The quality of the IB is impressive. 4 practice puzzles for Shakashaka, Mochikoro and Yajilin+, plus the example puzzles. Just great !

I am just slightly afraid about the timing of the test, seeing the name of the test-solver...

For Yajilin+ it says "Numbers indicate the amount of black cells in at least one of the two possible directions". Should that not just be in one of the two possible directions, without the 'at least'? All of the examples seem to match this... Otherwise it means we can't assume that it doesn't apply to both directions right?

ETA: Forgot to say, the test looks great!! Really looking forward to trying out the new types... I just hope I can make it home that weekend in time to compete!!

Edited by DreamRose311 2011-08-11 8:24 PM

All of the examples satisfy 'exactly one direction', but rules do not require that. So, you have to keep in mind that both directions can be correct.

Title of the topic: "Japanese Puzzle Land — LMI August Puzzle Test — 20th and 21st July"

Thanks deu. I was also unsure because the instructions also said 'left or right' and 'up or down' instead of and/or. I meant to add that earlier... Anyway, thanks for the clarification :o)

100 minutes to do over 4500 grid cells worth... yikes! Better not be anything seriously difficult if anyone is going to finish. I look forward to trying to dash all of these out next weekend.

The other way to look at it is "one has to figure out the direction of the arrow, which is missing. it doesn't matter what happens at the other direction." The practice puzzles are very helpful.

As others noted, the concept of practice puzzles for the new type and not so well-known types is nice. Many thanks to the authors.

Interesting measure - 4500 grid cells.
Just computed that July Nikoli Selection had 4100+ grid cells, although more than half of them belonged to the marathons.

Guessing with enough Nikoli practise it is probably possible. Sadly I don't really have any. I'm mostly worried about the general size of the grids. I don't mind big puzzles, just not to solve as fast as possible. Too afraid to make one dumb mistake I won't be able to locate.

Any chance I can get an extra 20 minutes as a birthday present?

Edited by Para 2011-08-13 10:31 PM

Is it too late to make this test more Paint friendly? Grey or black-and-offwhite cell borders (see puzzles formatted by, for example, MellowMelon or mathgrant) make solving with a fill tool possible. Also, faint diagonal lines in the Shakashaka puzzles (see http://mathgrant.blogspot.com/2010/12/rules-proof-of-quilt.html) are helpful.

If you want to practice, nikoli.com can be a good material. There are 10 free sample puzzles for each type (Sorry, there are no Fillomino, Shakashaka and Mochikoro). For Mochikoro, there are 30 puzzles in janko.at.

Considering the results of other tests (especially Nikoli Selection), authors' intention and my test-solving time, "100 minutes" seems not too short. Some puzzles are big but will not need too much time to solve. For instance, in large Akari, ONE lightbulb illuminates 37 cells (out of 336, including itself) if there are no black cells in that row and column!

For top solvers:
There will be an announcement about partial bonus points later.

Shakashaka online at http://www.janko.at/Raetsel/Shakashaka/index.htm

Are the puzzles in the test going to be the same size as the ones in the instruction booklet? I mean the cell sizes not the dimensions of the grid. I was having a bit of trouble with them, especially with sudoku and kakuro, since with this size they are not very pencil-marks-friendly...

Other than that I am really looking forward to this test. The quality of the puzzles in the instruction booklet is superb, and we got training material too :)

Marcin

Thanks for your suggestion and sorry for the late reply. We have added very faint solid lines to some grids in Puzzle Booklet. We think you can solve with a fill tool.
As for Shakashaka, we decided to include two grids for each puzzle (Left: without diagonals, Right: with diagonals) in Puzzle Booklet. Each competitor can choose whichever he/she likes.

In most puzzles, a little bigger than Instruction Booklet. More precisely, size of cells (length of an edge) is
7mm (Sudoku, IB), 6.3mm (Kakuro, IB)
10mm (Sudoku, PB), 7.5mm (Kakuro, PB)
if printed on A4 paper.

Here is a sample page from the puzzle booklet (with Shakashaka puzzle). See image below. Click here for pdf version.

Just polished off the instructions - a tantalising appetiser to be sure. I'm definitely looking forward to the main course!

100 minutes for 23 puzzles - and at roughly 5 points per solving minute available - these timings and gradings look more than reasonable to me. Even without deu competing I'd be surprised if no-one finished the set in time!

Tom, I counted again, and there are 25 puzzles.
Your last few tests have been going neatly, and I hope you had your last counting mistake / typo in this test

Bonus points and partial bonus points

Bonus points will be computed from the time "Claim Bonus" button is clicked.
5pts/min -- solved 25 correctly
3pts/min -- solved 24 correctly and a 5-20 points puzzle is wrong
2pts/min -- solved 24 correctly and a 21-30 points puzzle is wrong
1pt/min -- solved 24 correctly and a 31-40 points puzzle is wrong.

Note : Partial bonus will be given after authors/organizers judge the wrong answer not to be dummy.

Puzzle booklet is uploaded. It has 13 pages. There is no cover page. Each page has one puzzle type.

Couple of notes :
1) After the password is displayed, the password can be selected using mouse and copied using right-click. Typing the password manually takes time and is error-prone.
2) All point claims should be made using the score page. This test has simplest of answer keys. So, we aren't sure yet if we can accept many typos.
3) While the test is running, it is best to avoid puzzle specific comments (e.g. puzzle ABC is too hard or puzzle XYZ is too easy). Please discuss them after the test.
However, feel free to leave your feedback about the test in general after you complete the test. Its everyone's feedback that most authors look forward to.

Wow is all I have to say. The quality of some of those puzzles was excellent, and I could see someone solving all of them in 100 minutes. I was able to do 14 of them, and every one I solved was good. The bottom Fillomino and Top Hitori stood out to me, but there were a lot of beautiful designs and solving paths. Thanks to the puzzle designers for such a great competition.

Edited by gpagano 2011-08-20 8:08 AM

Chinese translation available here - http://www.sudokufans.org.cn/forums/index.php?showtopic=288

Nice puzzles.Second Fillomino is the pick of them.

Edited by anurag 2011-08-20 2:02 PM

puzzles are of nice quality..
every puzzle has different ways of solving and a trick to do it.
although i could have done better..
thanks to the authors for organizing such a beautiful test.. :)