Issue 1 - favourite puzzles?

So now we have all had time to start making our way through issue 1 I thought it might be interesting to find out what our favourite puzzles are from the magazine, so what are your top 3? Mine are:-

1) Skyscraper and skyscraper sudoku
2) consecutive sudoku
3) Samurai star calcudoku

Oh and the masyu now I have learnt how to do it!!

Hello

Will now try the Masyu having read the comments (I'd ignored it till now)!

My favourites so far are:

1. Consecutive Suduko (please Gareth can we have a Samurai Star one in future issues)
2. Inequalities - they take me ages (is it just me?) but very satisfying
3. All the Samurai Star variants - Calcudoku one especially
4. Skyscrapers - only just started these but getting addicted

Quite enjoy Toroidal but they make me go cross-eyed! Would be good if the connected regions could be colour coded as per puzzlemix.

Least favs the 16x16 etc ones which I find tedious and didn't bother printing out.

Inequalities take me forever too but I agree they're satisfying to complete. I do like the 16x16 and larger ones however.

I havent tried the Skyscrapers yet but I will give them a go!

Sarah

Unfortunately I haven't had as much time as I would like to do the puzzles in Xtra. But I have worked on a few and my favorite ones are the ones Christine mentioned above because they are a real strong addition to a regular sudoku. You also cannot get these nice new ones anywhere else ... and Gareth thinks about the puzzles he makes rather than just churning them all through a computer.

I like:

• Consecutive, Skyscraper, and Samurai Star Sudokus
• Skyscraper puzzles
• Calcudokus (the big one in issue 1 had great symmetry and they are more interesting than the usual KenKen)
• Killer Sudoku and Kakuro (my favorite puzzles in general)

Hashi has been so-so for me in this issue. I feel that the ones in Puzzler are more interesting. I would like to see 3-Lane Hashi in issue 2+ ... then it would have the Gareth touch.

NumberLink I can do by eyesight alone ... while dancing to The Spinners: "Rubberband Man"
Rubberband Man (OfficeMax commercial)

Spittledung

Hashi is a tough one to make interesting, I completely agree. I need to devote more time to them to make them better - a three-way variant like I posted on my blog is a good bet, so thanks for the idea! I'm also considering a diagonal Hashi, and perhaps a diagonal AND horizontal and vertical Hashi. Now that would be confusing! Of course, there's always the toroidal option too, and I could put 'tunnels' in the grid as well...

I find Number link fascinating - making a puzzle which isn't 'obvious' but which isn't just a case of brute force searching is certainly an interesting challenge. I have lots of ideas for this type, which I think if nothing else has the advantage of being very different to all the other puzzles.

It seems everyone loves Consecutive - including me! So I will up the consecutive ante in issue 2. I'm also planning on Kropki Sudoku at some point - a mix of consecutive sudoku and a '2x neighbour' constraint. There's lots of good puzzle space to explore here, and they're all pretty straightforward for me to make.

Skyscraper is another favourite, and I should probably make my Skyscraper more 'normal' by removing unnecessary skyscraper clues from the edges. There was an interesting variant in the World Puzzle Championships recently where there was a 'missing' building in each row/column, which was ignored in the skyscraper clues - I thought this was a great twist.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2009 07:43AM by gareth.

Wanted to add another shout-out for Consecutive Sudoku! If we can have more in the next issue that would be fabulous!!

I also like the Xtra Sudoku, like tumbleweed said.

Samurai Star and Hanjie are long time favourites. It was great to see two Stars in issue 1 and the variants, although I need more practice with Skyscrapers before I tackle the SSSS! I Love Consecutive Sudoku. Generally enjoying issue 1 very much!