Given the circumstances we are happy that we could dedicate this test to him, it is the least we could do for him and his family.
WCPN — LMI December Puzzle Test — 19th to 21st December46 posts • Page 1 of 2 • 1 2
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