This round was provided for this year's UKPA Open. The round was themed around arrows. I had thought of making a set themed around arrows before. There's a lot of genres that use them, so it could lead to a varied set. I gathered a lot of different genres and tried to select a set that created a significantly varied set. I think I managed to select types that used arrows in different ways. There were a few genres I had tested, that didn't end in the set as they turned out too difficult, or not very enjoyable. A few of the types turned out harder than I thought and I added an easier puzzle to that section.
The set was 75 minutes during the championship. An instruction booklet can be found here.
Puzzles can be found below.
Showing posts with label Variant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Variant. Show all posts
Friday, 12 May 2017
Friday, 29 April 2016
16th 24-Hour Puzzle Championship
The 16th 24-Hour Puzzle Championship was held in Budapest this weekend. As always the championship featured 14 puzzle sets to be solved over 24 hours, with each round lasting 100 minutes, with only 10 or 20 minute breaks in between. Neil Zussman was this year's winner with a slim 10 point lead over Robert Vollmert in second place and a 23 point lead over Michael Mosshammer in third place. Full results can be found here.
All puzzles of this championship (except round 11) can be found here. If you need an example of any of the puzzles, you can find the instruction booklets here.
I provided a set again this year. It was the 8th set to be solved between 11pm and 12:40am. The set contained 24 puzzles. It featured 12 genres, with one puzzle being a standard and one puzzle being a variant. I was originally going to include only 6 genres and two standard puzzles and two variants. I found it hard to decide on the genres to provide enough variation. I tried to keep all variations different per genre, to add to the variation in the round. I think it ended up being a good mix.
Robert Vollmert was the top scorer of the round with 810 points.
Puzzles can be found below
All puzzles of this championship (except round 11) can be found here. If you need an example of any of the puzzles, you can find the instruction booklets here.
I provided a set again this year. It was the 8th set to be solved between 11pm and 12:40am. The set contained 24 puzzles. It featured 12 genres, with one puzzle being a standard and one puzzle being a variant. I was originally going to include only 6 genres and two standard puzzles and two variants. I found it hard to decide on the genres to provide enough variation. I tried to keep all variations different per genre, to add to the variation in the round. I think it ended up being a good mix.
Robert Vollmert was the top scorer of the round with 810 points.
Puzzles can be found below
Monday, 22 February 2016
Puzzle #185: Sum Sweeper
This is the thirteenth practise puzzle for this year's UKPA Open.
I originally intended to make puzzles that required you to fill dominoes, triominoes, tetrominoes and pentominoes. But I couldn't actually find or think of any good type for everything. There probably are types that would fit the bill. So instead I just went for a simpler way and use the number 1-2 through 1-5 for the four types.
The problem was there aren't many types that use the numbers 1-2. So I cheated a bit and co-opted the Double Minesweeper genre for this purpose. A little change of name and it makes more sense. This puzzle is pretty hard and stumped some of my test solvers. But there's a really nice logic path to find through this puzzle.
Rules
Place the numbers 1 or 2 in some cells. Clues in grey cells indicate the sum of the digits in the white cells around it.
I originally intended to make puzzles that required you to fill dominoes, triominoes, tetrominoes and pentominoes. But I couldn't actually find or think of any good type for everything. There probably are types that would fit the bill. So instead I just went for a simpler way and use the number 1-2 through 1-5 for the four types.
The problem was there aren't many types that use the numbers 1-2. So I cheated a bit and co-opted the Double Minesweeper genre for this purpose. A little change of name and it makes more sense. This puzzle is pretty hard and stumped some of my test solvers. But there's a really nice logic path to find through this puzzle.
Rules
Place the numbers 1 or 2 in some cells. Clues in grey cells indicate the sum of the digits in the white cells around it.
Example
Puzzle
Thursday, 11 February 2016
Puzzle #180: Slitherlink; Filled Loop
This is the eighth practise puzzle for this year's UKPA Open.
This is what I feel is another inherently hard type. So I tried to at least create a few openings that were all based on purely Slitherlink logic. there is a point in the end usually where you aren't as free in choosing your Slitherlink clues as you still need to fit in all pentominos. I think in the end this one gets a bit harder, but if you take into account the "no three can meet" rule, you should still be able to work through.
Rules for Slitherlink
In this Slitherlink the loop has to be completely filled with the given pentominos. Each pentomino must be used exactly once. They may be rotated and reflected. Pentominos may only touch each other by a single edgNowhere do three or more pentominos meet at a point.
This is what I feel is another inherently hard type. So I tried to at least create a few openings that were all based on purely Slitherlink logic. there is a point in the end usually where you aren't as free in choosing your Slitherlink clues as you still need to fit in all pentominos. I think in the end this one gets a bit harder, but if you take into account the "no three can meet" rule, you should still be able to work through.
Rules for Slitherlink
In this Slitherlink the loop has to be completely filled with the given pentominos. Each pentomino must be used exactly once. They may be rotated and reflected. Pentominos may only touch each other by a single edgNowhere do three or more pentominos meet at a point.
Example
Puzzle
Tuesday, 9 February 2016
Puzzle #178: Tapa; Triomino
This is the sixth practise puzzle for this year's UKPA Open.
In my TVC practise series, I have become pretty proficient in writing Tapa variants. Usually my puzzles are on the harder side. Thus is won't be overly surprising that this is also a bit of a harder puzzle. This puzzle has a single opening and it's important to find it as I don't think there is any other way through it.
Rules for Tapa
In this Tapa, you must be able to divide the wall into the given triominos.
In my TVC practise series, I have become pretty proficient in writing Tapa variants. Usually my puzzles are on the harder side. Thus is won't be overly surprising that this is also a bit of a harder puzzle. This puzzle has a single opening and it's important to find it as I don't think there is any other way through it.
Rules for Tapa
In this Tapa, you must be able to divide the wall into the given triominos.
Example
Puzzle
Monday, 8 February 2016
Puzzle #177: Nurikabe; Domino
This is the fifth practise puzzle for this year's UKPA Open.
This section came about because I wanted to include some common types, while still falling within the theme. I was familiar with three variants of common type that required division into polyominos. So this was easily collected.
I haven't seen that many Domino Nurikabes, so my first go was just checking out what I could do with the genre. The opening was pretty quickly set up. The middle and end game was where it gets tricky. It all works out logically, but it's not too obvious on first sight. It took a while to get the wall to behave properly.
Rules for Nurikabe
In this Nurikabe, you must be able to partition the stream into non-overlapping dominoes.
This section came about because I wanted to include some common types, while still falling within the theme. I was familiar with three variants of common type that required division into polyominos. So this was easily collected.
I haven't seen that many Domino Nurikabes, so my first go was just checking out what I could do with the genre. The opening was pretty quickly set up. The middle and end game was where it gets tricky. It all works out logically, but it's not too obvious on first sight. It took a while to get the wall to behave properly.
Rules for Nurikabe
In this Nurikabe, you must be able to partition the stream into non-overlapping dominoes.
Example
Puzzle
Sunday, 10 January 2016
Puzzle #172: Tapa; Circled
This is the last of three posts with new Tapa variants for the TVC.
The last variant is Circled Tapa. It is based on Black and White Snake. As there is already a Black and White Tapa, I couldn't go with that name. My second thought was Dotted Tapa, but then I remembered Prasanna's Dotted Tapas. So lastly I settled on Circled Tapa, by just changing the wording of the rules. The variant here is that the Tapa wall is built up of alternating black and white circles. The clues indicate how many circles of a particular colour there are around it, instead of the number of coloured cells.
In this Tapa the wall is made up of alternating black and white circles. There are black and white clue cells. White clue cells indicate the amount of white circles in the orthogonally connected sections of the wall around that cell. Black clue cells indicate the amount of black circles in the orthogonally connected sections of the wall around that cell. Each digit indicates a section of at least length 1.
The last variant is Circled Tapa. It is based on Black and White Snake. As there is already a Black and White Tapa, I couldn't go with that name. My second thought was Dotted Tapa, but then I remembered Prasanna's Dotted Tapas. So lastly I settled on Circled Tapa, by just changing the wording of the rules. The variant here is that the Tapa wall is built up of alternating black and white circles. The clues indicate how many circles of a particular colour there are around it, instead of the number of coloured cells.
In this Tapa the wall is made up of alternating black and white circles. There are black and white clue cells. White clue cells indicate the amount of white circles in the orthogonally connected sections of the wall around that cell. Black clue cells indicate the amount of black circles in the orthogonally connected sections of the wall around that cell. Each digit indicates a section of at least length 1.
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Saturday, 9 January 2016
Puzzle #171: Tapa; Castle
This is the second post of three new Tapa variants for the currently ongoing TVC.
This time the variant is Castle Tapa. This variant is based on the Castle Wall genre, hence the name. It also has some similarities to No Islands Tapa. There haven't been many variants that use different coloured clues. The rule is that all black clue squares are contained within the Tapa wall and white clue squares remain outside the Tapa wall. I now realise this is the exact opposite from Castle Wall, but I don't think it matters. The puzzle turned out well, in my opinion.
Rules for Tapa
This Tapa has black and white clue cells. White clue cells must always be outside the Tapa wall. You must always be able to reach the edge of the grid from them by travelling horizontally and vertically through uncoloured cells and/or clue cells. Black clue cells must always be inside the Tapa wall. You must not be able to reach the edge of the grid from them by travelling horizontally and vertically through uncoloured cells and/or clue cells.
This time the variant is Castle Tapa. This variant is based on the Castle Wall genre, hence the name. It also has some similarities to No Islands Tapa. There haven't been many variants that use different coloured clues. The rule is that all black clue squares are contained within the Tapa wall and white clue squares remain outside the Tapa wall. I now realise this is the exact opposite from Castle Wall, but I don't think it matters. The puzzle turned out well, in my opinion.
Rules for Tapa
This Tapa has black and white clue cells. White clue cells must always be outside the Tapa wall. You must always be able to reach the edge of the grid from them by travelling horizontally and vertically through uncoloured cells and/or clue cells. Black clue cells must always be inside the Tapa wall. You must not be able to reach the edge of the grid from them by travelling horizontally and vertically through uncoloured cells and/or clue cells.
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Friday, 8 January 2016
Puzzle #170: Tapa; Lonely
With the TVC having started again, I gave designing a few new variants a go. I find it more fun if a TVC has a few new variants in it. For the next 3 days I will post 3 new variants.
The first one is Lonely Tapa. This rule has already been in effect in one genre, namely Tapa Islands. This rule is that an orthogonally connected uncoloured area can only contain at most one clue cell. I was actually kind of surprised it wasn't already in this list as it seemed like such a simple rule. I think the puzzle worked out well.
Rules for Tapa
In this Tapa, any orthogonally connected uncoloured area can contain at most one clue cell.
The first one is Lonely Tapa. This rule has already been in effect in one genre, namely Tapa Islands. This rule is that an orthogonally connected uncoloured area can only contain at most one clue cell. I was actually kind of surprised it wasn't already in this list as it seemed like such a simple rule. I think the puzzle worked out well.
Rules for Tapa
In this Tapa, any orthogonally connected uncoloured area can contain at most one clue cell.
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Saturday, 5 April 2014
14th 24 Hour Puzzle Championship
This year I wrote a set of puzzles together with Hns Eendebak. I was a bit tight on time with a holiday and other championships that I wasn't sure if I'd be able to write everything in time. I still ran a bit late getting everything together but it was in time for the championship.
This year's championship was won by Peter Hudak. Nikola Zivanovic and Zoltan Horvath finished second and third.
There were 30 competitors total in this year's championship, of which 29 did our set. The set was a bit on the long side this year with the Michael Mosshammer from Austria being the top scorer with 695 points. It would have been better if the top scorer had about 100-150 points more. The set contained 24 puzzles in total, so I should have probably cut 2 puzzles in the end.
In this post I will be adding all the puzzles I wrote. You can find the complete set and all other sets here. If you need to see the instruction booklets for any of the set you can find them in this forum post.
Puzzles can be found below.
This year's championship was won by Peter Hudak. Nikola Zivanovic and Zoltan Horvath finished second and third.
There were 30 competitors total in this year's championship, of which 29 did our set. The set was a bit on the long side this year with the Michael Mosshammer from Austria being the top scorer with 695 points. It would have been better if the top scorer had about 100-150 points more. The set contained 24 puzzles in total, so I should have probably cut 2 puzzles in the end.
In this post I will be adding all the puzzles I wrote. You can find the complete set and all other sets here. If you need to see the instruction booklets for any of the set you can find them in this forum post.
Puzzles can be found below.
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Czech Team Puzzle Championship
In the weekend of 7-8 September, the Czech Sudoku and Puzzle Teams Championships were held. The championship was held in Brno. The teams competed in a number of team and individual rounds over the weekend. The Sudoku event was won by the team of Michaela Bieliková, Matúš Demiger, Zuzana Hromcová and Jakub Ondroušek. The puzzle event was won by the Hungarian team of Zoltan Horvath, Pal Madarassy, Major Boglár and Zoltan Nemeth. Full results can be found here.
All Sudokus and puzzles of the championship can be found here. I also provided some of the Sudokus and puzzles for that event. This post will contain all my puzzles.
All my puzzles featured in a single round, together with 2 other puzzles. I hadn't written these puzzles to be a complete round and just wrote a number of different puzzles. It was Karel's idea to use them all together. I chose to write a number of common puzzle types, a number of uncommon and a number of variants of common types. So it's a good mix of puzzles to be featured in a single round. They are mostly puzzle types I had written before, so I knew what to do with them. I'm happy how they turned out and think it was a good mix of easy and hard puzzle.
Puzzles can be found below.
All Sudokus and puzzles of the championship can be found here. I also provided some of the Sudokus and puzzles for that event. This post will contain all my puzzles.
All my puzzles featured in a single round, together with 2 other puzzles. I hadn't written these puzzles to be a complete round and just wrote a number of different puzzles. It was Karel's idea to use them all together. I chose to write a number of common puzzle types, a number of uncommon and a number of variants of common types. So it's a good mix of puzzles to be featured in a single round. They are mostly puzzle types I had written before, so I knew what to do with them. I'm happy how they turned out and think it was a good mix of easy and hard puzzle.
Puzzles can be found below.
Thursday, 14 February 2013
Puzzle #157: Tapa Special
As I've mentioned before, each year I make a special puzzle for my girlfriend for our anniversary. Earlier examples include my Quattro Stagione and LITS Cube puzzles. This year I went for a big Tapa puzzle. It's her favourite puzzle type, so I thought I'd have a go at it. It was an ambitious project that didn't go without its problems. The first draft ended up having about 8 errors in various places. I eventually removed all but one when I had it tested, which brought about one last bad deduction on my part, which I had missed. Eventually I got it fixed and this is the result. My girlfriend is currently still working on it, but she gave permission to share it with you today.
I've made it available as a PDF through Google docs. This is because I'd advice printing it and I scaled it down in the pdf so it prints easily. It also includes all rules and the layout, to make the solving easier. It's a challenging puzzle and I think it helps being able to visualise the whole puzzle.
Below will be the same information as in the PDF, for anyone preferring to solve it on the computer. This includes a full size image. If there are any questions about the rules, please feel free to ask.
I've made it available as a PDF through Google docs. This is because I'd advice printing it and I scaled it down in the pdf so it prints easily. It also includes all rules and the layout, to make the solving easier. It's a challenging puzzle and I think it helps being able to visualise the whole puzzle.
Below will be the same information as in the PDF, for anyone preferring to solve it on the computer. This includes a full size image. If there are any questions about the rules, please feel free to ask.
Monday, 31 December 2012
Puzzle #150: Lighthouses
Happy New Years Japan, South Korea and the rest of Australia
I tried a whole bunch of puzzle variants for the number 3. Slitherlink, Corral, Tren and Minesweeper were a few of the puzzle types. As I already had enough Loop Puzzles and not really any placement puzzles, I tried to find a genre that might work. Lighthouses was one of these puzzle types. The puzzle isn't very special, but I think it turned out okay.
This is an easy puzzle, probably the easiest in the set. Shouldn't take people too much time.
3 - Lighthouses
Place a number of 1 cell ships in the grid, so that no two ships touch eachother, not even diagonally. There are a few lighthouses in the grid. The lighthouses can see horizontallyand vertically. The numbers indicate how many ships can be seen in all four directions. No ships can touch the lighthouses, not even diagonally. Squares with water can't contain any ships.
I tried a whole bunch of puzzle variants for the number 3. Slitherlink, Corral, Tren and Minesweeper were a few of the puzzle types. As I already had enough Loop Puzzles and not really any placement puzzles, I tried to find a genre that might work. Lighthouses was one of these puzzle types. The puzzle isn't very special, but I think it turned out okay.
This is an easy puzzle, probably the easiest in the set. Shouldn't take people too much time.
3 - Lighthouses
Place a number of 1 cell ships in the grid, so that no two ships touch eachother, not even diagonally. There are a few lighthouses in the grid. The lighthouses can see horizontallyand vertically. The numbers indicate how many ships can be seen in all four directions. No ships can touch the lighthouses, not even diagonally. Squares with water can't contain any ships.
Puzzle #148: Tapa; Make Room for Pentapa
Happy New Years Samoa and New Zealand.
The number 5 again had to be a pentomino puzzle for me. Last year's comined it with Nurikabe, where this puzzle combines it with Tapa. Other variants like Pentapa and Tapa Pentapool didn't really lend itself well for all 5 clues, but the added region constraint for Pentapa made it easier. I think it worked out well in the end and fits in well with the 5 theme this way.
This puzzle is again medium/hard. There's 2 important steps in the design, although the genre is pretty restrictive, so there might be other ways to the solution.
Rules for Tapa
Follow normal Tapa rules. Additionally, the Tapa wall is made up of 11 of the 12 pentominos (as the P-pentomino breaks a Tapa rule). Each blackbordered region contains exactly one pentomino.
The number 5 again had to be a pentomino puzzle for me. Last year's comined it with Nurikabe, where this puzzle combines it with Tapa. Other variants like Pentapa and Tapa Pentapool didn't really lend itself well for all 5 clues, but the added region constraint for Pentapa made it easier. I think it worked out well in the end and fits in well with the 5 theme this way.
This puzzle is again medium/hard. There's 2 important steps in the design, although the genre is pretty restrictive, so there might be other ways to the solution.
Rules for Tapa
Follow normal Tapa rules. Additionally, the Tapa wall is made up of 11 of the 12 pentominos (as the P-pentomino breaks a Tapa rule). Each blackbordered region contains exactly one pentomino.
Puzzle #143: Sum Skyscrapers
This year we're starting the countdown with an easier puzzle than last year. The Killer Sudoku then was probably the hardest in the set. This time it's another sum variant, except this time it's a Skyscraper. This puzzle was again the first one I made. It was just one I made quickly about a month back and figured I should give this thing another go. I thought I might get things done in time this time, but in the end a lot of postponing and doubt on the genres to use, made me still trying to construct puzzles the last days before New Year's. I guess I work better with an imminent deadline.
The puzzle is easy/medium difficulty. Hope you enjoy it.
10 - Sum Skyscrapers
Rules for Skyscrapers
This skyscraper uses the digit 1~6. The numbers outside indicate the sum of the visible digits.
The puzzle is easy/medium difficulty. Hope you enjoy it.
10 - Sum Skyscrapers
Rules for Skyscrapers
This skyscraper uses the digit 1~6. The numbers outside indicate the sum of the visible digits.
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 |
Friday, 5 October 2012
World Puzzle Championship 2012: Round 9 Metropolis
This round features seven Skyscrapers puzzles. One standard and six variants. A few new variants and a few more common variants. I think this puzzle should be fun. I think I can do well in it.
This was my favourite round to design. That's why I designed an example of each variant. At first I was planning to do only 3, but I couldn't really choose which ones. So in the end I ended up making one of each. The Dubai puzzle is medium to hard. The normal way of thinking is changed a bit by the extra number. New York makes this even a little harder, because one cell remains empty. This increases the amount of possibilities for each clue. This puzzle is my favourite in the set. Toronto isn't that hard a puzzle. It's the most common variant in the bunch. The Sydney puzzle has very little clues and I think it worked out really nicely. Tokyo I thought would be hardest to design, but it actually went pretty well. The first try ended up correct and I think the puzzle is fun. Sao Paulo isn't too hard. I like how the idea works as it's different from other variants seen before.
Hope you enjoy them as much as I did making them.
Puzzles can be found below.
This was my favourite round to design. That's why I designed an example of each variant. At first I was planning to do only 3, but I couldn't really choose which ones. So in the end I ended up making one of each. The Dubai puzzle is medium to hard. The normal way of thinking is changed a bit by the extra number. New York makes this even a little harder, because one cell remains empty. This increases the amount of possibilities for each clue. This puzzle is my favourite in the set. Toronto isn't that hard a puzzle. It's the most common variant in the bunch. The Sydney puzzle has very little clues and I think it worked out really nicely. Tokyo I thought would be hardest to design, but it actually went pretty well. The first try ended up correct and I think the puzzle is fun. Sao Paulo isn't too hard. I like how the idea works as it's different from other variants seen before.
Hope you enjoy them as much as I did making them.
Puzzles can be found below.
Thursday, 4 October 2012
World Puzzle Championship 2012: Round 5 Black and White
This is the last individual round of the day, which is 90 minute round. The round is based around binary determination. A cell is either coloured or empty, a cell is either black or white. There's a few common puzzle types, a few new ideas and a few small variants on common puzzle types. I'm not really sure how this round will go for me as there are many types where the contrustion of the puzzle can really make a difference.
I prepared 3 new types and 2 more common types as practise puzzles. The White Pentamino puzzle is nothing spectacular but I think it's a fun solve. The no mirroring rule is not technically necessary for my puzzle. It still has the standard somewhat innate difficulty pentomino puzzles generally have. The Paint-by variants worked out really nicely in my opinion. It helped me a lot in seeing how these types work. The Tapa and Corral aren't anything spectacular. They were being very stubborn in construction and in the end I decided to just go for something simple.
Hope they are enjoyable.
Puzzles can befound below.
I prepared 3 new types and 2 more common types as practise puzzles. The White Pentamino puzzle is nothing spectacular but I think it's a fun solve. The no mirroring rule is not technically necessary for my puzzle. It still has the standard somewhat innate difficulty pentomino puzzles generally have. The Paint-by variants worked out really nicely in my opinion. It helped me a lot in seeing how these types work. The Tapa and Corral aren't anything spectacular. They were being very stubborn in construction and in the end I decided to just go for something simple.
Hope they are enjoyable.
Puzzles can befound below.
World Puzzle Championship 2012: Round 4 Easy as ABC
Here we start with the round of the first day that I expect is best suited for me. I never used to consider myself particularly strong in Easy as ABC puzzles, but the longer I've been solving online, the more I see that years of Breinbrekers practise has made me much stronger than I thought. I guess that's understandable, considering the amount of exposure I've had. The same goes for Nikoli subscribers with Nikoli genres.
This round won't feature any standard Easy as ABC puzzles though. There will be three Easy as ABC Crosswords, three Easy as ABC Snakes and three Hexagonal Easy as ABC puzzles in three different styles.
I will have an example of each of the three types. The Crossword is not difficult but pretty fun. The Snake I find the trickiest of the three genres and had some trouble constructing. The Hexagonal puzzle is my favourite of the three. Hexagonal Easy as ABC's always have far fewer clues than you'd expect. This is caused because the outside rows contain most the letters and thus there are far less solutions than a normal grid. I think these three puzzles should be fun.
Puzzles can be found below.
This round won't feature any standard Easy as ABC puzzles though. There will be three Easy as ABC Crosswords, three Easy as ABC Snakes and three Hexagonal Easy as ABC puzzles in three different styles.
I will have an example of each of the three types. The Crossword is not difficult but pretty fun. The Snake I find the trickiest of the three genres and had some trouble constructing. The Hexagonal puzzle is my favourite of the three. Hexagonal Easy as ABC's always have far fewer clues than you'd expect. This is caused because the outside rows contain most the letters and thus there are far less solutions than a normal grid. I think these three puzzles should be fun.
Puzzles can be found below.
World Puzzle Championship 2012: Round 3 Twisted Puzzles
The third round of the WPC feature a number of classic puzzle type, with a slight twist. This slight twist usually means one of the main rules of the genre is broken and can't be applied while solving till you've fixed the twist. The twists in the puzzles not featured in this post are are an Easy as ABC clue in a Skyscraper puzzle, extra numbers in a Domino puzzle, empty cells in Kakuro and Arrows puzzles, 2 touching ships in a Battleships puzzle and an incorrect clue in a Four Winds puzzle.
I opted to design a Worms, Star Battle, Ariadne's Thread, Tents and Trees and Magnets variant. These were chosen for different reasons. Worms and Ariadne's thread I had never made myself and wanted to see how they are constructed and what the impact of the extra rule was. Star Battle I saw as the most dangerous twist to make a mistake in and construction clearly showed I was right as my first 2 attempts were broken as I had messed up with the twist somewhere. The Tents and Trees isn't so much different, but it was important to get one automatic solving technique out. the Magnets was just because I like designing Magnets and that was all for my own constructing pleasure.
I hope they are enjoyable, I surely enjoyed constructing them.
Puzzles can be found below.
I opted to design a Worms, Star Battle, Ariadne's Thread, Tents and Trees and Magnets variant. These were chosen for different reasons. Worms and Ariadne's thread I had never made myself and wanted to see how they are constructed and what the impact of the extra rule was. Star Battle I saw as the most dangerous twist to make a mistake in and construction clearly showed I was right as my first 2 attempts were broken as I had messed up with the twist somewhere. The Tents and Trees isn't so much different, but it was important to get one automatic solving technique out. the Magnets was just because I like designing Magnets and that was all for my own constructing pleasure.
I hope they are enjoyable, I surely enjoyed constructing them.
Puzzles can be found below.
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