Ridiculously slow at Sudoku :(

[db]

Originally posted by: BornStar
5:45

I never take notes in the squares. Too much writing makes it a little too complicated to read.

That's what the dot system is for

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: nublikescake
I just started playing sudoku like 2-3 days ago. Never really cared what it was until I had to find something to do aboard a long flight. Well it seems pretty simple but after having solved about 10 medium puzzles, my average time's 24 mins... How do people do it so fast, as in under 6 minutes?

Solve a medium one here and see how fast you are.

We used to do them during lunch. We could solve almost any puzzle. The hardest ones probably took about 4 minutes to solve.

 

[imported_Champ]

14:55 need to start doing these more

 

[hiromizu]

how many of you actually write notes down when playing it?

 

[pontifex]

i take a long time too. i used to do it with 2 women at work during lunch and they were really good at sudoku. sometimes i could get an easy rated one and get it done in a few minutes. other times i might not even be able to finish it.

they would say " you have to look at it this way or that way" but i just couldn't do it. my brain couldn't process it that way or something.


on the other hand though, i was pretty damn good at the crossword puzzles where they weren't so good. I've always been pretty good with words. I attribute that to the amount of reading I do.


did a medium on the OP's site in 15 minutes, 8 seconds, although I kind of cheated. if i was down to numbers left in a line or block, i would put 1 number in and hit the "how am i doing button?" button to see if it was right or not.

 

[Jeff7]

Is there any method to this, or is it pure trial and error?

Giving it a shot now, though I've never done a Sudoku thing before.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
Is there any method to this, or is it pure trial and error?

Giving it a shot now, though I've never done a Sudoku thing before.

there are definitely methods to it.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: pontifex
there are definitely methods to it.

It said something about being "logical" to solve. I remember being presented with this kind of logic problem back in middle and high school. I sucked at those only slightly less than I do at completing a Rubix cube, which I've never been able to do.



Edit: Just finished the one in the OP. Liberal use of the "How am I doing?" button helped considerably.
27:37

 

[iamwiz82]

I dont look at them as numbers per say, just patterns. Some people actually do better when they are pictures, versus numbers.

 

[hiromizu]

There's an options screen

'How am I doing' button:
Strict - Only tell me about visible mistakes.
Regular - Warn me when a number is wrong.
Helpful - Show me the positions of wrong numbers

Which option do you keep it at and do you actually use the how am I doing button? I couldn't finish the medium one without using the Helpful setting.

 

[Muse]

Depends on each puzzle. Some are monsters. Some are so easy that you can go too fast and make careless mistakes, only to be discovered at the end.
As long as you get satisfaction when playing, that's all that matters.

I'm wondering a few things:

1. How do they rate them? Are the ratings always accurate? I was working on a 3 star (out of 5 possible) and got stumped yesterday. I have to wonder if it isn't a lot harder than rated. I'm not so bad right now. Started a couple weeks ago, have solved one or two 5 star ones. So far, I've only done the ones in my newspaper, the Oakland Tribune. The Chronicle on Sunday had a Sudoku Monster (0-9 plus A-K, I believe), but that seemed impossible, especially with the boxes so tiny I couldn't make notes without a special pen! It was only a 2 star.

My cousin turned me on to sudoku a few weeks ago when visiting their house/town. Never heard of it before. Her husband said some are just real hard and you can't solve them without resorting to not-fun tactics such as what-if, where you just suppose one square is a 7 or something and see what happens. Then you'd have to erase everything after that if it doesn't work. He said when it's that kind of puzzle it's better to just give up. Is this true?

2. I told my cousin I thought it conceivable that some sudoku have more than one solution. She claimed this isn't possible. What's the answer to this? Maybe the ones you see in the newspaper always have only one solution, but obviously if there are few enough squares filled in initially, there are multiple solutions possible.

3. Is it possible to generate (and rate) your own sudoku? Obviously, these are generated and rated by some system, some mathematical model. These must be out there. Maybe you can build your own mathematical model. You could create a system on a computer to generate them, top to bottom.

The fastest I've done any of the newspaper puzzles I've done (maybe 20 by now), is around 20-25 minutes. I guess I'm not too good. My cousin and husband showed me a few techniques. I guess I need some more coaching. I have developed some techniques but don't always remember them or employ them in a timely fashion. How do you approach your sudoku?

 

[lxskllr]

I hate sudoku. I've started the puzzles a couple of times, and it bores the hell out of me. A lot of thinking, and problem solving with no real pay off :^/

 

[PepePeru]

I really didn't like doing these until i got my smart phone and can easily make and erase notes.

 

[Muse]

I hate sudoku. I've started the puzzles a couple of times, and it bores the hell out of me. A lot of thinking, and problem solving with no real pay off :^/

Well, if I watch TV news, I get sleepy and want to go to sleep. Often, anyway. So far, sudoku have the opposite effect. If it's about my turn in time, it keeps me awake for hours. Well, last night when I ran into that 3 star stumper I did get sleepy and turn over and go to sleep. I'm not convinced that there is an easy solution to it.

 

[Muse]

I really didn't like doing these until i got my smart phone and can easily make and erase notes.

I created a template for them a couple days ago so I can redo ones I mess up. The template is bigger, easier to make notes, there's 4 on a page. I can send anyone who wants it if you provide me with your email. It's a 2k PDF. I figured they're available online (I did see a link this AM), but mine's real nice IMO.

 

[tk149]

11:09 But I was interrupted while working on it.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Sudoku is very very easy and can be mechanically solved very easily. Just systematically go through squares until you find ones that are narrowed down to only 1 number it can be and that narrows down other squares which you can then answer and so on till done.

 

[JTsyo]

I like writing all the numbers in each square then cross out the ones that doesn't fit. When you're left with one number, you're done with that square. Sometimes you end up with two boxes with the same two numbers then, you have to figure out the other boxes and come back or try each combination and see which one works, usually for the harder ones. I did them for awhile but it got old.

 

[KK]

Sudoku is very very easy and can be mechanically solved very easily. Just systematically go through squares until you find ones that are narrowed down to only 1 number it can be and that narrows down other squares which you can then answer and so on till done.

Try the evil one, see how easy that one is. :awe:

I used to visit that site nightly when I worked nights. I think I had the easy level average down around 2 minutes to 2 1/2 minutes. Not sure what the medium level average was. just did one now and got alittle over 11. I'm a bit rusty.

 

[silverpig]

I used to love taking the Sunday paper here out to the pub with my old roommate. We'd grab dinner and a pitcher and go through the 4 super tough crosswords and the week's toughest sudoku.

The sudoku wasn't much of a problem ever. I just hate the ones where you get to a point where you HAVE to guess, then fill in the next few squares to see if you get a contradiction or a solution.

 

[Muse]

I used to love taking the Sunday paper here out to the pub with my old roommate. We'd grab dinner and a pitcher and go through the 4 super tough crosswords and the week's toughest sudoku.

The sudoku wasn't much of a problem ever. I just hate the ones where you get to a point where you HAVE to guess, then fill in the next few squares to see if you get a contradiction or a solution.

Do they do that often? There ought to be a law.