This is the second part of the TVC XVIII practise set. This took a bit longer to prepare. Certain puzzles didn't want to become unique. Especially the Different Tapa took a while to construct. I think the average difficulty of this bunch is a bit higher that the previous part. This is partly because it contains more new genres, so it will take a bit of discovering the new knowledge in the variants.
The first puzzle is a Different Tapa. I took a bit of time to find a nice workable layout that didn't use the same shapes as the WPC puzzle and Robert Volmert's puzzle. I think layout looks nice and gave me enough room to place clues, while the shapes do interact. It took me a while to write this puzzle as I couldn't find a way to make it both unique and having a solution. In the end I managed to move 2 clues around, which finally made it unique. It's a tricky puzzle and you'll need to use the shape from early on in the solve to make progress.
The second puzzle is a Dissected Tapa. These are never too hard. Yin Yang is a good genre to practise for these puzzles.
The third puzzle is a Not Alone Tapa. I'm not sure about this genre. It seems very limiting as this 5 clue puzzle will show. For example, you can't have any T-shapes in the wall unless it's next to a clue cell.
The fourth puzzle is a Black Hole Tapa. I like the change that was made from the original instructions in the booklet. Having the count for the black hole and the amount of black holes both be variables can lead to completely different puzzle. I went for three black holes of value 2, which I think worked out well.
The last puzzle is a 4x4 Tapa. This puzzle somehow worked out this way with only 2 clues per 10x10 grid. There's a lot of things you need to take into account with this genre and I think this puzzle will help teach most of those things. It's important to think of the global picture to understand which deductions to make.
I hope all of this is helpful. Enjoy.
[Edit: wrong clue in Black Hole Tapa fixed]
Puzzles can be found below.
Showing posts with label LMI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LMI. Show all posts
Friday, 15 January 2016
Thursday, 14 January 2016
TVC XVIII Practise: Part 1
Here is part one of the TVC XVIII practise. It features five different variants. The second part will come out later tonight or tomorrow, depending on how much time I can find the rest of the day.
This post will contain the first five types in the instruction booklet. I managed to get through them in a nice way in order for once. Usually one type gives me some trouble.
First there is a Tapa With Borders. I decided to go for a 7x7 grid this time. I tried to avoid any wrong clues in the centre 4x4 square, so you couldn't directly work from there to find the grid.
The second puzzle is a Tapa-Like Loop. It's not really a Tapa, but it's a fun genre. The puzzle shouldn't be too hard.
The third puzzle is a Tapa LITS. This puzzle caused me the most trouble to make. I liked the layout, but it took some time to get a valid solution. Often I had areas that just wouldn't split up into tetrominos or it just wouldn't be unique. Eventually this came out.
Tapa Scrabble. I'm not much a fan of this type. Word puzzles are generally not my type anyway. I hope this puzzle is somewhat representative for the competition puzzles. I have the most doubt about this type.
Tapa Connection. This is probably the hardest puzzle in this set. This type is really restrictive. I wanted to see how far I could push it. Four clues with three pairs of letters gets you pretty close to the minimum I think for this size.
I hope the puzzles are useful. Enjoy.
Puzzles can be found below.
This post will contain the first five types in the instruction booklet. I managed to get through them in a nice way in order for once. Usually one type gives me some trouble.
First there is a Tapa With Borders. I decided to go for a 7x7 grid this time. I tried to avoid any wrong clues in the centre 4x4 square, so you couldn't directly work from there to find the grid.
The second puzzle is a Tapa-Like Loop. It's not really a Tapa, but it's a fun genre. The puzzle shouldn't be too hard.
The third puzzle is a Tapa LITS. This puzzle caused me the most trouble to make. I liked the layout, but it took some time to get a valid solution. Often I had areas that just wouldn't split up into tetrominos or it just wouldn't be unique. Eventually this came out.
Tapa Scrabble. I'm not much a fan of this type. Word puzzles are generally not my type anyway. I hope this puzzle is somewhat representative for the competition puzzles. I have the most doubt about this type.
Tapa Connection. This is probably the hardest puzzle in this set. This type is really restrictive. I wanted to see how far I could push it. Four clues with three pairs of letters gets you pretty close to the minimum I think for this size.
I hope the puzzles are useful. Enjoy.
Puzzles can be found below.
TVC XVIII Practise: Introduction
TVC XVIII is on this weekend. It will feature ten Tapa variants, five of which have not appeared in the TVC previously. These variants are Tapa LITS, Different Tapa, Not Alone Tapa, Black Hole Tapa and 4x4 Tapa.
Some examples of these new variants can be found online.
Tapa LITS:
Grandmaster Puzzles
A Cleverly Titled Logic Puzzle Blog (Streampunk/Tetra Firma)
Different Tapa:
Maybe Puzzles
This post will also contain some examples of the known variants that have featured on this blog below.
Some examples of these new variants can be found online.
Tapa LITS:
Grandmaster Puzzles
A Cleverly Titled Logic Puzzle Blog (Streampunk/Tetra Firma)
Different Tapa:
Maybe Puzzles
This post will also contain some examples of the known variants that have featured on this blog below.
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
TVC XVII Recap
The first TVC of the season is over. I finished in 8th place, finishing all puzzles with 9 seconds to spare. It wasn't my best solve, but I'm still happy with it.
I had a bit of a slow start on the Alternative Tapa. I was a bit slow utilising the letters. I could have used uniqueness to finish it quicker, but I wasn't 100% sure if it held up. It just looked that uniqueness couldn't be guaranteed otherwise.
The next puzzle that caused problems was the second Skyscrapers Tapa. That was mostly because I forgot a 6 Tapa clue always needs one of two opposite edges coloured. I was treating it as a 5 clue and didn't see the opening. I got through I okay with a guess.
Then the Star Tapa held me up a bit, but luckily my own puzzle had given me some practise with the stars I needed here.
The last puzzle that caused problems was the second Magic Tapa. It actually caused the most problems and I had to restart it. Even on the restart I couldn't solve it, by which it was time to enter the codes. I was afraid I wouldn't solve it in time. But after entering the codes, I realised I had been treating a 2 as a 3 the whole time. So I could quickly solve the end and answer the key within a minute and claim my bonus of 0.2 points.
I think I got the most use out of designing my Tapa Star and Tapa Magic puzzles. I don't know which of my example puzzles were most useful for others. The feedback on my practise puzzles is getting less over the years. I don't know if it is because people don't need or want them anymore or if it's just because they have come to expect them. Some feedback would be appreciated as it takes a bit of work to push out all ten Tapas in the few days between the instruction booklet coming out and the start of the contest.
Lastly, the secret Tapa I mentioned in Part 2. The Tapa With Borders grid is also solvable as a 10x10 classic Tapa. I realised from the design that all outside clues were completely irrelevant to the Tapa with Borders logic. So I decided to clue them so that they would make a unique Tapa with the rest of the clues. I thought it was a fun touch.
Rules for Tapa
I had a bit of a slow start on the Alternative Tapa. I was a bit slow utilising the letters. I could have used uniqueness to finish it quicker, but I wasn't 100% sure if it held up. It just looked that uniqueness couldn't be guaranteed otherwise.
The next puzzle that caused problems was the second Skyscrapers Tapa. That was mostly because I forgot a 6 Tapa clue always needs one of two opposite edges coloured. I was treating it as a 5 clue and didn't see the opening. I got through I okay with a guess.
Then the Star Tapa held me up a bit, but luckily my own puzzle had given me some practise with the stars I needed here.
The last puzzle that caused problems was the second Magic Tapa. It actually caused the most problems and I had to restart it. Even on the restart I couldn't solve it, by which it was time to enter the codes. I was afraid I wouldn't solve it in time. But after entering the codes, I realised I had been treating a 2 as a 3 the whole time. So I could quickly solve the end and answer the key within a minute and claim my bonus of 0.2 points.
I think I got the most use out of designing my Tapa Star and Tapa Magic puzzles. I don't know which of my example puzzles were most useful for others. The feedback on my practise puzzles is getting less over the years. I don't know if it is because people don't need or want them anymore or if it's just because they have come to expect them. Some feedback would be appreciated as it takes a bit of work to push out all ten Tapas in the few days between the instruction booklet coming out and the start of the contest.
Lastly, the secret Tapa I mentioned in Part 2. The Tapa With Borders grid is also solvable as a 10x10 classic Tapa. I realised from the design that all outside clues were completely irrelevant to the Tapa with Borders logic. So I decided to clue them so that they would make a unique Tapa with the rest of the clues. I thought it was a fun touch.
Rules for Tapa
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| Click to enlarge |
Friday, 1 January 2016
TVC XVII Practise: Part 2
Here's the second part of the practise puzzles for TVC XVII. I didn't have as much time to make puzzles during New Years. We also went to see the new Star Wars move today. That took up some more time. A few variants I had some trouble making, so that they would be a bit interesting. I think they should help getting used to the variants.
The first puzzle is an Alternative Tapa. It's not too hard a puzzle. I haven't found a good way to make this variant to be influential, instead of just using it to make the puzzle unique. At least it looks nice and still fun to solve.
The second puzzle is a Tapa with Borders. I thought making the size a bit smaller would make it a bit more interesting. Although a 6x6 Tapa is not very interesting. But finding the grid will take a bit longer.
The third puzzle is a TAPA LOGIC. I think this is a nice puzzle. It was at least fun to think of the logic involved here. It should be fun to solve too.
The fourth puzzle is a Make Room For Tapa. This one took a bit of effort to make. I first tried to make the rooms fit some randomly chosen clues, but I couldn't make that work. So instead I designed the rooms first and then figured out which clues would create a unique puzzle.
The fifth puzzle is a Tapa Star. This is definitely the hardest puzzle in the set. I kept coming up with puzzles without a valid Star distribution. It is easy to create a Tapa wall without a star pattern apparently. You really need to work the stars to get to the solution in this puzzle. Approach it carefully.
I hope this set is again helpful and enjoyable. Don't forget about the secret Tapa.
Puzzles can be found below.
The first puzzle is an Alternative Tapa. It's not too hard a puzzle. I haven't found a good way to make this variant to be influential, instead of just using it to make the puzzle unique. At least it looks nice and still fun to solve.
The second puzzle is a Tapa with Borders. I thought making the size a bit smaller would make it a bit more interesting. Although a 6x6 Tapa is not very interesting. But finding the grid will take a bit longer.
The third puzzle is a TAPA LOGIC. I think this is a nice puzzle. It was at least fun to think of the logic involved here. It should be fun to solve too.
The fourth puzzle is a Make Room For Tapa. This one took a bit of effort to make. I first tried to make the rooms fit some randomly chosen clues, but I couldn't make that work. So instead I designed the rooms first and then figured out which clues would create a unique puzzle.
The fifth puzzle is a Tapa Star. This is definitely the hardest puzzle in the set. I kept coming up with puzzles without a valid Star distribution. It is easy to create a Tapa wall without a star pattern apparently. You really need to work the stars to get to the solution in this puzzle. Approach it carefully.
I hope this set is again helpful and enjoyable. Don't forget about the secret Tapa.
Puzzles can be found below.
Wednesday, 30 December 2015
TVC XVII Practise: Part 1
This is the first selection of practise puzzles for the upcoming TVC XVII. I only came aware this was starting again today, so I'm trying to get all puzzles out by Friday. This post will feature the first five puzzles.
The first puzzle is a Peers Tapa. I like the idea of this variant. I always enjoy Tapas that have the same sum in symmetrical clues. This variant forces that. The puzzle turned out reasonably well. It's one of the easier practise puzzles.
The second puzzle is a Tapa Skyscrapers. The variant can drive a lot of the puzzle, so I tend to just place some random, but nice looking, Tapa clues and make the variant drive the rest of the puzzle. I think it worked out well in this puzzle. It's not an overly hard puzzle, but you have to understand how to use the variant.
The third puzzle is a Knapp Daneben Tapa. I always have trouble with 1s turning into 0s when designing Knapp Daneben puzzles. I tried to avoid the issue as much as possible. My personal goal when designing Knapp Daneben puzzles is always to try to only use valid Tapa clues and not use combinations of digits in a cell that would not be allowed in a normal Tapa.
The fourth puzzle is an Outside Tapa. The first Outside Tapa I wrote I used a lot more Tapa clues, but I went for a lower number of clues this time and have the variant drive the solve a bit more. It turns out that using more equal symbols reduces the need for clues. I think it turned out well. This is probably the hardest puzzle in this set.
The fifth puzzle is a Tapa Magic. I'm not that much a fan of this variant. I always feel I have to use too many clues, because the restrictions won't allow it to be unique otherwise. It's still a nice puzzle and shows some of the tricks in this variant.
I hope these are helpful. Enjoy.
[Edit: Tapa Skyscrapers fixed.]
Puzzles can be found below.
The first puzzle is a Peers Tapa. I like the idea of this variant. I always enjoy Tapas that have the same sum in symmetrical clues. This variant forces that. The puzzle turned out reasonably well. It's one of the easier practise puzzles.
The second puzzle is a Tapa Skyscrapers. The variant can drive a lot of the puzzle, so I tend to just place some random, but nice looking, Tapa clues and make the variant drive the rest of the puzzle. I think it worked out well in this puzzle. It's not an overly hard puzzle, but you have to understand how to use the variant.
The third puzzle is a Knapp Daneben Tapa. I always have trouble with 1s turning into 0s when designing Knapp Daneben puzzles. I tried to avoid the issue as much as possible. My personal goal when designing Knapp Daneben puzzles is always to try to only use valid Tapa clues and not use combinations of digits in a cell that would not be allowed in a normal Tapa.
The fourth puzzle is an Outside Tapa. The first Outside Tapa I wrote I used a lot more Tapa clues, but I went for a lower number of clues this time and have the variant drive the solve a bit more. It turns out that using more equal symbols reduces the need for clues. I think it turned out well. This is probably the hardest puzzle in this set.
The fifth puzzle is a Tapa Magic. I'm not that much a fan of this variant. I always feel I have to use too many clues, because the restrictions won't allow it to be unique otherwise. It's still a nice puzzle and shows some of the tricks in this variant.
I hope these are helpful. Enjoy.
[Edit: Tapa Skyscrapers fixed.]
Puzzles can be found below.
TVC XVII Practise: Introduction
It seems 2016 is again a Tapa Variations Contest and Classic Tapa Contest year. That means that I'll actually have to defend my Tapa Master title I won in 2013 instead of the coasting on the honour without little effort. The CTC will run daily over 50 days from the 2nd of January 2016 till the 22nd of February 2016. The TVC will run in four contests over weekends between the 2nd of January 2016 and the 22nd of February 2016 The first of these contests, TVC XVII, will run from the 2nd of January 2016 till the 4th of January 2016.
TVC XVII will contain 10 variations. These variations are Alternative Tapa, Tapa with Borders, TAPA LOGIC, Peers Tapa, Tapa Skyscrapers, Make Room For Tapa, Tapa Star, Knapp Daneben Tapa, Outside Tapa and Tapa Magic. These are all variations that have previously appeared in other TVCs. So for practise you can check out older TVC's. In this post I will post the puzzles I shared before as practise for older TVCs. I will also be posting new examples for all these type in other posts. I hope they will all be useful in preparation. But not too much as I'd like to be the first to successfully defend a Tapa Master title.
Puzzles can be found below.
TVC XVII will contain 10 variations. These variations are Alternative Tapa, Tapa with Borders, TAPA LOGIC, Peers Tapa, Tapa Skyscrapers, Make Room For Tapa, Tapa Star, Knapp Daneben Tapa, Outside Tapa and Tapa Magic. These are all variations that have previously appeared in other TVCs. So for practise you can check out older TVC's. In this post I will post the puzzles I shared before as practise for older TVCs. I will also be posting new examples for all these type in other posts. I hope they will all be useful in preparation. But not too much as I'd like to be the first to successfully defend a Tapa Master title.
Puzzles can be found below.
Monday, 3 March 2014
Puzzle #163: Turning Fences
The LMI Marathon puzzle that was solved during the competition was actually the second version. In the first version I put in some stuff that came naturally to me for this genre, but stumped the test solvers. That's why there was an easier second version, which still took a relatively long time for the test solvers. That was why I added the Tutorial on my blog, just so people would realise the basics that I had figured out when designing these puzzles.
Here is the first puzzle I wrote. There are a few similarities to the second puzzle as I kept the bits that were solved quickly in the first test solve in the puzzle. It has the same layout as the second puzzle. For those who hadn't figured out the layout, the givens are in the shape of 25 letters that spell out TURNING FENCES LMI MARATHON 3 in an inward clockwise spiral. The 3 shape is made up completely of 3's.
Enjoy, but take some time to get through it logically.
Rules for Turning Fences
Here is the first puzzle I wrote. There are a few similarities to the second puzzle as I kept the bits that were solved quickly in the first test solve in the puzzle. It has the same layout as the second puzzle. For those who hadn't figured out the layout, the givens are in the shape of 25 letters that spell out TURNING FENCES LMI MARATHON 3 in an inward clockwise spiral. The 3 shape is made up completely of 3's.
Enjoy, but take some time to get through it logically.
Rules for Turning Fences
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| Click to enlarge |
Monday, 17 February 2014
Tutorial: Turning Fences
This week the LMI Puzzle Marathon will start. It will run from February 21st till March 2nd. For this event I have written a Turning Fences puzzle. To prepare people a bit for a more unknown genre, I will write a tutorial about the logic behind the genre. It won't be complete, but it should be enough to tackle the upcoming puzzle. In the next days there will also be a few practise puzzles. You can also practise some of the puzzles already on my blog, but most of these are logically harder than the puzzle in the actual test. For those who happen to own Akil Oyunlari Issue #75, there are also 4 of these puzzles by my hand in there. They are logically a bit more friendly.
Tutorial below.
Tutorial below.
Thursday, 26 September 2013
TVC XVI Practise
Hello from Vancouver. Currently travelling before the WPC in Beijing. Need to be relaxed when I arrive there. Although maybe adding a small jetlag isn't totally the smartest thing. I was better located in Australia for that.
I wasn't sure if I could post any puzzles this week for the upcoming TVC XVI at Logic Master India.. I wrote a few puzzles on the plane, so I figure I'd share those. I hope they are of some use to people. Hopefully I will be able to compete in the last few days of the CTC and the last TVC. We will see. Everyone have fun at least.
There are four Tapas in this post.
The first puzzle is a Symmetric Tapa. This rule is very influential in the solve, so you really don't need many clues if you place your rectangles smartly. This one has four clues, but really shouldn't be that difficult a solve. I made it 11x11 as that way the rectangles would less likely share an edge if I placed all dots on grid points.
The second puzzle is a Toroidal Tapa. I like this variant. It's a bit trickier to design as you need to set a lot more blocks to make sure you can guide the wall where you want it to. I think this is a genre that can always use some practise, especially with looking around the edges of the grid. This puzzle is 12x12 as I liked this pattern of givens.
The third puzzle is a Transparent Tapa. This is the only genre that hasn't previously appeared on a TVC, so I figured I should at least make one of these. Although people can find a few of them on Prasanna Seshadri's blog. Oddly enough this rule change only means there is one clue that is invalid in normal Tapa. This one is also 12x12. I made an opening and then I noticed it would work more effectively in the corner of the grid. But to make a nice pattern of givens it would be better for the grid to be 12x12.
The fourth puzzle is a Alternative Tapa. This is the hardest of the four puzzles. This is not caused by the variant, as it's not overly influential in the solve. But the normal Tapa bit is pretty challenging and should give you all a bit of a challenge. Although maybe with the CTC you've had enough of those already. This one is 11x11 as it worked nicely with the TVC XVI pattern of letters.
Enjoy and have fun this weekend.
Puzzle can be found below.
I wasn't sure if I could post any puzzles this week for the upcoming TVC XVI at Logic Master India.. I wrote a few puzzles on the plane, so I figure I'd share those. I hope they are of some use to people. Hopefully I will be able to compete in the last few days of the CTC and the last TVC. We will see. Everyone have fun at least.
There are four Tapas in this post.
The first puzzle is a Symmetric Tapa. This rule is very influential in the solve, so you really don't need many clues if you place your rectangles smartly. This one has four clues, but really shouldn't be that difficult a solve. I made it 11x11 as that way the rectangles would less likely share an edge if I placed all dots on grid points.
The second puzzle is a Toroidal Tapa. I like this variant. It's a bit trickier to design as you need to set a lot more blocks to make sure you can guide the wall where you want it to. I think this is a genre that can always use some practise, especially with looking around the edges of the grid. This puzzle is 12x12 as I liked this pattern of givens.
The third puzzle is a Transparent Tapa. This is the only genre that hasn't previously appeared on a TVC, so I figured I should at least make one of these. Although people can find a few of them on Prasanna Seshadri's blog. Oddly enough this rule change only means there is one clue that is invalid in normal Tapa. This one is also 12x12. I made an opening and then I noticed it would work more effectively in the corner of the grid. But to make a nice pattern of givens it would be better for the grid to be 12x12.
The fourth puzzle is a Alternative Tapa. This is the hardest of the four puzzles. This is not caused by the variant, as it's not overly influential in the solve. But the normal Tapa bit is pretty challenging and should give you all a bit of a challenge. Although maybe with the CTC you've had enough of those already. This one is 11x11 as it worked nicely with the TVC XVI pattern of letters.
Enjoy and have fun this weekend.
Puzzle can be found below.
Friday, 13 September 2013
TVC XV Practise: Part 3ish
So, I tried today to make puzzles for the remaining three genres of TVC XV, but really nothing useful came out of it. A lot of tried openings, but in the end just a big mess of nothing useful came out of it. I could post something of the messy remnants of what were once good ideas, but I'm going I'm just going to repost the three old puzzles I have already linked in the Introduction. So for those who didn't bother clicking the many links in that post, you can at least get 3 nice puzzles to solve.
I hope everything still helped prepare people for the upcoming weekend. Enjoy and have fun.
Puzzles can be found below.
I hope everything still helped prepare people for the upcoming weekend. Enjoy and have fun.
Puzzles can be found below.
TVC XV Practise: Part 2
I was debating on whether to finish the other 3 types or posting these already, but figured I might as well post them now. I'm having some trouble designing certain variants. Both Double Back and Twopa are tricky to get right. The Twopa came together when I gave up on making the clue layout symmetric. It was just too much trouble. I will try to post the rest later today. I hope these puzzles are useful though.
The first puzzle is an Outside Tapa. I don't think this one is as nice as Serkan's puzzle from TVC VII but I think it's nice none-the-less. The variant isn't as influential in this puzzle, but has some points that should be important for the solve. But a few of the outside clues are purely to settle uniqueness.
The second puzzle is a Total False Tapa. This variant seems to always require a lot of clues. When I was done with the design I actually went out to edit the puzzle a bit, replacing multiple clues with 8's as the actual value of the clue was unnecessary, meaning that an 8 would work just as well. I think it makes the puzzle a bit nicer a solve. I think the end of the solve it trickiest.
The third Puzzle is a Twopa. It's a really tricky type to design, but I don't think the solve is particularly challenging. The main problem here is that you can't just add clues wherever you want as it might not work for both puzzles or it might not solve differently for both puzzles. But at least neither of the puzzles is solvable completely without solving the other grid.
Puzzles can be found below.
The first puzzle is an Outside Tapa. I don't think this one is as nice as Serkan's puzzle from TVC VII but I think it's nice none-the-less. The variant isn't as influential in this puzzle, but has some points that should be important for the solve. But a few of the outside clues are purely to settle uniqueness.
The second puzzle is a Total False Tapa. This variant seems to always require a lot of clues. When I was done with the design I actually went out to edit the puzzle a bit, replacing multiple clues with 8's as the actual value of the clue was unnecessary, meaning that an 8 would work just as well. I think it makes the puzzle a bit nicer a solve. I think the end of the solve it trickiest.
The third Puzzle is a Twopa. It's a really tricky type to design, but I don't think the solve is particularly challenging. The main problem here is that you can't just add clues wherever you want as it might not work for both puzzles or it might not solve differently for both puzzles. But at least neither of the puzzles is solvable completely without solving the other grid.
Puzzles can be found below.
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
TVC XV Practise: Part 1
Here are the first 4 practise puzzles for TVC XV. I will try to get the other 6 ready for tomorrow, but it can be that this week the practise puzzles come in three instalments. As always certain types cause more issues to construct than others. Especially the Twopa is pretty annoying to construct. I also had some trouble getting the No-Islands started, but I think that one turned out nice.
The first puzzle is a Hexa Tapa. I expect the puzzle in the contest to be a larger puzzle. I think in smaller size they really aren't generally very interesting, so I somewhat expect Serkan to go big and do something nice with it. I don't think this puzzle is too hard, but it isn't too bad. The two 1s on the outside were clues I'd have rather left out, but were necessary for uniqueness.
The second puzzle is a Tapa Skyscrapers. And I guess it's appropriate it's second as it's all 2s. I actually made the Kakuro-Style first and figured I could do the same with this genre. I think this one is the nicer of the two puzzles. It was at least fun to construct.
The third puzzle is a Kakuro-Style Tapa. It has the same inside clues as the Tapa Skyscrapers. I spend ages trying to construct this one, but I couldn't get it out the way I wanted it. People who are familiar with my constructing, know that I'm not all too happy with those 2 inside squares. I just liked how the opening worked and after many tries this was the nicest way to finish it.
The fourth puzzle is a No-Islands Tapa. I had some trouble getting this one started. It also took a little while to get all the constraints in correctly, so my first few tries I would realise too late that I had already broken a constraint or two. If you want to know which constraints, look a bit at the Cave/Corral/Bag genre; that should give you some ideas.
Puzzles can be found below.
The first puzzle is a Hexa Tapa. I expect the puzzle in the contest to be a larger puzzle. I think in smaller size they really aren't generally very interesting, so I somewhat expect Serkan to go big and do something nice with it. I don't think this puzzle is too hard, but it isn't too bad. The two 1s on the outside were clues I'd have rather left out, but were necessary for uniqueness.
The second puzzle is a Tapa Skyscrapers. And I guess it's appropriate it's second as it's all 2s. I actually made the Kakuro-Style first and figured I could do the same with this genre. I think this one is the nicer of the two puzzles. It was at least fun to construct.
The third puzzle is a Kakuro-Style Tapa. It has the same inside clues as the Tapa Skyscrapers. I spend ages trying to construct this one, but I couldn't get it out the way I wanted it. People who are familiar with my constructing, know that I'm not all too happy with those 2 inside squares. I just liked how the opening worked and after many tries this was the nicest way to finish it.
The fourth puzzle is a No-Islands Tapa. I had some trouble getting this one started. It also took a little while to get all the constraints in correctly, so my first few tries I would realise too late that I had already broken a constraint or two. If you want to know which constraints, look a bit at the Cave/Corral/Bag genre; that should give you some ideas.
Puzzles can be found below.
Monday, 9 September 2013
TVC XV Practise: Introduction
This weekend is TVC XV at Logicmasters India. It features five variants new to the TVC. The other five have appeared before. Many of the new variants have been posted on blogs before though. I will again try to write a practise puzzle for each variant. But here's again a collection of links to examples of these Tapa variants. If someone else knows of more exaples, feel free to add some links to them in the comments.
You will also again be able to vote for some of the variants which will appear in TVC XVI. I think this might be because some of the variants are getting a bit sketchy and Serkan wants to judge if people like the idea of certain variants or not in advance. Sometimes it's tricky to make a variant idea work, especially if you don't have any examples of it yet.
I would have found it interesting that TVC XVI would have featured a single variant as the main focus and make double variant puzzles. My best suggestion would have been Pata as that only changes what the clues indicate. So a Pata Islands or Pata Elimination is easily possible. I think that might be fun too.
Links to puzzles:
Tapa Regional:
http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/puzzle-389/
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=M201209P
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/tvc-xiv-practise-part-2.html
http://logicmastersindia.com/TVC/XIV/
Hexa Tapa:
http://oapc.wpc2009.org/archive.php?id=52
http://valezius.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/nr-992-hexa-tapa.html
Outside Tapa:
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=TVC8
Total False Tapa:
http://valezius.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/nr-989-total-false-tapa.html
http://logicmastersindia.com/TVC/IX/
http://logicmastersindia.com/TVC/X
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/tvc-ix-practise.html
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/tvc-x-practise.html
Tapa [Skyscrapers]:
http://yureklis.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/puzzle-28-tapa-skyscrapers/
http://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/puzzle-no-172-tapa-skyscrapers/
http://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/puzzle-no-316-336-polish-championship-set/
Tapa Doubleback:
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/puzzle-70-tapa-double-back.html
http://valezius.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/aa.html (without Tapa clues)
http://inabapuzzle.com/honkaku/disco.html (without Tapa clues)
Compass Tapa:
http://buyaketa.blogspot.com/2012/02/compass-tapa.html
http://mellowmelon.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/tvc12-practice.pdf
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/tvc-xii-practise-part-3.html
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=TVC12
http://yureklis.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/puzzle-10-compass-tapa/
Kakuro-Style Tapa:
http://anuragthefirst.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/kakuro-style-tapa_2575.html
http://anuragthefirst.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/kakuro-style-tapa_3.html
Twopa:
http://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/puzzle-no-111-two-pa/
http://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/puzzle-no-115-two-pa2/
You will also again be able to vote for some of the variants which will appear in TVC XVI. I think this might be because some of the variants are getting a bit sketchy and Serkan wants to judge if people like the idea of certain variants or not in advance. Sometimes it's tricky to make a variant idea work, especially if you don't have any examples of it yet.
I would have found it interesting that TVC XVI would have featured a single variant as the main focus and make double variant puzzles. My best suggestion would have been Pata as that only changes what the clues indicate. So a Pata Islands or Pata Elimination is easily possible. I think that might be fun too.
Links to puzzles:
Tapa Regional:
http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/puzzle-389/
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=M201209P
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/tvc-xiv-practise-part-2.html
http://logicmastersindia.com/TVC/XIV/
Hexa Tapa:
http://oapc.wpc2009.org/archive.php?id=52
http://valezius.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/nr-992-hexa-tapa.html
Outside Tapa:
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=TVC8
Total False Tapa:
http://valezius.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/nr-989-total-false-tapa.html
http://logicmastersindia.com/TVC/IX/
http://logicmastersindia.com/TVC/X
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/tvc-ix-practise.html
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/tvc-x-practise.html
Tapa [Skyscrapers]:
http://yureklis.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/puzzle-28-tapa-skyscrapers/
http://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/puzzle-no-172-tapa-skyscrapers/
http://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/puzzle-no-316-336-polish-championship-set/
Tapa Doubleback:
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/puzzle-70-tapa-double-back.html
http://valezius.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/aa.html (without Tapa clues)
http://inabapuzzle.com/honkaku/disco.html (without Tapa clues)
Compass Tapa:
http://buyaketa.blogspot.com/2012/02/compass-tapa.html
http://mellowmelon.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/tvc12-practice.pdf
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/tvc-xii-practise-part-3.html
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=TVC12
http://yureklis.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/puzzle-10-compass-tapa/
Kakuro-Style Tapa:
http://anuragthefirst.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/kakuro-style-tapa_2575.html
http://anuragthefirst.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/kakuro-style-tapa_3.html
Twopa:
http://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/puzzle-no-111-two-pa/
http://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/puzzle-no-115-two-pa2/
Friday, 30 August 2013
TVC XIV Practise: Part 2
This post is a bit delayed. That happens when you discover mistakes in your puzzles. I think I fixed them, but sometimes you just get stuck in a spiral of bad deductions that won't get out of your head. I hope most people will still get some use out of them though, with the late arrival.
The first puzzle is a Tapa Loop. I think this is generally a pretty smooth variant and hardly ever causes real issues. This puzzle is not very difficult and if you understand how the variant works, it should go pretty quick.
The second puzzle is a Regional Tapa. The genre is a little bit restrictive in design but I had fun working with it. I did have a problem where I apparently can't count and had to change some of the regions because one region had one cell too many coloured.
The third puzzle is a Cyclic Tapa. Good for people who like classic Tapa as all deductions are like normal. Some clues just have to work for two grids instead of one. I made a stupid error in construction where I placed one pair of copied clues in different squares. But as the rules don't state they have to be in the same square I think this is still a valid puzzle. It would just look nicer. I like how it turned out. I should, it took me ages to get one out that was a bit interesting.
The fourth puzzle is a Pentapa. I always like puzzles with pentominoes, this one is no different. Certain pentominoes are more easily formed by a Tapa wall. These you can usually deduce pretty quickly and then have to try to avoid for the rest of the solve. The Tapa element still comes forward enough though and it's not just playing with pentominoes.
The fifth puzzle is a Elimination Tapa. This was the one that had the biggest error. I changed one of the digits to make a clue work, except that ruined the deductions of a lot of other clues, so had to fix that. It was luckily not the worst fix. I think it's still a nice puzzle. Good practise for bordering clues.
I hope practising all puzzles will help people in the upcoming TVC XIV. Enjoy.
Puzzles can be found below
The first puzzle is a Tapa Loop. I think this is generally a pretty smooth variant and hardly ever causes real issues. This puzzle is not very difficult and if you understand how the variant works, it should go pretty quick.
The second puzzle is a Regional Tapa. The genre is a little bit restrictive in design but I had fun working with it. I did have a problem where I apparently can't count and had to change some of the regions because one region had one cell too many coloured.
The third puzzle is a Cyclic Tapa. Good for people who like classic Tapa as all deductions are like normal. Some clues just have to work for two grids instead of one. I made a stupid error in construction where I placed one pair of copied clues in different squares. But as the rules don't state they have to be in the same square I think this is still a valid puzzle. It would just look nicer. I like how it turned out. I should, it took me ages to get one out that was a bit interesting.
The fourth puzzle is a Pentapa. I always like puzzles with pentominoes, this one is no different. Certain pentominoes are more easily formed by a Tapa wall. These you can usually deduce pretty quickly and then have to try to avoid for the rest of the solve. The Tapa element still comes forward enough though and it's not just playing with pentominoes.
The fifth puzzle is a Elimination Tapa. This was the one that had the biggest error. I changed one of the digits to make a clue work, except that ruined the deductions of a lot of other clues, so had to fix that. It was luckily not the worst fix. I think it's still a nice puzzle. Good practise for bordering clues.
I hope practising all puzzles will help people in the upcoming TVC XIV. Enjoy.
Puzzles can be found below
Thursday, 29 August 2013
TVC XIV Practise: Part 1
I was hoping to post these a little bit earlier, but construction of a few puzzles caused more trouble than planned. I tried to make a puzzle for all types not provided in the introduction, except I couldn't get the Cyclic Tapa to go. I tried to make it 10x10, except I might go for a smaller size to at least have something out. So instead I added a Tapa Turns to this part. The remaining five types will hopefully be out tonight or Friday morning Canberra time.
The first puzzle is a Tapa Clones. This variant allows you to only use five different clues, three of which obey this rule under normal Tapa conditions. So the influence doesn't seem to be very great, but I think it worked out okay in this puzzle.
The second puzzle is a Tapa Turns. I think it worked out pretty well. You can make the "turns" clues be very influential as the no 2x2 squares rule restricts how the clues can work.
The third puzzle is a Wordic Tapa. It's a bit of a tricky puzzle to make. The fact that 4 can be a 0 always is annoying and made the construction tricky. There were a number of times where I had to scrap a puzzle because I had missed alternate solutions where a 4 would turn into a 0 instead of 4 or 5. It could be that the actual TVC puzzle uses a different language and thus the clues don't correspond to the same digits.
The fourth puzzle is a Tapa or not Tapa. A lot of the clues end up having to be coloured. Probably possible to make a puzzle where every clue ends up getting coloured. I think it might sometimes be too easy that a clue can just get coloured as colouring wouldn't do anything to make the solution invalid, instead of having to deduce why it can't be valid. I think it worked out okay, even though I had to sacrifice symmetry for uniqueness.
The fifth puzzle is a Tapa in the Cave. The variant doesn't allow for clues over 3 and 3 clues are a bit more restrictive than normal. The variant seems pretty fun, even though I didn't particularly like the idea at the start. But that seems to more often happen with Zoltan's variant ideas. I had tried a similar idea too before, but couldn't get it out in an interesting way so never posted the puzzle. The puzzle has clue that ruins symmetry, but it was necessary for uniqueness. I couldn't add a clue symmetrically as that would be a valid clue if one was placed there.
Puzzles can be found below.
The first puzzle is a Tapa Clones. This variant allows you to only use five different clues, three of which obey this rule under normal Tapa conditions. So the influence doesn't seem to be very great, but I think it worked out okay in this puzzle.
The second puzzle is a Tapa Turns. I think it worked out pretty well. You can make the "turns" clues be very influential as the no 2x2 squares rule restricts how the clues can work.
The third puzzle is a Wordic Tapa. It's a bit of a tricky puzzle to make. The fact that 4 can be a 0 always is annoying and made the construction tricky. There were a number of times where I had to scrap a puzzle because I had missed alternate solutions where a 4 would turn into a 0 instead of 4 or 5. It could be that the actual TVC puzzle uses a different language and thus the clues don't correspond to the same digits.
The fourth puzzle is a Tapa or not Tapa. A lot of the clues end up having to be coloured. Probably possible to make a puzzle where every clue ends up getting coloured. I think it might sometimes be too easy that a clue can just get coloured as colouring wouldn't do anything to make the solution invalid, instead of having to deduce why it can't be valid. I think it worked out okay, even though I had to sacrifice symmetry for uniqueness.
The fifth puzzle is a Tapa in the Cave. The variant doesn't allow for clues over 3 and 3 clues are a bit more restrictive than normal. The variant seems pretty fun, even though I didn't particularly like the idea at the start. But that seems to more often happen with Zoltan's variant ideas. I had tried a similar idea too before, but couldn't get it out in an interesting way so never posted the puzzle. The puzzle has clue that ruins symmetry, but it was necessary for uniqueness. I couldn't add a clue symmetrically as that would be a valid clue if one was placed there.
Puzzles can be found below.
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
TVC XIV Practise: Introduction
Upcoming weekend will be TVC XIV on Logicmasters India. I'll be trying to write an example of each puzzle type like last year. I missed TVC XIII as I was a bit late realising it would start and had other puzzles to write at that moment. Puzzles will be posted over the next few days.
I'm using this post to direct you to some of the previous examples of some of the variants used.
Tapa Loop:
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=TVC13
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=M201207P
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/lmi-practise-logiraces.html
http://yureklis.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/puzzle-43-tapa-loop/
Tapa Turns:
http://anuragthefirst.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/tapa-turns.html
Tapa [Regional]:
http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/puzzle-389/
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=M201209P
Pentapa:
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=TVC7
Elimination Tapa:
http://chaosatthesky.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/deception-5/
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=M201305P
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/puzzle-11-tapa-cross-out.html
I'm using this post to direct you to some of the previous examples of some of the variants used.
Tapa Loop:
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=TVC13
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=M201207P
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/lmi-practise-logiraces.html
http://yureklis.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/puzzle-43-tapa-loop/
Tapa Turns:
http://anuragthefirst.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/tapa-turns.html
Tapa [Regional]:
http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/puzzle-389/
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=M201209P
Pentapa:
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=TVC7
Elimination Tapa:
http://chaosatthesky.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/deception-5/
http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=M201305P
http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/puzzle-11-tapa-cross-out.html
Saturday, 16 March 2013
Daily League Sudoku #8: Sum Sandwich Sudoku
Next week will be Richard Stolk's third LMI Sudoku test. The test is named V2V or Variations to Variations. It features 14 Sudoku puzzles, which consist of 7 Sudoku Variants and a variation of each. This week's Sudoku will be one of the V2V puzzle types.
I've chosen Sum Sandwich Sudoku as this week's puzzle type. I was debating between Rank Killer Sudoku and Sum Sandwich Sudoku, but I feel I generally design better Sudokus with outside clues. That's why I chose Sum Sandwich Sudoku. My first thought was to see if I could make one without any inside clues. But to set that up I was doing a lot of analysis of the interaction between clues, which I figure was making it a bit too hard. So I figured I'd probably better just make a more solvable Sudoku. So I set up the nice diagonal line of clues and started with the design. It still turned out a bit on the harder side, even though the all numbers are given did lead to a few unintended outside clues. But they don't ruin the opening, so I'm happy with the result. Enjoy.
It is now also possible to solve the Daily League puzzles on SudokuCup. The puzzles will appear there one day after they appear in the group and on the respective blogs.
A recap of the last week of the Daily League: Seungjae Kwak's Odd Sudoku, Fred Stalder's Diagonally Non-Consecutive Sudoku, Prasanna Seshadri's Galloping Horses Sudoku, Bastien Vial-Jaime's Figures Sudoku, Rishi Puri's Anti-Knight Sudoku and Tom Collyer's Diagonal Sudoku.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku for each row and column all digits are given that are sandwiched by two digits whose sum is equal to itself.
I've chosen Sum Sandwich Sudoku as this week's puzzle type. I was debating between Rank Killer Sudoku and Sum Sandwich Sudoku, but I feel I generally design better Sudokus with outside clues. That's why I chose Sum Sandwich Sudoku. My first thought was to see if I could make one without any inside clues. But to set that up I was doing a lot of analysis of the interaction between clues, which I figure was making it a bit too hard. So I figured I'd probably better just make a more solvable Sudoku. So I set up the nice diagonal line of clues and started with the design. It still turned out a bit on the harder side, even though the all numbers are given did lead to a few unintended outside clues. But they don't ruin the opening, so I'm happy with the result. Enjoy.
It is now also possible to solve the Daily League puzzles on SudokuCup. The puzzles will appear there one day after they appear in the group and on the respective blogs.
A recap of the last week of the Daily League: Seungjae Kwak's Odd Sudoku, Fred Stalder's Diagonally Non-Consecutive Sudoku, Prasanna Seshadri's Galloping Horses Sudoku, Bastien Vial-Jaime's Figures Sudoku, Rishi Puri's Anti-Knight Sudoku and Tom Collyer's Diagonal Sudoku.
Rules for Sudoku
In this Sudoku for each row and column all digits are given that are sandwiched by two digits whose sum is equal to itself.
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| Click to enlarge |
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Puzzle #139: ABC Decoder
This weekend is the Word Show test on Logic Master India, written by Nikola Zivanovic. It features 12 different puzzle types which all involve words. It includes standard puzzles types like Scrabble and Word Search, but also common puzzle types featuring words, like Word Nurikabe, Full Tapa and Sigma Snake. there are a few examples of some types on my blog. There's a Full Tapa in my TVC XI practise set, a Snail's Nest in my European Championship set (although the actual one will probably be more like the one featured at this year's USPC) and a Word Nurikabe from last year's 24 Hour Puzzle Championship, which I haven't seen anywhere else.
Today's puzzle will be an ABC Decoder. It's a type I always really enjoy. Part of the reason is that Richard Stolk always makes really nice ones. These feature often in Breinbrekers. They always have some nice theme going on in the words. I've made a few of these puzzles before, one of them featured in my LMI Hybrids test. It was made a bit easier so it would be more suitable for a puzzle competition. This puzzle features all puzzle genres. It is most likely harder than the one that will feature on the test, but it will still be good practise on how to solve these types of puzzles.
Rules:
Every letter is encoded with a different integer from 1~26. In the given set of Puzzle Genres all letters occur except the letter Q. The numbers behind the words indicate the sum of the value of each letter in each word. Determine the value of all letters.
Today's puzzle will be an ABC Decoder. It's a type I always really enjoy. Part of the reason is that Richard Stolk always makes really nice ones. These feature often in Breinbrekers. They always have some nice theme going on in the words. I've made a few of these puzzles before, one of them featured in my LMI Hybrids test. It was made a bit easier so it would be more suitable for a puzzle competition. This puzzle features all puzzle genres. It is most likely harder than the one that will feature on the test, but it will still be good practise on how to solve these types of puzzles.
Rules:
Every letter is encoded with a different integer from 1~26. In the given set of Puzzle Genres all letters occur except the letter Q. The numbers behind the words indicate the sum of the value of each letter in each word. Determine the value of all letters.
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Puzzle #134: Fillomino; Liar
This weekend is the Fillomino Filia 2 test on Logic Masters India. The test is written by Grant Fikes and Palmer Mebane. It's a repeat of last year's Fillomino Filia test and will feature 4 classic Fillomino puzzles, 2 variants from last year's test and 2 puzzles each of 6 new variants. There are preview puzzles posted of the different types on their blogs.
I like Fillomino puzzles. I haven't always liked them though. The first time I came across them I had a lot of trouble with them. It was because I then solved it purely by filling in numbers. Now I mostly go by dividing the grid along the grid lines, which makes it much easier for me to see everything.
I hadn't previously posted any fillomino puzzles. It was mostly because I couldn't get any of the variants to work nicely. For this test I figured I'd give it another go. I constructed a Liar Fillomino as that was the variant I suspect would cause me the most trouble in solving as the interaction was more tricky than in Slitherlink because of the bigger number set. This puzzle is tricky. There's a point after the opening where there's a tricky step to make progress. For overall difficulty it's leaning towards the hard puzzle in the test, which is rated at 16 points/minutes.
I made a new template for this puzzle type with dashed lines. You can still colour the cells in paint as the white in the dashed lines differs slightly from the background of the squares.
Rules for Fillomino
Follow regular Fillomino rules. Additionally, in each row and column exactly one of the clues is wrong.
I like Fillomino puzzles. I haven't always liked them though. The first time I came across them I had a lot of trouble with them. It was because I then solved it purely by filling in numbers. Now I mostly go by dividing the grid along the grid lines, which makes it much easier for me to see everything.
I hadn't previously posted any fillomino puzzles. It was mostly because I couldn't get any of the variants to work nicely. For this test I figured I'd give it another go. I constructed a Liar Fillomino as that was the variant I suspect would cause me the most trouble in solving as the interaction was more tricky than in Slitherlink because of the bigger number set. This puzzle is tricky. There's a point after the opening where there's a tricky step to make progress. For overall difficulty it's leaning towards the hard puzzle in the test, which is rated at 16 points/minutes.
I made a new template for this puzzle type with dashed lines. You can still colour the cells in paint as the white in the dashed lines differs slightly from the background of the squares.
Rules for Fillomino
Follow regular Fillomino rules. Additionally, in each row and column exactly one of the clues is wrong.
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| Click to enlarge |
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