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Sudoku

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 10:47 am
by GORDON
I'm finishing Master levels on sudoku.com.

It's no big deal, really.

Sudoku

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 11:23 am
by TheCatt
GORDON wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 10:47 am I'm finishing Master levels on sudoku.com.

It's no big deal, really.
Nice. I did 1 master there just now. Had to get 1 hint though as I had a meeting that interrupted me, so I had forgotten to finish tick marking one number.

Years ago I did sudokus a lot. There was a category called "diabolical" where you couldn't just derive the answers through elimination like on this Master one. You just had to follow a path, and see if it would work out.

Have you tried killer sudokus?

Sudoku

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 11:28 am
by GORDON
Have not clicked on that yet. Harder?

Sudoku

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 11:29 am
by GORDON
I feel like there's one last logic trick I haven't figured out on the master levels. Half the time I end up with one error because I had to 50/50 guess one.

Sudoku

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 11:31 am
by GORDON
GORDON wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 11:28 am Have not clicked on that yet. Harder?
Just looked at one. Isn't it easier because now there's another data point when you can solve for X?

Sudoku

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 11:34 am
by TheCatt
GORDON wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 11:28 am Have not clicked on that yet. Harder?
Killer sudoku: https://sudoku.com/killer

I'm not 100% sure these are the same that are in our newspaper. I could do level 1 pretty easily. Got stuck on a level 2. I haven't tried the website ones.
GORDON wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 11:29 am I feel like there's one last logic trick I haven't figured out on the master levels. Half the time I end up with one error because I had to 50/50 guess one.
I did a LOT of these back in the early 2000s (books, Palm Pilot, etc). I knew all the tricks back then. I may have just gotten an "easy" master one this time (took about 10-15 minutes? Hard to say since the meeting interrupted me and I left it open). The ticking takes so long, I find it kinda annoying these days :)

I have a sudoku app on my phone, but I just do easy/medium to see how fast I can do them.

Sudoku

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 11:36 am
by TheCatt
OK, the website ones are DEFINITELY easier than the newspaper ones.

Try this (Level 1): https://www.wsj.com/articles/number-puz ... _permalink

Also, the soku on that page is fun. The webpage is not interactive, so printing them out makes them easier to work with.

Sudoku

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 12:07 pm
by GORDON
Tried a killer expert.... Oh, I see, you're given zero starting numbers, and only a single, single sum box. Extrapolate!

But medium killer was easy, and yes, the extra data point helps.

Sudoku

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 2:57 pm
by Leisher
I've been playing Sudoku for years and years. Love it. I've got multiple apps on my phone for it.

I don't enjoy Killer Sudoku because I think the extra data point just makes it too easy.
GORDON wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 11:29 am I feel like there's one last logic trick I haven't figured out on the master levels. Half the time I end up with one error because I had to 50/50 guess one.
Bowman's Bingo is the technique you're looking for and it's tedious. When you run into those certain puzzles where you're stuck and you have to make that 50/50 guess, the actual solution is to pick one box and then play it out using pencil marks to see if it breaks a rule. If no, then you've solved the puzzle. If yes, then you go back to that box and now know the other number is the key to the solution.

Because I usually play at night while in bed, I just guess to save myself the time.

Sudoku

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2024 5:37 pm
by TheCatt
Leisher wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 2:57 pm I don't enjoy Killer Sudoku because I think the extra data point just makes it too easy.
You both need to try the one I linked and let me know if that's easy or not.
Leisher wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 2:57 pm Bowman's Bingo is the technique you're looking for and it's tedious. When you run into those certain puzzles where you're stuck and you have to make that 50/50 guess, the actual solution is to pick one box and then play it out using pencil marks to see if it breaks a rule. If no, then you've solved the puzzle. If yes, then you go back to that box and now know the other number is the key to the solution.
Yes, this is the one that made the "diabolical" ones back in the day. Some say it's not true sudoku, because you should be able to figure everything out on its own.

Sudoku

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2024 6:14 pm
by GORDON
I figured out another of the tricks earlier today.

But yeah, like a rubik's cube, you don't just try every combination.... I'd like to learn those tricks someday, too.

Sudoku

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2024 1:09 pm
by GORDON
Just did the hardest Killer/Expert I ever saw.

Took me an hour and twenty. I was staring at it for a half hour before I placed the first number.

Sudoku

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2024 1:22 pm
by TheCatt
GORDON wrote: Mon Feb 12, 2024 1:09 pm Just did the hardest Killer/Expert I ever saw.

Took me an hour and twenty. I was staring at it for a half hour before I placed the first number.
Can you share it for the rest of us? Curious.

Sudoku

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2024 3:56 pm
by GORDON
This is what I do now when I am doing a task and have a few minutes here and there.

I'm doing Killer/Expert now usually in 20 minutes, usually no hints. Only mistakes are when I'm touch typing and miss the key I meant to hit. Sometimes there just isn't any logical next move that isn't bigger than a 1:3 guess, so I take the hint. Sometimes the game comes down to 4 blocks that are the same pairs of numbers twice, and it's 100% 50/50 guess. Those suck.

My brain feels zippier, slightly.

Sudoku

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 12:33 pm
by TheCatt
Our youngest saw me doing the Killer Soduku this week (level 1), and decided to help me.

https://prod-i.a.dj.com/public/resource ... 250315.pdf

It's wild how hard these are compared to the normal sodukus. I used to have a soduku app/book/etc, and did all the puzzles of every difficulty. I cannot get past Level 1 on these.

Sudoku

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 12:39 pm
by GORDON
Oh damn.

I was about to brag my average Killer/Expert time was about 15 minutes, now (maybe 1 mistake, 0 hints used - because sometimes you need to make a "this has 75% chance of being correct" guess and then it isn't), but that there's an entirely new level of insanity.

Sudoku

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 12:58 pm
by TheCatt
GORDON wrote: Wed Mar 19, 2025 12:39 pm but that there's an entirely new level of insanity.
Yeah. It took us about, I wasn't keeping track, but I'd estimate 10 minutes before we could even put a single number in.
GORDON wrote: Wed Mar 19, 2025 12:39 pm now (maybe 1 mistake, 0 hints used - because sometimes you need to make a "this has 75% chance of being correct" guess and then it isn't), but that there's an entirely new level of insanity.
I remember the first time I saw those. They were called "Diabolical" in whatever I was doing them in. You basically had to guess, 50/50 on which path to go down, and would only know when it either worked or didn't, eventually. Some people claim those aren't "true sudoku" since they are supposed to be completely solvable or something, I dunno. Long time since I thought about it.

Sudoku

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 7:53 pm
by TheCatt
TheCatt wrote: Wed Mar 19, 2025 12:58 pm Yeah. It took us about, I wasn't keeping track, but I'd estimate 10 minutes before we could even put a single number in.
We finished tonight. I didn't keep track of time, but I think it took us around 30 to 40 minutes to solve it.

Maybe I'll make it to level 2 some day :)