The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[possum]

I heard that there was a "super su doku" in yesterday's Independent. I just checked their site, where there was an article about the su doku, but I could not find the puzzle itself. Did anyone here see the paper? If so, please describe the puzzle!

[lunababy_moonchild]

Oh yeah, I got 2 copies of said paper (obssessive, me?) and you should see this baby!

It's a prize winner so I didn't expect it to be easy but it really is a super one.

It's a 4 x 4 puzzle i.e. 16 cells wide by 16 tall and it's a mixture of numbers and letters. That is, 0 - 9 then A - F. The standard Sudoku rules apply, all you have to do is solve it!

It's absolutely huge and a lot different to anything I've ever done before. In other words it takes Sudoku to a whole other level, in my opinion. It's a great game.

I imagine they don't have it on their website 'cos it's a competition but I'm under the impression that this was an introduction to the Independent's version of Sudoku - I certainly hope so!

Luna *no I haven't solved it - Palm-one's are up for grabs (whatever that is)*

[shakers]

Any chance of posting the grid here so we can all have a go..? I've not tried anything apart from the standard 3x3 (even though I know Wayne's program can generate other dimensions).

[possum]

Thank you for replying. That sounds interesting. Wouldn't mind risking my sanity on it if it could be posted here...

[lunababy_moonchild]

I thought you might. Will do my level best to post it, bear with me.

Luna

[lunababy_moonchild]

OK, here it is



F B * 6 ¦ C * 7 8 ¦ 1 D * * ¦ 4 A * 0
* 4 * * ¦ * 2 * * ¦ * * * * ¦ * * 8 *
* * * * ¦ * 9 1 * ¦ * A * * ¦ * * * *
* * D C ¦ 5 4 6 B ¦8 3 2 * ¦ F * * *
-----------------------------------------
9 A B *¦ 2 * * * ¦ 3 C 5 8 ¦ E * * *
* E 8 D ¦ 6 A * *¦ 7 1 * 4 ¦3 5 * *
* * 3 * ¦ * * 8 C ¦ E 2 * 9 ¦ * * * B
* 0 * * ¦ F * 5 * ¦ D B 6 A ¦ 9 8 * *
-----------------------------------------
1 6 * * ¦ * * * 2 ¦ * 0 * E ¦ D F 3 8
2 3 0 * ¦7 F 9 6 ¦ * * C D¦ B E 1 *
5 7 * E ¦ 8 * C D¦ F * * * ¦ * * 9 A
* 9 F A ¦ 3 * 0 E ¦ 5 8 B 2 ¦ C 6 7 *
-----------------------------------------
* * * 7 ¦ B * F * ¦ * 5 3 * ¦ 0 * 6 *
3 C 2 * ¦ * * E 5 ¦ B * * * ¦ * 1 * *
* * * F ¦ * * * * ¦ 0 * * * ¦ * * * *
0 * A 4 ¦ 9 * * * ¦ 2 E 8 F ¦ * * B D

Enjoy!

I know that Wayne's program does 4 x 4 grids and I know that it can do letters but I'm not sure if it can do letters and numbers in the same grid. Wonder if that can be put on the Wishlist? Hmmmm.

I still haven't solved it - which stands for nothing at all! - but I do know that it seems deceptively simple, especially in the initial stages.

Please do let me know how you get on.

Luna

[possum]

Thank you so much for posting that, Lunababy. It must have taken ages. Am going into hospital tomorrow for about a week, so will take it with me. Should take my mind off the physical pain.

[lunababy_moonchild]

You're welcome Possum. Yes, it was a bit of a challenge - monster isn't it!

Hope all goes well with you.

Luna

[shakers]

If anyone wants me to e-mail them a library file containing this puzzle, please let me know and I'll get it sent on.

As has been pointed out, Wayne program does not use a mix of letters and numbers, so I have inputted it where:
1=1
2=2
3=3
4=4
5=5
6=6
7=7
8=8
9=9
0=10
A=11
B=12
C=13
D=14
E=15
F=16
Not strictly hex, I know, but the easiest way to translate the Indep's values!

[Pappocom]

Just a small expansion on that.

The Sudoku program does allow a mixture of numbers and letters if you play using Hex. Press F4 to bring up the Game Options dialog and on the first tab ("General 1"), under "Symbols", choose "Hex" (for hexadecimal, or 16-base numbering).

The numbers are 0 through 9, followed by the letters A through F. Those are the customary symbols for Hex notation.

(However, note that when you type in the data for a 16x16 puzzle in a Library book, as shakers has done, you don't use letters. You use only numbers: 01, 02 … 09, 10, 11 … 16.)

Hope that helps the 16x16 fans. You can get as many original 16x16 puzzles as you want by going to the Type menu, selecting "Rectangle" and specifying 16x16.

- Wayne

[shakers]

Apologies for any unintentional malignment of your program, Wayne

Having now completed the 16x16 (in 70 minutes), I'm fairly confident that I'll be sticking to the regular 9x9 in future!

[lunababy_moonchild]

And I was just going to announce that I had just completed the puzzle, after my third attempt. I'm still dead chuffed with myself, though.

My father tried it 8 times and gave up.

So, Shakers, how did you do that in 70 minutes (and have you got a low boredom threshold ). Did you do it with pencil and paper or did you input it into the program? Do you have a particular 'solving system'?

I'd just like to know,

Thanks
Luna

[Animator]

I solved it too... But I have no idea how fast I solved it... I can give you an idea though:

The puzzle was posted at 11:23, and the last time I modified the text-file I used to solve it was at 13:23... So that would be a maximum of 2 houres...

(I solved the puzzle using a very simple text editor).

I found no need to really add pencil marks, all logic was pretty straigh-forward (IMHO), all you need to do is look at the correct number/letter... (which is the hard part) :)

I don't recall if I solved it the first time I tried or that I had to start-over... (it happens that I make a stupid typo (such as pressing 6 instead of 5), which is why a basic editor is not really to best idea to solve them.)

[shakers]

So, Shakers, how did you do that in 70 minutes (and have you got a low boredom threshold ). Did you do it with pencil and paper or did you input it into the program? Do you have a particular 'solving system'?

I used Wayne's program to do the puzzle (having purchased it, I want to get my value out of it! ) As I'm at the computer most of the time, it's the way I usually do them too.

As for method, it was simply finding which cells were the only possible spaces for each number looking in rows, columns, and boxes. None of the more complicated methods were needed at all. Basically I usually try that method first, and then if I get stuck I'll start to look at some of the other techniques (usually reserved for The Times 'Fiendish')

[lunababy_moonchild]

That's what I was doing - or so I thought!

I solve mine on paper, for a variety of different reasons that I won't go into here.

However, I think that 70 minutes for that puzzle is amazing and am wondering why it is you are now sticking to the classic 9 x 9 grid?

Luna