The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[Hud]

I've got an idea to eliminate the confusion of using he/she, him/her, why not just substitute Pat. It worked nicely on Saturday Night Live. Now I wonder if that's shown in the UK or Australia? Sorry, I've been in the wine again.

[Jeff]

How do you get all that into a square whose sides are only about 2.7 mm long?

I have tried this on 6mm sq mm squares. Just be careful not to make a mistake. Because if you do, you will be run out of room for any corrective marking.

[Jeff]

....besides, I was merely adding some English Humour to this forum.

This is what I am lacking. keep up the good work.

.... Can you see X-wings and stuff more clearly with this technique? And what sort of time does it take to solve a typical Fiendish with this method.

Using this method, x-wing is easy to spot. I can spot xy-chain also. Difficult to put a time frame on it because it depends on so many factors. Why don't you try it and let me know whether it improves your timing.

[Jeff]

I thought that this topic was already dead but I was mistaken. It keeps on surfacing on and on, which proves that the problem is a real one. Thanks to Sweetbix and Crazy Girl who made it happen.

I thought so too until sweetbix broke the ice. Glad you like it. I used to do the pencilmarks externally same difference as yours. Once I took up this telepad approach, I never looked back except occasionally I have made a big mistake which cannot be fixed. Hope it improves your timing and creates more fun for you.

[Jenniebabie78]

Jeff, your pencilmarks are ingenius!!! I am a beginner and have so much to learn but that just helped me tremendously!

oh, and to avoid any confusion, I am a female!

[Jeff]

Jeff, your pencilmarks are ingenius!!! I am a beginner and have so much to learn but that just helped me tremendously!

Thanks and welcome to the forum.

oh, and to avoid any confusion, I am a female!

I must remember that so that I could remind the others. You are not 78 years old, aren't you?

[emm]

I want to say that I’m absolutely fine with you being 78, Jennie – in fact I think we should welcome senior citizens to this forum - and if Jeff was a real gentleman he wouldn’t mention your age. Anyway it might be your IQ and that might be even less PC, who knows!

Well I’m not 78, but my brain must be wired differently from yours, Jeff - I find it incredibly difficult to make the jump from numerals to symbols. Mind you I was a bit distracted by some of the pretty patterns I was making and some of the interesting little hidden pictures! My telephone keypad doesn’t look like anything this either - maybe that’s the problem. I’d like to know if everyone else had success. I could keep at it if there’s hope.

I was thinking, randomly, doesn’t this thread have a lovely symmetry. Pencilmarking and gender bias, the on-topic and the off, the mundane and the profound and a little touch of the bizarre with Hud’s crocodiles thrown into the pond. Just thought I’d point that out, since it seems that threads like this are becoming an endangered species in this forum, about as close to extinction as the spotted owl and the hairy-nosed wombat.

Another random thought for Hud – wine is proof that God loves us and that She wants us to be happy but does it improve the solving? Maybe we could do a poll.

PS : To my mind, our Pat is undoubtedly a man. This opinion is final and non-negotiable - in fact I’d go so far as to stake my honour on it.

[Jeff]

I want to say that I’m absolutely fine with you being 78, Jennie – in fact I think we should welcome senior citizens to this forum - and if Jeff was a real gentleman he wouldn’t mention your age. Anyway it might be your IQ and that might be even less PC, who knows!

My statement was not intended to carry any negative meaning. I welcome both male and female from all walks of life to share our thoughts in this forum. You are right, I shouldn't ask her age at all. I am sorry.

[emm]

Dear Jeff,

When are you going to learn to not take me so seriously?

Love em.

[Jenniebabie78]

78 conoctates the year that I graced this world with my presence. A senor citizen I am not! (NOT that there is anything wrong with that!) I am not aware of my IQ but judging from my inability to finish my current puzzle, I assume it isnt very high.

[Pat]

i didn't know this bit of history —

for most of the existence of the English language, ‘they’ was the accepted singular gender-neutral pronoun

[Pat]

chimpanzee demonstrat​es astonishin​g memory

[Smythe Dakota]

If some interplanetarian lands on our planet and enters this topic, he/she (it?) will certainly ask himself/herself/itself: "Hey, is this forum really about Sudoku we've been playing out there since times immemorial"?:( ....

I think in Galaxy Greenflint they probably do hexadecimal zeroes-allowed Sudoku on a 16x16 board with 4x4 boxes. They'd find our version childishly simple.

How about this: In even numbered millennia, we use "her" and "she".

Don't think so! Men had the last two in a row, so now we get the next two : 1.1.2001 – 31.12.4000. ....

Or maybe the last three in a row (the zeroeth, first, and second -- or the first, second, and third, if you count them the same way you count centuries). So in the years 3001-6000, the universe will be female-dominated.

Anyone interested to know how to do pencil marks on the actual grid provided on the newspaper. with each cell being 7.5 sq mm.

I put pencil marks for the top band (top three rows) in the top margin of the newspaper. In my paper there's enough white space in various locations below to fit the pencil marks for the middle and bottom bands. If your newspaper is configured differently, you may prefer to put the top two bands above and the bottom band below.

.... How do you get all that into a square whose sides are only about 2.7 mm long?:)

In that case, I'd do what I do with the Numbrix puzzle in the Sunday Parade. Put it on my copier and magnify it to 300%.

Bill Smythe