Puzzle Description:

Tools of the budding writer: fat pencil, Pink Pearl eraser and paper with dashed guides...is this still done this way?

#1: CB Paul (cbpaul) on Aug 8, 2019 [HINT]

Neat puzzle!

And no, it's not. Which is a shame. I find the mental/psychological process of writing is different - actually feels different, internally - with my fingers on a keyboard than with my fingers wrapped around a pen or pencil. sigh.

Years ago I attended a book signing by Ursula LeGuin in which she spoke briefly and took questions. It occurred to me that, given her age, she must have done a significant amount of writing with pen-in-hand, and perhaps she still does? So I asked her if she still uses pen-in-hand, if she uses keyboard, and does the internal process seem the same?

The question seemed to resonate with her; she said they indeed feel different. She talked about doing first drafts and early work on paper. I'm sorry that I don't recall the details beyond that.

Fun! When my son was a tot, (early 2000s), we bought a pad of this paper, to teach him his letters and numbers. Or maybe we had to print some blank pages off the computer. Either way, the ruled paper is still available, whether classrooms use them or not.

I know that they stopped teaching cursive in school.

They likely still use this type of paper to teach printing, though.

For however long that lasts...

Fun puzzle, solvable by looking at the patterns the numbers make.

I became an accountant when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. We used 7- or 14-column pads, pencil for handwritten assignments and pen for the entire work environment. I always had a supply, so I used them for every single thing. There's no question that I'm grateful for and reliant on computers and their applications, but to this day I find that when I'm stuck on anything, not just work, I *think* better on quad paper, which is my replacement for a 7-column pad. I'm guessing it's some combination of sense memory and thought patterns brought forward.

Interesting discussion. Nice puzzle, I don't usually do ones this large.

Yes, this is still done in MANY schools. Some schools no longer teach cursive and some don't even teach print hand writing beyond basic letter formation, but MANY schools (and caring teachers) still do...IN ADDITION TO keyboarding skills in schools that don't have dedicated librarians or technology teachers. A lot falls on classroom teachers when they start cutting budgets and special programs. With no curriculum or classroom budget, and supplies they buy themselves, many teachers find a way to keep teaching kids what they need to know. They are true working class heroes <3

Putting pencil or pen to paper is so different from tapping on a keyboard. You choose the size of the letters, the depth and width of the impression, the slant, the height of the cross-bars. You get to choose the style of your letters, the spacing between letters and lines, and there must be something gained from perceiving what you've written and how it looks...some feedback on your mood, your stability, you energy and maybe unconscious thoughts. Keyboard entry can be much faster, but writing is a much richer experience.
And I agree completely on what heroes teachers can be.

Totally wonderful illustration of the story. I did do some deep look ahead, but I also resorted to a fair amount of guessing. The only thing I didn't recognize until I read the story were the blue lines. Made me smile with memories of my childhood and that of my children. And yes, some schools are still doing this in the early grades.

Thanks for your comments, BlackCat. I struggled with making the puzzle more solvable with line logic, but in the end I released it as is to keep the image intact. Just recalled another memory of the cranked pencil sharpener at the front of the room that had several hole sizes to work with normal pencils and the fat pencils we used in early grades.

EL R1 places the 4 in C35-38. (Pay attention to how it affects R2-3.) Resulting line & color logic solves red, black, and green, leaving only blue.

IEL C35 places the 2 in R17-18.

R4-8 C39 are white, or there is nowhere to put the remaining 1 clue in C38.

R15: C46-47 are white to avoid a contradiction in R14.

C40: If you try to put the 2 anywhere in R4-8, it will cause a contradiction above or below, so these squares are white.

R4 and R8: The remaining 2s can't go anywhere in C41-44, or they will cause contradictions. It can take 2-3 steps and the contradiction will occur in different locations depending on where the 2s are placed. Wherever these 2s are placed in their remaining locations, it will bring the 3s in R5 and R7 over to the C46-53 section, so those rows can be marked white in C41-44 as well.

R8: No matter where the 2 is placed, R7C49 is blue.

R11C39 can't be blue, or there is nowhere to put the 1 in C38.

R11C40-41 can't be blue or there is a contradiction in R13.

Finally LL will solve the rest.

Found to be solvable with moderate lookahead by wombatilim.

El azul no es soluble lógicamente en absoluto.

Goto next topic

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