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Comments and Results for 'Odd Pair Sudoku 433'

StateTypeTitleSizePlayedAvg timeRating (#users)YoursYour bestPublishedExpires
UnplayedOdd PairOdd Pair Sudoku 4339x990130:17Hard (197)Was free until 20th Jun 20186th JunExpired
Show full chart rankings for Odd Pair Sudoku 433
Your puzzle statistics First solution time distribution Overall puzzle statistics
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Slowest 10% not shown
0:00
1:02:59

Solution time without 'show wrong'
Slowest 10% not shown
0:00
1:21:08

Unaided first solution time
Slowest 10% not shown
0:00
1:14:09
Completed by261 users
Best time without any aid13:31 by Teyya
Best time with major aid9:49 by ericjohnson327
Best time with show wrong
or multiple sessions
1:42 by ACW1
Average solve time with no or minor aid36:16
Average solve time with no aid33:05
Average difficulty rating - all players5.1/10.0
Average difficulty rating - no aid4.1/10.0
Average difficulty rating - minor aid7.8/10.0
Average difficulty rating - major aid4.2/10.0
Average difficulty rating - show wrong or
multiple sessions
4.9/10.0
16 comments (Add new comment)
Posted 6th Jun 2018 at 19:43
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Best completion time: 11:51 Time on first attempt: 35:06
Is this one solvable without guessing and backtracking? I'm getting stuck with pure logic.
Posted 6th Jun 2018 at 21:11
Munchers Completion time: 15:12
Really strange but I found this quite easy considering. Back to normal tomorrow.
Posted 7th Jun 2018 at 02:47
Last edited by Pseudo 7th Jun 2018 at 02:47
Pseudo Daily subscriber Completion time: 11:38
The trick for these ones is to look for hidden pairs, triplets or quadruplets - usually made up of all even or odd digits. They can pretty hard to spot though.
Posted 7th Jun 2018 at 05:08
Suez Completion time: 1:47:33 Used 'check puzzle' when incorrect
Hard
Posted 7th Jun 2018 at 10:37
CumbrianRachel Rated puzzle: Moderate Completion time: 19:38
Very enjoyable!
Posted 7th Jun 2018 at 11:52
Imeji Rated puzzle: Moderate Completion time: 51:34 Used 'check puzzle' when incorrect
Given up.
Posted 17th Jun 2018 at 10:07
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Best completion time: 11:51 Time on first attempt: 35:06
I'm still stuck.
You can find my current screenshot here (don't open if you don't want to!)

<myusername>.de/OddPair433-Stuck.jpg

What should be the next logical move? (besides "guess and see where it takes you").
I stared at it for a long time and I can't find any pairs, triplets etc.... You may email me at web.de

Maybe it's obvious, or it is a move that I haven't used yet...

Posted 18th Jun 2018 at 12:44
gareth Administrator Daily subscriber Has started but not yet finished this puzzle
Hi JoergWausW,

In terms of a next move, there is a hidden pair in the squares 4 across and 6 down, and 4 across and 8 down. These are the only 2 squares in column 4 that contain a "2" and a "4". This means you can eliminate the 5+6 from the first one, and the 1+5+6+7+8 from the second one.

I hope this helps!


Gareth

Posted 18th Jun 2018 at 17:38
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Best completion time: 11:51 Time on first attempt: 35:06
Thank you, gareth.
I don't seem to have problems seeing those in Futoshikis... but here - I was blind...
Posted 18th Jun 2018 at 19:51
gareth Administrator Daily subscriber Has started but not yet finished this puzzle
It was really hard to spot - took me 15 minutes, if it helps!


Gareth

Posted 19th Jun 2018 at 18:46
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Best completion time: 11:51 Time on first attempt: 35:06
Thanks again, gareth.

btw - ran into one of your books in a bookstore and bought it ("logical brain games") - nice puzzle selection. Why not putting "sum skyscrapers" on the webpage? I liked those. Shouldn't be too much work to implement...

Posted 19th Jun 2018 at 22:11
gareth Administrator Daily subscriber Has started but not yet finished this puzzle
Hi Joerg,

You're right - it wouldn't be hard. In fact I did post a few a long time ago, but I haven't for ages. I might do again, now you've reminded me!

In general, I think Puzzlemix needs some attention to bring it up to date, and it's been on my 'to do' list for a while to update the players and make them more compatible with portable devices (currently the use of pop-ups causes problems on iOS, for a start).

The current player dates back to 2005, and the menu system to 2007, and given that I think it's aged remarkably well (it was one of the first sites to use AJAX to store data, and still one of the very few - if not the only - puzzle sites that dynamically rescales all of its content to fit the window). However, to add lots more types I need to start again with a vector-based design (which wasn't possible back in 2005, unless you used Flash), using either SVG or a HTML canvas. The current players have various interesting techniques to 'draw' elements, and until two years ago the code was still backwards compatible with Internet Explorer version 5! (which means some parts of it are far too complex, by modern standards).

If I started again, on a second-generation player, I could also then write some general player code that could work just as easily in an iOS or Android app, since the rendering code would be essentially device agnostic, and the input code could be based around a simple coordinate based interface that was relatively easy to reimplement for each device. So that's my vague plan. In the mean time, I should repackaged the player so it doesn't require a pop-up on completion, and yes there are definitely some types I could 'trivially' add to the site (subject to adding instructions and so forth).

I would also replace the menus, removing most of the options - almost no one ever uses them, and they cause confusion. Most people don't realise they can sort the columns and filter the puzzles, and there is a ton of internal code that handles that kind of thing which really isn't necessary any more. People are used to simpler web interfaces nowadays.

Finally, I'd change the way the timing works - it would be within the player, not dependent on the web server authenticating it. The site actually has a bunch of code to stop people cheating, but in all the time it's been online I don't think anyone ever actually has (cheated), so there's probably no real need for it. That's probably because there's never been a prize for finishing first. :)

I'm keen to hear any ideas for other changes.


Gareth

Posted 20th Jun 2018 at 08:19
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Best completion time: 11:51 Time on first attempt: 35:06
Wow - that's a big to do list.
I really do think that your code is (one of) the best player code that I've seen so far - regarding the result's functionality and also looks. I sneaked into the code once and remember that I thought it looked well structured and kind of minimalistic. And this is what I think makes a code last over time.
I don't use a handheld device to use your website, so I'm probably not a good source of input here. I rather had trouble using my banking app - since it didn't explain how to update your balance. I didn't know the "common gesture" for it yet. So much for too simple interface.

Actually I do use the column-sorting a lot because I like to retry those puzzles that took me the longest - first I didn't read carefully and understood you can sort the columns of a Sudoku puzzle... ok - not really the point of the puzzles...

One change I liked though, would be a timer on the puzzle page.


Jörg

Posted 20th Jun 2018 at 13:02
gareth Administrator Daily subscriber Has started but not yet finished this puzzle
Oh yes, a timer - that's a very popular request! Good idea.
Posted 20th Jun 2018 at 23:02
noaj Has started but not yet finished this puzzle
On the subject of new puzzles to add, Greater-than Sudoku might be a worthy addition. Sure we have Futoshiki, but it's just not the same without the Sudoku grid!
Posted 21st Jun 2018 at 10:05
gareth Administrator Daily subscriber Has started but not yet finished this puzzle
That's a good idea too. Thanks!
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Key

  • 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'.

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