The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[Clouded]

I have a Japanese book of Slitherlink puzzles by Nikoli press. Each puzzle is labelled with text like this:

55分 - 18分 - 5分

The first problems have low numbers -- on a 10x10 board they range from 20分 - 6分 - 2分 to 63分 - 25分 - 7分, and on the largest 20x36 board they range from 218分 - 68分 - 17分 to 832分 - 247分 - 61分.

Does anyone know what these numbers actually mean? I'm guessing they are difficulty ratings, but why are there 3 numbers?

FWIW, I've looked up the kanji and it says 'know; rate; 1%; chances; shaku/100'. It could just be a percentage sign, but I don't understand why it goes over 100.

[Mathimagics]

One possibility for the first number is the chain length (which is the sum of the clues).

[denis_berthier]

I have a Japanese book of Slitherlink puzzles by Nikoli press. Each puzzle is labelled with text like this
55分 - 18分 - 5分
The first problems have low numbers -- on a 10x10 board they range from 20分 - 6分 - 2分 to 63分 - 25分 - 7分, and on the largest 20x36 board they range from 218分 - 68分 - 17分 to 832分 - 247分 - 61分.
Does anyone know what these numbers actually mean? I'm guessing they are difficulty ratings, but why are there 3 numbers?

According to Google translate, 分 (Bun) means "minute". So I would guess that the 3 numbers (apparently always in descending order) are the solving times for beginners / advanced players / experts. Just a guess.
If you could copy one of these puzzles, we could have a better idea.

[Clouded]

Hi Denis,

I'm sure you're right -- thanks! (There's an image at https://i.imgur.com/3F4wy0G.jpg .)

[denis_berthier]

.
Using my solver (SlitherRules, a part of CSP-Rules), the following resolution state is reached using only Singles:

Code: Select all

.   .———.———.   .———.   .   .   .   .———.
    |       | 3 | 3 |         0   2 |   |
.   .———.   .———.   .———.———.   .———.   .
  0   3 |                   |   |       |
.   .———.   .———.———.———.   .   .———.   .
    |     2 |         3 |   | 2   3 |   |
.   .———.———.   .   .———.   .———.———.   .
          1         |     0       1     |
.———.———.   .———.   .   .   .....   .   .
| 3     | 3 |   | 3 |       :   :     2 |
.———.   .———.   .———.   .———.....   .———.
  3 |                 2 |   : 2 :   | 3
.———.   .———.———.   .———.   .....   .———.
|     2 |     3 |   |         2 |       |
.———.———.   .———.   .   .   .———.   .———.
      1   2 |     2 |       | 2     |
.....   .———.   .———.   .———.   .———.   .
:   :   |       |       |       | 3   0
.....   .———.   .   .———.   .   .———.   .
      0   2 |   |   | 3   1         |
.   .   .   .———.   .———.———.———.———.   .

The end requires only the application of the loop rule:

Code: Select all

LOOP[96]: Vr6c9-Vr7c9-Hr8c8-Vr8c8-Hr9c7-Vr9c7-Hr10c6-Vr10c6-Hr11c6-Hr11c7-Hr11c8-Hr11c9-Vr10c10-Hr10c9-Vr9c9-Hr9c9-Vr8c10-Hr8c10-Vr7c11-Hr7c10-Vr6c10-Hr6c10-Vr5c11-Vr4c11-Vr3c11-Vr2c11-Vr1c11-Hr1c10-Vr1c10-Hr2c9-Vr2c9-Hr3c9-Vr3c10-Hr4c9-Hr4c8-Vr3c8-Vr2c8-Hr2c7-Hr2c6-Vr1c6-Hr1c5-Vr1c5-Hr2c4-Vr1c4-Hr1c3-Hr1c2-Vr1c2-Hr2c2-Vr2c3-Hr3c2-Vr3c2-Hr4c2-Hr4c3-Vr3c4-Hr3c4-Hr3c5-Hr3c6-Vr3c7-Hr4c6-Vr4c6-Vr5c6-Hr6c5-Vr5c5-Hr5c4-Vr5c4-Hr6c3-Vr5c3-Hr5c2-Hr5c1-Vr5c1-Hr6c1-Vr6c2-Hr7c1-Vr7c1-Hr8c1-Hr8c2-Vr7c3-Hr7c3-Hr7c4-Vr7c5-Hr8c4-Vr8c4-Hr9c3-Vr9c3-Hr10c3-Vr10c4-Hr11c4-Vr10c5-Vr9c5-Hr9c5-Vr8c6-Vr7c6-Hr7c6-Vr6c7-Hr6c7- ==> Hr6c8=1

which makes it rather easy and consistent with their (20 / 6 / 2)