motris ([info]motris) wrote,
@ 2008-02-14 18:54:00
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Week 3 of the Sudoku Series
The puzzles are slowly creeping up in difficulty, with this the last puzzle before my "wardrobe change" (we filmed a second batch of puzzles earlier this week which will make up the last five weeks of the series). This time around, I think my approach in the discussion was a lot more thoughtful towards the solving of the puzzle than my approach during the speed race itself. Still, the solving time itself isn't so bad. The focus this time in the discussion video is on geometry, and seeing certain geometries as good points of attack in a puzzle. While this is a very obvious puzzle to target based on geometry, some others that are upcoming will point out places your eye should catch onto given patterns as well.

Puzzle #3 - by Wei-Hwa Huang


Solution Video - 2'23"

Discussion Video

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I'm enjoying your series
[info]stigant
2008-02-22 03:53 pm UTC (link)
I've always though of Sudoku like brussel sprouts. I'll eat them if I have to, but I won't like it. Using your techniques (specifically the notation) has made Sudoku taste more like lima beans or cauliflower... decent, not my first choice, and best when smothered in cheese.

I was wondering if you could talk about how you solve Sudoku on the computer (specifically, how do you make notations like in your examples using Nikoli's interface or do you just keep everything in your head?). Personally I find it faster to print out a copy and solve it with pencil, but I haven't tried too many puzzles without this crutch.

Also, how much of your notation carries over into variants like Killer Sudoku?

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Re: I'm enjoying your series
[info]motris
2008-02-22 06:35 pm UTC (link)
Depending on the difficulty of the online puzzle, I'll sometimes try to solve it noteless to improve my visualization and storage skills, or, on nikoli.com if its a hard puzzle, I'll sometimes mark the pairs with their note system. The Nikoli interface gets a lot messier though than my notes on paper.

My killer notes (like my kakuro notes) are more often identifying forced digits within a cage than serving a sudoku purpose although there is some overlap. Say I have an L-shaped 3 cell cage with a sum of 10. If I know the cage contains a 1 in only 2 of the cells, that's how I will mark it. If I get that the sum is 1+3+6 in some way, with the 1 in the long row, the 6 in the long column, and the 3 anywhere, I'd have a 1 on a line, a 6 on a line, and a very light 3 in all three cells. The extra 3 is the only thing not in my standard sudoku notes (hence why it is even lighter) but having those cages all marked is often more important than keeping notes minimal.

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