Because it doesn’t help that much. You still have a wall of numbers. :)
Posted 29th Feb 2020 at 14:24
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Best completion time: 2:34Time on first attempt: 5:03Used 'show invalid'
I think it also helps a lot here, because you only have to focus on the marked numbers by this tool. You don't have to check the other half of the numbers if they are repeated or not. You can just mark them white and you get a pretty good view of connected areas after doing so. I tried this hitori puzzle using this and I could finish in a shorter time using this feature (2:34 now at 3pm compared to 5:03 this morning). I arrived at the "problem-zones" way faster. And another advantage: if you have a repeated cell that has exactly one repeated neighbour, located diagonally, you can just mark this cell black - or else the solution wouldn't be unique. What I want to say here: it offers some reverse logic you could use pretty easily (not in every puzzle though).
Fair points. It probably is more of a help than I had allowed for, but I also don't want to entirely discourage people from using the solving aids. :) Personally I prefer to turn on both aids for hitori - highlighting the squares that should be shaded based on unshaded cells is incredibly helpful.
It does help that much. Just check my times against average. I think this is definitely a major help.
Posted 1st Mar 2020 at 10:29
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Best completion time: 2:34Time on first attempt: 5:03Used 'show invalid'
Thank you for considering.
Right now, a repeated number is not highlighted anymore, if you mark all but one of them black. If you turned that off (=repeated numbers are always highlighted, no matter of the shading), then some of the speed advantage might be gone.
Posted 1st Mar 2020 at 11:29 Last edited by Elisabeth 1st Mar 2020 at 18:09
Elisabeth Daily subscriber Rated puzzle: EasyBest completion time: 7:25Time on first attempt: 13:47Used 'show invalid'
I prefer to right-click in colour all repeated numbers they then stand out much more clearly...….and I keep my position as I have not used aids!!
But I have just tried the puzzle using the repeated numbers aid and it certainly makes it much quicker particularly as it still highlights repeated digits until all are dealt with.
Posted 2nd Mar 2020 at 01:09
bergensbest Daily subscriber Rated puzzle: EasyBest completion time: 4:08Time on first attempt: 7:18Used 'auto remove' Used 'show invalid' Used 'show wrong moves' Used 'check puzzle' when incorrect
I redid it with both aids on and didn't enjoy it at all as there was no thinking needed.
Yes, that is actually pretty true of this big one - it tends to be the case that the large hitori become fairly (or sometimes even completely) trivial with both solving aids on. But the smaller ones don't necessarily fall in that way - they tend to still have interesting logic to explore. OF course, there are exceptions to both 'rules'.
Posted 2nd Mar 2020 at 07:23
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Best completion time: 2:34Time on first attempt: 5:03Used 'show invalid'
I think the 8x8 ones are more often less redundant than the 12x12. You have only one step to find to go on. The 12x12 seem to have more places to start with and then meet and overlap somewhere. This one is especially easy because of all the triplets.
Note: I was originally talking only about the repeated number tool being considered minor help - not the show wrong. Show wrong is always trivial while solving. But when you're done, and there are mistakes you don't find, then it's helpful.
And I don't know what kind of help the "show eliminated"-feature is considered to be. I never looked at this one, never used it. Interesting. Also very helpful when you can't oversee cells to be shaded.
'Show eliminated' is the most useful aid of all when solving hitori - it saves you from having to scan the rows and columns for numbers to eliminate as you place the definitely-unshaded squares.
I've been thinking further about this and I agree that 'show repeated' shouldn't qualify as a 'minor aid' for hitori - I'd never really considered it in detail before. I can't promise I'll update the site immediately, but I will aim to change the code at some point so that is no longer true. This won't retrospectively affect rankings, but will only affect future ones from when I make the change.
Posted 6th Mar 2020 at 00:34
lori Completion time: 5:52Used 'show invalid' Used 'show wrong moves'
I have been following the discussion regarding "show repeated". Tried it for the second time this evening on an 8x8. I really liked it. took most of the work out of solving the puzzle. As I don't consider the rankings when I work a puzzle, I vote to keep it in. ;)
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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'.
I'd like to know why "show repeated numbers" is considered only a "minor help"...? I don't think that's the case for any other puzzle.
Jörg
And another advantage: if you have a repeated cell that has exactly one repeated neighbour, located diagonally, you can just mark this cell black - or else the solution wouldn't be unique. What I want to say here: it offers some reverse logic you could use pretty easily (not in every puzzle though).
Last edited by kocos 1st Mar 2020 at 09:02
Right now, a repeated number is not highlighted anymore, if you mark all but one of them black. If you turned that off (=repeated numbers are always highlighted, no matter of the shading), then some of the speed advantage might be gone.
Last edited by Elisabeth 1st Mar 2020 at 18:09
But I have just tried the puzzle using the repeated numbers aid and it certainly makes it much quicker particularly as it still highlights repeated digits until all are dealt with.
This one is especially easy because of all the triplets.
Note: I was originally talking only about the repeated number tool being considered minor help - not the show wrong. Show wrong is always trivial while solving. But when you're done, and there are mistakes you don't find, then it's helpful.
And I don't know what kind of help the "show eliminated"-feature is considered to be. I never looked at this one, never used it. Interesting. Also very helpful when you can't oversee cells to be shaded.
Lorraine
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