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5 comments (Add new comment)
Posted 19th Feb 2019 at 15:26
Last edited by Elisabeth 19th Feb 2019 at 17:49
Elisabeth Daily subscriber
Being interested in the frequency of certain puzzles, I looked at each type to see how many there had been of each. Roughly, I found the following:-

Over 1000: Sudoku(original), Kakuro**, Suduko-X, Slitherlink
750 - 999: Killer Sudoku, Hitori , Futoshiki,
500 - 749: Jigsaw Sudoku, SudokuXV, KillerSudokuX, Kropki, Hanjie, Skyscraper,
Odd Pair Sudoku, Calcudoku
Under 500: Killer Pro Sudoku, Jigsaw Killer Sudok,u Toroidal, Consecutive Sudoku

** In fact Kakuro appeared to top the list at 1850 in today's puzzle

So, you can see whether your favourite puzzles come often enough!:) Anyway, it has kept me happy for an hour or two putting this together.

Posted 20th Feb 2019 at 05:35
Last edited by gareth 20th Feb 2019 at 05:40
gareth Administrator Daily subscriber
You can also use the selectors on the left-hand side to choose each puzzle type in turn, and the one with the highest number will appear at the top of the list. No need to wade through pages looking for them.

The frequency of puzzles on the site is based on three things:
1) How many I've made - so if I don't have any prepared, they won't appear. :)
2) Whether I add them manually or not - so for example I put Hanjie on manually. I do often choose other puzzles by hand too, but if some days I haven't had time, or I haven't chosen 4, then we go on to:
3) A combination of 'dice rolls' which decide which preprepared puzzles to post, until 4 have been selected for each day.

The dice rolls work by rolling a weighted dice, with one side for each genre of puzzle. Then, once it has selected a genre, it throws a weighted dice again to select a sub-type within that genre. Then, finally, it selects at random from the mix of puzzles I have prepared for that sub-type.

However, it's a bit more complicated than that because the site stops the same genre from appearing more than once on a day, and it has rules about how often they can appear on nearby days too.

Also, these are imaginary dice, just to be clear. :)

Here are the genres, and the subtypes inside each: (without giving away how the dice are loaded!)

CALCUDOKU
Calcudoku
Calcudoku Zero
Mystery Calcudoku
Mystery Calcudoku Zero

CONSECUTIVE
Consecutive
Consecutive-6
Consecutive-8
Non-consecutive
Non-consecutive Sudoku-6
Non-consecutive Sudoku-8

FUTOSHIKI
Futoshiki-5
Futoshiki-6
Futoshiki-7
Futoshiki-8

HITORI
Hitori (all)

JIGSAW
Jigsaw Sudoku
Jigsaw Sudoku-10
Jigsaw Sudoku-12
Jigsaw Sudoku-6
Jigsaw Sudoku-7
Jigsaw Sudoku-8

JIGSAW KILLER
Jigsaw Killer
Jigsaw Killer-6

KAKURO
Kakuro (any size)

KILLER
Killer Sudoku
Killer Sudoku-6
KIller Sudoku-8

KILLER PRO
Killer Pro
Killer Pro Zero
Killer Pro-6
Killer Pro-8
Mystery Killer Pro
Mystery Killer Pro Zero

KILLER X
Killer Sudoku-X
Killer Sudoku-X-6

KROPKI
Kropki Sudoku
Kropki Sudoku-6

ODD PAIR
Odd Pair
Odd Pair-6

SKYSCRAPER
Skyscraper-5
Skyscraper-6
Skyscraper-7
Skyscraper-8

SLITHERLINK
Slitherlink (all)

SUDOKU
Sudoku 10x10
Sudoku 12x12
Sudoku 16x16
Sudoku 6x6
Sudoku 8x8
Sudoku 9x9

SUDOKU X
Sudoku-X
Sudoku-X 12x12
Sudoku-X 6x6

TOROIDAL
Toroidal Sudoku
Wraparound Sudoku
Wraparound Sudoku-12
Wraparound Sudoku-6

SUDOKU XV
Sudoku XV
Sudoku XV-6

There have been other types in the past I have posted, but these have been manually added as exceptions.

Posted 20th Feb 2019 at 10:35
Elisabeth Daily subscriber
Thank you, Gareth.
I did have the sense to use the left-hand side selector:) And tried to include all the subsets of a particular type, but was aware I was not 100% accurate, hence the broad bands into which I placed the results. The two I inadvertantly left out were Wraparound and Non-consecutive, otherewise within the results I had included most of those listed above.
Whilst I understand, roughly, your explanation of how puzzles are chosen, it doesn't answer the question as to why Kakuro and Slitherlink appear so frequently, whilst Jigsaw Killer, say, only appears occasionally!?
Posted 21st Feb 2019 at 05:24
gareth Administrator Daily subscriber
Hi Elisabeth,
They appear based on the weighted dice rolls, so there is a different weight for each genre, and then each sub-type within the genre. The more popular/common puzzles appear more frequently, and the less popular/more esoteric puzzles appear less frequently.
Posted 21st Feb 2019 at 09:36
Last edited by Elisabeth 21st Feb 2019 at 11:38
Elisabeth Daily subscriber
Yes I see that, Gareth. However if you look at the last 3 months the range of numbers played for the 3 puzzles I've mentioned were:-
Kakuro 94 - 114 Slitherlink 59 - 77 Jigsaw Killer 99 - 121
(I have left out the free puzzles)
Well, I've had my say for now! I see we have an ordinary Jigsaw to do today which I shall keep for later when I have more time to enjoy it:)
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