This was the episode for Math variants and traditionally it has been among the harder tests in SM. Even an easy Maths test comes out as hard generally. Pranav and I decided that we will keep variants concentrating on the four basic mathematical operations - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. In the end, since addition is the most popular and has too many variants around it, we kept two addition variants - Little Killer and XSums. The overall objective was to provide a challenging set which had some straightforward grids (classics, product, xsums), some time taking but definitely solvable ones (Little Killer, Difference 6x6, Remainder 6x6, classic 4) and some tough ones (Difference 9x9 and Remainder 9x9).

I had to prepare grids for Difference N and Remainder Sudoku. Both these are unfamiliar variants and can be little confusing also. The start for Remainder was tricky and in Difference N, there is a point where the continuation is tricky. Both of these 9x9 grids were probably worth more points than what was finalized in the contest. And, the original versions had lesser clues in both. I think we added at least two clues in Difference N and 6 clues in Remainder sudoku.

Product and XSums were relatively less tricky and could have been worth lesser points (going by the times taken by some of the top solvers). But they were definitely more beginner-friendly. And Little Killer had a clean solving path but it would take time to do it. In my opinion the "Little" Little Killer was more "Killer". And, we deliberately kept the classics easier.

We observed that many participants spent a lot of effort (20+ minutes) on one or both of the last two variants. Congratulations to the 32 participants who got Remainder 9x9 correct and 69 solvers who got Difference N 9x9 right. In fact a lot of participants started with Remainder or Difference and did better perhaps. A bit sad to see many participants ending on 84 points, even with a lot of time (20+ minutes) available for the last one. There was some maths in play in the centre box which may have taken time.

Hybrids and Irregular will be the next stop in the 2019 SM journey. Looking forward to Akash's round.

I would like to congratulate Tantan Dai,Hideaki Jo,and Takuya Sugimoto for getting the top 3 places in this round.Congratulations to Rohan,Kishore and Suvarna as well for the Indian Podium.
This was my first experience of co-authoring an SM round,for which I am extremely grateful to LMI for.
It was undoubtedly a difficult test,with the Remainder possibly being over the top on the basis of difficulty,which I'd say we underestimated.Personally,I felt everything other than the Difference and Remainder(mainly because of the novelty of the variants) were relatively simpler,even the classics.

I prepared the grids for the Product Frame,X sums and the Little Killer,all of which are familiar variants.It was a fantastic learning experience for me to co-author with Rakesh,who helped me solve the many problems I faced while creating.Thank you for all the help and thanks to all the participants for their feedback :)

Good Luck for the next Round :)

Edited by pranavmanu 2019-03-16 3:01 PM

Who prepared the Classics ;)

It was split equally between both of us :)

Really enjoyed. Solved a couple remaining post the completion of the test. Please do post the link to the solution booklet.

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?	Product Frame Sudoku
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

I have participated in 2 tests so far and have not received any ratings. Is a minimum rank necessary to obtain ratings?

Solution Booklet: http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=773