| puzzle column |
chairman
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1397
Best Total: 17m 32s | Posted - 2009.07.08 20:58:24
I've been asked to write a puzzle column in the student magazine of our department. What else could I talk about but Kwon Tom Loop? This is the column. I am told that the number of subscribers have been large and the comments quite positive. Maybe it results in a few noobs, fans, addicts, and obsessives. |
chairman
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1397
Best Total: 17m 32s | Posted - 2009.07.08 21:10:58
Being invited to take care of this puzzle column, I'd like to take the opportunity to
draw your attention to Kwon Tom Loop puzzles. The rules are readily given and the
level of difficulty ranges from trivial to diabolic. A Kwon Tom Loop puzzle consists of
a rectangular grid of dots. Some squares formed by the dots contain a clue. The goal is
to find a closed loop of horizontal and vertical edges, such that each square containing
a clue reveals how many of its sides are edges of the loop. Not every node need to be
visited by the loop. That is all. Here is an example and its solution:
On the Internet there is a possibility to join a daily puzzle competition. The following
Kwon Tom Loop might be the easiest puzzle of the competition since it has the shortest
solving time of all: 25 seconds! This might be hard to believe at first sight, it is already
hard to produce the loop in such a short time, even when the solution is known. On the
other hand, the world record solving Rubik's cube is 7.08 seconds ...
(Here I inserted Mondsemmel's record puzzle of 10 November 2008)
Liar catchers have the same format as Kwon Tom Loop puzzles. Again a closed loop
has to be found. The difference is that all clues inside the loop must be false, all clues
outside the loop must be true. Hence, the loop catches all lying clues. Squares not
containing clues are allowed to be situated both on the inside and on the outside. Here
is an example and its solution:
Since I'd like to contribute a puzzle of my own, I have chosen to conclude with the
following liar catcher:
Like always there is a crate of beer or a 'vlaai' to win. Since there are two puzzles and
only one prize the following procedure will be followed. If we receive correct solutions
of both puzzles, first we toss which puzzle will be used to choose the prize winner. As a
consequence, submitting the solution of the most difficult puzzle gives a better chance
to win than submitting the other one. Of course your chances are best if you submit
two correct solutions.
Last edited by chairman - 2009.07.09 18:44:09 |
Brian
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 4907
Best Total: 9m 6s | Posted - 2009.07.09 10:22:27
I've tried your puzzle three times, and I'm convinced there's not a solution. Did you copy it correctly?
Do you know where I can find more of these puzzles, or another name they go by? Google wasn't helpful. |
chairman
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1397
Best Total: 17m 32s | Posted - 2009.07.09 10:56:00
Here's the answer.
Actually, the idea originates from Jankonyex. He tells about it in the topic puzzle sharing. |
Brian
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 4907
Best Total: 9m 6s | Posted - 2009.07.09 12:32:05
Quote: Originally Posted by chairman Here's the answer. |
EDIT: Nevermind, was using an older version of loopy. Thanks.
Quote: Actually, the idea originates from Jankonyex. |
Last edited by Brian - 2009.07.09 12:50:12 |
MondSemmel
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 6159
Best Total: 7m 47s | Posted - 2009.07.09 12:49:24
"The difference is that all clues inside the loop must be false, all clues outside the clue must be true. Hence, the loop catches all lying clues."
Typo - although I personally am basically an orthography fanatic, I wouldn't mention it if it wasn't part of the rules of that puzzle. I had some initial difficulty comprehending the puzzle as a result^^.
Your column sounds like an interesting project! Keep it up  !
With regards to shortest puzzle solving time = easiest puzzle, I'd tend to disagree. Since the flash solver, the puzzles with the shortest solving times are obviously still the easiest puzzles which don't require any type of trial & error, but among those easy puzzles, the ones that can be solved in the shortest time possible are those that can be drawn with as few mouse clicks as possible (i.e. large parts of the mentioned puzzle can be drawn with single mouse clicks). The very easy puzzles require almost no thinking once one has acquired enough experience, so solving them in the fastest way possible is as much a game of reaction and mouse speed as it is a game of logic. (There are lots of people on this forum that are smarter than me but have longer solving times - I assume experience (i.e. solving lots of puzzles) and mouse speed make the difference )
That being said, some of those supposedly trivial puzzles might be incredibly challenging for beginners who do not know some of the basic patterns (like several 3s in a row or corner 2s).
I tried teaching the kwontomloop puzzle to one of my friends and I noticed that even "easy" kwontomloop puzzles are probably too difficult to teach somebody the basic rules. I personally learned the rules for this puzzle in a puzzle magazine which featured many different types of puzzles - so the difficulty rating was very low. Might I suggest one of my favorite puzzle websites (it's in German, I'm afraid, but if there are problems with comprehension I can help translate), www.janko.at ?
The puzzles at http://www.janko.at/Raetsel/Slitherlink/index.htm begin with 4x4 puzzles and yes, they can be solved at the computer. They aren't as difficult as the kwontomloop puzzles, but that's exactly the point. [The largest puzzles are even larger than kwontomloop beasts of the month with 45x30 (although, again, a lot easier).] |
Jean
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 2066
Best Total: 20m 50s | Posted - 2009.07.09 12:49:53
I'm pretty sure the 0 and the 3 in the top left-hand corner are impossible to solve.
Are you sure you posted the puzzle correctly?
edit: never mind didn't read the concept properly.
Last edited by Jean - 2009.07.09 12:50:38 |
chairman
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1397
Best Total: 17m 32s | Posted - 2009.07.09 19:50:19
Quote: Originally Posted by mondsemmel "The difference is that all clues inside the loop must be false, all clues outside the clue must be true. Hence, the loop catches all lying clues."] |
Thank you for attending. That was quite a badly placed flaw.
Quote: Originally Posted by mondsemmel With regards to shortest puzzle solving time = easiest puzzle, I'd tend to disagree.] |
When qualifying Monday puzzles, not only the required brainwork, but also the required physical skills could be taken into account. I agree that for newbees, and I suppose most of the readers of the column are, the hand speed is of no importance. Choosing the shortest solving time was just an objective choice, It is out of my range to really pick the easiest puzzle of our competition, if existent.
www.janko.at is a beautiful site indeed. I agreed on writing the columnn only once, but I might find inspiration for a second time there. |
Para
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1923
Best Total: 19m 28s | Posted - 2009.07.09 20:05:00
There's thousands of logic puzzle types out there. If you need some inspiration you might want to check out sites like http://www.janko.at/Raetsel/index.htm , http://www.forsmarts.com and www.puzzlepicnic.com. You'll find enough links to other logic puzzle sites there too. Probably easiest to focus on genres. So Latin Square variants, Loop puzzles, Path puzzles, Shape placements, Number puzzles. It's kinda hard to pick one puzzle type as you'll have to keep writing your whole lifetime to even cover half. |
