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Puzzle Marathon — LMI March Puzzle Test — 1st-10th March 2013169 posts • Page 7 of 7 • 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
@ 2013-03-12 5:19 AM (#10300 - in reply to #9546) (#10300) Top

MauFirenze



Posts: 1

Country : ITALY

MauFirenze posted @ 2013-03-12 5:19 AM

 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Graffiti Snake
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Liar Diagonal Slitherlink
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Multi Skyscrapers
 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? Fairly balanced
 What is your opinion about rules, points and scoring for this test? Very fair
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice


@ 2013-03-12 6:21 AM (#10301 - in reply to #10300) (#10301) Top

yureklis



Posts: 183
10020202020
Country : Turkey

yureklis posted @ 2013-03-12 6:21 AM

Araf is a lovely Japanese puzzle type. But it is hard to construct puzzle, especially providing uniquiness. In Puzzle Marathon, it was one of my favorites. Actually after the test, when I decide the three favorite types I considered two approaches: Which puzzles have lovely solving steps (solver side), which puzzles have cute construction? From solver side, my favorite type is Araf. Matus did a great job. Because as I mentioned, Araf is a hard choice to prepare, so I appreciate Matus's work. But from designer side, there was a given area in the puzzle, so I kept it in mind. But now I think that I could ignore this, because preparing such a big puzzle such good is a huge effort. Sorry for that.

Nanro is new for me, I didn't know this type before. This puzzle had lovely solution steps, and final movements in the middle of the grid were great. So, Nanro was satisfying for both sides.

Mintonette is also new for me. I had a lot fun when I was solving, and the designer made good job with (0) 1-2-3-4 theme in the puzzle. So, I put it to the same place with Nanro in my scale.

Gapped Kakuro... Maybe the puzzle was hard in the PM, but I've made so many Gapped Kakuro so far, so I know that most puzzles of the type appears hard because of the rules/construction. However Amit built cool solution steps in the current one, and the construction was great.

At the end, as a solver my favorite type was Araf; as a designer my favorite type was Gapped Kakuro. But Mintonette and Nanro did not only appeal to my solver feelings but also whispered to my designer sense. So I voted Gapped Kakuro, Mintonette and Nanro. Hmmm, I've told these now, but no one asked me: Serkan, what is your criteria about selecting best puzzles? :) I'm just talking.

An idea, maybe puzzle can be voted in two sections: Solving - Construction

[Edit]: I forgot to thanks, probably I need to sleep. Thank you so much Deb, you and LMI are doing huge things for puzzle community/culture. Of course thanks to all authors for their "huge size" effort. Thank you so much!

Edited by yureklis 2013-03-12 6:54 AM
@ 2013-03-12 6:37 AM (#10302 - in reply to #10294) (#10302) Top

debmohanty




1000500100100100202020
Country : India

debmohanty posted @ 2013-03-12 6:37 AM

greenhorn's long post about Araf

So when Matus mentioned early last year that he wants to make an Araf for Marathon, I asked him for few samples of the puzzle, since I wasn't aware of it. Even after solving the samples, I wasn't sure how it will work in a big grid. But having worked with him multiple times in the past, I was certain that he will make a perfect puzzle for Marathon, and he did.


The hardest puzzles for me were Star Battle, Fifty-Fifty and Skyscrapers. I was not able to find out the logic of these puzzles, but it is just because I am not so versed in these types, so I solved them only by using brute force (guessing, guessing and one more guessing).

We listed Star Battle at the top of the list because of Star Battle's familiarity and the particular puzzle was not difficult at all (just focus on the 2X2X3X3 boxes). And for Fifty-Fifty, check Zoltan's solving guide which was posted in forum.

Couple of puzzles were made easier than their previous version, and I always wanted to upload the original versions. (That got delayed because I am not able to locate the pdf of original Masyu). But here are 3 others.
Nanro (After solving the puzzle in the competition, you might not find the original one much difficult. But I thought solving the original one first time could have been challenging. So we decided to add few hints and change couple of regions but the finishing with 8s remained as-is)
Mintonette (The regions belonging to 0/1/3 are same. All test solvers and me were finding the 2s region extremely difficult to solve. Considering its unfamiliarity, we thought might make the 4s region bit easy also. Thanks Fred for quickly revamping this one)
Fifty Fifty (The original version has fewer shaded triangles. I don't know if it would have made much difference to top solvers' timings, but from average players' point of view, it was good to have more shaded triangles)




Attachments
----------------
Attachments M201303P_Nanro (Original).pdf (27KB - 16 downloads)
Attachments P0X_Mintonette (Original).pdf (29KB - 12 downloads)
Attachments M201303P_FiftyFity (Original).pdf (49KB - 9 downloads)
@ 2013-03-12 7:34 AM (#10303 - in reply to #10257) (#10303) Top

debmohanty




1000500100100100202020
Country : India

debmohanty posted @ 2013-03-12 7:34 AM

Nola - 2013-03-11 4:34 AM
I like the concept of one hour with bonus points and then "infinite" time for finishing later. I do not want to have this longer, even when I could finish some puzzles with only slightly more time. But so I know I have to reserve one hour and then I can do something else again.
Exactly. That precisely is our motivation to restrict bonus to 1 hour.
@ 2013-03-12 8:33 AM (#10304 - in reply to #9546) (#10304) Top

bjgeraci



Posts: 1

Country : United States

bjgeraci posted @ 2013-03-12 8:33 AM

 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Star Battle
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Watches
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Gapped Kakuro
 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? Perfectly balanced
 What is your opinion about rules, points and scoring for this test? Very fair
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice


First time player. Enjoyed it. Thanks!
@ 2013-03-12 1:09 PM (#10305 - in reply to #9546) (#10305) Top

AngelSong20



Posts: 1

Country : United States

AngelSong20 posted @ 2013-03-12 1:09 PM

Enjoyed the puzzles I could solve during the week and glad that you made the rest available for those of us who couldn't devote too much time to solving. (I think one of my times was over 3400 minutes because I went to bed and then to work in between solving attempts!) Are the answer keys available anywhere?
@ 2013-03-12 1:26 PM (#10306 - in reply to #10305) (#10306) Top

Administrator



20001000500202020
Country : India

Administrator posted @ 2013-03-12 1:26 PM

Here are the answer keys.


Puzzle Solution Alternate
Star BattleCACAHAIDBDFBEMEBD31318194246253524
Masyu333433#222342444544#333453
Multi Skyscrapers124231213312412
Gapped Kakuro9X8X52X2X1745X71369
Maxi Loop42271#3324153382#44352
Graffiti Snake5333432342223212
Liar Diagonal Slitherlink221100020111112221120111002101
Mintonette334353316445464427
Araf06383090970130613823301910971011
NanroXX53XXX8XX85242X4X
Watches2122212321213#412211224114
Fity Fifty11100011#1110011111#0000100100011100#0001100000#11110110
@ 2013-03-12 6:35 PM (#10307 - in reply to #9546) (#10307) Top

Mahyar




Posts: 8

Country : Iran

Mahyar posted @ 2013-03-12 6:35 PM

 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Star Battle
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Fity Fifty
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Watches
 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? Fairly balanced
 What is your opinion about rules, points and scoring for this test? Fair
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice


@ 2013-03-12 7:57 PM (#10308 - in reply to #9546) (#10308) Top

MrLiang




Posts: 44
2020
Country : Thailand

MrLiang posted @ 2013-03-12 7:57 PM

 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Star Battle
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Gapped Kakuro
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Masyu
 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? Fairly balanced
 What is your opinion about rules, points and scoring for this test? Fair
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice


@ 2013-03-12 9:10 PM (#10310 - in reply to #10306) (#10310) Top

figonometry



Posts: 30
20
Country : Canada

figonometry posted @ 2013-03-12 9:10 PM

How is the alternate key for the Slitherlink retrieved?
@ 2013-03-12 10:29 PM (#10312 - in reply to #10310) (#10312) Top

Para



Posts: 315
100100100
Country : The Netherlands

Para posted @ 2013-03-12 10:29 PM

figonometry - 2013-03-12 9:10 PM

How is the alternate key for the Slitherlink retrieved?


I figure it's top to bottom instead of left to right.
@ 2013-03-12 11:02 PM (#10314 - in reply to #9546) (#10314) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2013-03-12 11:02 PM

 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Star Battle
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Gapped Kakuro
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Liar Diagonal Slitherlink
 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? Fairly balanced
 What is your opinion about rules, points and scoring for this test? Very fair
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice


@ 2013-03-13 10:23 PM (#10320 - in reply to #9546) (#10320) Top

BohemianCoast



Posts: 16

Country : United Kingdom

BohemianCoast posted @ 2013-03-13 10:23 PM

 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Multi Skyscrapers
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Star Battle
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Maxi Loop
 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? Fairly balanced
 What is your opinion about rules, points and scoring for this test? Fair
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice


I didn't have time, this week, to do all of these puzzles -- such a shame. I will finish them off over the next little while. I really enjoyed the ones I did, though I got terribly stuck on skyscrapers in particular.
@ 2013-03-14 2:57 AM (#10321 - in reply to #9546) (#10321) Top

forcolin




Posts: 172
100202020
Country : ITALY

forcolin posted @ 2013-03-14 2:57 AM

It has been a wonderful contest. Better than last year because (1) the puzzles were more balanced and (2) the bonus mechanism was better. This is what I presume because I could not see a calculation of the bonus for each individual puzzle but only the sum.
Pity it came in a period in which I was very busy and in many cases I rushed a bit to solve some puzzle when I was a bit tired. In at least 3 cases I could not see the light and wasted a lot of time before getting through. But I am already looking forward to the next marathon.
Stefano
@ 2013-03-14 3:58 AM (#10322 - in reply to #10321) (#10322) Top

Para



Posts: 315
100100100
Country : The Netherlands

Para posted @ 2013-03-14 3:58 AM

forcolin - 2013-03-14 2:57 AM

It has been a wonderful contest. Better than last year because (1) the puzzles were more balanced and (2) the bonus mechanism was better. This is what I presume because I could not see a calculation of the bonus for each individual puzzle but only the sum.
Pity it came in a period in which I was very busy and in many cases I rushed a bit to solve some puzzle when I was a bit tired. In at least 3 cases I could not see the light and wasted a lot of time before getting through. But I am already looking forward to the next marathon.
Stefano


When you open the score page, there is a banner with submission time. If you select points instead of submission time, you can see the score of each puzzle for each player and so see how much points/bonus you got for each puzzle.
@ 2013-03-14 4:29 AM (#10323 - in reply to #9546) (#10323) Top

Administrator



20001000500202020
Country : India

Administrator posted @ 2013-03-14 4:29 AM

The rank bonus / time bonus split is not available online score page. It is available in the excel file here.
@ 2013-03-17 5:27 AM (#10340 - in reply to #9546) (#10340) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2013-03-17 5:27 AM

 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Liar Diagonal Slitherlink
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Multi Skyscrapers
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Maxi Loop
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice


@ 2013-03-17 3:05 PM (#10341 - in reply to #9546) (#10341) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2013-03-17 3:05 PM

 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Graffiti Snake
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Maxi Loop
 Your 3 most favorite puzzles of the contest. Mintonette
 How balanced do you think the puzzle types of this test were? Fairly balanced
 What is your opinion about rules, points and scoring for this test? Fair
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice


@ 2013-03-18 9:15 AM (#10349 - in reply to #9546) (#10349) Top

Administrator



20001000500202020
Country : India

Administrator posted @ 2013-03-18 9:15 AM

Feedback page is now disabled. The top 3 voted puzzles are Nanro, Araf, Mintonette. The difference between Minotnette and Star Battle is smaller than that between Nanro and Araf.



We will try to include as many of the favorite puzzles as possible in next year's marathon, just like we did this year.

The overall score for Marathon is 2.75 which is much higher than any other test we had after we introduced the new feedback system. Thank you everyone for voting.
Puzzle Marathon — LMI March Puzzle Test — 1st-10th March 2013169 posts • Page 7 of 7 • 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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