In puzzle 2, a table displays some letters and their values. Is this an illustration or a real mapping? As I see it, it does appear to be illustrative as many of the slots don't have words that satisfy 1 = A ,P, R. I have no way to know unless I understand the rules well. There is no example either

Edited by anurag 2020-04-09 3:50 PM

Streets of 1x1 are allowed?
Is this a town puzzle with 2x2 white areas not permissible? Or the white strips must be 1XN when evaliating the score? There is no clear demarcation in the description between puzzle rules and score evaluation.

Edited by anurag 2020-04-09 4:11 PM

In puzzle 2, the mapping of 1 - A,P,R given doesn't seem to fit the grid. Is it applicable to the grid or given as an example?

I think the given letters are part of the puzzle, not just an example. Remember that not every name is going to be used.

Ah,missed that. Thank you for the clarification!

Not every name is used, but every slot needs to be filled in. There seem to be no names from the list matching the slots.

I've solved puzzle 2, it's fine.

Puzzle 9 : what does "passing through all rows and columns" mean for the loop ? In the example, the loop doesn't use the top line of the grid at all...

Thanks, for some reason I was thinking consecutive letters should be the same if the numbers in the cells are equal.

Puzzle 11: "...it is possible to uniquely restore their contours." Does the assignment of numbers to cards have to be unique, or is it enough to uniquely specify the nine 3x5 borders of the cards?

In puzzle 10, I am nut sure whether I can consider a solution as valid if it is the only way of respecting the rules and the clues. Can Riad (or any of the organizers) check the solution I have currently filed and tell me if it is valid and unique?

Edited by forcolin 2020-04-10 7:49 AM

Puzzle 10: Is this a town puzzle with 2x2 white areas not permissible? Or the white strips must be 1XN when evaluating the score? There is no clear demarcation in the description between puzzle rules and score evaluation.

The reviewer should clearly define the borders of the nine cards and their numerical values.

I was sent your solution, it is not valid. Some rectangles that you were supposed to declare dark can be declared completely white. You need to get a solution without 2x2 white fragments. You use this condition as given in advance. This is incorrect.

Puzzle 7.
For numbers with cells, the use of rules a) OR b) is true. If there is a cell where the rules are applied a) AND b) is this true or is it wrong?

In the town puzzle mini example, going by the definition of a street being a stretch of white cells of length 2 and width 1, I can make out 6 streets in the solution for it. But the answer key gives it as 4, so have i understood it wrong?Or is there a mistake in the example's key?

Someone kindly rephrase that answer, as I cannot understand any of it. I have already submitted a solution and I am pretty sure I understand what is expected. But, this new piece of information makes me believe that I may still be missing something though it is very unlikely. Organizers, either confirm that my solution follows the rules, or please confirm what is mentioned in that last reply by the author.
A slightly larger example grid might clear any doubts ( "You use this condition as given in advance" - he meant 'used' OR 'need to use'). The language seems to be the source of all confusion here. Reviewers have to step up their efforts.

Edited by anurag 2020-04-11 2:34 PM

Count only those strips that are bounded by edges or rectangles. Example is fine.

Anderson: Interesting. I wonder how the two things you mentioned are different. In my opinion, when one of the two is met, the other is too, automatically (note that I am not starting to solve this puzzle yet so I am not thinking enough). Perhaps I am missing something.
Secondly, I am not sure if your query (and the authors' reply) were from the answer key standpoint or the solve itself. If you noticed, the example's answer key does not include any 'numerical assignment' whatever that means.
Uniquely restoring could just require that the grid be cut uniquely with no more than one assignment (which equates to card placement, and hence I don't see why the two things are separate) possible.
Lastly, if indeed, as Riad mentions, the competitor (or reviewer as he calls it) has to specify the borders, how are we supposed to do it? There is no such assistance provided with the instructions. And did the reviewers ('reviewers' here means reviewers, not competitors) miss mentioning that in the file?

Edited by anurag 2020-04-11 4:25 PM

Hello everyone, Hello Riad,
I am extremely happy to face this contest again, which is for me the best event of the year!
And yet, because of the confinement, I forgot that it was the period and I missed the start. Why didn't you remind us earlier in a post that the start was coming? I'm really disappointed for that ...
Take care of you all.

Puzzle 10:
I think the definition of "streets" is ambiguous.
To clarify the definition, I consider a following 7x7 example:
~~~~##~
~##~##~
~##~##~
~~~~~~~
###~##~
###~##~
###~~~~

~ means white cell and # means dark cell.
I guess there are 6 streets in this grid.
detail:
R1C1 -> R1C4
R4C1 -> R4C7
R7C4 -> R7C7
R1C1 -> R4C1
R1C4 -> R7C4
R1C7 -> R7C7

Is this interpretation correct?

Puzzle 10: I have a question about the sentence "The white cells must form streets. The white area of the streets cannot contain fragments of 2x2 cells."
Is this the rule of a Town puzzle or the restriction on answers (in this case, a Town puzzle is the same as a so-called Clouds puzzle)?
For example, the mini-example without "2" is valid or invalid?

I had asked the same question in an earlier post. Obviously, this restriction has to be a part of the Town puzzle and not just the answer entry, as otherwise it would make the puzzle trivial. However, the phrase "The white area of the streets cannot contain fragments of 2x2 cells" confused me as it was incorrectly stated. The reviewers should make some effort to rephrase it to "The white area cannot contain fragments of 2x2 cells".
But, it remains to be seen what the organizers confirm.

If both a) and b) can be applied, you can choose any of them.