Entered the code for the Four winds and got an "X". Couldn't find an error and moved on. Another "error" in Four Winds No. 3. I did not only loose the points for this puzzles, but it cost me enough seconds that I couldnt finish inserting the solution code for the Walls puzzle. Anyway, it doesn't matter, because it would have been considered "wrong" for the same reason as puzzles No.1 and 3.
One of the most annoying and misleading solution codes I can remember in any contest.

Also I think the other comments are right about the 8x8 Star Battle and the Nonstandard Hitori Blocks. Walls may be considered "Standard", I think. So, a terrible test for whoever might be the target audience, newcomers or veterans.

I knew about the star battle thing beforehand, but I completely forgot about it while taking the test and wasted like 4 minutes oops. I didn't know about the 6x6 non-consecutive sudoku thing, though, and I don't know any other tricks of this kind.

Fun fact: The star battle trick (well, a generalization) actually appeared on the IMO Shortlist (problem pool for the International Math Olympiad) in 2010: http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/community/c6h418687p2362298

Edited by anderson 2015-09-07 9:27 AM

I enjoyed this, thanks!

I noticed the potential Four Winds answer key ambiguity when entering, decided to risk it (and caught a penalty) instead of looking up the instructions. But careful reading of the booklet would have prevented this, and I think that's generally a good lesson to teach.

My other penalties were just sloppy answer code entry...

I had fun with the Hitoris, though as usual it turns out that half of the interesting logic I found could have been circumvented by noticing obvious things... The Hitori Blocks did seem hard in comparison. I think the variant adds quite a bit of depth, would have been nice to have an (extra?) easier one.

I knew the 8x8 Star Battle thing, but didn't realize the puzzle was 8x8 for a bit. Again I think it's fine to put in things like this, though having this as the first of the set can be a bit unfair for newcomers.

Based on a request from a player, this contest is extended by few hours.

I certainly didn't know about 8x8 Star Battle when one appeared in the WPC 2004 Finals... (and I'm quite sure the organizers back then didn't either).

I agree that the choice to have a single somewhat more difficult puzzle (the Hitori Blocks) was a bit odd, but I am glad that it was included and I really liked how different the techniques for it were. For future rounds I would be interested in seeing "exploratory" puzzles at the end of every section, rather than just two of them. I also think that it would be nice to add some more challenging puzzles in future rounds, though I do like that the lower difficulty level makes the competition more accessible to newcomers.

I am not able to open to do the test.

Hi. The test is still open. Please check the below link and login to start the test.

http://logicmastersindia.com/PR/201509/

You need to download the password protected Puzzle booklet which is present in the top left side of the page.
Login and click Start Classics. You will get a password.
Use the password to open the Puzzle booklet and start solving.

The answer keys need to be entered in the boxes provided

I really enjoyed the test. However despite knowing the trick of 8x8 star battle, I wanted to solve it logically and till now I am not able to solve it. It will be great if someone who solved it logically can post the steps to solve it.

Hi guys. What is the 8x8 Star Battle trick. :)

There are exactly two possible solutions for an 8x8 star battle. One is in the IB. To figure out the other you just need to reflect the configuration.

Yes.Adding to what prasanna said and to make things more clear , this is the scenario regardless of whatever shape the irregular region may take and which means that if you know for sure that one is not the configuration then the other is the solution ! for an 8X8 SB. Incidentally,I got to know about this just before the start of the test.

I am trying to start the test last 25 mins but looks like I am not able to. Any reason

The contest ended around an hour back.

The first episode of the inaugural season is over. Congratulations to Prasanna, Swaroop and Amit for taking the top 3 spots. They were the only three from India to complete the set. Anurag, Rajesh and Zalak took the next three spots.

Amongst the international participants, Congratulations to Endo for the top spot and Ulrich and Hideaki for second and third positions. They were way ahead of other participants.

Hitori Blocks (not surprisingly) and Star Battle 1 (surprisingly) had the least submissions. Four Winds (1 and 3) had less than 80% correct answers. This could have a correlation with the answer key as mentioned by some participants. Numberlink 1 also had 67% correct submissions. This could be due to the puzzle being the first one and most participants would have attempted this puzzle.

Thank you everyone for participating, and hope to see you soon in the next episode (Numbers) by Deb.

New players : If there is any specific Puzzle in which you got stuck, feel free to post here and we will guide you through.

I could not solve Star Battle 1 logically. It will be great if someone could post logically steps to solve it.

I am new. to this puzzles. Can the answers be seen?

Hi. Generally the solutions will be appended to the puzzle booklet in a day or two. Do follow this thread for the update.

Points table for neiighbours

Edited by devarajand 2015-09-11 11:45 AM

I imagine that there is a better path than what I did (which had a lot of trial and error), but since no one else has responded yet, I will post my steps. If you have a question about any of the steps just ask, since I recognize that I am not including the full explanation for every step.

First, E7 cannot be a star since the bottom right region would not have space for two stars. Next, at least one of the stars in that bottom right region must be in row 8, since otherwise they would have to be in E6 and G7, and there would not be enough room for two stars in columns F and G. Thus, B6 cannot be a star, and thus B4 and D6 cannot be either, so D4 cannot be. Next, if E4 and G5 both had stars C2 would have to as well, so there would not be space for two stars in column B. Thus A2, B2, D2, and A3 cannot be stars. The two stars in row 1 are thus in the top left region, so G1 and H1 cannot be stars, and H3 cannot be a star either. Thus G5 and G7 cannot be stars, so E5 cannot be either. A6 also cannot be a star, so neither can D7 or B7. A7 thus has to be a star. A1 or B1 must be a star, so C2 cannot be one. Thus E1, F1, E3, F3, G3, C4, F5, H5, and C6 cannot be stars. Thus C7 and E8 are stars. If D3 and D5 were both stars there would not be space in column E, so D1 must be a star. Thus F2, H2, and D3 must be stars. The rest should be pretty straightforward.

By the way, is this test going to be included in the puzzle ratings? And is there a reason why feedback was not enabled for the test?

Ratings recomputed.

About Feedback page : I had planned to make few changes to feedback page, but couldn't finish in time. No other reason.

I hope for some other better solving path for Star battle 1. Can Mr. Rohan guide us.

Edited by devarajand 2015-09-15 10:51 PM

Took more than a week, but it is there now.

Solutions appended to puzzle booklet.