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Word Show — November Puzzle Test — 17th-19th November46 posts • Page 1 of 2 • 1 2
@ 2012-11-17 7:12 AM (#8971 - in reply to #8941) (#8971) Top

Para



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Para posted @ 2012-11-17 7:12 AM

Well my goal of leading the test at one point worked by taking it right at the start. I had fun. I enjoyed what I managed to solve.
@ 2012-11-17 10:32 AM (#8973 - in reply to #8941) (#8973) Top

chaotic_iak




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chaotic_iak posted @ 2012-11-17 10:32 AM

So I'm not used to word puzzles -_-

Nice test and tribute to WPC 2012.
@ 2012-11-18 3:57 AM (#8976 - in reply to #8973) (#8976) Top

MellowMelon



100
Country : United States

MellowMelon posted @ 2012-11-18 3:57 AM

3 letters away from the word search (last puzzle) with one minute to go... and I discover after the test that my missing letter set was wrong, which explains why I couldn't finish it. Ouch. And for what is probably my new greatest oops in puzzle competitions, I missed the word stairs because I forgot to put my own name in.

Having the same word set for all puzzles was a nice touch, even ignoring that my name was in it. Meant that you could start picking up speed in the middle of the test as you got more used to the quirks of that particular word bank. Word Nurikabe for example seemed impossible when I tried it at the beginning, then not all that hard when I came back to it at the end.
@ 2012-11-18 5:25 PM (#8977 - in reply to #8941) (#8977) Top

Zormac



Posts: 15

Country : Hungary

Zormac posted @ 2012-11-18 5:25 PM

Certainly a nice test, a good mixture of intuitive word placement thinking and some more working puzzles. Even if my name was "included". :D Was surprising to fail on the Scrabble even after spending a few minutes on it - am not used to that. Great stuff.
@ 2012-11-18 5:56 PM (#8978 - in reply to #8941) (#8978) Top

Kota



Posts: 33
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Country : Japan

Kota posted @ 2012-11-18 5:56 PM

What a Good test! Nikola, Great Job!
But, I had a sad feeling because my place at WPC was 11th. If I had performed little better, my name would have been listed in the puzzles...
@ 2012-11-18 6:27 PM (#8979 - in reply to #8941) (#8979) Top

forcolin




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forcolin posted @ 2012-11-18 6:27 PM

 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? A bit skewed
 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
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Mostly perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? Just right
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


am I the only one which has replied to this questionaire?

Edited by forcolin 2012-11-18 6:41 PM
@ 2012-11-18 7:01 PM (#8980 - in reply to #8979) (#8980) Top

prasanna16391



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prasanna16391 posted @ 2012-11-18 7:01 PM

forcolin - 2012-11-18 6:27 PM

am I the only one which has replied to this questionaire?


I believe you're the only one who's posted it on the forum so far. I'm sure others have voted.

@ 2012-11-18 7:02 PM (#8981 - in reply to #8941) (#8981) Top

kishy72



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kishy72 posted @ 2012-11-18 7:02 PM

 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? Very skewed
 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? Below Average
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? Way too many puzzles (too little time)
 How fair do you think the rankings were? Most players got scores that did not reflect their performance
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2012-11-18 7:06 PM (#8982 - in reply to #8980) (#8982) Top

debmohanty




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Country : India

debmohanty posted @ 2012-11-18 7:06 PM

prasanna16391 - 2012-11-18 7:01 PM

forcolin - 2012-11-18 6:27 PM

am I the only one which has replied to this questionaire?


I believe you're the only one who's posted it on the forum so far. I'm sure others have voted.

Should we say "first one", and "not only one"?
@ 2012-11-18 7:12 PM (#8983 - in reply to #8982) (#8983) Top

prasanna16391



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prasanna16391 posted @ 2012-11-18 7:12 PM

debmohanty - 2012-11-18 7:06 PM

Should we say "first one", and "not only one"?


"so far"
@ 2012-11-18 7:17 PM (#8984 - in reply to #8941) (#8984) Top

prasanna16391



Posts: 1804
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prasanna16391 posted @ 2012-11-18 7:17 PM

 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? A bit skewed
 What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles? A bit hard
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Fairly Nice
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Mostly perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? A bit too many puzzles
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


I had mixed emotions leading up to this one. I don't really like Word Puzzles and I know they're easily my biggest weakness. On the other hand, I usually like Nikola's puzzles, so was curious to see what he can do with these.

My performance shows emphatically how bad I am at these. But I did enjoy them at my own pace and solving the rest later. I especially liked Hidden Words and Word Connections. They both took me a lot of time, but were the most enjoyable logically. Word Nurikabe was a bit too difficult in my opinion. The rest were all nice.

Thanks for the test, some much needed Word Puzzle practice.
@ 2012-11-18 8:24 PM (#8985 - in reply to #8941) (#8985) Top

forcolin




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forcolin posted @ 2012-11-18 8:24 PM

re: the questionnaire. I was a bit confused by the novelty. perhaps did not pay attention to other forum posts. I found the puzzle very integrated to each other and the idea of having always the same names very intriguing. I can understand the frustration of Kota.
I have solved now all the puzzles i did not solve in the competition and can appreciate their quality. Only one thing could be improved, the distribution of the points. The Wordsearch was not difficult but very time consuming and should have paid more than 12 points; on the other hand the nurikabe was paying very generously because, once gone through the difficult step (and the puzzle has only one) the solution is immediate; definitively not the most difficult puzzle of the set as the 24 points seem to suggest.
@ 2012-11-18 9:06 PM (#8986 - in reply to #8941) (#8986) Top

amitsowani




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amitsowani posted @ 2012-11-18 9:06 PM

 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? A bit skewed
 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
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Mostly perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? A bit too many puzzles
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2012-11-18 11:14 PM (#8987 - in reply to #8941) (#8987) Top

BohemianCoast



Posts: 16

Country : United Kingdom

BohemianCoast posted @ 2012-11-18 11:14 PM

 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? Fairly balanced
 What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles? A bit hard
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Fairly Nice
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Mostly perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? A bit too many puzzles
 How fair do you think the rankings were? Most players got the score they deserved
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2012-11-19 12:45 AM (#8988 - in reply to #8978) (#8988) Top

Para



Posts: 315
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Para posted @ 2012-11-19 12:45 AM

Kota - 2012-11-18 5:56 PM

What a Good test! Nikola, Great Job!
But, I had a sad feeling because my place at WPC was 11th. If I had performed little better, my name would have been listed in the puzzles...


I think Nikola was very happy with JANA instead of KOTA though, especially in the no repeat genres as it gave that nice 9 A's.
@ 2012-11-19 2:26 AM (#8989 - in reply to #8941) (#8989) Top

saintorm



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Country : United States

saintorm posted @ 2012-11-19 2:26 AM

The Word Stairs puzzle does not have a unique solution... thirty-six possible answers, by my count. Just wondering if anyone else saw this problem?
@ 2012-11-19 3:11 AM (#8990 - in reply to #8989) (#8990) Top

saintorm



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Country : United States

saintorm posted @ 2012-11-19 3:11 AM

...now up to 42 solutions!?!
@ 2012-11-19 4:02 AM (#8991 - in reply to #8990) (#8991) Top

saintorm



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Country : United States

saintorm posted @ 2012-11-19 4:02 AM

...132 solutions, and that's my final answer :)
@ 2012-11-19 4:14 AM (#8992 - in reply to #8988) (#8992) Top

MellowMelon



100
Country : United States

MellowMelon posted @ 2012-11-19 4:14 AM

Did you catch the rule about letters not being allowed to repeat in a row/column?
@ 2012-11-19 4:15 AM (#8993 - in reply to #8941) (#8993) Top

ksun48



Posts: 29
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ksun48 posted @ 2012-11-19 4:15 AM

 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? A bit skewed
 What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles? A bit hard
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Mostly perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? Way too many puzzles (too little time)
 How fair do you think the rankings were? Many players got scores that did not reflect their performance
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2012-11-19 5:33 AM (#8994 - in reply to #8989) (#8994) Top

debmohanty




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debmohanty posted @ 2012-11-19 5:33 AM

thirty-six possible answers

...now up to 42 solutions!?!

...132 solutions, and that's my final answer :)
That sounds like a USPC counting puzzle
@ 2012-11-19 9:06 AM (#8995 - in reply to #8941) (#8995) Top

kiwijam



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kiwijam posted @ 2012-11-19 9:06 AM

I'm not very confident with word puzzles normally (I leave them until last in most tests), so I thought I'd be bad at this, but I still wanted to compete. So I unclicked the 'include in ratings' box so it wouldn't matter if I was awful.
But after finishing I see this is likely to be my best result yet! How confusing :-) Now I definitely wish I hadn't played with that checkbox! Perhaps all the puzzles I did last month had a positive effect after all.

I think it is necessary to spot that there are 9 "A"s for Word Labyrinth and Snails Nest, and in Nurikabe I noticed that the E could not be HIDEAKI, because if it was you could write the name backwards IKAEDIH and get a different solution.

Thanks Nikola!
@ 2012-11-19 1:43 PM (#8996 - in reply to #8941) (#8996) Top

Zormac



Posts: 15

Country : Hungary

Zormac posted @ 2012-11-19 1:43 PM

 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? Perfectly balanced
 What was your opinion of the distribution of easy/hard puzzles? A bit hard
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Mostly perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? Just right
 How fair do you think the rankings were? Most players got the score they deserved
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2012-11-19 5:58 PM (#8997 - in reply to #8988) (#8997) Top

Kota



Posts: 33
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Kota posted @ 2012-11-19 5:58 PM

Para - 2012-11-19 12:45 AM

Kota - 2012-11-18 5:56 PM

What a Good test! Nikola, Great Job!
But, I had a sad feeling because my place at WPC was 11th. If I had performed little better, my name would have been listed in the puzzles...


I think Nikola was very happy with JANA instead of KOTA though, especially in the no repeat genres as it gave that nice 9 A's.


Sure! To tell the truth, I didn't notice that 9 A's within duration time...
Moreover, if KOTA had been listed, 'KO' would have apeeared three times and some puzzles would have been more confused!
@ 2012-11-19 8:35 PM (#8998 - in reply to #8997) (#8998) Top

tamz29



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tamz29 posted @ 2012-11-19 8:35 PM

I would've beaten Ulrich if I hadn't forgot to include him in the Word Labyrinth!
17 points is definitely a huge amount to lose this way. :(
I don't think I'll ever have another chance being this close at the front of the pack.
Word puzzles are easily my best type to work with.

One of my earliest experience with puzzles was from a 24HPC set by Nikola, one of my favourite set of that year, I think it was 2007.
Then my first top 20 finish was in Puzzles and Chess. And now, fingers tightly crossed, I'm hoping for my first podium finish here.
Nikola, you should write LMI puzzle tests more often. :)
Word Show — November Puzzle Test — 17th-19th November46 posts • Page 1 of 2 • 1 2
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