Menderbug, I think that the right grid of your puzzle Easy as Opti has at least these two solutions:

_3124_
_2_134
314_2_
4__312
243__1
1_24_3

_3124_
_2_134
314_2_
4_3_12
24_3_1
1_24_3

Oh, you're right. Bummer, I moved a 2-clue from C4 in the second grid to C6 in the first for aesthetic reasons because I thought they were equivalent. Must've overlooked something when re-solving.

Carlos, thanks for the two solutions given. There is also a 3rd solution:
_2134_
_4_132
413_2_
23__14
3_42_1
1_24_3.
Unfortunately, in such cases, points are not allowed.

Congratulations+to+the+winners+%E2%80%93+James%2C+Christian%2C+Paul+and+Ken%21%0D%0AThanks+to+all+participants%21%0D%0A

Thanks+Riad+for+creating+this+contest+for+us+again%2C+it+is+very+unique+on+the+puzzle+calendar%2E+%E2%9D%A4%EF%B8%8F%0D%0AI+had+spare+time+this+year+to+play+with+the+optimizers%2C+but+also+I+was+a+little+lucky+to+find+some+good+scores+quickly%2E+Everything+fit+together+nicely+%F0%9F%98%8E%0D%0A2+days+before+the+end+I+learnt+my+rules+were+wrong+for+two+of+them+%28I+had+an+unconnected+crossword%2C+and+two+unlinked+Easy+As%27s%29+but+was+able+to+find+better+solutions+luckily%2E+%0D%0AWell+done+to+Christian+for+fixing+his+crossword+and+still+having+the+best+of+all%2C+that+was+very+hard+to+find+any+solution+better+than+TIM%2FLIN%21

Thanks a lot for this annual contest, Riad, and specifically for this edition. The puzzles were amazing to solve (I think I spent most of the time on the Kakuro with stars), and I found the first two optimizers very fun to investigate.
Huge congrats for kiwijam, you were so close to have the best scores on all the optimizers! You really deserve your first place.
See you next year :)

Hi everyone, I am new to this platform. Can anyone tell me where can I find the solutions for all puzzles ?

Hello everybody, May we know when the next April contest will happen? Next week? I am too impatient ...

dd

Soon

Hi is the april contest open? I clicked start and there was no puzzle booklet

@shallowdream Apparently, the contest has not started (the dates are from last year and haven't been updated yet)

Edited by Carlos 2025-04-14 6:28 PM

Yes, it hasn't started yet. We are planning an 18th April start, but we had a template page ready from last year. The dates are updated now, we will open a discussion thread and make the submission page accessible via the site header soon.

Sorry, it was me who brought up this post prematurely and caused confusion... But I wanted to know the dates and I couldn't wait. It also affects my holidays :)

For those of us who eagerly clicked "Start contest" yesterday thinking the PB was on its way imminently, is there any way to reset the timer so that we do have until April 27 like everyone else? Thank you.

This is done