JoergWausW Daily subscriber Has not played this puzzle yet
First time I missed something obvious: Avoid small circles... After the second time I think this one should be easy enough for beginners.
Posted 18th Oct 2016 at 16:45
Elisabeth Daily subscriber Has not played this puzzle yet
I don't count myself as a beginner and found this quite tricky!
Posted 18th Oct 2016 at 19:11
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Has not played this puzzle yet
Elisabeth, I thought it might be easy, because you don't need compicated steps, but only these few basic ones (basic if you already looked into some rules): 1) It is always safe to start with zeros: Just white lines all around (not very often in this one) 2) Then it's the number 3 that helps: Especially if there are adjacent ones: 2a) If they are next to or above each other, then the the line in between and the two parallel ones are black. 2b) Diagonally adjacent means: the opposite outer corners have black lines (a total of 4 black lines). It also results in 2 white lines at the outside of those outer nodes (I hope this is a proper description of what I mean - it's always easier in your native tongue...) 3) If there is a black line arriving at a corner of a number 3, the opposite two lines have to be black. 4) Then look for number 2, where you already put two white lines next to. Blacken the other two. 5) If there is only one choice to pick, do it. 6) Don't blacken those lines that lead automatically to a small "circle" at the left top of the puzzle, a closed chain of black lines of any shape (the goal is to make one big one with all the black lines). Instead: whiten those lines.
While steps 1) and 2) are done once at the beginning, steps 3) to 6) have to be re-checked, because these "situations" can reappear later. In this puzzle you don't have to think "what will happen if I...". I used it ones and it was only like 2 lines ahead while doing 6), before it became clear what it had to be.
I considered this a short list of needed relatively easy actions compared to what you have to do in other puzzles of this type. (And of course you can always use trial and error - but maybe this is not a good idea for this one).
Posted 18th Oct 2016 at 21:50
Elisabeth Daily subscriber Has not played this puzzle yet
Oh dear, I just do these for fun!!:)
Posted 18th Oct 2016 at 22:59
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Has not played this puzzle yet
Yes, but sometimes the fun needs practice - like playing the violin. Nobody has to have fun, though ;-)
Posted 19th Oct 2016 at 17:08
Elisabeth Daily subscriber Has not played this puzzle yet
On further thought, JoergWausW, I did the sequence as you described, yes they are standard procedures, but there were still many options left in order to complete the circuit. With advancing years I can't carry as many steps as I used to in my head so I do have to resort to "trial and error". Above all I still want to enjoy the puzzles without too much angst!!:)
Posted 19th Oct 2016 at 18:46
mocky Has not played this puzzle yet
A) Elisabeth tell your age to Joerg... B) I confirm that puzzle is not easy
Posted 20th Oct 2016 at 09:29
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Has not played this puzzle yet
@mocky: I got it from a couple previous comments that Elisabeth feels way younger than she is. And this is why I don't make a difference. My apology if someone feels that's wrong. I enjoy reading that she tried anyway :-).
Most puzzles come to the point where only one single step has to be found to continue. Finding this one step is the difficult part - even if the step itself is trivial.
Posted 20th Oct 2016 at 17:26
Elisabeth Daily subscriber Has not played this puzzle yet
Thank you, mocky, for coming to my aid! But I don't want any concessions, perhaps, though when I reach 90............:-) In the meanwhile I continue to enjoy the puzzles and interchange of comments/ideas.
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A yellow/light blue highlight in the time distribution charts highlights your time, where relevant.
Rating scores out of 10.0 show the average difficulty rating chosen by users, where 1.0 is "Easy" and 10.0 is "Hard".
If a puzzle is opened more than once, including by loading from a saved position, then this is potentially a significant aid so it is listed as being completed with 'multiple sessions' for the purpose of the best time/average rating displays above.
Minor aid is defined as no more than one use of 'Check solution' when incomplete and/or no more than one use of 'Check solution' when wrong; and/or using highlighting aids (show repeated digits, show broken inequalities and show valid/invalid placements [slitherlink] only). Major aid is any and all other use of the solving aids except for 'show wrong'.
1) It is always safe to start with zeros: Just white lines all around (not very often in this one)
2) Then it's the number 3 that helps: Especially if there are adjacent ones:
2a) If they are next to or above each other, then the the line in between and the two parallel ones are black.
2b) Diagonally adjacent means: the opposite outer corners have black lines (a total of 4 black lines). It also results in 2 white lines at the outside of those outer nodes (I hope this is a proper description of what I mean - it's always easier in your native tongue...)
3) If there is a black line arriving at a corner of a number 3, the opposite two lines have to be black.
4) Then look for number 2, where you already put two white lines next to. Blacken the other two.
5) If there is only one choice to pick, do it.
6) Don't blacken those lines that lead automatically to a small "circle" at the left top of the puzzle, a closed chain of black lines of any shape (the goal is to make one big one with all the black lines). Instead: whiten those lines.
While steps 1) and 2) are done once at the beginning, steps 3) to 6) have to be re-checked, because these "situations" can reappear later.
In this puzzle you don't have to think "what will happen if I...". I used it ones and it was only like 2 lines ahead while doing 6), before it became clear what it had to be.
I considered this a short list of needed relatively easy actions compared to what you have to do in other puzzles of this type.
(And of course you can always use trial and error - but maybe this is not a good idea for this one).
B) I confirm that puzzle is not easy
Most puzzles come to the point where only one single step has to be found to continue. Finding this one step is the difficult part - even if the step itself is trivial.
You can however view other players' statistics and comments in the tables above.