Puzzle Description:

Turned out more like a badger than a gopher. Man, I took two hours trying to make tis reasonably hard, and edited/solved at least 20 times. You puzzle makers are something else...

#1: Kristen Vognild (kristen) on Nov 15, 2011 [SPOILER]

Yep, he looks like a badger. Maybe if you'd made him look more like a puppet? ;)

At first, I saw a smaller gopher (with beady eyes and a HUGE mouth) looking up from inside his hole, with a mushroom man standing behind him. The two corner squares might be more gopher holes?

Ouch, you had to guess? I filled in my assumed parts, and will go back to the drawing board. I am sorry...

New version published by sgusa.

I double-checked. LLS

By the way, this is my first attempt...

Kristen: Thanks for trying. I don;t do puzzles that recquire guessing and am sorry I let it slip. It is correct now. I have not tried creating one before. I took Jan's advice, printed off an image of the Caddyshack gofer..er golfer...no gopher. and had it down pat. Then I used the checker... What a dissappointment. I kept expanding, and the image turned mean and angry, but I perservered. Then you gave me the "question mark." I thought I had it down. I tweaked another couple of pixels, and it worked. To those new to this (as I am), we'll get the hang of it. My problem was the left side. I could tell that I was missing maybe one pixel, but couldn't figure out which one. For me, this was trial and error, not logic.

Tom, your first version was logically solvable, and a really fun solve too, I checked it off as being completely solvable by logic alone too, I just used some edge logic near the end. Lots of people on this site don't know how to do edge logic so they tick it off as needing guessing, which for them is fair enough. Kristen most likely did not give this puzzle the question mark, she knows how to do edge logic very well indeed. It was probably someone else that didn't comment. It happens a lot, to me as well, but I don't take much notice, if I have solved it myself and found it be logically solvable, even with some edge logic, then I just wait, after a few more ratings the ? will go and if not, then Gator or Jan with the pbn robot will rate it as solvable by logic alone. You just have to be patient. For a first puzzle it was great, I hope you create lots more, with edge logic too, lots of us here love a bit of edge logic or other fancy logic thrown in, spices up the puzzle solving. So please keep them coming, and don't get discouraged by the ?, if you have solved it yourself first and found it to be solvable, then just hang tight :)

Just on the 2 on the right column?

Thanks Marie-Louise. I really enjoy your 20x20 B&W. I don't usually do puzzles more than 30 pixels in height as they rarely fit my screen (or I have to reduce the size and can't see them).

Sorry, Kristen...

Yes, that's right, with the 2 clue, that's when the puzzle got juicy! Thanks Tom :)

No problem, Tom. There are lots of people with accounts who NEVER leave comments, but they will rate a puzzle. Any time edge logic (or another form of advanced logic) is required, a ? appears. As long as enough people mark the puzzle "completely solvable by logic alone" the ? will go away.

Tom,
Thank you for making a puzzle for us to solve. I tried to make a simple one years ago and it never left my computer! I admire anyone who tries, and I bet you will find it gets easier as you do more.
I think the perspective you chose for this image was nice in that it was unusual, and I hope to see your name on another one soon!

I am new to all of this and am in awe of your first effort. Once I saw the teeth and eyes the rest was easier. Great job Tom!

Tom great 1st effort,don't be discouraged,keep making puzzles it's a lot of fun.I'm sure Lilly would tell you the same thing,she persevered and now she does some incredible stuff.We all look forward to more of yours.:)

You get better by making (and solving) more puzzles. :)

I often tell people what I think a puzzle looks like to me; especially with smaller puzzles there can be a lot of room for interpretation. I hope you didn't think I was being mean.

good puzzle and a fun solve. keep at it please!

Oh, to add to what marz said...sometimes you have to be VERY patient. I honestly believe that all of my puzzles are solvable by logic alone and I currently have 7 puzzles with question marks...the oldest of which is about 7 months old. I used to get defensive about them, but have learned to accept them. Truth be told, I might be a little sad to see my eldest one leave the nest...I think she sticks around because she likes me and I admire her persistence.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. Do you know if I can resurrect version 1?

Good job Tom, keep 'em coming.

I personally give ratings on almost every puzzle I solve, but don't comment that often. If I can't solve a puzzle, I may not enter anything in the solvability box, thinking I may just be to tired to figure it out, or just not competent.

I do like to encourage new puzzle creators, more opportunities for solving! I also generally stick to smaller grids so they fit on the screen of my netbook. So I hope you'll make more puzzles for us.

Joel, thanks for your comments. I think they keep the creators creating. I started giving comments, and I believe it encouraged me to try creating one. The first version was a little harder. I should have kept it. Anyway, I posted a second puzze tonight which is hard, but much easier to create than the first. Best, Tom

Found to be logically solvable by gator.

After the initial line logic, look at row 17. Either R17C3 or R17C5 is black. In either case, R16C1 will have to be a dot as a result. More line logic.

The 3 clue in C5 can go in one of 2 places. Let's assume it can go in the upper place (R11C5-R13C5). Looking one move ahead, R11C1 and R12C1 are dots and R7C5 would have to be a black. Looking 2 moves ahead, R7C1 is a dot. This makes column 1 invalid as we cannot place the "1 2" clues now. So the 3 clue in C5 must go in the lower place (R15C5-R17C5). More line logic.

Next I looked at row 14. If the 2 clue is in R14C3-R14C4, then R11C3-R11C4 will be dots. This makes row 11 invalid, so R14C4 is a dot. More line logic.

Next, if R13C1-R13C2 is black, then row 15 is invalid. So R13C1 is a dot. The rest solves with line logic.

Great solve!

gator the steps in your second paragraph border strongly on 3 step look ahead but this has always been a gray area

I did the same as Gator for the first two steps, but where he went to r14, I just did deep edge logic on the 2 in c1 (vs c3).
If it were to go in r11-12, there would be a conflict in c3. So c1r11 is white and then LL finishes it.

Couldn't see it until I read the story (thought it was a spider), then it was great. Tough puzzle only because I had to guess twice.

I agree with comment 24. This was very easily solvable until almost the very end when we're placing the 3 in C5 in relationship to the 4 in R7. For me it's a few steps lookahead enough that it feels too much like trial and error.
But I can see how that's a bit gray.

I'm amused to see this first puzzle of yours after so many times seeing you other places. For a minute I thought the nose was the face, but then I blinked and I saw it.

Also nothing wrong with a bit of advanced edge logic. I did some trial and error but it's neat to see other familiar names explain how to do it quicker and better.

Very nice! Couldn't see the image at first and then it jumped out at me. I agree, it was fairly easy till near the end when I did make a guess or two.

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