Sorry about the Skyscrapers difficulty level - I'll make sure there's a couple of easier Skyscrapers next time round! I'm not a big fan of puzzles I get stuck on for a long time, so I can see it might be a bit annoying. They are certainly harder than the earlier ones I posted on my blog, yes, so if you're just getting going those would be a good thing to look at: www.garethmoore.co.uk/category/sby gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
Futoshiki/inequality Samurai is a fantastic idea! I thought of doing something like that long ago, but never got round to it and had completely forgotten about it. So yes - I'd love to do that for issue 2! I'd better get working on that...! I had better keep the difficulty level fairly low (logic-wise) because I think following all those arrows around a large grid will be fairly crazy! Maby gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
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 'by gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
Thanks Sue! Issue 2 will be out in plenty of time for Christmas, so you'll need to have more chocolates and mince pies on stand-by! In terms of Hanidoku, I tried it once and found it quite complex - in fact I made a Hanidoku puzzle since BBC MindGames asked for a sample (they never used it). I thought it was overly-complex, or perhaps that was just me? So I could put that in the magazine siby gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
Mosaic puzzles (which are essentially Minesweeper with pictures of course) are pretty easy to make, so I could definitely do these. The Labyrinth puzzles are great fun I agree, albeit somewhat more complex to make because of the combination of Hanjie-style placement with maze-solving logic - so these will definitely go 'on the list' but I wouldn't expect to see these any time soon (definitely noby gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
Hidato puzzles are part of a class of travelling puzzles, where you have to find a route whilst obeying certain constraints. I think there's lots of scope for nice logic puzzles with pretty simple rules here, so it's a great idea! We can just change the rule over what constitutes a valid move from square to square. I'm pretty certain Hidato is a trademark, however, so they will need to haveby gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
You also raise a good point about the difficulty level - I shall put a couple of beginner's Masyu and Yajilin in the next issue to help ease people in! Maybe I can add a 'tip of the month' to some puzzles too. (And don't worry, I'll still keep the harder puzzles too! ) Incidentally in issue 1 the first Masyu is moderate and the second one is pretty tough, relative to the size of the puzzlesby gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
Spittledung's tips cover all the main starting points for Masyu. Three or more whites in a row is a great starting point, and his penultimate point is often the secret to making progress - look out for local closed loops that would be forced if the line were to go a certain way; you can eliminate these options! More generally you can count line ends: An even number of line ends 'trapped' inby gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
I've had an email request for Extra Regions Sudoku, so that's a good one for issue 2.by gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
There've been lots of ideas for what people would like to see in the magazine, both to me by email and also posted in the comments on my puzzle blog, so I thought it would be a good idea to start summarising some ideas here. If there's a type of puzzle you'd like to see, or be sure is still in issue 2 that's already in issue 1, then please post here! I'll start the ball rolling with some ideaby gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
Hi sudokufan, Issue 2 will be out by the middle of December, so even if you're ordering a printed copy you should be able to get it in time for Christmas! With 100 puzzles in issue 1 you need to average over 3 per day in order to get the whole magazine finished in time for issue 2 - which would be pretty impressive going I think, given how large some of them are! Garethby gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
Please feel free to use the subscribe button even if you already have issue 1. If you use the same email address then you'll automatically be subscribed for an extra 12 issues, not charged twice for the first issue. If you use a different email address just send me a quick note to let me know (gareth@sudokuxtra.com) and I'll make sure things work out correctly! By the time issue 2 is out I hopby gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
Here’s a list of all Sudoku puzzles in issue 1 which are larger than 9×9: 2x Samurai Star 1x Samurai Sudoku 1x Samurai Sudoku Jigsaw 1x Skyscraper Samurai Star Sudoku 1x Samurai Star Calcudoku 2x Sudoku 12×12 2x Sudoku 16×16 1x Sudoku 20×20 1x Sudoku 25×25 As you can see, that’s 12 out of 100 puzzles which are large Sudoku or large Sudoku variants, at least in issue 1. There are othby gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
Puzzle 100, the 'Xtra Sudoku', will change from issue to issue, and will be something outlandish just like the unusual mix of three different Sudoku variants all in one puzzle in the current issue. But the other puzzles in the magazine will also change too - not all of them, but I'm planning to keep the magazine fresh each month, rather than just repeating new puzzles of the existing types forby gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
It's been great to get the first issue 'out there' and to start getting feedback already - thanks ever so much for your blog postings and emails. Please do feel free to post any comments and thoughts on these forums, as well as any ideas you have for future issues.by gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
Sudoku Xtra issue 1 is now available! Check out the home page of this site (www.sudokuxtra.com) for more details. You can also order a top-quality printed copy from Amazon.com or from Lulu.com. (Lulu has printers in many countries, including the UK, so this is recommended for most people outside the US/Canada). Issue 2 is due out in a month's time - that is, mid-December 2009.by gareth - Sudoku Xtra Discussion Forum
Sudoku Xtra ©Gareth Moore 2009 - email gareth@sudokuxtra.com - get puzzles for your own publication