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
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Deja Vu 3
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

How to participate in this contest

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
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Deja Vu 4
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

Oof. Its one of those tests where you blaze through all but one puzzle and end up fumbling aimlessly for that last answer.
Nonetheless, it was a fun diversion from the usual.
Thanks!

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
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Deja Vu 5
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 distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Too many hard puzzles
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Fairly Nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Deja Vu 2
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 distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Too many medium difficult puzzles
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	NFIG Sudoku
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 distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Anti Knight Sudoku
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

Thanks David for the extremely fascinating puzzles ! I had great fun solving the set.Being super bad at puzzles without instructions(a mere 125 points at WSC instructionless round) it took me a hell lot of time to figure out the rules and breaking a 12 pointer towards the end of the solve after having deduced the rules derailed me unfortunately).But, nevertheless, I enjoyed this fun weekend contest !

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
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	NFIG Sudoku
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 distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Deja Vu 5
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

Exceptional test.Had a frustrating blind eye in Deja vu 4 for the consecutive shaded cells logic,which i couldn't spot after staring at the AK for so long.Favourites are Deja Vu 5,2 and No 4 in a grow.
Thanks to David Mcneill for this superb set.

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
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Anti Knight Sudoku
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Deja Vu 4
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

Nice contest - and although I found the anti-knight brutal, I suspect that's just me missing a trick

This is a very nice set of sudoku, thank you David !
I had the most trouble with the diagonal but managed it in the end. I didn't get the Déjà Vu 3 rule, can someone enlighten me ?

If you want a hint, one of the instruction booklet examples was similar.

If you want to be spoiled, addition of two digit numbers by row/column.

- Go to the test page and login.
- Download the Instruction Booklet and read it. ideally solve the examples.
- Download the Puzzle Booklet.
- Click on "Start Deja vu" button. Password will be displayed.
- Use the password to open the pdf.
- Enter your answers within the time window. (Timer will be displayed on test page)
- Check the results.

For Online mode,
- Click on Online link.
- Solve the sudokus on the screen.
- Submit once the answer keys are completely entered.

More details at http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=381

You have already participated but Deja vu concept is as below:

- There is an extra constraint in each Déjà Vu puzzle which has already been seen in an earlier sudoku.
- The shaded squares in the Déjà Vu puzzle are in exactly the same arrangement as an earlier sudoku.
- The constraints are exhibited by the given digits and might be easier to spot before solving the puzzles.
- Other than that, solve like a classic sudoku.

This is already explained in the IB too.

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
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	NFIG Sudoku
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 distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	NFIG Sudoku
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 distribution of easy/hard puzzles?	Just right
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Diagonal Sudoku
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

A mixture of frustrating and enjoyable for me - the five standard puzzles all solved very nicely, I felt, and after having solved all of them, as well as the first two Deja Vu puzzles, I spent over 25 minutes (!) staring at the remaining grids without making any progress, trying to work out the other three Deja Vu rules. After far too long, I found the rule for Deja Vus 3 and 4, which were my favourite puzzles in the set to solve.

I still have no idea about the rule for Deja Vu 5, so I'd appreciate it if someone could enlighten me!

EDIT: I see it now. Doh...

Edited by Feadoor 2018-10-08 6:39 PM

Yes, Got it post solving the test. Now it is more clear. Thanks for the reply.

The test is now over.

Congratulations to Seungjae Kwak, Hideaki Jo and Takuya Sugimoto for taking the top 3 spots among 142 total participants.

Congratulations to Prasanna Seshadri, Jayant Ameta and Amit Sowani for taking the top 3 spots among 43 Indian participants.

29 participants submitted all 10 grids correctly. Deja vu 3 and Deja vu 5 had the least submissions.

Thanks to David McNeill for the nice puzzles.

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
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	NFIG Sudoku
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

I'd like to thank everyone for taking part in this contest. I hope you enjoyed it and that the instructionless aspect wasn't too frustrating. I'm not sure why the time bonuses haven't been applied yet, but it won't change the top 3 finishers. So, congratulations to Seungjae, Hideaki and Takuya for making the podium. And congratulations to the other 26 who finished all the puzzles.

From a setter's point of view, Sudoku Deja Vu was a really enjoyable challenge. The classic puzzle in the instruction booklet had been sitting in my files for about a year. When the idea of a whole contest based on the Deja Vu concept occurred to me, I had no idea how much time I would end up spending on it. I knew that some of the Deja Vu constraints would probably require diagonal or anti-knight constraints in the early puzzles. I was thrilled to discover that a diagonal puzzle with just perimeter givens was possible. It looks as though the corresponding Deja Vu puzzle was one of the hardest to crack. Maybe the diagonal lines caused confusion. I don't know. The anti-knight took quite a bit of time and many failed attempts. I have never been a fan of no four in a grow puzzles until now. I really enjoyed how they worked and I think the NFIG puzzle with its cloned trimino constraint was my favourite in the contest. I finalised the instruction booklet after the contest had been scheduled and am just a little bit sad that the NFIG example therein emerged too late to feature in the contest itself.

Amazing contest, great job! Thank you, David!