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#1: Teresa K (fasstar) on Sep 6, 2009 [HINT]

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Found to be logically solvable by Gator.

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I actually think Gator's trick for getting forward from my snapshot is fine. I agree with him that this is logically solvable, but ridiculously hard. It requires at least two different non-standard applications of edge logic in non-obvious places. They're clear enough once you see them, but hard to find. Clearly a puzzle for master logical solvers (or carefree guessers).

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Apparently not too many people thought it was that hard.

It's easy to guess. It's only hard for those of us who obsessed with using only number logic and not picture logic.

I don't know if you've seen the movie "Wordplay" which documents the crossword puzzle competitions run by Will Shortz. The competition is all about who can solve puzzles the fastest. I've often thought it would be cool to do something similar with PBN puzzles, but if solving fast was the goal, then the guessers would win every time, unless you made the puzzle non-representational, in which case half the fun would be stripped out.

Maybe you'd have to make a rule that says "No undo". Mis-mark one cell and you're disqualified. Or maybe each mis-mark adds a minute to your official solving time.

I would say the mis-marks would add ever increasing time. 1 minute for the first one, 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 8 minutes, etc.

I've played the online Picross DS battles, but it only penalizes you for a few seconds for each mis-mark. So it is ruled by the guessers (I stopped playing).

That's kind of what I would expect. In designing this site, I considered putting a timer on the puzzle page so people could compare solving speeds. You could have the site track who the fastest puzzles solvers are. But I decided that was the wrong way to go. It encourages a less thoughtful approach to puzzle solving, and it is way too easy to cheat at. On the whole, it would make the whole environment nastier.

But it might be fun to have an occasional timed puzzle solving competition. People would submit puzzles to the timed competition. Someone would pick a puzzle and announce a time when the competition would start. Competitors would go to the puzzle race page, and just see a count down clock till the puzzle start time. At zero, the puzzle would appear. First person to solve it would win (after their scores were adjusted for mistakes). Afterwards the puzzle would be available as a regular PBN puzzle.

Jan, thank you for NOT putting a timer on this site. Most ot the time I solve puzzles a little at a time, in between crisis calls and lots of interruptions, and while talking on the phone to friends. I come here to relax as an escape from all the stress, and having a timer would add a little too much stress, for me anyway. But I can see how a timed competition now and then would be fun. :-)

Interesting concept Jan, lets see if the master of the WCP organizes this one in which there should be NO checker.

wow. that was tough...and definitely brain taxing; but a nice image.

i found it edge logically sound... start with 4

amazingly tough
fabulous solve

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logically solved

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