Unfinished puzzles?

We've already discussed our favourites, but what about those we get stuck with? With issue 3 about to come out, which puzzles in issues 1 and 2 haven't we all managed yet?

For me it's toroidal and inequality sudoku, yajilin and nurikabe. With the first two I think it's a case of not having enough patience at the moment rather than not being able to do them - I have a few numbers in each of the puzzles and have promised myself I WILL go back to them eventually and sit patiently (or impatiently) until they are done! I am glad to see them included in each issue though as it would be boring if we could do everything straight away!

The latter two are puzzles which I haven't really tried yet. That was also true of masyu a couple of months ago, but now I've got to grips with that maybe I'll have a go at mastering one of these two next month.

How about everyone else?

Toroidal and Inequality Sudoku can definitely take a while I agree! Toroidal isn't in theory any harder than regular Sudoku, but it's so much more difficult to spot valid moves!

The Yajilin and Nurikabe I put in aren't easy, but since they're pretty small they're not that hard either. They're probably quite tricky if you've never done them before, mind.

For Yajilin I nearly always include a starting point of an arrow where the given number of squares can only fit in one place, and then if you draw in "must go" line segments (remembering that shaded squares CANNOT touch, except diagonally) then often a second and then third etc arrow will have only one solution.

Sometimes in Yajilin I use arrows on the edge rows - because you can't for example place a shaded square just one square away from a corner (unless there's an arrow in the corner) these can also force shaded square placements when at a glance you might not realise this.

In my Nurikabe you typically need to notice that with 'x' squares in a region, less than 'x' can go in one direction so the difference (at least) must go in the other direction. For example if a '5' region can have none, one or two squares going down then there must be at least two going up - you can place these right away. Occasionally you will also need to remember to look for 2x2 squares that can only be reached by one region - but I only do this to resolve uniqueness; I don't design the puzzles so you start by exhaustively searching for these, but only have them in 'obvious' ways as you work through the solve. (Contrast this with inferior computer-generate Nurikabe, which often require you to spend lots of time counting which square regions can reach - no fun at all).

In both puzzles remembering that "everything must be connected" is the real key as you proceed - in Nurikabe you can often see that the shaded area must run for example around the edge of the puzzle at a particular point to keep everything connected, whilst in Yajilin you must ensure a single loop (so for example there must be an even number of line endings in all 'sealed' areas otherwise there would be a disconnected part of the loop).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2010 12:28PM by gareth.

Wow Edition 3 already - thanks Gareth - that's great but, yikes, I'm beginning to feel am behind with my homework! The temptation to abandon the Issue 2 unfinished ones for my favourites in Issue 3 is strong but I will resist (well maybe!).

I too found the toroidal and inequals quite tough last issue (2 of my favourites usually) and am grateful for the above tips on the others. I find, on some of those, I either click and find a starting point straight away or lose patience. Funny how I can sometimes pick them up again 2 days later and spot something blindingly obvious! All to do with biorythms I expect (if I knew what they were that is).

Just going to have a sneaky peak at new issue to see what delights in store then will double my endeavours to finish Issue 2 and (guilty secret) still have a few from Issue 1 which I abandoned - there I've said it now! Am I the only one I wonder. Will be very impressed to hear of anyone who has completed both issues.

Happy puzzling everyone - and another thanks to the legend who is Gareth.

If anyone has completed both issues (or even one issue actually) I will be very impressed!

Are there too many puzzles? Perhaps 120-odd is a bit intimidating, so maybe I should go for about half that - that way I'd have a lot more variety each issue too, and it would still give you an average of 2 puzzles a day to do! Sudoku Xtra currently has far more puzzles than other comparable magazines, so probably I've gone a bit crazy.

Or is monthly too often? Should it be bimonthly perhaps?


For issue 3, I think the 'Xtra Sudoku' at the end is really good fun. The diagonal is a great part of this puzzle, and the way it interacts with the 4x2 cages and even the outside sudoku clues is really nice. But it's an example of what you talk about above - first time I came to check it I got stuck pretty quickly, then I checked it again today and spotted the diagonal work-ins near the beginning pretty quickly (oops, spoiler!) and had great fun solving it. I find with puzzles more than anything else, taking a fresh look (the next day or whatever) can make a phenomenal difference!

Please carry on being crazy Gareth! I love the variety and number of puzzles. It's great to know that there is always an interesting puzzle waiting for me over a cuppa and that I won't have to ration myself in case I run out before next issue (a la the good but much inferior bi-monthly Beyond Sudoku).

Had a quick look thru Issue 3 which looks really great. the "Outside" ones look interesting but think you're being a bit stingy with consecutives (one of my top favourites)!

Thanks again

No Sue - you're not alone! I've still got some puzzles outstanding from issues 1 and 2, and it still hasn't stopped me from downloading issue 3 the minute it became available!! And like you, I've had a really good look through it, but won't be abandoning the first two issues yet. I also ordered a hard copy of each because I had so many papers lying around and it is great to keep going back to the books and filling in another one! Might get them completed in the end, although there are some I won't bother with (no disrespect to anyone, but I don't have any interest in the 20 x 20, 25 x 25 sudokus).

Yes - the brain is a funny thing - I find that if I can't complete a puzzle one day, I can often do it another day (and then again sometimes my brain will go so far and no further!)

As for the question of how many puzzles Gareth, my first reaction was one of horror to both your suggestions of cutting the number of puzzles in half, and of making the magazine bi-monthly! However, if I'm being honest I think that £2.99 is a very low price to pay for such a huge variety of puzzles of the calibre you are producing. I can imagine you might not like to increase the price in case it puts some people off buying, and of the two options I would probably prefer to have a few less puzzles each month than a bi-monthly magazine, as being a puzzle fanatic it's great to have some new ones to look forward to each month. As to what to leave out (if you must!!) for me it would probably be the smaller 6 x 6 and 8 x 8 sudokus and even the 9 x 9s as they can be found elsewhere. Definitely keep in the skyscrapers, consecutive sudokus, and all those brilliant combinations you keep coming up with!

Thanks also for the tips on nurikabe and yajiln - I intend (always full of good intentions) to get to grips with one new type of puzzle each month and this month my chosen one is going to be nurikabe!

For me, I usually get stuck on the larger Calcudokus, inequality, Jigsaw Samurai and the Killers. I used to be ok with Killers but now I've lost the plot with them a bit. Odd that. I'll be downloading and diving straight into issue 3 as soon as I get access to a printer and the unfinished puzzles of issue 2 will be popped into a folder, joining those of issue 1! I don't mind that, though. I would rather have piles of outstanding puzzles than nothing.

120 odd puzzles is not at all intimidating, Gareth! There's bound to be puzzles we don't like and therefore don't do, so the number of puzzles and variety makes sure everyone is happy.

As to going bi-monthly, I don't have any objections to that. From past experience with monthly magazines going bi-monthly the time seemed to fly by so quickly I'd hardly notice the difference, but it doesn't seem to be a popular idea!

Hello Christine - am completely in agreement on suggestions as to what could be dropped and I, too, ignore the 20x20 and larger ones. I think we must have been seperated at birth! I like the idea of tackling one new variety a month so will join you on trying out nurikabe.

Also agree that we are getting really excellent value for £2.99. Frankly, I would be happier to pay a bit more rather than go bi-monthly but probably other subscribers would disagree. Given the many hours of enjoyment Xtra gives it really is a bargain. I hope Gareth is getting sufficient subscribers to make it viable for him - I would be bereft if it stops. No other puzzle mag comes close.

I hope like me happy subscribers are spreading the word. Right, time for a coffee and first attempt at a nurikabe!

Sue, I agree with your post.

Hope you are getting to grips with the nurikabe! It does encourage you doesn't it knowing there is someone else out there doing the same thing and you can chat about it! I found a great tutorial at www.dailysudoku.com/nurikabe which takes you step by step through a puzzle. (sorry, don't know how to create a proper link - can someone tell me?!!) There is an archive of old puzzles - easy, medium and hard to have a go at! Didn't have much time last night but have managed a few of the easy ones, so that's a start. Let me know how you're getting on!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2010 07:29PM by gareth.

You select the text you want to link somewhere and then you click the picture of the world with a paperclip on to create a link. I just edited your post to make it a link. (It took me a while to work out how to do it too!)