Is there no puzzle today? There's one listed in the schedule above, but there's no entry for today's date when I view the calendar on the competition page.

Sorry about that. We will be posting a puzzle, it will take some time, may be an hour from now.

Since today's puzzle was available at around 6:30 AM, players can solve it until tomorrow 6:30 AM without late penalty. (All timings as per LMI server's time)

Not sure it would have made much difference to my score, but I started the Feb 3rd puzzle on the correct day. I thought I'd also (just about) finished on the correct day, but I've had the 1.15 multiplier added to my time. I assume this will be sorted out given the information that we can solve until 6.30AM LMI time (thanks Deb), I'm just curious to know if this is expected behaviour? I.e. the 'late' penalty is applied based on finish time, not start time? Also, just for my own curiosity, are you able to check exactly how long after midnight LMI time I actually submitted the puzzle? Cheers!

Comments on 2016-02-01's Tapa

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prasanna16391 commented at 2016-02-01 00:02:03
I was too slow spotting the 4-1 clue getting resolved.

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k3isim commented at 2016-02-01 00:33:32
Satisfied by my solution, but... waiting half a minute for server response with running timer - a bit annoying...

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kishy72 commented at 2016-02-01 01:06:17
My mind interpreted the 3 and 3 clue on the bottom left as 3-3 clue in a single cell and I was getting a stranded island wondering what's wrong for ~15 seconds.Arghhh!

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tamz29 commented at 2016-02-01 06:51:10
Wow. 1 minute was added to my time because of "waiting for server response" ... >:(

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debmohanty commented at 2016-02-01 08:49:02
k3isim,tamz29,thesubro - Adjusted the timing.

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k3isim commented at 2016-02-01 20:53:38
Thanks! :)

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Right, I will have to do it manually, after the specified time is over. It is not automated.

Late Penalty applies on finish time. I think we never defined if it should be based on "start" or "finish". Let me check with Serkan and see if we should make it start time based. We will then have to recompute all days' score - there are 25 such submissions in this years CTC so far.

At 2016-02-04 12:00:04 AM. So 4 seconds late.

Done. Removed late penalty for all those did yesterday's puzzle today (until this time). Late penalties will apply usual after this time.

It should be 'start-time'. If someone starts at 11:30pm and submits at 12:01am, you can't penalize the solver for solving slow :-|

We will make this change - penalty will be applicable based on start time of the puzzle.

Comments on 2016-02-02's Tapa

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prasanna16391 commented at 2016-02-02 00:04:03
Ouch. Read the 3-1-1 clue as 3-1, which meant the break-in wasn't logical, guessed wrong, restarted, and checked for a good amount of time to make sure I hadn't made any other errors. The 3-1-1 shortcoming is fully my own, the puzzle is great.

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swaroop2011 commented at 2016-02-02 00:16:40
Nice one.

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tamz29 commented at 2016-02-02 00:35:15
Yuss!! :)

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detuned commented at 2016-02-02 00:45:37
Damn! The colours really weren't to my taste so I wasted a lot of time calibrating my screen. Then my mouse started squeaking which is always distracting (to be fair it had spotted some cheese) so that after restarting a couple of times I really started to worry. Thankfully the solution then just came to me, as i from the Gods, so I didn't waste too much time!

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rob commented at 2016-02-02 00:53:04
Well done Tom :)

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achan1058 commented at 2016-02-02 01:03:16
I have completely missed the opening.What a disaster.

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MrLiang commented at 2016-02-02 09:28:21
Lucky guess in bottom-left. But, stuck in 4-1 clue (top-right) for a short time.

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Rohan Rao commented at 2016-02-02 17:08:16
Missed some logic midway, but got through with a lucky guess! Nice puzzle.

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john_reid commented at 2016-02-03 06:48:19
Another excellent puzzle! It took me a while to get started - I finally got in using the 3-1-1 clue to determine the correct orientation of the 1-1-1-1. Things flowed smoothly after that. Very satisfying!

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Comments on 2016-02-03's Tapa

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swaroop2011 commented at 2016-02-03 07:24:27
wow that was really nice. Easy flow. But i guess i was taking my time , so that i wont leave any cell blank and cost me penalty. It paid off. Finally did well in at least this biggest size puzzle so far. But have to wait to see other's timings to see how well i have done. Nice puzzle with connectivity and use of 1's.

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yureklis commented at 2016-02-03 13:28:04
Sorry guys for delay, this is on me. I had to get unplanned trip to Berlin, this is a kind of vacation for me. Anyway, I did the puzzle with Toketa vol 4 theme, because I thought it would match the Toketa competition -I checked the forum Toketa posts, as I saw there are huge positive responses in there- While I was constructing the puzzle in hostel lobby :) at the early morning, I thought is that I's done, but entering the puzzle into the LMI system we saw there wasn't unique the top left..+

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yureklis commented at 2016-02-03 13:32:35
corner. Then I've made several changes, but I couldn't fix the puzzle. So I had to get out the hostel and visit some places, I asked Deb, how much times do I have for fixing the puzzle, he said nearly 6 hours. But even if I had 6 hours I couldn't catch the right moment, then we had to postpone. Anyway, why I'm giving these details, because I respect solvers, and LMI. I'm so sorry all of you guys, for today's puzzle and TVC XIX date changes. Best, serkan

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tamz29 commented at 2016-02-03 13:49:44
Two penalties. ouch :( Thank you Serkan for doing these CTC's and TVC's for us. Have a nice trip in Berlin

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hinowbye commented at 2016-02-03 14:07:27
Nice puzzle :)

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hinowbye commented at 2016-02-03 14:07:40
My favorite so far

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Rohan Rao commented at 2016-02-03 15:59:52
Really nice puzzle. Would love to see more of these!

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Nola commented at 2016-02-03 17:30:55
Liked this puzzle very much!

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gareth commented at 2016-02-03 23:58:36
I'm sure noone minded waiting - it's amazing to have so many top quality puzzles to do, and all for free

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rob commented at 2016-02-04 00:25:38
Thanks for the puzzle (and all the others), and hope you have a great stay here in Berlin!

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detuned commented at 2016-02-04 02:00:31
Whilst I have no problem whatsoeverwaiting for a delayed puzzle, I do think the decision to apply the 1.15 penalty less than 24 hours after the puzzle was actually published needs to be looked at!

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kiwijam commented at 2016-02-04 02:12:06
Yes, hopefully every puzzle will be available for 24 hours before penalties are applied. And this was a very nice puzzle, thank you Serkan!

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debmohanty commented at 2016-02-04 10:22:21
We had announced in forum that late penalties before the puzzle was available for 24 hours will be removed. It had to be done manually.

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6th Feb's puzzle is delayed. Will post here when it is available.

Comments on 2016-02-04's Tapa

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prasanna16391 commented at 2016-02-04 00:20:12
Mouse issues again, but pretty minor this time.

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detuned commented at 2016-02-04 02:11:01
You should get a cat!

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swaroop2011 commented at 2016-02-04 02:22:57
After big one yesterday, this was a relief puzzle. Pretty easy, but nice one as usual.

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MrLiang commented at 2016-02-04 10:03:39
wrong guess in 1-1-1-1 again :(

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That's sad to know. Wish you a speedy recovery, Serkan!

Will the CTC still be 50 puzzles or just end on the normal date?

Comments on 2016-02-05's Tapa

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prasanna16391 commented at 2016-02-05 00:02:43
Completely missed the bottom right break-in. Nice puzzle

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swaroop2011 commented at 2016-02-05 00:18:33
yeah same here. Took way more than required time.

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kishy72 commented at 2016-02-05 00:30:19
Realizing R7C9 cannot be shaded is vital here in this puzzle.Solving it multiple times later made me realize this. Hopeless :( . Great puzzle with good bite !

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hinowbye commented at 2016-02-05 01:35:57
The feeling when you press submit before noticing you havent shaded 1 Fatal block... +120 on the score!

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john_reid commented at 2016-02-05 10:27:27
Yes, it took a long time to see that R7C9 square. A good hidden entry point there!

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I hope Serkan's hand is better!

Comments on 2016-02-09's Tapa

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swaroop2011 commented at 2016-02-09 00:08:52
A very nice puzzle. I got the start very quickly but got stuck in middle for 1 and half minute, then realize that what am I missing. Then it was quick. Very awesome puzzle.

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kishy72 commented at 2016-02-09 00:17:21
9:09 on 9th February.Speaking of coincidences! .A highly difficult puzzle.Had to guess in between the solve .Solved it with pure logic later.Good one!

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achan1058 commented at 2016-02-09 00:22:26
Missed the break-in for a while, but once I figured that out, it was relatively quick.

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swagatam commented at 2016-02-09 00:35:47
Really a hard one, but very nice puzzle.

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nilz commented at 2016-02-09 00:41:07
It's so frustrating when you guess, and come to a contradiction, then try the other option and find another contradiction, so you go back to the first option and find it was right all along and you just made a stupid mistake...

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john_reid commented at 2016-02-10 11:02:02
Much too hard for me. Over 20 minutes to finish it. At least I didn't resort to guessing this time. Why can't I solve these?

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rob commented at 2016-02-10 13:32:24
Nice one!

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Comments on 2016-02-10's Tapa

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prasanna16391 commented at 2016-02-10 00:08:46
Missed the path initially, took a guess, but then almost immediately managed to prove that guess by seeing what I missed. Really nice puzzle!

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achan1058 commented at 2016-02-10 00:59:04
I hate that penalty.

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swaroop2011 commented at 2016-02-10 02:32:30
I hate penalty too. Don't know why i keep doing stupid mistakes. Very nice puzzle, got it very fast with logical flow. Excellent puzzle. But put a dot at some place where it shouldn't be. damn. Could have have saved 180 seconds :( .

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john_reid commented at 2016-02-10 11:35:06
For me, this is the hardest one so far. Good grief this was hard. I had to guess just endlessly. CAN ANYONE HELP. I don't think I'm stupid but the entire center of this puzzle is just completely opaque to me. Is there a break in somewhere? Man, solving this was torture. Curses to this puzzle!

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rob commented at 2016-02-10 13:39:04
Didn't see the path here, a lot of "it just feels sort of right if things connect this way", thankfully mostly correct.

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rob commented at 2016-02-10 13:45:25
john_reid: There's a lot you can do around the edges. And then there's a central break-in which I missed: That 6 next to the 22 shares shaded cells with the 24 above, the 7 below, but must have a gap next to the 22, so it goes around the other side. From this point, things flow quite well.

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yureklis commented at 2016-02-10 14:17:15
I've showed nearly all steps, I hope that works for you john_reid Here is the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz9JSOczh5gTdUJhNDJtSmd6TTg/view?us...

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Comments on 2016-02-11's Tapa

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swaroop2011 commented at 2016-02-11 00:17:42
wow that was really a tough one. After 1 guess i realized the connectivity issue in the bottom from right part to left. Then it was easy flow.

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bskbri commented at 2016-02-11 01:36:16
113's are back :)

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MrLiang commented at 2016-02-11 10:19:39
113 trick me again -_-"

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prasanna16391 commented at 2016-02-11 10:24:13
Would have been faster on this if I'd started from the right, where I think the connectivity starts getting forced. Starting from the left gives you markings but nothing to really grab onto.

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