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.

You're perfectly right, I had time to double check my answers ! I'll be careful next time ;-)

I did not check your solution, considering that fewer points were claimed than others. I'll go back to checking and reviewing the scores.

%5BQUOTE%5Dleoranger+%2D+2024%2D04%2D23++11%3A14+PM%0D%0A%0D%0ARiad%2C+agree+with+your+opinion%2E+Enough+time+is+given+to+check+everything+before+sending+answers%2E+However%2C+why+Christian+got+14+points+for+puzzle+12%3F+He+mistook+too+%2D+in+the+word+%22Lionel%22+he+submitted+digit+0+instead+of+%22o%22+letter%2E%5B%2FQUOTE%5D%0D%0AJelena%2C+I+check+optimization+problems+carefully+and+correct+the+participants%2E+I+understand+that+Christian+indicated+the+letter+O+and+I+give+maximum+points%2E+Great+result%2C+Christian+deserves+14+points%2E+In+your+solution%2C+I+also+saw+a+mistake+in+the+name+Beatrice+and+planned+to+give+points+if+the+total+result+was+a+little+better%2E+NGS+had+a+slightly+better+result%2C+but+something+didn%E2%80%99t+add+up+in+the+5th+row%2E+Obviously%2C+there+was+a+shift+in+his+solution%2C+which+is+easily+corrected%2E+That%27s+why+the+NGS+received+2+points%2E%0D%0AHugo+stated+that+his+result+was+calculated+incorrectly%2E+I+will%2C+of+course%2C+go+back+to+checking+his+answer+and+correct+the+calculations+in+his+solution%2E+%0D%0A

Thank you very much! James has once again shown brilliant results, bravo! I will return to the announcement of the results after additional verification.

There was an error in your solution in lines 19-21. Instead of W there should be E. I counted lines 19 and 20, but line 21 gives two polygons with a common vertex. Nevertheless, your result was slightly better than Carlos's. I gave you 2 points.

I assume the 0 points on an optimiser means that the submission was invalid. Could you send me the multiple solutions you found for my Easy as Opti?

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 ?