motris ([info]motris) wrote,
@ 2008-06-14 12:30:00
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USPC - I Drink Your Milkshake! I Drink It Up! edition
Time without triangles: ~ 1h45m
Time with all puzzles completed: ~2h14m
Time with ~full checking: ~2h27m

So I won't be writing my KakurOh after all. I was thinking it would involve clues expanding into multiple rows, but making boxes expand into multiple rows works even better. So good it is an idea I have had in my notebook since starting to write a lot of sudoku with the same quality, but not yet written in kakuro form. Kudos to that puzzle designer!

A lot of excellent puzzles - I liked the two crisscrosses tremendously (although the 40 pointer was superovervalued for me) as well as the sudon'tku. Only one noticeably undervalued puzzle with high variance: the Triangles. More later.

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Shape-Shifting
(Anonymous)
2008-06-14 07:35 pm UTC (link)
Congratulations! If I can hand in 80% of the puzzles, you frickin' better be able to get 'em all.

But I liked the title of your post more when it included "Milkshape".

J(V)Z(D)

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Re: Shape-Shifting
[info]motris
2008-06-14 08:07 pm UTC (link)
Maybe the best of my five typos in the first release. Incorrect punctuation and run-on sentences less exciting than "I Drink Your Milkshape!"

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[info]thedan
2008-06-14 07:41 pm UTC (link)
I, on the other hand, got killed by the 40-pointer... I made a lucky guess early that was panning out, then I hit a contradiction. Then I started using logic, and it appeared to support my guess, but again a contradiction, so I started from scratch, and sure enough did the same thing again, this time finishing. So I got it, but it ate up a lot of time and emotional energy.

I did everything except two differences (I made a quick run through early, found eight, and never had time to go back) and 13 through 15, none of which I ever had a chance to try. I was most concerned about the Dot Triangles going in, so sounds like my instincts are sharp. (And hey, between us, we nailed the KakurOh gimmick...)

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[info]devjoe
2008-06-14 07:41 pm UTC (link)
I guessed what the KakurOh was going to be about an hour before the test started. I was thinking of those fences puzzles they gave us a couple times in the past, and guessed it spot on. It still took me 20 minutes to finish; I don't think that having guessed this really gave me any advantage besides saving 10 seconds of shock at seeing the puzzle.

It felt like I was slow, but not as bad as some of my allergy-ridden practice sessions which were horrendous. 225, assuming no unforeseen errors. I skipped the Kuromasu the first time around after initially not making much progress, but solved it in the final 9 minutes. I wish I had taken time to do the 40-point criss-cross earlier, as I think I could have finished it in 12 to 15 minutes. I broke the black pearl but redid it correctly; no other broken puzzles.

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[info]devjoe
2008-06-14 07:44 pm UTC (link)
I started working on the triangles at U, first thought "it can only be JRU", then realized ILU or NLU, and as that had appeared to be the most promising starting point, promptly skipped it.

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[info]motris
2008-06-14 09:50 pm UTC (link)
This analysis also misses QJU. Yes, the puzzle sucks like that.

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[info]decand
2008-06-14 07:46 pm UTC (link)
Oh, that was annoying. 243, except my internet connecttion died an hour into the test and came back 10 minutes after. My official score is probably around 100.... I continued solving while running around the house trying to get connectivity back, so I didn't even attempt the 40-pointer.

Next time, I write down the emergency contact numbers beforehand....

Some great puzzles, though. I particulatly enjoyed distances, the black pearls was a fun, quick solve, and the sheep made me think a little differently than normal for a fences.

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[info]rpipuzzleguy
2008-06-14 08:06 pm UTC (link)
To the surprise of absoutely nobody.

Nice job.

259 here, until I find a wrongly entered solution, which I will. Hooray probable puzzle toy!

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[info]benevg
2008-06-14 08:10 pm UTC (link)
nicely done! :)

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First-timer blues
[info]grandpascorpion
2008-06-14 08:14 pm UTC (link)
Very impressive all, especially Mr. Motris.

I did a little worse than I expected. I spent a fargging eternity on Nebijok puzzle. I found everything but GIMSTA. My brain froze and I couldn't find it until re-did the puzzle. Oof.

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[info]electricshadow4
2008-06-14 08:15 pm UTC (link)
To make you all feel better, I had a miserable 111 ... the "miserable" is more relating to the fact that my printer was half-broken (didn't print dashed line) and took me 10 minutes to get working even that well, none of my pencils had working erasers, and I frankly just don't solve puzzles well until about noon (pacific). It took like 10 minutes each for the battleships and the sum figure at the beginning.

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Same as it ever was, same as it ever was...
[info]byronosaurusrex
2008-06-14 08:41 pm UTC (link)
Maximum: 317.
Probable, assuming I made a mistake at some point: 282-297.

I finished solving the Corral 5 seconds after the end of the test, but since I was in a rush when I solved it, I didn't want to take a definite 10-point penalty with potential for another 5 if I made an error (or nullifying the rest of the points for solving it if double-checking it took me into the next minute.) I probably need to buy a new printer, since the minute and a half cradle mechanism errors cost me hurt my best shot at a 300+ score yet.

Unsolved: Three differences and the triangles, which I recognized would not be playing to my strengths.

Stress factor: 7.5 out of 10. I attribute this to my typical USPC game plan, which is not a very sensible one: If I reach a point in a puzzle where I don't feel there's potential to maintain a reasonable tempo, I change puzzles. This leads to a point (around 75-90 minutes in) where I realize that I have approximately 6-8 puzzles solved and another 10-12 in various states of partial-solution, and the puzzles I have solved so far are worth about 100 points total. Such are the perils of solving by inertia.

The Sudon'tku really threw me for a loop on first attempt when I realized that I had misread Thomas's preview comments and made some bad assumptions. Fortunately, I got the hang of it pretty quickly on my second try, although it still felt like the most demanding solve on the test. I'd rate it as my favorite though, since it was demanding in all the right ways.

As opposed to the Ampers& criss-cross, in which I used good rational solving and base puzzling instincts in approximately a 70-30 mixture. A very good puzzle, albeit one that I didn't really take the time to savor due to being preoccupied with trying to force my way to the 40 points involved (particularly since I began it near the halfway/100-point mark). The other criss-cross was a very nicely light but firm challenge which served well to warm me up for the Ampers&.

KakurOh was probably the most enjoyable puzzle for me, since the variation made for enough change to leave me somewhat disoriented at first approach and still not so much that I couldn't get into a good kakuro groove.

And when I get into a good kakuro groove, I'm going to be pretty content at the end irregardless of my result.

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Re: Same as it ever was, same as it ever was...
[info]motris
2008-06-14 08:44 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, even my thought on it was wrong so I apologize on the SuDON'TKu preview. I thought you'd pack an 8x8 jigsaw and then pull out 8 digits and make them 9's. But this means the row/column/box of the missing things all intersects. This one is better than that.

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