dailysudoku.com

[samgj]

I'm interested in whether the Sudoku gurus who linger here find the monster puzzles satisfying or not. I held off making them for a while because I expected the solving experience to be fairly mundane -- the same as the 9x9s but just taking longer. There is an element of this for me, but actually I found them more enjoyable than expected.

Curious about other's experiences.

Sam

[Katie]

I've enjoyed them. Naturally they can take longer than the 9x9 puzzles. I am getting the hang of them. Thanks.

[David Bryant]

I've been working the monster puzzles since November 28, when the "very hard" monster puzzle was shown to have multiple solutions.

So far I haven't hit one that made me think real hard. They do take quite a long time to solve because they're bigger -- today's 16x16 monster, for instance, had 110 clues to start, leaving 146 squares to be determined -- that's more than twice as many unknowns as a typical 9x9, which usually starts with some 55 squares unresolved. So just filling it in takes quite a while, even when the clues are fairly obvious.

One thing I have noticed is that fairly complex patterns can develop inside a 4x4 box -- in today's puzzle I spotted several instances of a triplet and two pairs all lying within the same 4x4 box. So far I haven't hit a puzzle that involved real tricky splits (say two quadruplets) all lying in a single column, or row. Maybe they're there, and I just can't spot them yet.

Overall I still have mixed emotions about the monster puzzles. I do have to work harder to solve them, but mostly it's just because they're bigger, and not because the logic is especially intricate. dcb

[samgj]

[shondratasha]

I have to admit that I love the monsters. I just wish I could subscribe to them instead of the daily number one and I would like the draw function fo them.

[someone_somewhere]

Hi,

I have a question about "monster" puzzles:
Q: is there any special technique that is needed for solving a "monster" that is not already known and used for a "simple 9x9" puzzle.

If the answer is YES, I will start solving "monsters".

Otherwise, for me, they are just solving simultan several simple's, by jumping from one to the other when needed, becasue they have some part in common, and the solving time will increase.

I can imagine a "alian" puzzle that can combine a set of "monsters", so that we could be bussy solving it.
Increasing the size of the table, and even the used "digits" will also require new solving techniques?
Maybe if we expand it in the 3-dt dimension

So, I got rid of my (single ) question.
Where is Alan Hope he is not killing "monsters"

see u,

[samgj]

[scorpio56xxl]

Hi Sam,
I can agree with all what was written from the others. I also experienced that there are more possibilities with quadruplets and triplets but I also experienced this in the Christmas ones. I really lke to have another shape of the boxes. The monsters are really time-consuming and I still not detected other tecnics as the ones I already know. But anyway they are funny and I would appreciate it when they survive. The idea with other seasonal puzzles is great! Go on and thank you for all your efforts you always make to construct new ones.

Best wishes

JB alias scorpio56xxl

[marion]

They published a funny kind of puzzle in a French newspaper (Figaro) for christmas holidays, that they called sa-mu-rai. You find 5 puzzles put in a X shape, each one connecting with the other by a 3*3 square. You have to consider the opposite puzzle to solve one: it changes the way of thinking; they also give you the approximate time to solve it: it makes you try and do as quick as possible! This gives a really new interest for Sudokus, even if the problems they give are not very difficult.

I didn't find puzzles like that on the internet, and of course you can't find it on the paper's site. If you have the opportunity to find that paper, just have a look, for the fun! (you'll also have the fun of seeing how good your French is in solving sudokus!)