The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[scrose]

Sorry, I probably wasn't clear enough. When I used the phrase "solving techniques", I was suggesting whether the player is allowed to use pencilmarks, or whether only pencil and paper is to be used. What "solving aids" are permitted, rather than what set of logical "solving techniques".

For example, suppose you were to give an identical puzzle to two people using the Pappocom software. One person has the "fill wells automatically" option turned on, and the other person has the "fill wells manually" option turned on. The person with the automatic option likely has a slight advantage because he/she can quickly see when all nine of a digit has been placed.

Or even more extreme, suppose one person has the "flag wrong ones" option activated while the other person doesn't. Quite an unfair advantage.

The point I was trying to make was that to compare times for a particular puzzle, players must agree on the "rules". That is, players must agree to play by a certain set of parameters. The Pappocom software allows you to enter a time into its hall of fame only if you satisfy its set of parameters.

[datprogrammer]

Thanks for the clarifiaction, yes that makes much more sense. I was, perhaps somewhat naively, assuming that if a program were to be used, it would only be for convenience, as virtual paper - no helpers such as autofill, or marking wrong guesses.

I will try the time trials over the weekend.

I was stuck in a traffic queue on the way home last night and managed to do a "difficult" from The Times Su Doku book 1 without any pencil marks! I was well pleased!