Thanks for the info! I updated my grid. In that case, for clarification one can think of placing the digits in the circles in the example solution, as they were also part of the solving process.

It is not necessary for each circle to have given digits. You need to create a puzzle with a unique solution within the rules of puzzle 6.

The translator gives a sentence that I cannot understand.
When you solved puzzle 6 letters appeared in the common circles that were correct for both grids. The same should be true here. When checking, I will write the digits only in the circles common to both grids. These digits should work for both grids.
To achieve a unique solution you can additionally enter numbers in the squares.

For the answer format for optimization problems, what exactly is meant by "Type one answer key per line"? Compared to the 'Answer format' examples in the booklet, you have to go to the line after each comma, right?

Last+year+I+answered+with+commas+and+it+went+through%2C+so+I+did+it+again+this+year%2E+Maybe+Riad+can+confirm+whether+both+of+them+are+allowed+%F0%9F%98%8A

Edited by Leonardo024 2024-04-20 5:04 PM

In puzzle 12 - Counting Names, are you allowed to submit an empty grid, or is it required to have at least one word in it?

%5BQUOTE%5DLeonardo024+%2D+2024%2D04%2D20++5%3A04+PM%0D%0A%0D%0ALast+year+I+answered+with+commas+and+it+went+through%2C+so+I+did+it+again+this+year%2E+Maybe+Riad+can+confirm+whether+both+of+them+are+allowed+%F0%9F%98%8A%5B%2FQUOTE%5D%0D%0AI+think+this+is+a+question+for+the+administrators%2E

You need to enter a word and cross it with at least one other word, so as not to break the rules.

Hello Riad,
I gave my answer for problem 12 (Counting names) before your answer saying it must be a single connect crossword. My answer has three non connected groups and in each group each word intersects at least one other word. Could you confirm that it is not a valid answer ?
Another question : If in a row or a column all the cells are blackened, this row or column has the score 0 in the corresponding oval. Is this right ?

Hello Christian,
You've got three crosswords, which is unacceptable.
In an empty row or column the score is 0, this is right.

1. 638417529, 527963418.
2. A40D10E30C20B50, E50C40B10A30D20.
3. W, NE, N, -, NW, -, E, N, -. -, S, W, -, -, N, E, N.
4. 15.
5. 6, 9, 11, 16.
6. -HIA-M-SM-SH-IA-, -AH-I-SMHM--SA-I.
7. B---B-B-B-B. PP--Z----X--, NN---U-U--F-.
8. LIANE----L-Q-M-, -HUDAK-O-JIAQI.
9. 63S439S524S63127, 49782S6S3S9871.
10. 49, E/S 7645312, SW/S 2417635, NW/SW 4753261, N/E 5136724, E/SE 6324157, N/W 3271546, W/NE 1562473, 11: CH-E-S-SW-N-SW-E-SE-W-N-E-N, 11: CH-E-S-SW-N-SW-SE-W-NE-N-E-N,
10: CH-E-S-NW-SW-SE-W-NE-N-E-N, 10: CH-E-S-NW-SW-E-SE-W-N-E-N, 4: FI-SW-E-SE-N, 3: GI-S-W-W-NE.
11. 29, --2-2-3-2--2, -------1-------, 3--------------, ---------------, ---------------, -------1------2, -------1-------, ---4-4----11.
12. -21224, ----------, ----------, ----------, ----L-----, ---TIM----, ----N-----, ----------, ----------, ----------, ----------, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0/, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0/, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0/, -/-/-/-/1/-/-/-/-/-/1/, -/-/-/1/1/11/-/-/-/-/13/,
-/-/-/-/14/-/-/-/-/-/14/, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0/, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0/, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0/, -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/0, 0/0/0/1/16/11/0/0/0/0.

Hello,
No news since the end of the competition; what's going on? In any case, like every year, I really enjoyed it!
My only regret is that I ran out of time to come up with a proper solution to problem 10 - By Compass ...

For those that are new to Riad's contest, the next step is that a PDF containing all the optimiser solutions will be shared, so the community can check they're valid. I imagine the By Compass submissions might be very slow to produce.
Also the first 9 puzzles will be scored normally by LMI, there is just some test data on that page for now.

Apologies for the delay. I have lost some of the software I use for creating the images. You are right that generating images for By Compass was indeed difficult. I have just produced the the submission entries as-is. It is going to be lot of work for Riad to cross-check.

Wow+the+optimizers+are+of+such+high+quality%21+It%27s+amazing+how+witty+people+get+with+their+route+planning+in+By+Compass++and+how+much+people+can+do+with+just+a+few+numbers+in+Easy+as+Opti+%F0%9F%A4%AF+%28and+I+can%27t+even+manage+to+solve+all+of+the+right+grids+%F0%9F%98%86%29%0D%0AVery+happy+with+my+Counting+Names+submission+tho%2C+my+goal+was+to+beat+the+Tim%2DLin+combo+%F0%9F%98%89%0D%0ABig+congrats+to+all+the+great+submissions%2C+with+kiwijam+being+a+standout+%F0%9F%98%8E%0D%0AThanks+for+organizing+again+Riad+%26+co+%F0%9F%91%8F

Oops I posted a few times as the submission button seemed not to work but probably just slow internet.

Edited by Leonardo024 2024-04-23 1:46 PM

I spent some time hand-drawing lines on the By Compass grids.
Quite interesting to see the many approaches.
I can't post it here, so will email to Deb.

[edit: haha Leonardo, I was also failing to submit my posts (I thought) because it wasn't letting me attach a file. A "Delete Post" option would be nice.]

Edited by kiwijam 2024-04-23 2:24 PM

Cleaned up some duplicate posts.

Hey+everyone%2c+thanks+for+the+great+puzzles+!+Hard+ones+but+highly+enjoyable+ones+!%0aIs+it+possible+for+me+to+claim+any+points+for+puzzle+number+8+%3f+I+miswrote+LIANE----L-A-N-%23-HUDAK-O-JIAQI+instead+of+LIANE----L-Q-N-%23-HUDAK-O-JIAQI+%f0%9f%98%9c+I+solved+the+grid+correctly+(JIAQI+is+correct+so+the+Q+should+be+in+the+row+...)+but+typed+my+answer+too+fast+%3ap+Thanks+!%0aI+don't+dare+to+ask+for+the+points+for+puzzle+6%2c+I+only+entered+the+keys+for+left+grid+rows%2c+too+bad+for+me%2c+I+solved+the+puzzle+too+but+next+time+I'll+be+more+focused+about+answer+format+%3a)

Thanks for the great contest! The same wishes as L00ping007's. I solved puzzle 8 correctly, just soft click typing '-' after # LIANE----L-Q-M-#HUDAK-O-JIAQI instead of LIANE----L-Q-M-#-HUDAK-O-JIAQI.

In+this+Contest+there+is+no+practice+of+correcting+points+for+the+first+9+puzzles%2E+Enough+time+is+given+to+check+everything+before+sending+answers%2E+Please+be+careful%2E+Moreover%2C+Arnaud+and+Jelena+give+different+answers+on+the+forum%2E%0D%0AI+checked+all+the+answers+for+optimization+puzzles%2E+Some+EASY+AS+OPTI+puzzles+had+several+solutions%2E+If+Martin+and+Du%D1%81+agree+with+this%2C+we+are+ready+to+publish+preliminary+results%2E

The correct score for my puzzle 10 (By Compass) is 172.
Line scores : 4,4,9,10,10,11,7,8,8,9,8,7,9,8,7,6,8,6,7,8,9,5,4

Riad, agree with your opinion. Enough time is given to check everything before sending answers. However, why Christian got 14 points for puzzle 12? He mistook too - in the word "Lionel" he submitted digit 0 instead of "o" letter.

I've already congratulated Riad - as I do every year - on the quality of his problems and the event he puts on for us every year, which I personally wouldn't miss for the world (my son better not be getting married that week, or I'll skip the ceremony!).
I must also warmly congratulate kiwijam, who did an almost faultless job (a great performance), even though the optimization problems seemed to me to be of a very high level.
Finally, I'd like to confirm that in my opinion you need to be fairly strict about entering answers correctly and respecting the answer format, as long as it's not deemed ambiguous. We all know that this can be discriminating (I've had to pay the price), which is why it's important to keep a close eye on things.