Search found 524 matches

by dickoon
Mon 19 Feb, 2024 5:50 pm
Forum: General Puzzle Discussions
Topic: The British Federation of Mathematical Games
Replies: 3
Views: 1764

Re: The British Federation of Mathematical Games

A friend points to the date and time of the 2024 UK event: "The 2024 final of the Logic and Mathematical Games will take place on the campus of Coventry University, CV1 2JH, on Saturday, 25th May 2024, from 1pm to 4pm (time and number of problems vary by category). The schedule for May 25th is:...
by dickoon
Mon 22 May, 2023 7:59 pm
Forum: General Puzzle Discussions
Topic: Puzzle job: Social Media Editor, Puzzles at The Telegraph
Replies: 0
Views: 6465

Puzzle job: Social Media Editor, Puzzles at The Telegraph

A friend of mine who once competed in the UKPC works as part of the puzzles team at The Telegraph and reports that they are currently recruiting a Social Media Editor for the puzzles team. Not clear whether it's a full-time position, not clear whether it's a remote working position but apparently th...
by dickoon
Sun 14 May, 2023 9:47 pm
Forum: General Puzzle Discussions
Topic: The British Federation of Mathematical Games
Replies: 3
Views: 1764

The British Federation of Mathematical Games

Maybe one for the Puzzle Competitions forum, maybe not, but I've decided against putting this there on this occasion as the context is "d'oh, just missed it, one to look out for next year". There exists such a thing as the (titular) British Federation of Mathematical Games and apparently t...
by dickoon
Sun 27 Jun, 2021 7:09 am
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: UK Puzzle Championship 2021
Replies: 20
Views: 17440

Re: UK Puzzle Championship 2021

For what it's worth, I've plugged the contest in a couple of puzzly places, not least the 5,000-strong UK Escape Room Enthusiasts Facebook group, where two of the three moderators have played in previous UKPCs. There's not going to be perfect crossover, but hopefully it should attract a few people w...
by dickoon
Mon 19 Aug, 2019 10:14 pm
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: Puzzles at the Mind Sports Olympiad in London on Sunday
Replies: 59
Views: 113065

Re: Puzzles at the Mind Sports Olympiad in London on Sunday

Good luck to everyone solving in either contest tomorrow!
by dickoon
Sun 04 Nov, 2018 9:56 pm
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: Good luck to the UK teams in Prague!
Replies: 7
Views: 21374

Good luck to the UK teams in Prague!

The World Sudoku Championships start on Monday, the World Puzzle Championships on Thursday. Fingers firmly crossed for you all that you can make yourselves proud of your performances!
by dickoon
Thu 16 Aug, 2018 4:30 pm
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: Puzzles at the Mind Sports Olympiad in London on Sunday
Replies: 59
Views: 113065

Re: Puzzles at the Mind Sports Olympiad in London on Sunday

It's that time of the year again... This year, Thursday is the new Sunday, and the MSO have scheduled contests for Thursday 23rd August - a week today from the time of posting. Excitingly, there are two contests this year: the afternoon contest features "various puzzles" as described on th...
by dickoon
Mon 05 Feb, 2018 12:41 pm
Forum: General Puzzle Discussions
Topic: How to reach a lot of university maths society people at once
Replies: 1
Views: 13326

How to reach a lot of university maths society people at once

There's an event being held at Imperial College London this Saturday called mathscon . Mathscon is a series of science events, consisting of a conference and a networking social. It is directed at undergraduates, young researchers and science lovers in general. Each event aims to expose the public t...
by dickoon
Sat 03 Feb, 2018 3:31 pm
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: 2018 Puzzle GP
Replies: 9
Views: 22280

Re: 2018 Puzzle GP

Taking a look at the rules, there's an additional tweak in that people are invited to nominate exceptional puzzle designs within the contest for recognition. Some of the wording in the rules seems a shade confusing, but I really like the general principle behind it, and fingers firmly crossed that t...
by dickoon
Sun 22 Oct, 2017 6:02 pm
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: World Championships 2017- Updates
Replies: 12
Views: 26724

Re: World Championships 2017- Updates

I too add my thanks - and congratulations, especially to the A-team; finishing in the top quarter of the team rankings is a superb result!
by dickoon
Tue 29 Aug, 2017 6:15 pm
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: Puzzles at the Mind Sports Olympiad in London on Sunday
Replies: 59
Views: 113065

Re: Puzzles at the Mind Sports Olympiad in London on Sunday

As far as I am aware, 2011 was the first event of "the modern era". Detailed results are available under the Results dropdown list at http://www.msoworld.com/ . There was a Puzzle Solving event in 1998 : I don't know the format but it sounds too early and I don't recognise any of the name...
by dickoon
Sat 19 Aug, 2017 8:20 am
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: Puzzles at the Mind Sports Olympiad in London on Sunday
Replies: 59
Views: 113065

Re: Puzzles at the Mind Sports Olympiad in London on Sunday

It's (just about) that time of year again. The Sunday in question is not tomorrow, but the MSO's traditional sudoku and KenKen tournament takes place on the morning of Sunday 27th August. Details, as in previous years, are available on the MSO web site.
by dickoon
Thu 10 Aug, 2017 6:18 am
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: Puzzle GP round 7
Replies: 6
Views: 18901

Re: Puzzle GP round 7

The round 8 instruction booklets are up now. The C paper seems to have lots and lots of unusually light puzzles, which I don't mind a bit, and the A paper has some wonderful-looking combinations of familiar formats. We used to joke about the likes of Magnetic Battletent Snakescrapers; never a truer ...
by dickoon
Sun 06 Aug, 2017 8:40 pm
Forum: Puzzle (incl. Sudoku) Rules & Tips
Topic: Clouds
Replies: 5
Views: 31254

Re: Clouds

I have an app called 'logic games' on my phone (logo is 2 grey cogs). "Free on iOS, Android and WP" by Andrea Sabbatini. There are dozens of familiar puzzle types you can practice, including Clouds... Ooh, what a good recommendation! Dozens and dozens of puzzle formats to practice there. ...
by dickoon
Sun 30 Jul, 2017 8:20 pm
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: The Hunt for Justice
Replies: 2
Views: 11232

Re: The Hunt for Justice

A good point well made. I observe, only mostly tongue in cheek, that the hunt would be 1:30am to 9:30am Indian Standard Time on the early hours of Sunday 22nd October when the championships are over and people have no further plans on the Sunday apart from departures. Assuming there's good Internet ...
by dickoon
Sat 29 Jul, 2017 7:58 pm
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: The Hunt for Justice
Replies: 2
Views: 11232

The Hunt for Justice

The Hunt for Justice is an online puzzle hunt which will take place on the evening (UK time) of Saturday October 21st. Teams play from wherever they like around the world, but must register in advance by August 1st - i.e., this Tuesday. There is an entry fee of US$90 per team (2-4 recommended, but ...
by dickoon
Wed 28 Jun, 2017 1:46 pm
Forum: Announcements
Topic: Results: 2017 UK Puzzle Championship
Replies: 7
Views: 31073

Re: Results: 2017 UK Puzzle Championship

I'm delighted to see quite so many different UK solvers taking part; off the top of my head I think 29 is a considerable leap forward from a previous best of 25. Curious to know why the time limit was only two hours rather than two and a half; I suspect solvers could well have been kept busy for ano...
by dickoon
Thu 22 Jun, 2017 8:15 am
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: UK Puzzle Championship 2017 / WPC Qualification
Replies: 7
Views: 21916

Re: UK Puzzle Championship 2017 / WPC Qualification

kiwijam wrote:If people are wanting some practise puzzles, I've collected 32 puzzles from last year's WPC that match types in this weekend's UKPC.
Thank you for your hard work!
by dickoon
Wed 21 Jun, 2017 11:17 pm
Forum: Announcements
Topic: Bot registrations
Replies: 11
Views: 36490

Re: Bot registrations

Shouldn't make much difference in reality. I will reopen self-registration nearer the time of the the UK championship season, when hopefully this madness dies down a bit. I'm about to plug the UKPC somewhere fairly soon. Is self-registration available again now, please, for those who might want to ...
by dickoon
Mon 19 Jun, 2017 8:50 pm
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: UKPA Hall of Fame
Replies: 12
Views: 39590

Re: UKPA Hall of Fame

A .pdf document saved by archive.org has a full chart of results from 1992 to 2010, including the full details of the UK '96 performances. It shouldn't be impossible to bring this chart up to date and I rather hope that someone, somewhere (ideally at the WPF itself) is doing so.
by dickoon
Fri 16 Jun, 2017 3:06 am
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: UKPA Hall of Fame
Replies: 12
Views: 39590

Re: UKPA Hall of Fame

Someone wrote in 2004 on the matter: "Strangely enough, your referencing Tim's site has led to the first time I've ever seen the full horror of the UK's first participation in WPC... all four team members finished in the bottom six, which may well be the Most Hopeless WPC Team Evah! Having said...
by dickoon
Fri 16 Jun, 2017 2:57 am
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: UKPA Hall of Fame
Replies: 12
Views: 39590

Re: UKPA Hall of Fame

I may be able to dig a little data out when I'm back off shift and on my main PC at these other end of the country. Nick Deller may remember more, but I believe the team was made up of four staff members from a puzzle magazine who may have been the UK WPC member at the time.
by dickoon
Wed 14 Jun, 2017 10:27 pm
Forum: Puzzle Competitions
Topic: UKPA Hall of Fame
Replies: 12
Views: 39590

Re: UKPA Hall of Fame

Good list; very good list! Pleased to see the acknowledgement of David McNeill's world class WSC performance in 2007. By a similar token, I would argue that it's worth celebrating strong qualification performances in the pre-UKPA days. I put together the data about three years ago - while it's a lit...
by dickoon
Fri 26 May, 2017 8:41 pm
Forum: Puzzle Links
Topic: Jack Hurst's puzzle blog
Replies: 2
Views: 18632

Re: Jack Hurst's puzzle blog

He has a lifetime record of 16-1 at Countdown, so that might be where you heard of him. Never played Neil, though! (Jack played later by about a year.)
by dickoon
Tue 23 May, 2017 10:34 pm
Forum: Puzzle Links
Topic: Jack Hurst's puzzle blog
Replies: 2
Views: 18632

Jack Hurst's puzzle blog

Jack Hurst, who I don't know personally but believe to be a co-worker of a friend, has started a puzzle blog . The word puzzles there are cute enough. As he says in his first post, " I’ve been spending a lot of my spare time in recent months working on a software project to help me compile diff...