Does anybody want a 2013 Sudoku Calendar with 365 handmade puzzles by Nikoli? I got it as a belated gift earlier this month, and I'd rather work on the puzzles in my unsolved volumes of Gekikara Sudoku than catch up. Don't forget that I'm selling my extra copies of Battle of LITS, my two-player board game based on one of my favorite Nikoli puzzles, for $25 apiece; I'll throw the calendar in for free as a sweetener! But remember: my supply of the calendar is even more limited than my supply of the game. . . . :) [Edit 2013-03-07: This offer has been accepted!]
Showing posts with label Crowd Nine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crowd Nine. Show all posts
Contest 6: ChipIn for Children's Charities
For the first time in this blog's history, you can solve puzzles and donate to charity at the same time! Whether you are a long-time reader or new to this blog, I hope you will enjoy solving these puzzles and supporting these causes. :)
How to enter:
This contest is a fund-raiser for three charities, listed below. Each charity has a ChipIn allowing you to donate to that charity; you may donate any amount you wish to each one. Every $5 donated to a charity earns you entries in that charity's prize raffle. (If you would like to donate money without entering the raffles, please leave a note accompanying your donation or e-mail me at glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com.) Each charity also has a logic puzzle attached to it; send an e-mail to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com (preferably from the same e-mail address you used to donate) containing the answer to a charity's puzzle to earn one free raffle entry in that charity's drawing, plus a bonus entry for every $20 donated. (For example: a $20 donation is worth 4 raffle entries; a $20 donation plus a correct puzzle solution is worth 6 raffle entries.) There is also a grand prize drawing, which you may enter by donating $5 to every charity or by solving all of the puzzles (one raffle entry for doing one of these tasks, or three raffle entries for doing both).
How to win:
After the ChipIns expire on November 16, the winners will be determined by chance! So donate, solve the puzzles, and if you're lucky, random.org will favor you. Of course, the real winners in this contest aren't the recipients of the prizes, but the beneficiaries of the charities. :)
Prizes:
For the sake of brevity, more details about the prizes will be given below.
Terms:
By entering this contest, you agree to provide me with a mailing address in the event that you win. In return, my partners and I agree not to do anything malicious with this information. Short and sweet.
Now that you're done reading all that, here are the three contest puzzles. Good luck! :)
Charity 1: Sanctuary Home for Children
Not all of the citizens of India are logic masters like Deb Mohanty; unfortunately, India also has orphans and widows. Sanctuary Home for Children aims to serve destitute orphans and widows in Tenali, India. My best friend and regular gaming partner Ray Pettit is one of the board members on the Abilene side of the operation, making this cause near and dear to my heart.
To donate to this charity and get an entry for this charity's prize drawing for every $5 donated, CLICK HERE (or use the widget on the left side of the blog). To earn a free entry, plus a bonus entry for every $20 donated, solve this Proof of Quilt puzzle:
What is the total number of black triangles (each occupying half a cell) in the three indicated columns? E-mail me this combined total (a single number).
Prize: One lucky winner will receive a copy of Shakashaka 1 by Nikoli. Another lucky winner will receive ThinkFun's Daily Puzzle, a cute puzzle which doubles as a desk calendar, created by Wei-Hwa Huang and Oskar van Deventer.
Charity 2: Child's Play Charity
Child's Play aims to put video games in a number of children's hospitals around the world. Many video game fans, and even some companies in the video game industry, have contributed money to improve these children's lives, while some crazy people have raised awareness and donations by playing video games for extended periods of time (for some reason, watching people play Mario games and give things away affects my generosity and that of other Mario fans).
To donate to this charity and get an entry for this charity's prize drawing for every $5 donated, CLICK HERE (or use the widget on the left side of the blog). To earn a free entry, plus a bonus entry for every $20 donated, solve this Crowd Nine puzzle (that's Sudoku for those of you new to my blog):
What are the digits in the indicated row? E-mail me this series of nine digits.
Prize: One lucky winner will receive a copy of Fresh Sudoku 2 by Nikoli. Another lucky winner will receive ThinkFun's Daily Puzzle, a cute puzzle which doubles as a desk calendar, created by Wei-Hwa Huang and Oskar van Deventer.
Charity 3: The Jack Vasel Memorial Fund
Tom Vasel, a highly-respected board game reviewer, named the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund after his son who passed away at a tragically young age. The generosity of others in the board game community during this hardship inspired Tom to pay it forward to other board gamers in need.
To donate to this charity and get an entry for this charity's prize drawing for every $5 donated, CLICK HERE (or use the widget on the left side of the blog). To earn a free entry, plus a bonus entry for every $20 donated, solve this Tetra Firma puzzle:
Which of the lettered cells are NOT shaded in (that is, the cells are white)? E-mail me this set of letters.
Prize: One lucky winner will receive a copy of LITS 1 by Nikoli. Another lucky winner will receive ThinkFun's Daily Puzzle, a cute puzzle which doubles as a desk calendar, created by Wei-Hwa Huang and Oskar van Deventer.
GOOD PRIZE:
To enter this drawing, solve all three puzzles. (Donations play no role in winning the good prize.) One lucky winner will receive a very commemorative shirt featuring artwork by an artist who goes by Norzman!
GRAND PRIZE:
To enter this drawing, donate $5 to each of the three charities above, or solve all three puzzles. Doing one of these tasks will earn you one entry, while doing both will earn you three entries. One lucky winner will receive this grand prize package:
* Any single book from Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle Books series!
* The shirt from the good prize mentioned above!
* A keyring and a necklace, both featuring carvings of elephants! These came from trips to Tenali, India (where the Sanctuary Home orphanage is based).
* Used copies of Brain Age and Brain Age 2 for the Nintendo DS! Brand new copies are beyond my prize budget, but used copies that aren't currently being used are well within my budget. These games have Sudoku puzzles which were previously published in Nikoli books, as well as minigames that purport to help keep your brain young.
* A wooden copy of my board game Battle of LITS, made wooden by Lyris Laser Studios! This game is based on the Japanese logic puzzle LITS (known here as Tetra Firma – see above), and has been described as "cool" and "existent" (well, at least one of the two adjectives, anyway).
* A copy of Heptalion by Spanish board game designer Néstor Romeral Andrés! In response to a puzzle posed by the designer, I created a board with the same properties as the default board, but a different shape; this board will be included with the game.
GIANT PUZZLES!
As added incentive for donating, I will post large puzzles if all of the charities hit certain levels! (This is not a combined total; every single one of the three charities must hit the threshold before the deadline for it to count.)
At the $100 mark, puzzle 601 will be upgraded to the giant (31x45) size! (Puzzle 600 will be giant no matter what.)
At the $210 mark, puzzle 602 will be giant, too!
At the $330 mark, puzzle 603 will be giant!
At the $460 mark, puzzle 604 will be giant!
At the $600 mark, puzzle 605 will be giant!
At the $750 mark, puzzle 606 will be giant!
At the $1000 mark, puzzle 600 will be upgraded to a super-giant (64x50)!
At the $1250 mark, puzzle 601 will be upgraded to a super-giant!
At the $1500 mark, puzzle 602 will be upgraded to a super-giant!
At the $1750 mark, puzzle 603 will be upgraded to a super-giant!
At the $2000 mark, puzzle 604 will be upgraded to a super-giant!
At the $2250 mark, puzzle 605 will be upgraded to a super-giant!
And last but not least, at the $2500 mark, puzzle 606 will be upgraded to a super-giant!
Get to solving! Get to donating!
How to enter:
This contest is a fund-raiser for three charities, listed below. Each charity has a ChipIn allowing you to donate to that charity; you may donate any amount you wish to each one. Every $5 donated to a charity earns you entries in that charity's prize raffle. (If you would like to donate money without entering the raffles, please leave a note accompanying your donation or e-mail me at glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com.) Each charity also has a logic puzzle attached to it; send an e-mail to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com (preferably from the same e-mail address you used to donate) containing the answer to a charity's puzzle to earn one free raffle entry in that charity's drawing, plus a bonus entry for every $20 donated. (For example: a $20 donation is worth 4 raffle entries; a $20 donation plus a correct puzzle solution is worth 6 raffle entries.) There is also a grand prize drawing, which you may enter by donating $5 to every charity or by solving all of the puzzles (one raffle entry for doing one of these tasks, or three raffle entries for doing both).
How to win:
After the ChipIns expire on November 16, the winners will be determined by chance! So donate, solve the puzzles, and if you're lucky, random.org will favor you. Of course, the real winners in this contest aren't the recipients of the prizes, but the beneficiaries of the charities. :)
Prizes:
For the sake of brevity, more details about the prizes will be given below.
Terms:
By entering this contest, you agree to provide me with a mailing address in the event that you win. In return, my partners and I agree not to do anything malicious with this information. Short and sweet.
Now that you're done reading all that, here are the three contest puzzles. Good luck! :)
Charity 1: Sanctuary Home for Children
Not all of the citizens of India are logic masters like Deb Mohanty; unfortunately, India also has orphans and widows. Sanctuary Home for Children aims to serve destitute orphans and widows in Tenali, India. My best friend and regular gaming partner Ray Pettit is one of the board members on the Abilene side of the operation, making this cause near and dear to my heart.
To donate to this charity and get an entry for this charity's prize drawing for every $5 donated, CLICK HERE (or use the widget on the left side of the blog). To earn a free entry, plus a bonus entry for every $20 donated, solve this Proof of Quilt puzzle:
Prize: One lucky winner will receive a copy of Shakashaka 1 by Nikoli. Another lucky winner will receive ThinkFun's Daily Puzzle, a cute puzzle which doubles as a desk calendar, created by Wei-Hwa Huang and Oskar van Deventer.
Charity 2: Child's Play Charity
Child's Play aims to put video games in a number of children's hospitals around the world. Many video game fans, and even some companies in the video game industry, have contributed money to improve these children's lives, while some crazy people have raised awareness and donations by playing video games for extended periods of time (for some reason, watching people play Mario games and give things away affects my generosity and that of other Mario fans).
To donate to this charity and get an entry for this charity's prize drawing for every $5 donated, CLICK HERE (or use the widget on the left side of the blog). To earn a free entry, plus a bonus entry for every $20 donated, solve this Crowd Nine puzzle (that's Sudoku for those of you new to my blog):
Prize: One lucky winner will receive a copy of Fresh Sudoku 2 by Nikoli. Another lucky winner will receive ThinkFun's Daily Puzzle, a cute puzzle which doubles as a desk calendar, created by Wei-Hwa Huang and Oskar van Deventer.
Charity 3: The Jack Vasel Memorial Fund
Tom Vasel, a highly-respected board game reviewer, named the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund after his son who passed away at a tragically young age. The generosity of others in the board game community during this hardship inspired Tom to pay it forward to other board gamers in need.
To donate to this charity and get an entry for this charity's prize drawing for every $5 donated, CLICK HERE (or use the widget on the left side of the blog). To earn a free entry, plus a bonus entry for every $20 donated, solve this Tetra Firma puzzle:
Prize: One lucky winner will receive a copy of LITS 1 by Nikoli. Another lucky winner will receive ThinkFun's Daily Puzzle, a cute puzzle which doubles as a desk calendar, created by Wei-Hwa Huang and Oskar van Deventer.
GOOD PRIZE:
To enter this drawing, solve all three puzzles. (Donations play no role in winning the good prize.) One lucky winner will receive a very commemorative shirt featuring artwork by an artist who goes by Norzman!
GRAND PRIZE:
To enter this drawing, donate $5 to each of the three charities above, or solve all three puzzles. Doing one of these tasks will earn you one entry, while doing both will earn you three entries. One lucky winner will receive this grand prize package:
* Any single book from Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle Books series!
* The shirt from the good prize mentioned above!
* A keyring and a necklace, both featuring carvings of elephants! These came from trips to Tenali, India (where the Sanctuary Home orphanage is based).
* Used copies of Brain Age and Brain Age 2 for the Nintendo DS! Brand new copies are beyond my prize budget, but used copies that aren't currently being used are well within my budget. These games have Sudoku puzzles which were previously published in Nikoli books, as well as minigames that purport to help keep your brain young.
* A wooden copy of my board game Battle of LITS, made wooden by Lyris Laser Studios! This game is based on the Japanese logic puzzle LITS (known here as Tetra Firma – see above), and has been described as "cool" and "existent" (well, at least one of the two adjectives, anyway).
* A copy of Heptalion by Spanish board game designer Néstor Romeral Andrés! In response to a puzzle posed by the designer, I created a board with the same properties as the default board, but a different shape; this board will be included with the game.
GIANT PUZZLES!
As added incentive for donating, I will post large puzzles if all of the charities hit certain levels! (This is not a combined total; every single one of the three charities must hit the threshold before the deadline for it to count.)
At the $100 mark, puzzle 601 will be upgraded to the giant (31x45) size! (Puzzle 600 will be giant no matter what.)
At the $210 mark, puzzle 602 will be giant, too!
At the $330 mark, puzzle 603 will be giant!
At the $460 mark, puzzle 604 will be giant!
At the $600 mark, puzzle 605 will be giant!
At the $750 mark, puzzle 606 will be giant!
At the $1000 mark, puzzle 600 will be upgraded to a super-giant (64x50)!
At the $1250 mark, puzzle 601 will be upgraded to a super-giant!
At the $1500 mark, puzzle 602 will be upgraded to a super-giant!
At the $1750 mark, puzzle 603 will be upgraded to a super-giant!
At the $2000 mark, puzzle 604 will be upgraded to a super-giant!
At the $2250 mark, puzzle 605 will be upgraded to a super-giant!
And last but not least, at the $2500 mark, puzzle 606 will be upgraded to a super-giant!
Get to solving! Get to donating!
Monday Mutant 116: Seek and Spell / Crowd Nine
In this Seek and Spell
puzzle, every row, every column, and every outlined box consisting of
nine cells each must contain every letter in FLINCH MAG exactly once (as
in a Crowd Nine puzzle, but with letters). The rules are otherwise unchanged.
This puzzle honors Minfang Lin from China, the winner of my recent BoardGameGeek contest giving away cards from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, plus a custom puzzle for the winner. Even though Minfang Lin chose not to accept the cards, the other half of the prize remains.
March Mutant 10: Seek and Spell / Crowd Nine
In this Seek and Spell puzzle, every row, every column, and every outlined box consisting of nine cells each must contain every letter in FOX BADGER exactly once (as in a Crowd Nine puzzle, but with letters). The rules are otherwise unchanged.
March Mutant 6: Crowd Nine (sum skyscrapers)
In this Crowd Nine puzzle, a number to the left or right of a row or above or below a column represents the sum of the numbers in that row or column which can be seen from that direction. A number is visible if and only if it is greater than any other numbers in the row or column between that number and the edge (and is blocked from being seen if a number greater than it is in the way). The rules are otherwise unchanged.
Monday Mutant 75: Crowd Nine (equations)
In this Crowd Nine puzzle, all of the outlined equations, when read from left to right or from top to bottom, must be true when the grid is filled in. Perform operations in reading order (for example, 3-1+2 is 4, not 0, and 1+2×3 is 9, not 7). The rules are otherwise unchanged.
As previously announced, MellowMelon and I will be co-authoring a test for Logic Masters India in the coming months. What kind of content can you expect on this test? Take a look.
Monday Mutant 64: Crowd Nine (equations)
In this Crowd Nine puzzle, all of the outlined equations, when read from left to right or from top to bottom, must be true when the grid is filled in. Perform operations in reading order (for example, 3-1+2 is 4, not 0, and 1+2×3 is 9, not 7). The rules are otherwise unchanged.
This puzzle was written as a follow-up to Monday Mutant 62, which was in turn a response to a puzzle submitted by a reader. The previous puzzle had symmetrical givens; this one goes a step further by having none at all.
Monday Mutant 62: Crowd Nine (equations)
In this Crowd Nine puzzle, all of the outlined equations, when read from left to right or from top to bottom, must be true when the grid is filled in. Perform operations in reading order (for example, 3-1+2 is 4, not 0, and 1+2×3 is 9, not 7). The rules are otherwise unchanged.
This puzzle was written as a response to Mah Boy's puzzle which I reviewed in Grant's Review Corner: Volume 3. While I suspect that someone like motris could create a much better one of these, it does illustrate the concepts which I wanted to get across: the presentation is precise, with the rules and equations being clearly delineated, the givens are symmetrical (which almost never hurts), and the equations interact in different ways (see the overlapping equations in column 9).
Evil Zinger 10: Crowd Nine (just one cell)
In this Crowd Nine puzzle, while multiple solutions for the whole grid exist, there is one empty cell (and only one) which can be solved with absolute certainty. Identify this one cell and the number that belongs there.
This Evil Zinger (EZ) mutation of the classic puzzle was inspired by veteran puzzlesmith Thomas Snyder.
This Evil Zinger (EZ) mutation of the classic puzzle was inspired by veteran puzzlesmith Thomas Snyder.
Puzzle 392: Crowd Nine 8
I was born on May 26, 1987, but due to unfortunate circumstances, we haven't been able to order the cake I designed with which to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of this event until today, almost eleven months later. With any luck, the same thing won't happen on my 23rd birthday. :)
Monday Mutant 6: Crowd Nine (consecutive)
Mutants is a series in which I will attempt to experiment with "mutant" puzzles. These could be existing puzzle types with an unusual change in the rules, hybrids combining elements from multiple puzzle types, or puzzle types neither invented nor popularized by Nikoli.
In this Crowd Nine puzzle, if a pair of horizontally or vertically adjacent cells contains two consecutive numbers, there will be a circle between them, and if a pair of horizontally or vertically adjacent cells contains two numbers that are not consecutive, there will not be a circle between them. The rules are otherwise unchanged.
In this Crowd Nine puzzle, if a pair of horizontally or vertically adjacent cells contains two consecutive numbers, there will be a circle between them, and if a pair of horizontally or vertically adjacent cells contains two numbers that are not consecutive, there will not be a circle between them. The rules are otherwise unchanged.
Monday Mutant 5: Crowd Nine (consecutive)
Monday Mutants is a series in which I will attempt to experiment with "mutant" puzzles. These could be existing puzzle types with an unusual change in the rules, hybrids combining elements from multiple puzzle types, or puzzle types neither invented nor popularized by Nikoli.
In this Crowd Nine puzzle, if a pair of horizontally or vertically adjacent cells contains two consecutive numbers, there will be a circle between them, and if a pair of horizontally or vertically adjacent cells contains two numbers that are not consecutive, there will not be a circle between them. The rules are otherwise unchanged.
In this Crowd Nine puzzle, if a pair of horizontally or vertically adjacent cells contains two consecutive numbers, there will be a circle between them, and if a pair of horizontally or vertically adjacent cells contains two numbers that are not consecutive, there will not be a circle between them. The rules are otherwise unchanged.
Puzzle 314: Crowd Nine 6
I crafted this puzzle a month ago. Why did I wait until puzzle 314 to post it? I really had no rational reason to.
Puzzle 249: Crowd Nine 5
While touring a local bookstore, I encountered a magazine titled Sudoku Mania, which bills itself as the "Official Publication of the International Sudoku Authority". The cover of said magazine, however, causes me to doubt both the authority and the existence of the ISA -- I mean, whoever designed the cover must have been really blind or really ignorant of the rules of Sudoku to allow three 9's in one 3x3 box. (I ended up buying a crossword magazine instead.) I hope to get this cover posted on Failblog -- it's just too terrible not to!
The puzzle below has a (legal) trio of 9's in the upper right as a homage to the aforementioned magazine. It also serves as a tribute to all the people in the United Kingdom, for whom 999 is their emergency number; additionally, it references Minesweeper: The Movie ("That clock is gonna keep ticking until it reaches 999!" "What happens then?" "Nothing! You just suck!"). As for the 249 in the lower left. . . that has no significance at all. Definitely none.
The puzzle below has a (legal) trio of 9's in the upper right as a homage to the aforementioned magazine. It also serves as a tribute to all the people in the United Kingdom, for whom 999 is their emergency number; additionally, it references Minesweeper: The Movie ("That clock is gonna keep ticking until it reaches 999!" "What happens then?" "Nothing! You just suck!"). As for the 249 in the lower left. . . that has no significance at all. Definitely none.
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