WPF Sudoku GP 2020

[Feadoor]

You're certainly not alone in that There were three things that stopped me from enjoying it so much, two that are my own fault and one that I'm still a bit peeved at.

The two that are my own fault are a silly transposition in Classic 5, and entering the answer code for the wrong puzzle into the Tic-Tac-Toe winner answer box.

The one that annoyed me was subtly changing the layout of Hashtag Sudoku. When it has appeared before (on a past Chinese round, I think), and also in the example puzzle, the lines have gradient 2 (or one half). I happen to know I'm not great with that layout, so during the contest I simply skipped that page of puzzles. Solving after time, I realised that they'd changed the lines to have gradient 3 (or one third) which made the puzzle essentially trivial if you realised that gave you repeating groups of three digits within several rows and columns. It took me less than 3 minutes, for 50 points that I totally ignored during the contest...

So am I justified in feeling slightly annoyed that the puzzle in the contest was different from past Hashtag Sudokus, and in particular, different from the one in the example booklet? There's not exactly a huge body of past puzzles to compare it to, but I still would have liked for a different name to have been used for this puzzle.

I really enjoyed the Kropki puzzle, though, and I think limiting the Kropki rules only to the lines was a brilliant idea that allows for much more creativity and flexibility in the puzzle type. I won't be surprised if we see more of those in the future.

[Puzzle_Maestro]

Instructions Booklet for round 5 is out: https://gp.worldpuzzle.org/sites/defaul ... nd5_IB.pdf.

A comfortable looking round, with plenty of well known variants. Even the wackier variants look quite doable.

[Feadoor]

You may revisit your opinion after seeing the competition puzzle for number 10, Freddie. They can be very fiddly, and may be given with a completely empty grid. Pure conjecture, of course, but I expect I won't enjoy that puzzle and will probably avoid it if at all possible.

I'm somewhat relieved not to see Ashish Kumar in the list of authors. I usually really like his puzzles, but I have a very poor historical record when it comes to solving them under time pressure

[Puzzle_Maestro]

I doubt that puzzle 10 will have an empty grid - I don’t think that’s in the style of the Indian authors - and besides, most of the points probably come from time-consuming addition of large numbers.

I recall a similar arithmetic-heavy puzzle in the 2019 round 8 test (the 72-point Symmetric Product Sums sudoku) which some were dreading, but which turned out to be trivial, the only reason for the 72 points being the necessary mental arithmetic.

[ashaash11ash]

I'm somewhat relieved not to see Ashish Kumar in the list of authors. I usually really like his puzzles, but I have a very poor historical record when it comes to solving them under time pressure

I dont know how to React on this Statement I thought of Participating this year as many new good authors are emerging and this is the right place to motivate them. Authoring an international online competition does motivate authors, And i think you are motivating me to author next year

[Feadoor]

And i think you are motivating me to author next year

I'll have to get some practice in then!

[detuned]

So am I justified in feeling slightly annoyed that the puzzle in the contest was different from past Hashtag Sudokus, and in particular, different from the one in the example booklet? There's not exactly a huge body of past puzzles to compare it to, but I still would have liked for a different name to have been used for this puzzle.

Hmm... my initial reaction was yes that is kind of annoying, but on reflection probably not. People seem to be ok with irregular grids of different shapes, and it's clear that different layouts are conducive to different solving techniques. Similarly with extra regions, and if we're being completely honest with ourselves here, then hashtag sudoku isn't really a "new" variant at all - it is basically just extra regions (you can say exactly the same thing about diagonal sudoku as well, by the way).

[detuned]

Re this round and Freddie's apparent comfort, I would point out that 13 puzzles is relatively few in the grand scheme of things (more like 15 or 16 is usual) - it could mean that some of the puzzles are a bit fiddly as Sam says. This might be the casef more attention has been given to how the puzzle looks vs. how it actually solves. Still, fewer puzzles might mean a better chance of finishing the round, assuming you have a good day

I am quite pleased to see that the negative constraint has been removed from odd even count.

In lieu of the existence of an Indian whatsapp "lynch mob" that (apparently) looks to pounce on and stifle any perceived criticism, I won't be commenting any further on this round.

[ashaash11ash]

I'll have to get some practice in then!

I have started a Patreon Page of purely hand crafted Sudoku.
Good rewards every month, including Team rounds and Fun linked sudokus too.
Do have a look.
https://www.patreon.com/Enthrallingsudoku

[PrasannaSeshadri]

Hi all, I just want to say this: The LMI Whatsapp group has 193 participants, many of whom actively share, discuss and solve puzzles daily.
It exists solely as a space for puzzle enthusiasts of India to come together and experience common interests.

The group has never been used to organize efforts to attack others and is well moderated to eliminate any non-puzzle discussions.

[Puzzle_Maestro]

Prelimininary (sic) results for round 5:

34. Sam Cappleman-Lynes 455
47. Jeremy Kong 398
69. Freddie Hand 354

Several nice puzzles in this round, I thought. The high-pointers were less fiddly than I expected and so it was a smooth-ish round for me. Not sure others had the same experience though, as scores seem a bit lower across the board.

[Feadoor]

I ended up eating my words about the Triple Sum Sudoku. When I came to it during the test I thought it didn't look as fiddly as other puzzles I've done of the type, so I gave it a go and flew through it.

[Puzzle_Maestro]

Official results for round 6:

40. Jeremy Kong 450
47. Mark Goodliffe 433
86. Freddie Hand 339