Sudoku Xtra - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum

Re: Issue 10 complete...

Christine — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:44:46 +0100

Well I couldn't resist downloading issue 10 last night even though it was a return to work for me today after the six week school break (well at least it will make the magazine last longer!). There is so much in this month I just don't know where to start (I don't know about you Sue but I don't like to do my favourites immediately - I like to save them up a bit!) The highlights for me this month are going to be the SX yajilin, the consecutive samurai star and X consecutive, the 13 X and that wonderful looking Masyu that spells its name in the puzzle! You've set the bar particularly high this month Gareth - will take some beating another month!!!

Dave, you're doing a great job as community section editor, getting so many expert puzzlers on board! Can't wait to try out some of the new puzzles on offer this month. Sudoku Xtra is really encouraging me to branch out and try many different types of puzzles, some with more success than others. Great fun (tu)

Re: Hanjie on page 22

gareth — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:24:11 +0100

I forgot to say that there was also a problem with the Castle Wall example solution on page 50 in yesterday's version of Sudoku Xtra. I hadn't actually made a mistake but for some reason I don't fully understand it wasn't displaying properly in Acrobat when I exported the PDF (my proofing printout was correct, but I printed it from the DTP software). I've redrawn it and now it's working fine, so again that's in the updated version I uploaded at midday today.

Hanjie on page 22

gareth — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:20:08 +0100

If you downloaded Sudoku Xtra 10 prior to about 12pm UK-time today (i.e. 7am EST) then you might like to download it again - the bottom row of the second Hanjie on page 22 was mostly obscured (oops). Thanks very much to Grant Fikes for spotting this so quickly!

I haven't done the printed versions yet so it won't affect those.

Re: Issue 10 complete...

sue — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:24:05 +0100

Wow.............. really really can't wait to try those new ones - the X's look great and the 13X fantastic AND a consecutive samurai star (a fav of mine and others). Plus yet another listmaking killer! Thank you so much Gareth.

I have lovely visitors all this week but going to have to find a way to send them out alone for a few hours methinks!

Re: Issue 10 complete...

gareth — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 02:17:46 +0100

Haha, yes I know the solutions aren't always needed but it's an important part of my checking process and sometimes I need to change the puzzles when I come to do the solutions for whatever reason so I can't distribute the main body until I've done the back part too. ;) (don't worry, I know you were joking!). I also realised this time for example that all of the Sudoku 10x10 puzzles were identical to the ones from issue 9 - in other words I'd forgotten to make new ones of those, so I went away and fixed it and that was a potential big mistake averted! Checking the solutions and puzzles correspond is a pretty good sanity check that generally catches a few things that would have crept into the finished magazine otherwise.

Re: Issue 10 complete...

gareth — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:44:40 +0100

And uploading now. It will be on the download page in less than 60 seconds.

Re: Issue 10 complete...

Christine — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:42:12 +0100

I am sure it will be worth the wait this month (not that it isn't always) but from what you have already posted in the Coming Soon thread, this next issue sounds amazing - some of my favourite puzzles coming up in the community section - really looking forward to labyrinth, and have had a sneaky peek at Palmer Mebane's blog site to get a preview of the new loop puzzle. The community puzzle section alone sounds great and that's before we get to your '10' themed puzzles Gareth!

Re: Hitori

Jeff loeb — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:12:57 +0100

speaking of tough puzzles, there is a toughpuzzles group at groups.yahoo.com

:-)

Re: Issue 10 complete...

sue — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:53:14 +0100

Look fwd to seeing what new challenges are in store then......but you know we don't need the solutions Gareth! No really.....

Issue 10 complete...

gareth — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 00:34:07 +0100

Issue 10 is now complete - or at least all of the puzzle content is in, editorial written, decorative bits done... but I still need to lay out the solutions and do some final re-checking which I know better than to rush! I'm out tomorrow but might just get it out late tomorrow night, else I guarantee it will be online on Sunday! :)

Re: Sudoku Pro magazine

gareth — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:20:36 +0100

Sorry to hear that! I just delivered all of the content for issue 55, so now to completing Sudoku Xtra 10! :)

Re: Sudoku Pro magazine

Christine — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:16:18 +0100

Went to pick up the latest copy of Sudoku Pro at the stationers in town today only to find that the shop was in the middle of a closing down sale with no magazines to be had, Grrr! So I have just had to come back home and take out a subscription, although it won't start until next month.

Re: Sudoku Pro magazine

Sue — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:49:26 +0100

Agree about Beyond Sudoku not being a patch on yours Gareth! Not by a country mile in fact.

I have subscribed to it for a few years as it was one of the best before I discovered the original "Pro". Have cancelled sub to it now as I am very bored with it - the puzzles have barely changed at all over the years despite the many far more interesting variants now widely available. I still like the Mosaics tho so am ever hopeful these may be included in Pro or Xtra one day. I enjoy the occasional one in the community section tho so am grateful for that.

Re: US, UK and other world puzzle championship qualifications Saturday 21st August

davmillar — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:52:31 +0100

Well, the main issue wasn't so much needing a reminder as needing access. I don't have internet access at home and it's incredibly tough to get anywhere since my bus route doesn't run on weekends either. Had the competition been on a weekday I may have been better prepared for it.

Re: Hitori

gareth — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:33:07 +0100

Well obviously not everyone consults the solutions when solving tough puzzles, but if you look at the puzzlemix stats you can see that the majority of people do. ;) Particularly on tougher Hanjies. People place stuff they think is right, but sometimes make a mistake and they pick those up by checking the solutions as they go.

Perhaps it is the case on the tough intricate Hanjies that Puzzler publish you get quite good error correction as you go, so you realise pretty rapidly if you're wrong? Is that true? Often that doesn't necessarily apply to my easier ones - so that could be the difference here. I'd be fascinated to watch a few people solve the tough Puzzler/Conceptis ones, although preferably on fast forward since I imagine it must take a while! ;) Or maybe not when you get really good - perhaps you can see patterns in the numbers that you recognise?

Re: US, UK and other world puzzle championship qualifications Saturday 21st August

JEFF LOEB — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:54:50 +0100

DOC M: A SUGGESTION, not AN ORDER, announce wpc.puzzles.com tourney in June or July....so ppl have more lead time. Like deadline is TOO LATE) :-)

I wanna find that addy 4 Wiill Shortz's American puzzle championship.

Did ya ever C "WORDPLAY" (?) A documentary on Shortz, the APC, NYT devored a clue to former prez Clinton,...
Ciao.

Re: Hitori

sue — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:30:58 +0100

For what it's worth - Hitori's leave me cold too but am with Christine's hubby on Hanjie. Love them and usually do one over a morning cuppa to start the day. SuperHanjies bore me a bit as take too long and too much counting squares. I like the hard ones in the small mags but would rather leave a hard one unfinished that look at the solution tho, Gareth. How very dare you suggest such a thing!

Viva all our differences.....

Sunday Telegraph, 29th August 2010

gareth — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:49:03 +0100

This bank holiday weekend there will be a few pages of my puzzles in the Sunday Telegraph's Seven magazine (the supplement which includes the weekly TV guide), so if you're in the UK then you might like to pick up a copy. ;) Unfortunately I imagine this supplement will not be supplied with any overseas editions of the newspaper. If you enjoy them then I'd encourage you to email or write in and say so too.

There will also be a few small puzzles of mine in the October issue of 'Glamour' mag, due out at the start of September.

Re: Sudoku Pro magazine

gareth — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:09:46 +0100

Beyond Sudoku is a Puzzler publication, appearing every other month in WHS only or by subscription.

Of course it's not a patch on Sudoku Pro or Sudoku Xtra! :)

Re: US, UK and other world puzzle championship qualifications Saturday 21st August

gareth — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:07:19 +0100

Some of the puzzles are challenging, it's true, Christine! But most of them aren't bad at all:

1) Battleships - easy
2) Sudoku - moderate; not a hard Sudoku
3) Count me in - VERY hard if you ask me!
4) Islands - very easy
5) Groundhog day - very easy; just a case of taking the time
6) Hex equation - everyone seems to have found this hard. I think it's just a case of being organised - I'd say moderate.
7) Mirror mirror - not tried it! I imagine it is logically easy but in practice very fiddly and confusing!
8) Masyu - moderate
9) Rectangle maze - you need to think about how you might construct a competition puzzle like this, then it's not too bad
10) Digitile - luck which I haven't yet had
11) Route - not very hard actually, when you consider where evens must go and think about how all squares are used
12) Takeout - easy
13) Corral - moderate; not a hard corral, but if you're not used to them you'll find it moderate
14) Sukoro - actually easy enough
15) Constant sum - not done it but apparently it is pretty easy and mostly a case of writing out some sums
16) Criss cross sums - easy; it may not look it at a glance but it is MUCH easier than it looks
17) Pentapath - hard, I think
18) Sukazu - hard, I think
19) Hex masyu - moderate, but difficult to wrap your head around!
20) X-agony - I think this is pretty hard
21) Four square - not anywhere near as hard as it appears. You need to realise that the snake must turn an even number of times per row and column, except for the start and end. This is how you solve it.

Re: US, UK and other world puzzle championship qualifications Saturday 21st August

gareth — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:00:46 +0100

Ah, I was waiting for the results to see if you'd competed Dave! Well if it makes you feel better I forgot entirely too until late on Friday night when I got an alarm I'd set on my mobile phone.

Personally I think it would be great if reminders were sent by email the day before. Sure they shouldn't be "needed", but are we really testing someone's diary skills or their puzzle solving ability?! :)

Gareth

Re: US, UK and other world puzzle championship qualifications Saturday 21st August

davmillar — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:00:51 +0100

On Saturday I literally realized that the USPC was going on when there were only 20 minutes left to submit answers. Boo :( Next year, I suppose.

Re: US, UK and other world puzzle championship qualifications Saturday 21st August

Christine — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:41:51 +0100

Hi Gareth, thanks for the link. Have been and registered and had a look at the puzzles. Believe me I have no illusions whatsoever about trying for any UK team!!!!!! I think there are only about four or five puzzles on there that I would even attempt - the masyu being the first. I've not really got into puzzles which are not of the japanese variety, and just to look at some of those made my brain hurt! On the positive side, a few years back I never did any puzzle other than standard sudoku so there's room for development!!

On another note, whilst browsing round I did find the sample puzzles for the 5th sudoku world cup in Philadelphia earlier this year and have downloaded those to try out. They look more my cup of tea. I've got the puzzle booklets from the first three sudoku championships and have managed to do quite a large selection of those (I just need MUCH more time that you get in the competition).

To go off the subject, have you seen the Christmas sudoku book by conceptis which is availale for pre-order on Amazon (picture of a reindeer on the front jmade up of overlapping sudoku grids?) Just a thought - I bet you could come up with a few Christmas shaped sudokus for the December issue of Xtra!!

Re: Sudoku Pro magazine

JEFF LOEB — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:29:27 +0100

IMO, ukpuzzles.org and wpc.puzzles.com could both have good "grist 4 the mill" for both Xtra and Pro.

Who puts out the "BEYOND SUDOKU" mag?

Re: US, UK and other world puzzle championship qualifications Saturday 21st August

Jeff Loeb — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:58:42 +0100

TIA.

Re: OOO. Very mouthwatering!!. Seen @ WHS.

Jeff Loeb — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:57:02 +0100

yep. whsmith.co.uk

I ordered that book from amazon.com. Another HBD gift for me

JL

Re: Hitori

gareth — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:34:37 +0100

I hope you're enjoying the mags Jeff - you have enough there to keep you going for a year at least I'm sure, if you try them all!

My feeling is that Hitori is not a vastly popular puzzle, but just yesterday I had an email asking for more of them on PuzzleMix (and had other recent requests) so it's not as unpopular as you (and indeed I!) might imagine...

Gareth

Re: OOO. Very mouthwatering!!. Seen @ WHS.

gareth — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:32:53 +0100

That is clearly self-published, so I presume you mean you've seen it on the WHS website? I'd be astonished if it was in-store - but fascinated to hear too! However you're in the US aren't you Jeff, so unless you're on holiday I imagine you mean the website. :)

The WHS website has no connection with the WHS stores, so far as I can see. Indeed in the past it used to literally be run by Amazon I think!

Re: US, UK and other world puzzle championship qualifications Saturday 21st August

gareth — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:28:48 +0100

Hi Christine,

The direct link is http://wpc.puzzles.com/uspc11/

You need to register but it's free and instant and I'm sure you don't need to fill in all the details if you're not interested in being selected for the US team! The UK team are also using the US test to select members.

Re: US, UK and other world puzzle championship qualifications Saturday 21st August

jeffloeb — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:02:16 +0100

guaranteed recipe 4 fun:

wpc.puzzles.com
Links
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don't 4get ukpuzzles.org
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jl