dailysudoku.com

[dongrave]

So now that I have some extra time on my hands I've been reading about these advanced solving techniques and I see these ridiculous names that are used like 'Swordfish'. Who came up with these names? A Swordfish is actually nothing more than an extended X-Wing. A Swordfish? Really? Ridiculous. And by the way, who named an X-Wing an 'X-Wing'. It's not even a 'wing' at all, is it?

[Mogulmeister]

I remember the early days of sudoku Don, and I can’t remember the originator(s) of these names. A lot evolved from desperate attempts to visualise the structures and patterns that were evolving. Some say the seafood obsession sprang from a Japanese/anime mind. We have swordfish, jellyfish, kraken and even (if memory serves), “squirmbag”.

I imagine it must have been a bit like naming the constellations after vague resemblances to their shape. You can see it in some swordfish if you imagine that a section which iprojects out or is more prominent becomes the bill of a swordfish. Essentially once you start with the 3 x 3 swordfish, people just extended the metaphor.

As to the X wing, I think that may have been a reference to an X wing fighter so beloved of Star Wats and Japanese cartoons.



Again, once the wing was established, it spread as you know, to M and W wings - vaguely attributed to shape.

[dongrave]

Very interesting Mogulmeister! Thank you for the history lesson! I became interested in Sudoku years later and when I saw these names I always wondered how they came about! btw - I also could not understand how Eureka notation became so popular but thankfully Marty and Clement were able to help me understand it!

[Mogulmeister]

Marty was also unsure about Eureka to begin with but persevered as he did with most things in his quiet but helpful way. I came onto this board in 2007, about a year after Clement, having learned quite a bit from Havard, a Norwegian enthusiast who had a forum called Sudoku Assistenten.

The early days were very exciting as new discoveries were made with some great minds getting stuck in. Lots of bright people building their own solvers and discovering how deeply variable and multi- faceted Sudoku was. I remember when Myth Jellies put forward the ALS xz rule which was quite mind blowing (for some not all). Others like Ronk and Ruud were also seen here and they had quite an impact.

I had an extended hiatus but returned recently and do like the vibe of this board which (as has been said before by Keith) is civilised and supportive (mostly). It’s always great to see how other minds approach a solution and it is always good to see folks like you continuing the p+p tradition!