UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Information and discussion on Puzzle Competitions
anurag
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by anurag »

I really like bridges,battleships,snake and both slitherlinks.
dickoon
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by dickoon »

Thoroughly enjoyed the test! Thank you to the authors and organisers.

The UKPC from two years ago stands out in my memory as being spectacular and I reckon this one was at least as much fun for me; I was able to keep making progress through the entire two and a half hours, getting the really enjoyable thought of "I didn't think I was going to be able to solve that puzzle, but i pleasantly surprised myself by being able to do so". I even ended up feeling at the end that with another ten minutes or so, I'd have probably been able to get another puzzle solved. This is great; there have been so many other long-form contests where I enjoy myself for 30/60/90 minutes, then find myself with either puzzles I have tried and failed or not had any clue as to how to even start.

When I opened the PDF within my browser there were unexpected odd bands of colour on some of the graphics which were replicated exactly on the printout, though happily for me this only affected one of the puzzles that I tried. When I opened the PDF in a separate viewer, it was absolutely fine. I'm pretty sure we've been warned about this sort of thing in the past; totally my bad.

I'm looking forward to finding out the results, and also to seeing how the top UK competitors did with the time limit. If it turns out that it is felt that future contests need more or harder content, I would argue in favour of not attempting to make things harder but adding even more of the relatively accessible 10-15 point puzzles at the start (or perhaps some 5-point puzzles?) and keeping catering to the more marginal and puzzle-adjacent participants like myself.
PuzzleScot
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by PuzzleScot »

Liane has still to go through verifying the partial points allocation - some keys were overly complex, so some leeway is being given.
In the meantime, I can tell you there were 141 non-zero scores, 23 of whom were British. At least 3 people correctly answered all puzzles within the time.
dickoon wrote:I'm looking forward to finding out the results, and also to seeing how the top UK competitors did with the time limit.
;)
dickoon
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by dickoon »

PuzzleScot wrote:In the meantime, I can tell you there were 141 non-zero scores, 23 of whom were British.
Compared to 88 and 22 respectively in 2012, and to 125 and 20 respectively in 2011. The biggest and - for me, at least - most fun one yet!
Nilz
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by Nilz »

As I said in an email to Liane, I thought it was a really nice set of puzzles, which I hope will be reflected in my performance- I don't like the suspense of having to wait another couple of days to find out how my effort compares to other people's, but for now I'm happy with how I've done, and I'll probably stay happy until I find out James beat me by 2 points. ;)
Also curious to know who's got those precious places in Beijing...
Reading the instructions, I wasn't looking forward to Summon or Pentominoes- they both looked really difficult, and I struggled with the examples. But the real puzzles, in particular the Summon, had a really nice logical solve, Serkan did a great job with that. The bottom Slitherlink, was the only one I really had to guess on, which I did several times- every other puzzle solved really nicely and logically, I found.

To address Chris's concern, I definitely wouldn't say future contests need more content- I think much more than 25 puzzle types in one round is a bit too much variety, since lots will go unsolved by many people. If, looking at the results, it appears that the test was too easy (which probably isn't the case anyway, if only 3 or so people finished), I'd suggest just reducing the time. After 2 hours of this test, I'd probably completed about the same amount as I do at the end of many other tests, both on LMI and at the WPC. The extra 30 minutes obviously helped me complete more puzzles, and therefore it may look as though this test was slightly easier than other comparable ones, based solely on my performance. But I don't think that's a problem, and let's face it I'm not exactly a reliable indicator anyway! :)
Nilz
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by Nilz »

By the way, I hope my previous comment isn't misinterpreted- I do appreciate all the effort that goes into running something like this, I know it can't be a simple process, so I'm not complaining about the wait- the USPC results aren't released immediately either.
PuzzleScot
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by PuzzleScot »

I marked a few items as possibly being inconsistent, so Liane is arbitrator of those, having organised this year's event.
She now knows exactly how much is involved in organising such an event! I do apologise for not being able to fulfil my obligation, but many positive things have come from it...
I sent an email out this evening to all to check their scores, and make final appeals.
Sorry for the delay - I'm itching to tell as much as you are to know...
puzzlemad
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by puzzlemad »

Nilz wrote:By the way, I hope my previous comment isn't misinterpreted- I do appreciate all the effort that goes into running something like this, I know it can't be a simple process, so I'm not complaining about the wait- the USPC results aren't released immediately either.
Not misinterpreted at all!

I've been through all the results now and just waiting to check for any final appeals before announcing the results.
kiwijam
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by kiwijam »

Nilz wrote: I'll probably stay happy until I find out James beat me by 2 points. ;)
Hmm that's only possible with time bonuses. But yes, because I thought it would be amusing, I hacked the system to find your score, then made sure I submitted my answers at exactly the right time to beat you by the smallest possible amount! ;)
(PS just kidding, in case it's not obvious to others 8-) )
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furudo.erika
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by furudo.erika »

dickoon wrote:I was able to keep making progress through the entire two and a half hours, getting the really enjoyable thought of "I didn't think I was going to be able to solve that puzzle, but i pleasantly surprised myself by being able to do so". I even ended up feeling at the end that with another ten minutes or so, I'd have probably been able to get another puzzle solved. This is great; there have been so many other long-form contests where I enjoy myself for 30/60/90 minutes, then find myself with either puzzles I have tried and failed or not had any clue as to how to even start.
Very much agree with this sentiment. An excellent set of puzzles, good job everyone involved. Really liked Weather Signs as a puzzle type I hadn't seen before.
puzzlemad
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by puzzlemad »

The results are now available from the competition page. Congratulations to our overall winner Neil Zussman who correctly solved all 26 puzzles within the time and to Ulrich Voigt who followed closely on his heels. Four contestants successfully solved all 26 puzzles and a further 6 solved at least 24.
Thanks once again to our wonderful puzzle setters without whom it would not be possible to hold an event like this and thanks to David McNeill for test solving for me.
Thanks also to Alan for all his work behind the scenes.

I'd also like to thank all competitors for taking part, and for all the positive feedback that we've received through the comments on their answer pages and within this foru.

An announcement regarding the UK team will be made shortly.
Nilz
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by Nilz »

Wow. Did not expect that.

Thanks again for all your hard work Liane.
detuned
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by detuned »

Wow - fantastic result Neil, many congratulations!!!
For the latest UK puzzle news direct to your inbox, please consider joining the UK Puzzle Association's mailing list:
https://groups.google.com/g/ukpa-newsletter
dickoon
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by dickoon »

World class; many congratulations!
Janix
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by Janix »

Really enjoyed it. No errors, and annoyingly a 20 pointer (LITS) that I couldn't get the answer in properly as the time disappeared.

Second Dickoon's comments that there was a sense of achievement as puzzles were solvable in fair time (according to their marks) and possible to submit solutions throughout rather than skip across puzzles. Great variety!

Feel like I'm more in the groove. Now to ramp up the speed...

Thanks to everyone involved in organising this, especially Liane and Alan - and all those test solving, etc. behind the scenes.

Will UK team get into the top 10 in China. YES!
PuzzlerNickG
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by PuzzlerNickG »

I really enjoyed this contest.

I think I solved a lot of puzzles well, but then wasted too much time on Yosenabe (which I finished) and Snake (which I didn't). I've now solved all the puzzles that I hadn't finished (including Snake). There really are a lot of excellent puzzles in there.

Congratulations to Nilz and the other top contestants, and many thanks to all those involved in organising the contest.
PuzzleScot
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by PuzzleScot »

A quick apology to James (kiwijam). Unfortunately James mistyped his final puzzle submission. Since the antiquated contest system we use calculates bonuses on last entry rather than last CORRECT entry, James missed out on 2 bonus points, that would have tied him on points with Hideaki Jo. His final ranking would have remained the same, however, as ties are separated by overall solve time.

I have been working on a much improved contest system, that wasn't ready for this year's contest, but will be ready soon. Hopefully we can have a pre-WPC/WSC warm-up contest to demonstrate its new features in the coming months. If any authors out there have a contest you would like us to host, please do get in touch.
kiwijam
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by kiwijam »

Well done Neil, a great result.
A surprisingly bunched finish at the top, the first five people to finish every puzzle all made a mistake, and so missed out on the premium bonus points. (Not sure about Peter Hudak, he's listed at 26/26 but with a reduced raw score) Some had up to quarter of an hour to double check their answers for the win... but there's no fun in that!
I started my final puzzle (the 'easiest', number 1) with 2min 20sec to go, and needed about 15 seconds more when time ran out, so I just submitted the number of bridges I could see - but was 1 off. Still I'm honoured to tie with the mighty Hideaki.

Curiously I also did the Indian Champs later in the weekend, also 26 puzzles in 150 minutes, I also finished in the final minute, and I also got every question correct except for the very first one...
Junta72
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Re: UKPA Puzzle Championship 2013

Post by Junta72 »

Hi all, where we can find solution booklet for this contest ?

Junta72
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