Full 2011 USPC results are now out. As could have been predicted a couple days after the test, I ranked first (415) with Thomas Snyder in second (349). Congratulations also to William Blatt, who made the team with 309 and 3rd, and Dan Katz, who just barely missed the team for the Nth year with 305 and 4th.
Now, what is the rest of this monster post for?
Anyone paying close attention to the comments/posts/alerts here knows there is a post that has been stealthily creeping around here. It was published a few days ago, then taken back down because I decided I hadn’t addressed some things enough (taking it down confused many people’s alerts), then sent to someone else to have a look who gave some quick feedback in a comment, confusing someone else who couldn’t find the mentioned post. The original person I sent it to evidently thought it was already public because of how I messed up the alerts. Confusion over now: this is the post. I’ve finally decided I’m happy enough with it to publish it, so here it is.
This post gives some tips on how to cleanly get through a Numberlink puzzle, one of my favorite types that nikoli puts out. It comes slightly in response to some comments here (which in turn responded to my offhand reference of a recent puzzle solving a little bit like one) from people evidently less enthusiastic about the puzzle than I am.
Personally I get the most enjoyment out of the puzzle when I am able to coast through to a solution without ever goofing too badly. Of course, it’s hard to be able to do with some consistency, but it’s not completely down to luck. After reading all of this, you’ll hopefully be able to get that perfect solve more often.
Melon's Puzzles 