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Deception — May Puzzle Test — 18th-20th May 201354 posts • Page 1 of 3 • 1 2 3
@ 2013-05-11 10:25 AM (#10966) (#10966) Top

Administrator



2000100050020
Country : India

Administrator posted @ 2013-05-11 10:25 AM


Logic Masters India announces May Puzzle Test — Deception

Dates : 18th — 20th May

Instruction Booklet & Submission : here

Author : Ivan Koswara

@ 2013-05-11 8:42 PM (#10968 - in reply to #10966) (#10968) Top

chaotic_iak




Posts: 241
1001002020
Country : Indonesia

chaotic_iak posted @ 2013-05-11 8:42 PM

Some things to take note of:

Scoring and Solving
- Plan your solving strategy beforehand. Remember the bonuses for solving all top/bottom puzzles in a section (call them a "group"). When you have solved two puzzles in a group, the third one's value practically inflates due to the bonus.
- Bonus is not reduced by penalties.
- Every top group has a total score of 90 base + 30 bonus (except Annexation which, being true to its meaning of "attaching", has extra 10 points just to make the total 1000). Every bottom group has a total score of 170 base + 40 bonus.
- Practice.

Visual
- Except for the text (numbers etc), all "black" colors are actually 70% black only (because for whatever reason I cannot stand full black).
- All inner borders are 30% black.
- Some texts (in Cipher Fillomino and Elimination Tapa) are smaller. Also, Skyscrapers Kropki circles might be rather small.
- Try printing the example PB page as given in the IB. If it comes out incorrectly, try to tamper with your printer settings first.
- If you have any problem with the visuals of the puzzles, note me.
- In Liar Slitherlink, if you're going to solve by Paint or some other image editor, I've made all borders to be off-white and has a thickness of 3 pixels, making it possible to flood fill the borders rather easily. No other genre has any additional aid for solving on screen besides the obvious borders.

Puzzles
- Liar Slitherlink: There must be a liar in each row/column. There cannot be no liars.
- Semi-liar Masyu: Don't form an isolated loop midway. You might become too immersed in avoiding same-polar endpoints (endpoints of loop strands in which the truth value of the latest circle of each endpoint is either both true or both false) that one gets to connect endpoints of the same strand.
- Smullyanic Dynasty: A clue that is shaded must be false. It isn't only inapplicable (as in Yajisan-Kazusan, where shaded clues have no meaning); it must be false.
- Cipher Fillomino: Remember the possibility that there might be a number that is not represented by any letter.
- Elimination Tapa: One number must be removed. Even if a cell has all question marks, you need to remove one.
- Surveyors Heyawake: I know very well that this is a difficult genre, so familiarize with the rules. Don't worry about the "at most one Heyawake/Tents clue" rule in my early Surveyor Heyawake puzzles. If a region contains two clues that have equal values and the number of shaded cells in the region is equal to that number, it's possible that both clues are Heyawake clues.
- Battleships Yajilin: Don't reflect any ship.
- Domino Nurikabe: Remember the possibility of the domino partitioning not being unique.
- Skyscrapers Kropki: The lack of circles doesn't mean neither of the two Kropki circles hold. I prefer going for aesthetics, so I drop the no circle rule.

Finally
- Have fun!
@ 2013-05-11 11:45 PM (#10971 - in reply to #10968) (#10971) Top

Administrator



2000100050020
Country : India

Administrator posted @ 2013-05-11 11:45 PM

Preview puzzles for Deception - http://chaosatthesky.wordpress.com/
@ 2013-05-18 5:13 AM (#11011 - in reply to #10966) (#11011) Top

Administrator



2000100050020
Country : India

Administrator posted @ 2013-05-18 5:13 AM

Announcements

Password protected Puzzle booklet is uploaded. It has 9 pages. There is no cover page or points table.
Please note that because Instant Grading is enabled, every wrong submission will be penalized.

@ 2013-05-18 6:24 AM (#11012 - in reply to #10966) (#11012) Top

Administrator



2000100050020
Country : India

Administrator posted @ 2013-05-18 6:24 AM

Please note that the score is not ready yet.
@ 2013-05-18 9:40 AM (#11013 - in reply to #10966) (#11013) Top

FoxFireX




Posts: 35
20
Country : United States

FoxFireX posted @ 2013-05-18 9:40 AM

The instructions on the answer page are wrong for Domino Nurikabe; reads "Lengths of line segment for marked row", should be "Lengths of consecutive black cells for marked rows".
@ 2013-05-18 9:54 AM (#11015 - in reply to #11013) (#11015) Top

Administrator



2000100050020
Country : India

Administrator posted @ 2013-05-18 9:54 AM

FoxFireX - 2013-05-18 9:40 AM

The instructions on the answer page are wrong for Domino Nurikabe; reads "Lengths of line segment for marked row", should be "Lengths of consecutive black cells for marked rows".
Updated.
@ 2013-05-18 6:42 PM (#11017 - in reply to #10966) (#11017) Top

Administrator



2000100050020
Country : India

Administrator posted @ 2013-05-18 6:42 PM

@ 2013-05-18 11:25 PM (#11021 - in reply to #10966) (#11021) Top

Gotroch



Posts: 83
20202020
Country : Czech Republic

Gotroch posted @ 2013-05-18 11:25 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? Just right
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? Just right
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2013-05-19 3:14 AM (#11022 - in reply to #10966) (#11022) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2013-05-19 3:14 AM

 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? Just right
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? Just right
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent? All puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2013-05-19 3:25 AM (#11023 - in reply to #10966) (#11023) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2013-05-19 3:25 AM

 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? Too many hard puzzles
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Answer keys could have been better
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? Way too many puzzles (too little time)
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent? Many puzzles were worth too much or too little
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Too few pages / too small grids


@ 2013-05-19 7:25 AM (#11024 - in reply to #10966) (#11024) Top

deu



Posts: 69
202020
Country : Japan

deu posted @ 2013-05-19 7:25 AM

 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? Just right
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? Just right
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


I was really impressed by the puzzle quality. Liar Slitherlink 2, Battleships Yajilin 1, Domino Nurikabe 2 are my favorites.

I should have read the instruction carefully. I misunderstood the rules for outside clues in Heyawake and wasted more than 10 minutes.
@ 2013-05-19 4:44 PM (#11025 - in reply to #10966) (#11025) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2013-05-19 4:44 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? Very nice
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? A bit too many puzzles
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


Most of the puzzle type are popular ones. As I was new to most of them, it would be unfair if I said the puzzle set as skewed or very hard. Very good set of puzzle, would be better if the time limit was a little more (say, a 15 minutes more).
@ 2013-05-19 5:57 PM (#11026 - in reply to #10966) (#11026) Top

chaotic_iak




Posts: 241
1001002020
Country : Indonesia

chaotic_iak posted @ 2013-05-19 5:57 PM

Post #11023: It would be nice if you also specify the reasons for your opinion. Otherwise, I don't exactly know what to improve.




deu - 2013-05-19 8:25 AM

I was really impressed by the puzzle quality. Liar Slitherlink 2, Battleships Yajilin 1, Domino Nurikabe 2 are my favorites.

I should have read the instruction carefully. I misunderstood the rules for outside clues in Heyawake and wasted more than 10 minutes.


Thanks! About Surveyors Heyawake, I did warn in this thread before that it's a difficult genre. But you should have asked here for clarifications. Oh well, you did an amazing performance either :)




An LMI player - 2013-05-19 5:44 PM

Most of the puzzle type are popular ones. As I was new to most of them, it would be unfair if I said the puzzle set as skewed or very hard. Very good set of puzzle, would be better if the time limit was a little more (say, a 15 minutes more).


Actually the puzzle types are not exactly popular; I can only recall Liar Slitherlink and Cipher Fillomino that appear abundantly in the puzzling community, with Elimination Tapa and Domino Nurikabe trailing. I don't think the remaining five have much exposure. But they are indeed variations of popular types. If you say so, okay :)

Well, LMI put a limit of 120 minutes for a test. I should have asked Deb whether a longer time is allowed. But sure, I indeed think that I overshoot the difficulty and should have given a longer time to work on.
@ 2013-05-19 8:41 PM (#11027 - in reply to #10966) (#11027) Top

rajeshk




Posts: 542
5002020
Country : India

rajeshk posted @ 2013-05-19 8:41 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? 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
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent? All puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2013-05-19 9:37 PM (#11029 - in reply to #10966) (#11029) Top

xevs



Posts: 43
2020
Country : Japan

xevs posted @ 2013-05-19 9:37 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? Just right
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Fairly Nice
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? Just right
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent? All puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


Great appearances, natural ways to solve.
I like this kind of puzzle set ;-)

My favorites are Masyu 1, Fillomino 2 and Tapa 2.

Edited by xevs 2013-05-19 9:42 PM
@ 2013-05-19 11:44 PM (#11032 - in reply to #10966) (#11032) Top

Para



Posts: 315
100100100
Country : The Netherlands

Para posted @ 2013-05-19 11:44 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? Just right
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Fairly Nice
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? Just right
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


Was fun. A minute too little time, although that's because i wasted a lot of time on the second Liar Slitherlink as I missed something. Erased that one at least 5 times.
@ 2013-05-20 12:09 AM (#11033 - in reply to #10966) (#11033) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2013-05-20 12:09 AM

 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? Just right
 What did you think about the puzzle quality of the test? Very nice
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? Just right
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2013-05-20 12:43 AM (#11034 - in reply to #10966) (#11034) Top

Grizix



Posts: 30
20
Country : France

Grizix posted @ 2013-05-20 12:43 AM

 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? Very nice
 What was your opinion about the answer key extraction? Answer keys could have been better
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? Way too many puzzles (too little time)
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent? All puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2013-05-20 12:53 AM (#11036 - in reply to #10966) (#11036) Top

An LMI player



An LMI player posted @ 2013-05-20 12:53 AM

 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? 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
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent? Many puzzles were worth too much or too little
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Just right


@ 2013-05-20 4:08 AM (#11037 - in reply to #11036) (#11037) Top

MellowMelon



100
Country : United States

MellowMelon posted @ 2013-05-20 4:08 AM

If it's reassuring for deu, I also wasted about the same amount of time working with a different set of rules for Surveyor's. And as can probably be seen from my abysmal mistake record, I haven't been doing enough of these kinds of puzzles recently.

Great test. I'll have to figure out how on earth that second Nurikabe is proven to be unique later.

Edited by MellowMelon 2013-05-20 4:12 AM
@ 2013-05-20 12:13 PM (#11041 - in reply to #10966) (#11041) Top

Richard



Posts: 191
10020202020
Country : The Netherlands

Richard posted @ 2013-05-20 12:13 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? Perfect answer keys
 How did you feel about the length / time limit for this test? A bit too many puzzles
 Of the puzzles you solved/attempted, how well did their point values reflect the difficulty/time spent? Most puzzles were worth the right amount
 What was your opinion of the booklet formatting and printing? Too few pages / too small grids


@ 2013-05-20 12:30 PM (#11042 - in reply to #11041) (#11042) Top

Richard



Posts: 191
10020202020
Country : The Netherlands

Richard posted @ 2013-05-20 12:30 PM

Interesting set of puzzles, although not all of them are on my most-favorite-list.
I wasted very much time on the first battleships, proving it had multiple solutions three times in a row, at the same place. After the test is over, I realised that the single dot underneath the 'S' is another ship. That didn't cross my mind during solving; I assumed it part of the S. I would have appreciated it when that ship was positioned next to the 'S', like the others in a row.

I found the cells in some of the puzzles a bit small, especially in the grids where digits or letters have to be written in the grids. I had problems writing in the domino and skyscraper puzzles. Especially in the case where half of the page is used to reproduce the instructions there was enough possible space to make the grids a bit larger.

All in all, I had an enjoyable morning, leaving me with a few interesting puzzles to try later. (As always.)
@ 2013-05-20 5:39 PM (#11044 - in reply to #10966) (#11044) Top

kiwijam



Posts: 181
10020202020
Country : New Zealand

kiwijam posted @ 2013-05-20 5:39 PM

I kept glancing at the top of the page to see how many points the puzzles were worth. It usually said 30+40points, but the puzzles seemed harder than that... now I'm pleased to find I was reading the wrong numbers.
@ 2013-05-20 6:02 PM (#11045 - in reply to #10966) (#11045) Top

chaotic_iak




Posts: 241
1001002020
Country : Indonesia

chaotic_iak posted @ 2013-05-20 6:02 PM

Grizix: Well, welcome to competitive puzzle solving. As you practice more, you will eventually pick up some speed. If you're fast enough, you can complete all puzzles with an ample amount of time remaining (13 minutes), as deu proved. Keep practicing and participating in contests, and you'll find that you can do faster and hence enough time for all puzzles. Thank you for your feedback!




MellowMelon - 2013-05-20 5:08 AM

I'll have to figure out how on earth that second Nurikabe is proven to be unique later.


I'll release a complete solution (as in walkthrough, not only answer) for it soon, after the test.




Richard - 2013-05-20 1:30 PM

I wasted very much time on the first battleships, proving it had multiple solutions three times in a row, at the same place. After the test is over, I realised that the single dot underneath the 'S' is another ship. That didn't cross my mind during solving; I assumed it part of the S. I would have appreciated it when that ship was positioned next to the 'S', like the others in a row.


Another person complained that the O seems to be a part of the S. I didn't realize that people might confuse the ships' shapes. A mental note for my future puzzles to distinguish the ships more clearly. I might as well go and put lines to mark borders between ships next time. Thank you for your feedback!




Richard - 2013-05-20 1:30 PM

I found the cells in some of the puzzles a bit small, especially in the grids where digits or letters have to be written in the grids. I had problems writing in the domino and skyscraper puzzles. Especially in the case where half of the page is used to reproduce the instructions there was enough possible space to make the grids a bit larger.


Well, this is my usual cell size (28px). I didn't think that it's too small. Besides, in the PB it looks like a 32px cell size will not fit two puzzles in the page (or if it is, the margins become too narrow). You should have said about that earlier, as I have warned (Visuals item 5). Thank you for your feedback!




kiwijam - 2013-05-20 6:39 PM

I kept glancing at the top of the page to see how many points the puzzles were worth. It usually said 30+40points, but the puzzles seemed harder than that... now I'm pleased to find I was reading the wrong numbers.


I should have differentiated the numbers more. Or just remove it altogether; all group bonuses are 30+40 anyway. Thank you for your feedback!

Edited by chaotic_iak 2013-05-20 6:04 PM
Deception — May Puzzle Test — 18th-20th May 201354 posts • Page 1 of 3 • 1 2 3
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