2015 UK Open Sudoku and UK Open Puzzle Tournaments

[puzzlemad]

We have a great entry for this year’s UKPA Open Tournaments and trust that everyone will enjoy themselves. It is not too late to register to take part in these events – please contact myself at liane@ukpuzzles.org . Further information can be found at http://www.ukpuzzles.org/ukopen .

If arriving on Friday evening the hotel runs a shuttle bus from East Croydon station to the hotel – the last one leaves the station at 6.30pm. If you intend to use this service, please let me know so that I can inform the hotel.

If arriving at any other time by public transport there are a couple of buses that you can get from Est Croydon Station – either the 64 towards New Addington from stop E2 or the T33 towards Addington Village. The journey is approximately 20-25 minutes and then a 5-10 minute walk to the hotel. If using the bus then it will be necessary for you to have an Oyster card or a UK contactless payment card. Alternatively, you can get a taxi from the station – the approximate cost is £14. Further details can be found on the TFL website at http://www.tfl.gov.uk .

Registration and welcome for the Sudoku tournament will be from 10 am, with the first round commencing at 10.30 am. Prize giving for the Sudoku tournament will take place as soon as possible after the tournament has finished. Any competitors that are taking part in only the Sudoku tournament will be welcome to take part in the first round of the Puzzle tournament and the fun team round at no extra cost.

Registration and welcome for the Puzzle tournament will be from 4 pm on Saturday, with the first round scheduled to start at 4.15 pm.
Instructions for the Sudoku tournament are now available. The instructions for the Puzzle tournament will be available shortly. If anyone has any queries, please ask here and I will reply as soon as possible.

If anyone has any specific dietary requirements, please let me know so that I can inform the hotel.

[Fred76]

Actually, there is a small mistake in round 3 of instructions booklet.

My name is Stalder, not Stadler.

I thought that this was a typical German mistake (lot of German people make this mistake), but not long ago Tawan made it, too.
So I should perhaps change my name

[puzzlemad]

Actually, there is a small mistake in round 3 of instructions booklet.

My name is Stalder, not Stadler.

I thought that this was a typical German mistake (lot of German people make this mistake), but not long ago Tawan made it, too.
So I should perhaps change my name

Apologies, I've amended. I've had that misunderstanding with your name for years.

[Magoo]

Thanks Liane.

I'm confused by the instructions in Outside Product (Round 3, Puzzle 10) where they say "Some digits in these products may be missing". If this means that a "4" outside the grid could actually represent a product of 24, say, then the example puzzle is ambiguous as all the 1s and 6s could be swapped. If instead it means that a product of 24 would be represented by "?4" or "-4", then it's a bit odd that no such examples appeared in the example puzzle. I haven't seen this type before so I think it's a valid question.

[puzzlemad]

Thanks Liane.

I'm confused by the instructions in Outside Product (Round 3, Puzzle 10) where they say "Some digits in these products may be missing". If this means that a "4" outside the grid could actually represent a product of 24, say, then the example puzzle is ambiguous as all the 1s and 6s could be swapped. If instead it means that a product of 24 would be represented by "?4" or "-4", then it's a bit odd that no such examples appeared in the example puzzle. I haven't seen this type before so I think it's a valid question.

If there are digits missing, then these will be represented as you suggest by a place holder, such as ?4 so that this would be a two digit number where the unit digit is 4. 4? would be a two digit number with the unit digit unknown and ? would be a single digit product.

[Magoo]

Thanks!

[puzzlemad]

Schedule for the tournaments.

[PuzzleScot]

Any idea when the Puzzle IB(s) will be available?

[puzzlemad]

Any idea when the Puzzle IB(s) will be available?

Your wish is my command - well almost. All but round 1 are here now.

[david mcneill]

Liane,

Thanks for posting all these documents. One small query regarding the 0 to 9 puzzle in Round 2 of the Sudoku. In the cells with 2 digits, are we required to place the smaller number above the larger number?

Thank you,

David.

[puzzlemad]

Liane,

Thanks for posting all these documents. One small query regarding the 0 to 9 puzzle in Round 2 of the Sudoku. In the cells with 2 digits, are we required to place the smaller number above the larger number?

Thank you,

David.

There's no requirement, so the two digits can go either way round.

[puzzlemad]

Instructions for round 1 of the Puzzle Tournament are now available.

[detuned]

Whoops, should probably have had a look at the intructions before now!

As with previous years, I have to say how impressive these competitions look like being. Many thanks for all your hard work Liane & authors!

[david mcneill]

Small typo in Japanese Sums in Round 6. Clue for third row should be 973.

[puzzlemad]

Apologies for that, thanks for spotting David.

[Vince]

Hi,
In the sudoku round 3, the last puzzle (Outside Product), when it's said
"Some digits in these products may be missing.",
will these digits be marked with a "?" or something else ?

Thanks,
Vincent

[puzzlemad]

Hi Vincent,
yes there will be a place holder for any digits that are missing, so something like ?2 for the first digit of a 2 digit number missing, 3? for the unit digit of a two digit number of ? for a single digit number missing.

[puzzlemad]

Hi,
For those arriving on Friday evening for the Open I've booked the evening meal for 8pm. If anyone envisages arriving later than this can they please let me know (if they haven't done so already) so that I can inform the hotel.
Thanks.

[MichaelC]

Quick couple of things on round 2 of the sudoku.

Apologies for my ignorance but I don't know the term "Parity". From the example I am guessing it means both odd or both even, but I thought I would check.

Also, the example for puzzle 6 has the wrong solution. I think it should be "8 9" not "7 8" in the fourth row, but I thought I would check in case I am misunderstanding the puzzle.

Thanks,

Michael

[puzzlemad]

Quick couple of things on round 2 of the sudoku.

Apologies for my ignorance but I don't know the term "Parity". From the example I am guessing it means both odd or both even, but I thought I would check.

Also, the example for puzzle 6 has the wrong solution. I think it should be "8 9" not "7 8" in the fourth row, but I thought I would check in case I am misunderstanding the puzzle.

Thanks,

Michael

Yes Michael you are correct - if they have the same parity they will both be odd or both even.
Solution on puzzle 6 - looks like finger trouble and you're right there too.

[DavidC]

Just a quick message to say thank you to Alan, Liane and the team for a very enjoyable Sudoku tournament earlier today. It was great to meet up with lots of you again and to see some new faces. Best wishes for the Puzzle tournament.

David

[puzzlemad]

Many thanks to everyone who attended the UKPA Open Tournament this weekend, including all the participants and volunteer markers, who made it such an enjoyable weekend for myself. I look forward to future events where friendships will be renewed once again.
The first two places in the Open Sudoku Tournament were taken by people that had to cross water to reach us with Vincent Bertrand from Belgium taking the overall title and David McNeill from Belfast taking 2nd place. Third place went to Tom Collyer a previous winner. Vincent also took the award for best “International” competitor, David McNeill took the award for the best “over 45” with Valeria Losasso from Italy taking best “Lady” and Kunj Shah from taking best “Newcomer”.
First place in the Open Puzzle Tournament was taken by third time winner Neil Zussman who successfully finished several rounds within the time limit. 2nd place was taken by Zoltan Horvath who travelled from Hungary to join us, he also took the best “International” competitor award. 3rd place went to Vincent Bertrand. Best “over 45” went to David McNeill who narrowly missed out on 3rd place overall. Best “Lady” was Heather Golding and best “Newcomer” was Neil Rickards.

[david mcneill]

Thanks again Liane for organising the whole weekend. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Hats off to the puzzle authors, test solvers and markers. Congratulations to Vincent and Neil for taking the titles. I still haven't finished the Slovak sums.

Great to meet everyone again and thanks to Mark for providing the entertainment on Saturday evening.

[puzzlemad]

More haste, less speed, I forgot to thank all the wonderful puzzle authors and test solvers from round the globe without whom we'd not be able to put on such a fantastic weekend.
Thank You

[Magoo]

Hear, hear. A huge thank you to the puzzle setters and testers, and to the organisers, especially Liane. The weekend was really good fun with some great puzzles - will they be published here at some point? Congrats to the winners and qualifiers for the UK teams. Mark