All the best for the test

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

Easier than last year's Maths SM but harder than earlier SM tests this year. But Maths SM tests are generally hard. All 9x9 variant grids were very nice solves.

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

Too hard to notice some of the really nice themes while solving. Overall a very neat and enjoyable set of sudokus.
A slight bit on the harder side but that's been the trend of Math rounds in SM (including my 2016 set), though this is one of the better Math sets among the years.

Favourites: 9x9 Serbian Frame, 6x6 X-Sums, 9x9 Division
In fact, the Serbian Frames were the standouts of the set for me.

Thanks Akash and Kishore!

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

Enjoyed this test a lot, thank you! Not quite sure how to put it, but I liked how the puzzles all felt clearly "constructed".

The 9x9 Killer was probably my favourite of the set, while the Little Killer was more of a "are you really forcing me to do this???" :). (And then I missed that R7C5 couldn't be 1 which cost a bunch of time.)

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

I was coasting along fairly comfortably through much of the test, with the end seemingly in sight -- the 9x9 versions of most variants had seemed a little over-pointed if anything -- and then thwap, down came the big Little Killer like a California redwood blocking my path.

Even as I felt I was making reasonable forward progress for most of my solve, it still featured a number of delayed 'aha' moments that added up to a brutal solve spanning nearly 24 minutes.

I don't think it was too hard for its point value, so much as I was too easily intimidated by the clues' seeming impenetrability (which appears to be the intended effect -- each individual clue becoming practical only once the previous steps were taken was actually a quite charming solution path in its own right).

So after getting a big head from my relative mastery of the other variants, Little Killer ultimately taught me a valuable lesson in humility (as it so often does).

Didn't get the Little Killer done until after time expired, but wow, what a puzzle. I feel like there was only 1 solution path until the very end.

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

My favorite of the set was the Killer, as I am used to pencilling in only when there is 1 possible pair. It took me a while before I noticed that there were unusually many cages with 2 possible pairs of numbers, and only when I started pencilling those in did I begin to make more progress.

Overall, a very fun set, even if I found the Little Killer to be quite monstrous. :D

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

Thank you to Kishore and Akash for a nice test.
Little killer burned too much time for me, but the rest were quite smooth.Favourites were Little Killer 1,Little Killer 2 and X sums 2
Enjoyed!

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?	Division 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?	Too many hard puzzles
What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test?	Very nice
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Killer Sudoku
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth too much or too little

Very frustrating set for me. Many "easy" puzzles need a couple of attempts. For me the the 12-point killer was the most fun (and the only harder puzzle I even had time to try). As always, I shall enjoy these quality puzzles on my own time; I've never quite understood the obsession with speed.

rules for serbian frame 1 seem off in the instruction booklet. Am I right supposing that it should be 2nd and 3rd digit just as in the serbian frame 2 sudoku? 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?	Little Killer Sudoku
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Most puzzles were worth the right amount

The Little Killer took almost 30 minutes of solving time - but what a great puzzle!

Edited by Feadoor 2020-04-05 2:52 AM

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 instructions given in the IB are correct.

i.e., for 6X6 : Row clues are sum of 1st and 2nd digits.Column clues are sum of 2nd & 3rd digits while for 9X9, Row clues are sum of 2nd and 3rd digits and Column clues are sum of 3rd and 4th digits.Hope it's clear now.Good luck !

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

Excellent set of Sudokus, with clear, logical solving paths. Really enjoyed solving this round. I would have finished the set, but kept on inserting the wrong asnwer key for X-Sums, for no apparent reason. Thanks Akash and Kishore for the wonderful sudokus.

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

Excellent set of Sudokus, with clear, logical solving paths. Really enjoyed solving this round. I would have finished the set, but kept on inserting the wrong asnwer key for X-Sums, for no apparent reason. Thanks Akash and Kishore for the wonderful sudokus.

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

Awesome set. Loved all 9x9 variants. Little Killer was daunting. Attempted it after the test. Thanks Aakash and Kishore!

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?	Average
Which set of puzzles did you like the most?	Serbian Frame Sudoku
Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did the point values reflect the difficulty?	Many puzzles were worth too much or too little

Before doing the round, I saw a forum fost that started with "frust...". I can see where he is coming from.
I broke almost all the 9x9 I attempted multiple times (In fact I only solved one (Serbian sums) I also took very long on that, but that was on me, I had solved an 8 clue as a 7 clue, and unfortunately after that the puzzle didnt break, but just didnt lead anywhere...).
The 9x9 seemed much harder than all the 6x6 also by point value (there were two 4 point 6x6, that seeemed very quuick anyway and I was stuck for ages on all 9x9 puzzles.)

Ay yeah, I misread it, thanks

And I did a blunder....by not reading the rules carefully.
Followed 2nd and 3rd cell for rows

Edited by neerajmehrotra 2020-04-05 3:28 PM

The 9x9's would be great as stand-alones. Anything harder than the 9x9 Killer (a beautiful construction by the way) might be better off not in the test.
The Little Killer took me 20+ minutes which is nearly 1/3 of the test's duration. I see the points being appropriately adjusted but perhaps too hard for SM?
Very nice grids that didn't feel too math-y. Thanks!