The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[PaulIQ164]

I think it looks like this:

Code: Select all

 38¦   ¦  2
  4¦ 2 ¦ 5
   ¦  6¦19
---+---+---
   ¦9  ¦2 6
   ¦ 8 ¦   
4 2¦  1¦   
---+---+---
 87¦5  ¦   
 9 ¦ 3 ¦8   
1  ¦   ¦92

[jf27]

Another Times shambles? Also, consider the two following sentences from the article on the championships:

…women … took first, second and fourth places, demolishing the common belief that men are better than women at maths.

[The winner] denied she was good at it because she was good at maths. “It’s not mathematical so much as being very logical,” she said.

A slight contradiction?

[Pappocom]

Aaagh! My turn for an error - I gave row 4 instead of row 7. "... troubles come not singly but in batallions..." I have edited my post, above. Apologies to all.

... and why didn't Carol show up? Is it because Wayne's books are more popular than hers?

<LOL> I understand she has the flu and has lost her voice. Just bad timing, for us (and, I daresay, for her).

So, Wayne how was the Championships for you? What happened?

I thought it was amazing. Personally, I had a wonderful time - who wouldn't! But probably the one image that struck me most of all was when the crowds exited the "exam" halls. Nearly all of them must, by definition, have missed out on advancing to the next round. I was expecting to see glum, sour, even angry faces - but No. People were smiling, happy, excited, even exhilarated. I think people had a good time, and a good experience. Whether they feel the exercise as a whole was worthwhile, I will leave for them and others to say.

If you were there, please pitch in with your comments and opinions, even if they are negative (especially if they are negative - I'd like to learn).

But speaking for myself, I think this Sudoku tournament idea has a future. It doesn't have to be on a national scale. Regional competitions would be fun, too. And looking outward, I'd like to see the top 3 UK contenders pitted against the best that, say, France can offer - or even Europe.

- Wayne

[Bigtone53]

Cor blimey! The paper did miss some clues out.

There should be a "6" at the end of row 4, a "7" in r4c3, and a "5" in r7c4.

[Edited: the co-ordinates for the "7" have been corrected]

Wayne,

Are you sure you have it right even now? Shouldn't it be that the 7 is in r7c3?

Perhaps you could follow afjt's suggestion and just set out what the thing should look like.

[afjt]

Isn't that what PaulIQ164 did at 12:49 ?

[Sue De Coq]

A slight contradiction?

I see that a man wrote the article.

[Bigtone53]

Isn't that what PaulIQ164 did at 12:49 ?

I dunno. Paul was not sure and as Wayne who created the puzzle seems to be coming up with differing positions, I thought it might help if Wayne confirms the position before I waste my 13 minutes and 47 seconds solving it.

No probs. I will work on Pauls version.

PS for Sue - I know a girl called Lewis!

[afjt]

PaulIQ164's version gives a unique solution (and requires more than just singles !).

[boaz]

Hi
Im a little confused now, can anyone confirm the starting numbers?

C

[afjt]

We are 99% certain that it is as per PaulIQ164's grid at the top of this page (ie page 3 of this thread).

[CathyW]

Well, it sure helps to have the missing clues for the Grand Final puzzle! Have now solved it, although I did 'cheat' and dub it in to computer to see the candidates more easily.

Was the suggested time to solve of 58 minutes for both puzzles or were they each expected to take 58 minutes?

Congratulations to everyone who took part.

[PaulIQ164]

I just did the grand final puzzle. I wasn't rushing particularly, and it took me about half an hour I think.

[Karyobin]

I had a bad day.

1. The Times was missing its Times 2 supplement.
2. I forgot to buy yoghurt.
3. I rattled through the first of the Ultra-Fiendish in 8 minutes, then discovered I'd cocked it up.
4. The kids were really mean to me.
5. I banged my elbow.
6. Dido isn't cheering me up.

Well done for making the effort though Paul, full marks that man.

By the way, the train-journey post wasn't entirely accurate.

[Heuresement]

Being there at Cheltenham

The excitement of being there and being able to compete against other similarly minded people made the day for me well worth the effort, despite the long journey to Cheltenham from W.Cornwall.

I had been preparing myself for several weeks, only to find myself completely outclassed by the winners. I was slightly unnerved when I saw people sitting near me in the exam room raising their arms, and tried to re-concentrate my efforts. Following that was the announcement that the entries three winners had been selected, and it was all over. To be truthful, I was unable to complete the puzzle at that moment, but quickly finished it off when I stopped off on my journey home. So in total, unfortunately, my time was 30 minutes.

I think that had I not been there, and seen it for myself, I would have liked to have cast doubt on the excellent times achieved by the winners. Amazing is all I can say, plus I can only congratulate everyone involved for an excellent day.

Some of the things of the things that really that made my smile on Sunday were:

a) when queueing outside, the lady behind me asked whether my name was Michael. I could only say yes in amazement. It was Kites who had recognised me from the fact that I had written "daughter in tow" in another forum topic.

b) When we were sitting in the exam hall, the adjudicator asked whether there were any questions. One lady asked whether she could take the puzzle home with herNearly everyone laughed.

c) The ages of the adult Cheltenham contestants were spread over all ages ranges. It was interesting to onte that the winners tended to be on the younger side so I must be almost past it by now.

d) After the young woman sitting to my left had submitted her solution, she got out a suduko puzzle book, which she started to do whilst waiting for the contest to finish. This was a real demonstration of the strength of the magic of this puzzle.

The only bad side on the day was the fact that CLC would not allow my teenage daughter to enter because I hadn't put her name forward. In consequence, this meant that I had to rush off at the end. Really though this was my fault, as I hadn't planned far enough in advance. I would have enjoyed being able to talk to more people about the puzzle and things.
[/list]

[9X9]

"Well done", to the ladies. However, I'd be interested to know what proportion of the contestants on the day was female and what was male, to get a true feel for the significance of the result.

Interestingly, and freely acknowledging the difference in the game, I think that the first UK TV Channel 4 Countdown champion was a woman but that all, or certainly virtually all, of the many subsequent champions have been men, despite there being a gender balance policy for the selection of contestants.