Puzzle 416

The theme is because I turn 23 today. I also recently learned that this is deu’s birthday too; you may know him as a top solver at LMI/WPCs/nikoli.com.

Well, I suppose that mathematically the chances of two active competitors having the same birthday is pretty high. Even so… this does not feel like your typical pair. Apparently the puzzle gods decreed that people born on this day would enjoy nikoli-style puzzles and be very quick at them.

If you did all of the Fillomino-fillia 2 puzzles on the test and preview series, don’t pass over this. You have only done 26 Fillominos in all. This pack has 56 total puzzles, so you’re not even half done.

Download the pack (PDF; 1863 KB)

This pack contains

• The rules and a walkthrough for an example for Fillomino
• 9 puzzles using the standard rules, including a large 20 by 36 brought to you by mathgrant
• 10 puzzles representing all variations from Fillomino-fillia 1
• 4 puzzles of each of the six variations from Fillomino-fillia 2: one easier 7 by 7, the two test puzzles, and the preview
• 4 additional Fillomino-fillia 2 rejects: a Liar, a Snake, and two No-rectangles
• 4 puzzles representing 3 new variations, which may appear on a tentative test for next year that might be called Fillomino-fillia 3
• 4 chimera puzzles combining other variations in the pack
• A fifth chimera puzzle: the FF2 version of last year’s Potpourri
• Hints and solutions for all puzzles

Reporting of errors can be done by comments here or by email.

There will probably not even be progress on Volume V until 2013, as there are Mystery Hunt things to be done.

As the one on the coauthor team with the most time on my hands, I ended up writing most of the puzzles for our round. Specifically, 15 of the 24. Below is a PDF containing those 15. I’ll let the other coauthors release their work on their own terms.
Download PDF (409 KB)
Two of the puzzles were tweaked from their original versions to be easier, specifically 3C and 8B. Both versions are included in here, with the harder version on the following page.

FF2 pack still in progress. Coincidentally I was aiming for a release today, so this might be your lucky day in terms of getting puzzles from me.

Puzzle 415

Part 4 of 4 in my half of the preview series for Fillomino-Fillia 2. See mathgrant’s blog for the other half.

Answer Entry: Enter the units digits (last digit) of the number in each circled cell starting with the leftmost column and going right.

Highlight to see answer: 13174993

The test will be available to play on LMI pretty soon. Please give it a go this weekend if you can find the time, and good luck if you do!

Puzzle 414

Part 3 of 4 in my half of the preview series for Fillomino-Fillia 2. See mathgrant’s blog for the other half.

Answer Entry: Enter the units digits (last digit) of the number in each circled cell starting with the leftmost column and going right.

Highlight to see answer: 62376777

Puzzle 413

Part 2 of 4 in my half of the preview series for Fillomino-Fillia 2. See mathgrant’s blog for the other half.

Answer Entry: Enter the units digits (last digit) of the number in each circled cell starting with the leftmost column and going right.

Highlight to see answer: 47656765

EDIT: I meant to point out originally that this puzzle was the inspiration. (That’s the second time this blog has linked to that puzzle.)

Puzzle 412

Part 1 of 4 in my half of the preview series for Fillomino-Fillia 2. See mathgrant’s blog for the other half.

Answer Entry: Enter the units digits (last digit) of the number in each circled cell starting with the leftmost column and going right. For a cell with a snake segment, write X.

Highlight to see answer: 269X9722

On a related note, it seems the WordPress thumbnail issue has fixed itself. That’s a relief.

The format is similar to last year: 4 classic puzzles, 6 new variations with 2 puzzles apiece, and a “Best of Fillomino-fillia 1″ section with 2 puzzles, representing 2 variations from last year’s test. As always with LMI tests, you can begin the test at any time between (on a US time zone) late Friday and late Monday, and once you start you’ll have 2 hours to solve as many of the 18 puzzles as you can.

Like last year, mathgrant and I will each post a four puzzle preview series, which will allow you to get familiar with the new variations on this year’s test. Each of us will be posting one per day over this week, with the last going up shortly before the test can be begun.

The delays in getting this test finished and scheduled at LMI are the reason for there being no pack release for so long. I had intended a post-mortem booklet with commentary, rejects, and plenty of extras to be puzzle pack volume 4 since forever ago, but we kept having to push the date of this test back. Anyways, that pack will probably be released within a week of the test being over. Volume 5 may have to wait until after Mystery Hunt is done; we’ll see.

Puzzle 411

It seems I may end up returning to weekly posts after all. You’ll just have to forgive me for the fact that many of them will be rejects from other projects (which are not named Mystery Hunt).

WordPress continues to give ugly thumbnails. Above I’ve employed the best solution I found, which is to upload a manually-scaled thumbnail to show up on the post. Clicking the image will still get you the full-size version. Pain in the butt for me though.