| What do you call this sort of pattern (Sunday, 12th April 2015) |
LoopGuy
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 761
Best Total: 45m 59s | Posted - 2015.04.15 04:45:17
I rarely fail to solve the puzzle first go, but Sunday's bit me, because I was using the wrong concepts to solve it.
So in this puzzle, on the bottom right, we had the following pattern:
While solving, it was clear to me that the two lines couldn't just hit a side of the 1 in the corner and connect, because there were two ways to do that, and the solution had to be unique. So they had to extend up the side like so:
My problem is, when I got that far, I was still saying "can't connect" to myself, as if the two lines were from the same little loop, so I completely missed the possibility that they could just turn left and hit the 1 and then they COULD connect.
So I was wondering if any of you had another phrase I could use for the situation where lines can't connect yet, but as soon as they do something useful, they can. Something like "Must do something else" or "need to be used somewhere"?
-Guy |
nicknewf
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 3142
Best Total: 28m 20s | Posted - 2015.04.16 14:17:31
This was my favorite part of the puzzle, too. I didn't know people had terms they used for the different patterns - can you point me to a thread so that I can quickly learn your other terminology. I would say "insufficient function" or "function required to preserve uniqueness."
This having been said, the problem solves from the other direction too - so there might be another phrase with respect to the "1" that the fence ultimately completed. |
arbor8
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 5584
Best Total: 13m 24s | Posted - 2015.04.16 17:19:19
Generally, a highlander deduction or uniqueness deduction. I don't have names for any subdivisions |
LoopGuy
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 761
Best Total: 45m 59s | Posted - 2015.04.17 01:36:17
Quote: Originally Posted by nicknewf I didn't know people had terms they used for the different patterns - can you point me to a thread so that I can quickly learn your other terminology. |
There are a few good threads, but some of us have different ways of thinking then others (which ultimately turns out to be the same techniques with different words).
Here are two threads, some of which point to other threads. Feel free to comment in them.
http://kwontomloop.com/forum.php?a=topic&topic_id=404
http://kwontomloop.com/forum.php?a=topic&topic_id=419 |
Darklady
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 5369
Best Total: 9m 37s | Posted - 2015.04.17 21:30:32
In a situation like this, I generally don't fill in the obvious highlander deduction right away - rather, I look at the area surrounding it and examine which "useful" lines would lead to multiple solutions. (My rule of thumb for "useful" is "anything that touches a number that's not part of the highlander pattern".) Leaving it blank helps me to see the nature of the whole area, while filling in the highlander pattern before it will lead to any further deductions kinda destroys information. |
