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06/09/2017 13:26:33
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HappyDog
Joined: 11/11/2015 18:26:16
Messages: 165
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Number: Puzzle #5863
Genre: Sudoku
Author: Johan
Appeared at: September 6, 2017
Whilst I absolutely loved the Hitori with letters (which was very clever, and which added something to the solve) I am not really a fan of Sudoku with letters, as they don't really add anything to the puzzle.
It's a bit like being made to do the puzzle with your left hand. It doesn't make the puzzle any harder, it just makes the task of completing it harder. On the whole, this makes the puzzle experience much less enjoyable.
Other people may disagree, and I admire your attempts to introduce some innovation, but on this occasion I'm not a fan.
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06/09/2017 14:24:01
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edderiofer
Joined: 16/06/2012 16:15:22
Messages: 235
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Well, he did try to do the right thing.
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06/09/2017 15:18:39
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Johan
Joined: 22/12/2006 20:08:51
Messages: 1046
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Although your arguments are valid regardless, I wonder if maybe you missed one of the puzzle's special properties? Perhaps I made it look too easy with the rotational symmetry and all.
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06/09/2017 20:15:34
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JHe
Joined: 01/12/2011 11:39:39
Messages: 109
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I appreciate the anagram, but I have to confess that I didn't find special properties either. The sudoku was quite easy.
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06/09/2017 20:30:48
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Johan
Joined: 22/12/2006 20:08:51
Messages: 1046
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The anagrams are intended as useful mnemonics, but they are only a finishing touch and not the main reason the letters are there.
Let me give a hint in the form of an older puzzle.
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07/09/2017 10:38:37
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JHe
Joined: 01/12/2011 11:39:39
Messages: 109
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I think I know what you mean. But that was obvious - I saw it before I even started solving. So it didn't affect the solution in any way and so I didn't count it as special property.
Not meant to put down the puzzle, of course. That must be difficult to achieve and I doubt I could ever do it myself.
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07/09/2017 15:47:12
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Johan
Joined: 22/12/2006 20:08:51
Messages: 1046
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JHe wrote:
I think I know what you mean. But that was obvious - I saw it before I even started solving. So it didn't affect the solution in any way and so I didn't count it as special property.
Not meant to put down the puzzle, of course. That must be difficult to achieve and I doubt I could ever do it myself.
Okay, I'll stop acting all mysterious about it. I wasn't actually sure if it was hard to spot or hard to miss, but in my excitement I ran it by some top puzzlers and none of them had seen a full sentence inserted into a Sudoku before (although Thomas Snyder did something cool here). And then the rotational symmetry on top of it makes it quite constrained. I felt it worked even better in combination with the anagrammed title, which originated from the need to quickly identify the still missing letters (trying to mitigate the wrong-handed solving experience HappyDog described). But maybe it is still too fresh for me to have an accurate perception of the originality of the design.
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08/09/2017 15:08:47
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JHe
Joined: 01/12/2011 11:39:39
Messages: 109
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Don't worry, the quality is top notch. As said, I guess I won't ever achieve that. It's just that from the solving view there wasn't anything special. The specialty goes to the territory of art connoisseur.
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10/09/2017 11:38:29
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HappyDog
Joined: 11/11/2015 18:26:16
Messages: 165
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You're right - I hadn't spotted the message in the givens. I spent a while after completing the puzzle looking for hidden messages, but as it was already filled in it didn't occur to me to check the given squares.
> But maybe it is still too fresh for me to have an accurate perception of the originality of the design.
I think the design is great, and quite original.
I agree with JHe that it is something you can appreciate from an artistic point of view as an impressive bit of design, and I can obviously appreciate the difficulty and effort in creating such a puzzle.
However, from a solving point-of-view, my original points still stand.
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11/09/2017 01:00:55
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tsr21
Joined: 20/09/2012 04:48:35
Messages: 90
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Oh! I missed the message too! Johan, you are too clever for your own good!
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12/09/2017 05:10:56
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Johan
Joined: 22/12/2006 20:08:51
Messages: 1046
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HappyDog wrote:
However, from a solving point-of-view, my original points still stand.
Fair point. Luckily, I don't plan for letter Sudoku to become a regular thing, but a few related puzzles might still come through the pipeline.
tsr21 wrote:
Oh! I missed the message too! Johan, you are too clever for your own good!
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