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#1: Gator (Gator) on Feb 5, 2010 [HINT]

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Found to be logically solvable by Gator.

I totally agree with Black cat!

If there has never previously been released a typical gator-puzzle, this has to be the one. Great fun!

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Amazing puzzle.

my brain has been taxed but I did it without guessing! Yeah. that was tough.
Nice image. :)

Thanks all.

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Another brilliant sample of a Gator puzzle.

I'm not sure when I'll next get around to programming on webpbn, but one of my ambitions is to build a author-supplied hint facility into the site.

The current L-key hint thing just does simple line solving (it's basically the helper in disguise). The improved hinting thing would do that first. But if it couldn't find a hint, it would check the database for a hint from the author. If a certain set of pixels was already set, and no cells in another set of cells was set, then it would display a hunk of text entered by the puzzle designer (or maybe from a limited number of other users).

Puzzle authors and people authorized to enter hints would get an extra button on their puzzle solving screen. "Enter Hint" or something. You run the helper until it stalled. At a stall point you hit the "Enter Hint" button. You enter your hint text, and mark which cells the hint will let you solve. The "must be set" set for the hint is everything that was already set before you entered the hint. The "must not be set" set is the set of cells the hint lets you set.

So this would let you get hints like the ones Gator entered above in context, seeing just the one that applies to the state the puzzle is in.

Liz - if you want to try more edge logic puzzles, about half of mine require it. :)

Jan - That sounds like a very cool feature to implement. It seems like it would best be used when there would only be one route that could be taken through a puzzle. Some of the hints I gave above could have been done in a different order. So to cover all paths, the designers would have to consider the various ways that a puzzle could be tackled. Or just focus on what (I believe I did above) would be the path of least resistance to get to a solution.

It would also be cool if puzzle hints could be "submitted" in some fashion by the solvers. Or I guess the puzzle author could just look at the comments to figure out a hint that could be added.

I think that if you supply hints for all the places the helper gets stuck when the helper solves the puzzle, then you should have a enough hits so that every possible situation is covered.

Except the case where the solver has made a mistake. Then hinter should probably check if the partial solution is correct, and warn the solver if they have gone astray, perhaps offering to undo to the point where things went wrong.

I think if everyone can offer hints you'll get some bad hints. These could be more annoying than no hint.

Yeah, that sounds pretty complicated and could be frustrating.

The current system works for me - I solve until I get stuck, then check for hints. If there's no hints, I can go back and try some more, or wait until someone else offers a hint. How a hint is described could vary from one commenter to another. I might understand Adam's explanation of the required edge logic better than Gator's explanation.

Lots of fun to solve, and more levels of edge logic for me than usual. (Teresa - it cracks me up that you call guessing "visual logic"! Nice spin!) Very tough - very fun. Thanks Gator!

Thanks, DW. I think Jan was the first one to call it that. He said something like "no visual logic is allowed" for a puzzle to be technically considered as solvable by logic alone. Some puzzle creators who solve their own puzzles first might use visual logic and solve it with ease (having the final image already in mind), then wonder why everyone else (who is using puzzle logic only) might be having such a difficult time. I'm a purist and try to only use puzzle logic, unless I get really stumped, like I did with this one. :-)

A slow start (and a slower middle) with a satisfying finish.

ok Gator...I do random puzzles and when your puzzles come up, a little part of me groans (because I know I'm in for a full test of the mental skills) but the rest is so excited because you make the best puzzles! Pretty sure you are one of the main reasons my eyes feel like they are crossed by the end of the day. Your puzzles are such a challenge and such a reward! Thanks!

Thanks DWeidig, Joe, and Amanda!

excellent solve with a very nice image to boot

cute

Sheer brilliance Gator, and I think I am pretty brilliant for solving this one with out hints or guessing, haha :)

Thanks!

logically solved. thanks

This was a fun one to solve. Such a simple but effective image

Hard to start and fun to solve. Very cute.

Thanks!

More of a "peep", really. ;)

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Thanks JoDeen!

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