Contest 1: Attack of the Four Puzzles!
Do you want to win high-quality logic puzzles imported from Japan? The Attack of the Four Puzzles! contest might be your opportunity to do just that! The four short sections below explain all of the details.
How to enter:
This contest consists of a four-part logic puzzle (below). To participate in the contest, solve the puzzle, obtain the final answer from part iv, and e-mail the answer to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Only one entry is allowed per person; however, if you believe your answer is wrong, you may change it at any time before the deadline. The deadline is two weeks from the time the contest started (that is, October 20, 2009).
How to win:
After the deadline has passed, the winner will be randomly selected from all of the entrants with the correct answer. Therefore, to win, you must both be skilled enough to solve the puzzles before the deadline, and lucky enough to be picked. (But even if you're not lucky, hopefully you'll have had fun solving the puzzles, right? :) )
Prize:
The winner will receive his or her choice of either 3 of Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle Books, or any 1 or 2 Nikoli books whose prices total at most 2100 yen (see this link for a list of all of the books Nikoli has available). Each Pencil Puzzle Book contains about 96 puzzles of one particular type, which is great if there's a certain puzzle type you particularly want to focus on; if you'd rather have a wider variety of puzzles available, books like the Penpas Mix series, the Puzzle Box series, and the Puzzle the Giants series will satisfy your needs perfectly. Either way, you win! :) When you win, provide me with your mailing address and which books you'd like; I'll pay Nikoli to have the books shipped directly to you.
Terms:
By entering the contest, you agree to the following terms:
a) You are prepared and willing to provide me with a mailing address in the event that you win. (In return, I agree not to use your mailing address for any malicious purposes, such as sending junk mail or other undesired things.)
b) You are prepared and willing to wait several weeks for the books to arrive from Japan (this contest is mostly for fun, anyhow -- and high-quality puzzles are worth the wait, right? :) ).
Now that you're done reading all that, here is the four-part contest puzzle. Good luck! :)
Part i. Polyominous
Solve the Polyominous puzzle below (rules of Polyominous), and then answer Question i:
Question i: How many 1's are there in the solution (including the ones given at the outset)?
Part ii. Straight and Arrow
Solve the Straight and Arrow puzzle below (rules of Straight and Arrow), and then answer Question ii:
Question ii: What is the total number of black cells in the two indicated columns?
Part iii. Process of Illumination
Solve the Process of Illumination puzzle below (rules of Process of Illumination), and then answer Question iii:
Question iii: How many light bulbs are there in the solution?
Part iv. Seek and Spell
The numerical answer to each of the above questions is an integer between 1 and 26, inclusive. For each answer, find the corresponding word in the list below:
1 ALPHA
2 BRAVO
3 CHARLIE
4 DELTA
5 ECHO
6 FOXTROT
7 GOLF
8 HOTEL
9 INDIA
10 JULIET
11 KILO
12 LIMA
13 MIKE
14 NOVEMBER
15 OSCAR
16 PAPA
17 QUEBEC
18 ROMEO
19 SIERRA
20 TANGO
21 UNIFORM
22 VICTOR
23 WHISKEY
24 XRAY
25 YANKEE
26 ZULU
Solve the Seek and Spell puzzle below (rules of Seek and Spell), replacing i, ii, and iii with the words corresponding with the numerical answers to Question i, Question ii, and Question iii, respectively.
The seven letters in the shaded cells, taken in reading order (a, b, c, d, e, f, g), form the final answer. (These letters may or may not spell anything.) Send this final answer to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com to enter the Attack of the Four Puzzles! contest.
How to enter:
This contest consists of a four-part logic puzzle (below). To participate in the contest, solve the puzzle, obtain the final answer from part iv, and e-mail the answer to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Only one entry is allowed per person; however, if you believe your answer is wrong, you may change it at any time before the deadline. The deadline is two weeks from the time the contest started (that is, October 20, 2009).
How to win:
After the deadline has passed, the winner will be randomly selected from all of the entrants with the correct answer. Therefore, to win, you must both be skilled enough to solve the puzzles before the deadline, and lucky enough to be picked. (But even if you're not lucky, hopefully you'll have had fun solving the puzzles, right? :) )
Prize:
The winner will receive his or her choice of either 3 of Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle Books, or any 1 or 2 Nikoli books whose prices total at most 2100 yen (see this link for a list of all of the books Nikoli has available). Each Pencil Puzzle Book contains about 96 puzzles of one particular type, which is great if there's a certain puzzle type you particularly want to focus on; if you'd rather have a wider variety of puzzles available, books like the Penpas Mix series, the Puzzle Box series, and the Puzzle the Giants series will satisfy your needs perfectly. Either way, you win! :) When you win, provide me with your mailing address and which books you'd like; I'll pay Nikoli to have the books shipped directly to you.
Terms:
By entering the contest, you agree to the following terms:
a) You are prepared and willing to provide me with a mailing address in the event that you win. (In return, I agree not to use your mailing address for any malicious purposes, such as sending junk mail or other undesired things.)
b) You are prepared and willing to wait several weeks for the books to arrive from Japan (this contest is mostly for fun, anyhow -- and high-quality puzzles are worth the wait, right? :) ).
Now that you're done reading all that, here is the four-part contest puzzle. Good luck! :)
Part i. Polyominous
Solve the Polyominous puzzle below (rules of Polyominous), and then answer Question i:
Question i: How many 1's are there in the solution (including the ones given at the outset)?
Part ii. Straight and Arrow
Solve the Straight and Arrow puzzle below (rules of Straight and Arrow), and then answer Question ii:
Question ii: What is the total number of black cells in the two indicated columns?
Part iii. Process of Illumination
Solve the Process of Illumination puzzle below (rules of Process of Illumination), and then answer Question iii:
Question iii: How many light bulbs are there in the solution?
Part iv. Seek and Spell
The numerical answer to each of the above questions is an integer between 1 and 26, inclusive. For each answer, find the corresponding word in the list below:
1 ALPHA
2 BRAVO
3 CHARLIE
4 DELTA
5 ECHO
6 FOXTROT
7 GOLF
8 HOTEL
9 INDIA
10 JULIET
11 KILO
12 LIMA
13 MIKE
14 NOVEMBER
15 OSCAR
16 PAPA
17 QUEBEC
18 ROMEO
19 SIERRA
20 TANGO
21 UNIFORM
22 VICTOR
23 WHISKEY
24 XRAY
25 YANKEE
26 ZULU
Solve the Seek and Spell puzzle below (rules of Seek and Spell), replacing i, ii, and iii with the words corresponding with the numerical answers to Question i, Question ii, and Question iii, respectively.
The seven letters in the shaded cells, taken in reading order (a, b, c, d, e, f, g), form the final answer. (These letters may or may not spell anything.) Send this final answer to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com to enter the Attack of the Four Puzzles! contest.
Puzzle 301: Streaming Content 22
I have a most exciting announcement to make. Ahem.
I now have 100% completion in New Super Mario Bros.!!!
That had absolutely nothing to do with this puzzle, but I felt that it was imperative to announce it nonetheless.
I now have 100% completion in New Super Mario Bros.!!!
That had absolutely nothing to do with this puzzle, but I felt that it was imperative to announce it nonetheless.
Puzzle 300: Room and Reason 21
It's my 300th puzzle! Let's celebrate by quoting a movie!
"This is blasphemy! This is madness!" "Madness? THIS. . . IS. . . SPARTAAAAA!"
(Bonus points if you can guess what movie that's from.)
Do you like big puzzles, and you cannot lie? Then you're in luck -- this one's 31x45. This is the first time that I've ever built a 31x45 Room and Reason; I hope it's worthwhile! :) (This is actually on the easy side, I think, compared to some of the 31x45 Heyawake puzzles in the latest volume of Puzzle the Giants. . .)
As usual, a big thanks to all of the people who have contacted me and given me feedback. The knowledge that my puzzles are being solved and enjoyed is one of the awesomest things in this world.
"This is blasphemy! This is madness!" "Madness? THIS. . . IS. . . SPARTAAAAA!"
(Bonus points if you can guess what movie that's from.)
Do you like big puzzles, and you cannot lie? Then you're in luck -- this one's 31x45. This is the first time that I've ever built a 31x45 Room and Reason; I hope it's worthwhile! :) (This is actually on the easy side, I think, compared to some of the 31x45 Heyawake puzzles in the latest volume of Puzzle the Giants. . .)
As usual, a big thanks to all of the people who have contacted me and given me feedback. The knowledge that my puzzles are being solved and enjoyed is one of the awesomest things in this world.
Puzzle 292: Room and Reason 20
This is unrelated to the puzzle below (which has symmetrical givens, for no reason), but I have a question that might concern my readers: in the theoretical situation that I were to hold a contest of some sort where one can win Nikoli puzzle books by solving a puzzle, should I let the winner choose the books they want from this page (within my prize budget, of course) and have Nikoli ship the prize directly, or should I buy some books before the contest starts and use them as prizes? The advantages of the former is that the winner gets a choice, and it's less expensive, especially if the winner happens not to live in the United States; the main advantage of the latter is that the winner will probably get the prize much sooner, although in my experience Nikoli's high-quality puzzles are worth the wait. Also, if I ship the prize, I could write something humorous like "do not eat" on the package.
Logicsmith Exhibition 3: Polyominous (RESULTS!)
Logicsmith Exhibition 3 is over now. I received 6 entries from 4 distinct people (not counting myself). I think the puzzles ended up a bit harder in this batch than in the previous batch. The added difficulty makes these puzzles feel very different from the previous ones, for better or for worse, and of course they are still very different from each other. As before, I'll go alphabetically by submitter.
This first puzzle is from Bram. This is probably the hardest puzzle in the batch -- in fact, I found it slightly unreasonable (in terms of the depth of trial and error involved). Then again, I'm a wuss who only a month ago started posting Numberlink puzzles, and your mileage may vary. In any case, it's definitely solvable. Just be forewarned of the difficulty. :)
connect4 sent this nice puzzle. If you're allergic to the numbers 1 and 2, then you're in luck -- this puzzle contains none of those.
The next puzzle is my own. It is traditional for me to give a sneak peek of my puzzle to the participants in Logicsmith Exhibition; Paul Redman said that this has "some of [my] characteristic trademarks". He's probably right. *laughs* I always try to keep my puzzles interesting, though, and not to let any one particular style make me too terribly predictable. :)
This puzzle is by miller. This one's definitely on the tougher side, I think, but extremely nice. It will keep patient experts very entertained.
Paul Redman was ambitious enough to send three puzzles. A main feature of this first submission is that it has a LOT of 4's. ("Use the 4's, Luke. . . .") It also makes interesting use of the space in the middle. I thought it was one of the easier puzzles in this batch.
This second puzzle by Paul Redman is a bit harder, but still very reasonable, and quite fun.
Paul Redman's final puzzle contains many 6's -- twenty-seven 6's, to be exact. I believe it's the hardest out of Paul's puzzles, but if you like the number 6, then you'll absolutely adore this puzzle. :)
Thanks to all the submitters for their puzzles, and enjoy solving!
This first puzzle is from Bram. This is probably the hardest puzzle in the batch -- in fact, I found it slightly unreasonable (in terms of the depth of trial and error involved). Then again, I'm a wuss who only a month ago started posting Numberlink puzzles, and your mileage may vary. In any case, it's definitely solvable. Just be forewarned of the difficulty. :)
connect4 sent this nice puzzle. If you're allergic to the numbers 1 and 2, then you're in luck -- this puzzle contains none of those.
The next puzzle is my own. It is traditional for me to give a sneak peek of my puzzle to the participants in Logicsmith Exhibition; Paul Redman said that this has "some of [my] characteristic trademarks". He's probably right. *laughs* I always try to keep my puzzles interesting, though, and not to let any one particular style make me too terribly predictable. :)
This puzzle is by miller. This one's definitely on the tougher side, I think, but extremely nice. It will keep patient experts very entertained.
Paul Redman was ambitious enough to send three puzzles. A main feature of this first submission is that it has a LOT of 4's. ("Use the 4's, Luke. . . .") It also makes interesting use of the space in the middle. I thought it was one of the easier puzzles in this batch.
This second puzzle by Paul Redman is a bit harder, but still very reasonable, and quite fun.
Paul Redman's final puzzle contains many 6's -- twenty-seven 6's, to be exact. I believe it's the hardest out of Paul's puzzles, but if you like the number 6, then you'll absolutely adore this puzzle. :)
Thanks to all the submitters for their puzzles, and enjoy solving!
Puzzle 289: Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania 11
Since these kinds of logic problems rely on clear prose as much as they do on valid logic, I often (as I have here) solicit editorial help from outsiders. Today, I decided to bother -- I mean, politely ask Dave Shukan (AKA Tinhorn) for his assistance. Discussing semantics with him is always intellectually stimulating, and may have been the most fun part of creating this puzzle. :)
Rules of Eliza Pseudonym of Puzzlania
Eliza Pseudonym and five of her friends (Anna, Barbra, Carla, Delilah, and Fiona) recently met together to play Bingo. In the game of Bingo, each player is given a 5x5 card, as depicted below. The columns are labeled with the letters B, I, N, G, and O, from left to right. The center space on the grid is marked as the Free Space. The objective of the game is for each player to try to be the first one to get a Bingo by filling in five spaces in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line on her own card. The group played 12 games of Bingo; each of the six players ended up winning exactly two games, and each possible winning Bingo line (the five rows, the five columns, and the upper-left-to-lower-right and upper-right-to-lower-left diagonals) was used exactly once. From the clues below, determine which woman won each game, and with what line.
1. No woman won two consecutive games.
2. No two consecutive Bingos incorporated the Free Space.
3. A winning Bingo was made in the upper-left-to-lower-right diagonal sometime before one was made in the upper-right-to-lower-left diagonal.
4. The first game and the last game were both won by a woman filling in a column headed by a letter contained in her first name.
5. The winner of game 5 also won a game that was either three games before or three games after the one where the winning Bingo was in the top row.
6. The winning Bingo in the column labeled I occurred sometime after the one in the bottom row.
7. Barbra won both the game immediately before and the game immediately after the game in which the second row from the top formed the winning Bingo.
8. Eliza, who was the winner of the eighth game, won an odd-numbered game via a diagonal line.
9. Carla's first victory (which was not won with a line containing the cell in the upper-right corner) was in the sixth game after the one in which the winner had filled in the column labeled G.
10. One of Delilah's wins was in the fifth game after one of Anna's wins.
11. The woman who filled in an entire column to win game 4 also won a different game that was the second game to follow the one where the fourth row from the top was filled in.
Eliza Pseudonym and five of her friends (Anna, Barbra, Carla, Delilah, and Fiona) recently met together to play Bingo. In the game of Bingo, each player is given a 5x5 card, as depicted below. The columns are labeled with the letters B, I, N, G, and O, from left to right. The center space on the grid is marked as the Free Space. The objective of the game is for each player to try to be the first one to get a Bingo by filling in five spaces in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line on her own card. The group played 12 games of Bingo; each of the six players ended up winning exactly two games, and each possible winning Bingo line (the five rows, the five columns, and the upper-left-to-lower-right and upper-right-to-lower-left diagonals) was used exactly once. From the clues below, determine which woman won each game, and with what line.
1. No woman won two consecutive games.
2. No two consecutive Bingos incorporated the Free Space.
3. A winning Bingo was made in the upper-left-to-lower-right diagonal sometime before one was made in the upper-right-to-lower-left diagonal.
4. The first game and the last game were both won by a woman filling in a column headed by a letter contained in her first name.
5. The winner of game 5 also won a game that was either three games before or three games after the one where the winning Bingo was in the top row.
6. The winning Bingo in the column labeled I occurred sometime after the one in the bottom row.
7. Barbra won both the game immediately before and the game immediately after the game in which the second row from the top formed the winning Bingo.
8. Eliza, who was the winner of the eighth game, won an odd-numbered game via a diagonal line.
9. Carla's first victory (which was not won with a line containing the cell in the upper-right corner) was in the sixth game after the one in which the winner had filled in the column labeled G.
10. One of Delilah's wins was in the fifth game after one of Anna's wins.
11. The woman who filled in an entire column to win game 4 also won a different game that was the second game to follow the one where the fourth row from the top was filled in.
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