Done!

hi, folks!

nice!

Done

done

go

done

hi

go

32 filled without greens, now I'm stuck.

um... I'm thinking I'm just not awake yet... but I an having a really slow start to this one

oh wait... there we go

done

with greens at the end

there's no shame in it pappa

Done, but I needed greens to find a 3. Then it fell in place.

Finding the 3 in the lower right hand block is the key.

Exactly. And I was blind.

hey drwho

i hear you're the scoremaster around here

Yes, you could say that.

do you have an archive of scores that I can look at?

just curious about a couple of real nasty ones I've encountered working through the archive

Yes.

http://www.pauls-pc-repair.com/sudoku/s
cores.php

I have only gone back to June 26, 2006 so far.

ah ha, tasty, thanks very much :-)

If you are curious, you can find more information on how the scores are generated at:

http://www.pauls-pc-repair.com/sudoku/

aah good work

The score today is 14. That 3 in the bottom right hand block is probably the trickiest bit, it takes a combination of techniques.

yeah... no kidding... my favorite technique? save a checkpoint, and explor one path... then go back, when I've made the wrong choice ;) jeez... maybe I ought to learn some new techniques lol

That's a good one, I reserve that for the Experts published here.

lol I don't use that very often... but there are some times when it just is quicker than looking for other hidden patterns

Todays puzzle ties the low score for the Mediums that I have analyzed so far.

I wondered about that. Your times are too quick to be using it much.

I used to play websudoku.com a lot. Thats a timed game, and it really made me focus on speed. I got it to a point there where my fastest easy was done in something like 2m 15s, and the quickest "evil" ranking was right around 5 minutes

usually, it was closer to 3.5 and 8 minutes respectively

I am inpressed. The hards there usually take at least 20 minutes for me.

nice chatting again, but I must be off... off to brave rush hour construction detour delays ;) have a god day

Anyone interested in a challenging puzzle, see today's brainbasher--super hard. No guesses required but 4 advanced techniques

Anyone interested in a challenging puzzle, see today's brainbasher--super hard. No guesses required but 4 advanced techniques

what is the site?

brainbashers.com I believe

go

Done! Had to use greenies but more of an easy than a medium. Got most of the grid without greenies. Needed greenies for 3,4,8,9.

go

done

Used some greenies, but probably could have done without them if I was a little more thorough

done, few greens

Go.

go

done

yeay done

making quick progress so far -- just a couple minutes and i have half the grid filled in

or... maybe that's because i messed up!

Wow -- I just used swordfish on a hard puzzle in the archives, and it actually worked right. Maybe I finally understand that technique. :D

i don't think i've successfully used that technique yet

I use swordfish on one, and then somewhere I blew an easy about halfway through without a checkpoint. Sometimes I feel stupid. :D

at least it doesn't take long to recover :)

oh hey, i just got back from albuquerque

Sorry you had to be here ;)

i like what i've seen of it, actually. my fiance is out there doing research for a year

hehe -- it's not really all that bad, I just lived in the DC area for a year (altho born and raised here), and I miss the environment of a larger, more modern city. There's something to be said for the old charms, in a way, but I miss having a quality art museum. :D

hah! i was raised in the suburbs of DC, and i hate it there

That's a funny twist :D

Grass is always greener etc I suppose :D

of course, i'm now living in SF, so i have picked a bigger city, at least for now

i came here from pittsburgh, which i wouldn't mind moving back to if there were any decent programming jobs to be found

That's my big beef -- I can't do much with my CS degree here in Abq.

pittsburgh reminds me of abq in a lot of ways

I have in-laws in Pittsburgh -- I can kinda see that, thinking about it, just closer to water with an NFL team :D

oh well, maybe one day they'll have a tech industry that isn't centered around banks and hospitals

A guy can dream.

go

done

Woohoo, just 120 to go!

21 left, going green.

go

done

go on saturday's expert

got 17 squars... going green

woot! done w/o guessing.