Puzzle Description:

A logo for Southern Methodist University

#1: James Haney (elpjrh) on Sep 19, 2010 [SPOILER]

Southern Methodist University is located in Dallas, Texas. Its teams are the Mustangs. Hence, the logo. The title of the puzzle refers to the two-year suspension of the school's football program in the 1980s as a result of recruiting violations. SMU's football program has never been the same since that suspension, and the NCAA appears to have decided that such a suspension is too harsh a punishment to impose on any other schools. Last year, SMU made it to a bowl game for the first time in 25 years.

SMU is also where I am getting my Ph.D. (in spite of this web site).

Nice puzzle! Go Mustangs!

Interesting description, and a very good first puzzle. Welcome!

Nice puzzle, James. "in spite of this web site" - LOL.

I couldn't quite see the image until I looked at two SMU logos side by side:

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/hs332.snc4/41644_1406597548_7877_n.jpg

http://people.smu.edu/syousuf/smu-logo.gif

I couldn't find the logo you used.

I've seen my version as car magnets and window stickers, but I couldn't find an online version of it, either.

No guessing, but there's a bit of tricky logic at the end.

The red & blue sections and the black around them can be solved with line & color logic.

Some edge logic on C40 will get you five of the six black placed.

More line logic until you're stuck again, then look at C40 and how placement of the missing black affects C39. If C40R11 is black: C39R11-12 are black. If C40R5 is black: C38R5 is a dot, C38R2 is black, which makes R2C37&39 dots. Either way, C39R11-12 are black. The rest solves with line logic.

This is probably 2 steps ahead, but it was direct enough that I could follow it in my head without trying it. I imagine we'll need a judgement call from Gator for final determination.

I agree with Wombat. That's the logic I used when I was testing it out.

With each revision the horse's head was getting more and more deformed, so I decided to stick with this one even though the logic was a little more advanced than I would have liked for my first puzzle.

Keep creating, James. You have talent.

No guessing needed!

I have mixed memories of SMU. Good memories: watching the Dallas Symphony Orchestra with my parents
Bad memory: enormous black roaches scuttling across the sidewalks at night as we walked back to our car after the concert

Though I only found 4 cells by edge logic in C40, the logic pertaining to R11C39 in comment #6 stands true. Once filled, it's line logic for the finish.

Gator, get in here and mark this as a non-guessing puzzle, please. My only question is moderate lookahead vs. deep lookahead.

Interesting story.

Nice puzzle....enjoyed the solve! Thanks!

Goto next topic

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