go

done

go

Done

darn, that was yesterdays, now its time for todays

go

13 filled going autofill green

cheat cheat cheat

jealous much?

i still dont understand what is cheating about autofill

you dont do all the work

if nothing else i find autofill to be a pain, cause you have to spend forever just to identify ones that you know can't be there

I mean ALL

if you manually put the greens in, thats fine . you still do all the work

i guess i just dont see it as cheating

the computer did part of it, so that means you did not do all the work

i could argue that using the board online is cheating. in case youve never done these on paper, we are getting a "cheat" when the system flags a repeat.

okay

what, you dont just ignore those?

explain the autofil

to an even more-extreme, we are getting a cheat by "knowing" that the sudoku is unique.

or how about using ANY kind of flagging of the numbers. you should just be able to memorize them all and put in the final solution without using the "cheat" of filling them in part-way thru.

h you got confused somewhere

morality is a slippery slope... im ok with my morality - you can have your own. but name-calling seems inappropriate.

autofil, who puts the numbers in? you or the computer

i guess i was under the impression that sudoku was your own puzzle for you to challenge yourself with by completing it with whatever method you want to.

Cheating is breaking the rules. The rules here are not spelled out anywhere, so it seems that whatever the majority accepts as fair is fair.

bingo

its like cheating on a school test

how?

calculators are now "accepted" for the sat. rules change.

computer and classmate is the same

you're not being graded or being watched by anyone as a superior and you have no expectation of you except the expectation of your self

school are getting to lazy

its so far away from cheating at school its not even funny

just a point

god i hope that was a joke

they is, python

its they are

you talk good american

lol

when you use autofill its like saying "I can't do this on my own"

im sorry, but i just can't get on-board with you saying having "cheating" at sudoku is anything like cheating at school. there is nothing at stake.

no its mostly saying, i dont have time / i don't want to put in the effort to do this on my own

i use autofill when i do these at work a lot of the time

lol your job

for you - "its like saying...". i have a different morality - so do not try imposing YOUR morals on others. proselytizer...

are you getting paid to play

my job is mostly a very boring job

yes i am

so you cheat that company out of money

i sit there for most of the day waiting for something to go wrong so i can do work. when nothing is going wrong the best i can do is call companies to follow up on items that ive distributed.

lol do that

going red...

how do you go red

its not cheating them out of money, they know i have plenty of free time while at work (ive told them multiple times), but im a salaried employee and unless they give me work to do, i dont have work to do

by holding alt

ok

I'm with you, h. (although I do hope you're not taking sudoku-performance-meds such as cortisone) (I joke)

thanks

actually, i take kc-masterpiece-lays-chips for performance-enhancement... ;)

performance-enhancing, i meant to say

the Grease Factor

lol

its all about the bbq

cheater

ppppthhhh.

you know its really bad when schooling costs more than your house

oh crap, i did already do today's, now im doing yesterday's, im so confused

der what difficulty

bbq chips for derf, stat!

i did the expert one (which i think was today's) now im doing an easy (which was for sat

sleep for derf, stat

i told my gf i'd be to bed about 2 hours ago

liar

cheater and a liar

lol

all this started because i was stitching together photos from our hike and it was running in the background but kept freezing, finally its done

derf must finish the doku, his gf will understand...

a liar and a cheater who has no trouble sleeping at night

meh, shes asleep, what does she care anyways

lol

ah crap, i messed up the easy one

phew! just put a 3 where i should have put a 9

I wanted wanted to gouge out my eyes today on that one

yeah, a kinda rough easy

who wants the answers to today's expert

would that be cheating? (ponders)

not me

Just tell us the digits in each row, in no particular order.

heh

lol

oh man, friday's was an expert too

ill never get to sleep

see ya laterz cheaters

cu

it really doesn't bug me

have a good one

it's my deal

are you playing poker?

I do

on full tilt

is that cheating?

done

up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, b, start

hell no or I'd be a millionare

sweet, that filled it all in

so you would cheat if it would make you a millionaire?

that's getting ahead in life

lmao

your morals seem a little loose

who's morals

the ones shoved down our throats

yours, willing to cheat if it would make you a millionaire but busting everyone elses balls over a game of sudoku

the ones shoved down our throats

but thats cheating our self

lol

is that really possible?

gotta go ,bye continue this another day

have a good one

Oh wow. This is much harder than that last expert one.

to each his own, tonights didn't give me much trouble at all, but fridays is slowing me down a little

That's funny. Friday's was cake for me - I didn't even have to use greens, I don't think. This one... i have about eleven filled in and I'm stuck.

i think i just concentrated on the right area, i did it with no greens, i just started greens on fridays

with 25 filled in i got nothing jumping out at me

I think on Friday's you had to force a chain or something... I think that's what you soduku-jargon-speakers call it anyway.

i hate that sudoku jargon

i still haven't figured out what kicked off the feb 13th expert, i had to guess and it aggravated me so much

I odn't remember that one.

done

im going to bed

g'night

done. Finally. Sheesh.

lol, I am glad I am not the only one not knowing all the jargon. I usually just mess around until I have the thing solved, no idea which name goes with which tecnique.

*technique

That's what I do too. I tried learning what was what, but that wasn't as fun, so I gave up on that...

same here. Still, sometimes when I really cannot solve one without guessing, I would like to know where the trick was to really solve it.

Bah, my eyes have turned into that unsightly and cloudy vanilla that Issac has formed from all that precognition. Glad I finished minus the guessing finally.

yay augurus!

Thank you. Have you completed your attack on today's Sudoku?

Another expert?

11 filled in without greens. stuck....

hmm

12 filled in wiht lots of green and stuck for the moment

12 now, going green

Greens helped with 1 more number. Nothing else obvious.

Staring at this puzzle reminds me of a line I saw in a joke once: "Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits"

grin

I think it is time for a forced chain (aka, guess and check)

I'm afraid you're right. I don't see anything else.

I can't even guess correctly

I'm noticing that. Two tries and they dont get anywhere

I must have something screwed up. Starting over.

aha, guessed right and it all fell out

I'm back to 13 filled, using greens this time, and it looks the same.

Done, finally. I don't know why this puzzle was hard for me. I had to quit for a while and come back. Still had to guess. Oh well....

done... only needed one forcing chain at the lower right hand 3 x 3

okay, I'm starting, but not optimistic after reading the chatterbox.

hello everybody

alright, done. on to yesterday's.

12 filled without green...... dont see anything else

make that 13

bye, all!

bye

done

back to the archives

from the sound of these remarks, it's a bit more expert than that one the other day

up to 11 filled right now ... this one is slow going.

okay, 13

it's very odd - now maybe I see what people mean by forcing chains - once you commit to one guess, it's all over in only a couple of minutes

and amazingly nailed it on only one guess. yeah, I think that's what they're talking about (I call them cascades, personally)

maybe it wasn't a guess at all, some kind of intuition

nah, I'm not that cognizant. I just got lucky this time

well, we both had only one guess ... but of course we mustn't check if it's the same one

why do i always guess wrong?

Done! Easy! No guesses. Just greenies.

that wasan ugly one

i thought I am good at sudoku...

finally

good morning good morning!

good morning smooth!

mambear!

how did the storm treat you guys last night?

it was rough - lost power a few times

I think we were spared. They had predicted about 24 inches up here, but I don't think we got more than 5 or 6. But the thunderstorm part of it was really cool. I'd never seen a "snowthunder" before

yes those are very cool! As long as you are indoors!

we got nearly nothing over here...but last year, we had what i termed a "thicerstorm" which was thunder, lightning, ice and snow - we lost power for 3 days

it was pretty sweet

yeah, and not stuck in a ditch.

where are you katmama?

where are you katmama?

west michigan

psyche, papa

we were supposed to get 8 inches

ahhh.

i think we got a scattered 1-2

yeah, they had a severe blizzard warning issued until 6:00 tonight. but cancelled that at about 3 this morning.

we only got a few inches of snow - was more raining ice

I was a little sad... I had really been hoping for one BIG snowfall this year

smooth, where are you at?

what's BIG? a few feet?

I don't really mind the snow - it's the severe cold that gets to me

yeah... Haven't had a dumping like that in a years... you know... 2 feet would be a good start

hmmm I greened this puppy up and I'm not seeing a darn thing

i think i'm going green in a second, too

think I'll use the WAG method in a minute

???

walgreens? lol that's their stock symbol

Wild A$$ Guess

HA!

cool - first guess was a winner - 5 minutes for an Expert.... go me....

nice! good jopb!

no wait, 10 minutes..... or maybe 12

whatever

lol

that's what I like about sudoku vs. babble - much less of a time commitment LOL

oh yeah. But less chat over here

true, much less..... no cluing going on in here

yeah. lol how do you clue sudoku?

oooh! I'm almost there, myself

I've given a clue about maybe a hidden pair or triple in a certain row - but that's about it...

good going, pappa!

in here, there isn't alot of chat, just sometimes IK (intermittent k'bitzing)

and done!

ta da!

*applause*

I was stuck there for a second, then a glaring 7 jumped out at me. lol

I just took a guess and it turned out to be a good one. I don't like to do that, but hey, all's well that ends well!

I hate to do that, too. Because I know that if I make a wrong turn, more thn likely I'll have to start all the way over

Go

I save it to checkpoint right before I guess - then only go back to that point if I am wrong. I use the greenies, the checkpoints - all crutches available! Saves some brain cells to use on another day!

do you have to be pro to use save points?

err checkpoints

yes

well worth the investment in my opinion

and it supports Dr. God and the site

I'm pro over on babble, but I don't know if I'll do both

that's cool

My trial ran out today, so I just went Pro.

hey wolfrick! welcome to pro-dom.... or something along those lines

So, does the upgrade come with magical Expert-solving abilities?

LOL - in your profile, your icon looks like it is built out of Lego Blocks!

t'would be nice....

Maybe I am built of Lego. ;)

well, I'm off to try and do something productive... have a good day, y'all

hey everyone!!! back for another sudoku or two or three or four...

grr...messed up on an easy from the other day!!!

does anyone else out there (if there is anyone out there) enjoy the music from the lord of the rings movies?

love the music miller

i'm glad to see i'm not the only sudokuer on a saturday morning/noontime...i especially like the one when the ents march on isengard..."isengard unleashed" or something

yes very powerful

it inspires me to do something...i just don't know what the inspiration is yet!!!

I'm surprised that one was an "expert" - came together really easily! easy five points...

i'm glad to hear it because i haven't even started it yet!!! still finishing some archives

i got all caught up in the archives yesterday - nice way to while away a weekend :)

see ya

bye

well...off to clean the house :( bye all!

Difficulty score 58.

spent wayyyyyyy too much time on that one.

I agree with Krys' message at 1:08- pretty darn easy. Maybe I just got lucky with that bottom right number

Now I've done it. I just upgraded to "pro user". My life is over. *LOL*

welcome to the madhouse, dave. have fun in the archives :)

Exactly where I went first.

bah, stuck.

Funny how you can stare for a long time and see nothing. Then you walk away and return an hour later and numbers jump right out at you.

It's called "resting the mind"

I wonder if beer would help

Though in my case it didn't work. hah

dinoshadow - thanks for the tip about the lower right corner. I had been stuck for hours, but used checkpoint and worked using that corner.

Anyone have any tips for Feb. 3? I can't tell you how many times I have tried to complete it - both from checkpoints and from the beginning. My son helped me complete Feb. 7 last night, but this one is still beyond me.

I have that one completed, but I can't remember anything specific about it.

My general strategy if I get completely stuck is to start searching for hidden pairs/triples and fixed chains.

On Feb. 3 puzzle seems to get stuck way to early - seems like way too many blanks.

I remember a puzzle awhile back bringing folks to a halt around 12. That may have been the one.

Wish I could get that far - try 6!

let me know if you want a SDCHC

Hurshy - what's a "SDCHC"?

a Super Duper Coded Hurshy Clue

ah, finally completed today's.

it enables a puzzle doer to get help without revealing anything to anyone else who does not choose to solve the clue

You mean..... "When in doubt, eat chocolate"?

That would work for me!!!

I prefer "when in doubt, drink coffee"

no no, you select a box in any grid that you want to know which number goes in it, and then i concoct you a clue

Beer makes the brain more efficient y'know.

howdy.

fish on sudoku now too??

indeed

hmmm. a toughy

lower-right hand corner? hmm, still can't find it.

Could be 1 of 4 numbers. For me, it was the one I least expected....

and done

after 13 #s used G+r autofill, and still had to guess once. a little tricky but not bad.

Brittlefish - I have code for G auto, but not R. Do you find it helpful to have both?

it's not the suggested R strategy where Rs indicate impossibilities, but rather where two (or one) possibility exists.

so, yes, it helps save some more time.

give it a whirl if you want. it's the third script at brfsh.com/2007/02/07/make-ironsudoku-javascri
pt-magic

OK - might give it a try. Thanks!

np

not bad.....

Brittlefish - gave the G&R a try but Feb. 3 is still being difficult. Just have to keep trying.

Still can't get past 11 on Feb. 3 - grrrr!

i completed it, but i'm going to try it on paper to get to that point, ad

I was thinking of putting it on paper - I've tried just about everything else. My son couldn't even see a move and he can usually complete any puzzle in a few minutes.

adquitt - G+r doesn't solve anything... just helps you mark it quicker. :-)

Brittlefish - I realize that, but it still didn't help point out anything I'm missing - not complaining, just frustrated. I've been going back & forth to that puzzle for several days now. I know the problem is me.

ha, i tried to mark a checkpoint on paper

Paper checkpoints are only available with Scanner or copier :)

you said 2/3? I haven't tried that one yet, maybe I'll give it a shot after I rifle through another one (just started 9/23 from last year)

Yes, 2/3. I can usually come back to them and see what the problem is, but this one has me frustrated. I've put it aside again and completing a few others in archives. Helpls rebuild my confidence.

well, I can certainly see why this one would be difficult. yikes.

And it's only rated as Hard, not Expert!

sometimes I've been totally stumped on Mediums and gotten Experts right off

I don't think the ratings have anything to do with the difficulty ;)

ok, i think i completed it, adquilt. my sticking points were a naked double or triple in the 4th row, 8th row and 7th column

two of them, i think the 8th row and 7th column, both had a naked 1/7/8 combo

what do you mean by a naked double/triple?

i mean there's three squares where the possibilities are only 1, 7 or 8 (or a combination of those). so therefore, you can delete 1, 7 and 8 from every other box in that column

okay

just got it! I didn't use the naked triples, although I guess I used a variant of it .... kind of a naked cross in the middle square

it's the only sudoku technique i know the real name of (although i think even that one was made up here one day)

where's adquilt? any of this helping?

LeslieAnn - that's what I had too. I think I deleted the other possibilities. Maybe I'll go back to that one if I can get 12/26 finished soon.

yeah, I don't know what it was that I did (if there's an actual ascribed technique), but it's the same kind of idea. in the middle square, the 2/5 combo is confined to only a couple of squares. that was the key for me

well the other one i had was a hidden 5/8 in the 4th row. hope it helps.

you had a 5/8?

yeah, there were only two squares that could have been 5/8, although they had lots of other numbers in there to make it look confusing

although, we could have used different logic to get to the same place

actually, I'm pretty sure I totally bypassed it. because of that aforementioned 2/5, I could place the 8 in the 4th row immediately based on what I already had, which pretty much started the chain of events

ah i see.

I can't really accurately explain what I did, but I used it on today's puzzle and it worked great. it's powerful, if I could only figure out what it was

the curse of the sudoku player :)

the more annoying part was figuring out if the idea I had was actually valid

That's the problem. The solution is the same for everyone, but we might all take different paths. Unfortunately, someone put up detour signs to steer me in the wrong direction.

sometimes when i'm stuck i review the rows, columns etc. to see if I forgot to delete a possibility. sometimes that'll clear something right up.

I swear I have a sudoku grimlin working on this one!

Figuring out where to place that 8 was what did it for me, even though it was still tedious

You need to use a couple advanced solving techniques, but thankfully the puzzle opens up after that.

hey orange, we are talking about the Feb. 3 puzzle

oh.

I may have passed a previous road block. I think I've placed the 2, 5, & 8 in the center.

adquilt has a sudoku gremlin working against her in that one ;)

I don't remember how I solved feb. 3.

you should be able to place the 8 in the fourth row then... you've done that too?

Always keep your eyes open for hidden sets, and if you have a chain of pairs you can't solve, look for a guardian.

3rd position?

yup

I actually placed the middle box 8 well after the 4th row 8

wow

tried this one earlier today, hit the same roadblock that everyone else ran into

tried it tonight, breezed through it

dodged a bullet :)

argh, wish you could post a screen shot somewhere, adquilt

Knowing to look for the 2/5 helped with placing it.

try imageshack.us

phew, that's enough for me today. good night folks, and good luck adquilt :)

2/3 has been conquered. Thanks LeslieAnn, ShadeEagle & Brittlefish for your help!!

oh hoooray! and congrats to adquilt :)

congrats!

congrats!

go

LA you still here?