go

lol

done.

Ah, yeah. No marks. First time on an expert puzzle. G'nite~

done

hi

i'v finished but no fireworks

If you want fireworks, then you probably want to do Babble instead, heh.

easy 5 points if you put in the markers. perhaps I'm just getting better!

i have done some calculations

and i have discovered something noteworthy

do tell, hurshy!

d sub i = i/v

ergo, i am the densest idiot ever to live

yes, clearly (?!?) .. elaborate any time you wish :)

it's so humiliating

i can't believe i didn't think of something so very obvious until today

i must have walked in at just the wrong moment - i have NO idea what you are talking about

let me ask you this, krys, when you try a forcing chain and it results in an impossibility, what do you do next?

it's a contradiction proof - your initial assumption must have been wrong

and so what do you do about it?

i mean you personally

once you know that, what do you do with that information

undo what you've done with that assumption in place, then redo with the initial assumption reversed

what if the initial assumption wasn't in a pair?

have you found a better way?

then choose one of the other two options

and consider that you may have to do it three times

well yes

but

but if i don't run into a contradiction, i don't keep the info in place - only if i get a contradiction

it means you can eliminate your starting point as an option

and you can of course eliminate the option you intially assumed

yeah

we agree

THAT is the obvious thing i never thought of.

does this puzzle go into forcing chains? i hadn't really prepared myself for that

i don't know if it ever came up for me - i only do forcing chains with two options - too chicken to get into more possibilities

but now i will know to think of it in the future :)

well, it is an expert, and the current hypothesis on the market is that things are labelled expert vs hard if you need a forcing chain

in this one, all the forcing chains i tried with pairs didn't lead to impossibilities OR complete solutions.

ah, i hadn't been watching the discussion about hat

you watched for unique rectangles? often I find they come up but the standard solving techniques go to forcing chains first

sounds like an interesting one, in any case - will enjoy playing with it

how have you been?

i dunno, what's a unique rectangle again?

oh i've been ok

if three corners have a,b as their two options

i mean three corners of a rectangle

then...

then the fourth corner cannot be a or b

yes

because that would lead to a non-unique solution

i do know about that one

it didn't help.

there are variations

k

are you teachign this year?

no, tutoring, but a new way

it's fun

how?

i used to have 4 or 5 kids assigned to me who were in dire need of help, but often it was the school or their parents making them go, they had to come three times a week and if they didn't show i had to write them up as if they cut a class, etc

ooh, that's a tough line between tutoring and mandatory study hall

this year i am available to all students for drop-in help, so i'm only getting kids who really want to be here

and i get to work with more kids, more levels of math, etc

that sounds like a good change. i'm glad

yeah, me too, i like it

are you paid by the school or directly from the students/parents?

the school.

that was another things about tutoring, the parents paid for it, and i wanted kids to be able to come without that obstacle

so you're running a math lab, using the model as it's called here

so i convinced the headmaster i should just get a certain amount for the year for doing it

yes

nice

of course, he hasn't yet figured out how much he can pay me and i haven't started getting paid...

but we'll take it a step at a time, lol

so you're keeping track of how many hours a week you're seeing students?

i guess you could say 10 hours a week = .25 salary

i am, just so that we can have an idea of how utilized it is, but i had told the headmaster i thought it was better if we just picked a number for the year, simpler than mucking about with hours and stuff.

yeah, and it'll vary based on the exam schedule, and as people hear you're available ec

etc

but the thing is, if i have to be available anyway and i can't leave, that sort of should be pay-worthy too

i'm available 20 hours a week

four hours a day after school or something?

i've only had kids for about 5 hours a week so far but i know it is going to increase, it's only been 3 weeks and we've never done this before.

no, mostly during the school day and some in the evening, kids can drop in during free periods or evening study hall.

sounds like a good system - lots less legwork for you in the end (writing reports, communication with parents, blah blah blah)

yes, i hate paperwork.

i suggested he pay me between $7500 - $10000 a year, do you think that is asking too much?

assuming your average is 10 hours a week, and how long is the school year? 40 weeks?

so $8000 would be $20/hour

seems reasonable

what is full-time salary for teaching?

depends how long you've been here

you could get more tutoring privately but you'd have to put all the work into getting clients and maintaining relationships with the parents

i was making $20/hour under the old tutoring system, so...

so that seems like a good deal

but of course, under the old system, the parents paid for it and i think the school made a profit

whereas this way they just have to pay me.

i am tutoring just a teensy bit, 2-4 hours/week

i think it's a good system, especially since you're enjoying it more

however, we really ought to move towards charging a higher sticker price for those who can afford it and just charging less to those to can't.

i know there's a lots of variation geographically, but here the going rate is $60-$100/hr

i think this drop-in thing is also sort of more valuable to the school, because before there were always more kids who needed math help than there were tutoring slots available. and also, it's good to be able to tell parents, we have free tutoring available. and the headmaster liked the idea that if a parent complained that their kid wasn't doing well in math, he could say, hey, we have free tutoring and he hasn't been going

it makes the students more accountable, which is always better for learning, I think

and it's good promo for the school

yeah, i know tutors make more independently, but we are a poor little school, and i don't care that much about the money, i just want to make a little something and do something i like to do.

that is the great thing about computer geeks too - they like what they do and they like to be helpful, so unlike lawyers and stuff they don't necessarily charge you an arm and a leg

ok, I'm at the forcing chaing part of my game

and they don't have seven years of law school loans to pay off

:)

that too :)

see how the right side of the grid is a semi-closed system?

forcing chains there don't get you anywhere

useful observation, thanks.

will start in upper left

or maybe elsewhere on the left side

i'm off to print out a few copies to play with on paper

okey doke, i'm going to go find my last few words back at babble

babble was a quickie for me today

i like all the Z's

good talking wtih you

ditto

good grief, ts or cz, not tz, silly babble...

why not tz??

yeah, that surprised me too

I've seen that before there & thought it was wrong

I will remember that the next time I get the Z in Scrabble.

is tz not a recognised spelling in the US?

I've only ever seen tsar or czar.

except in Babble

oh! I've alays known tzar or tsar

you wacky brits. :-)

hi folks

hi cheb

hello

damn, this one's tough

i thought it was another easy one till i got stuck

i hope marking will help

finally

go

go

done

;)

go

done - some trickiness to this one but doable if you pay really close attention to the implications of certain positions

yes. it was ludicros :)

many chains and single pair trick

some people call them remote pairs

expert? forget it!

I've been working on it awhile. My kids and neighbors keep bothering me! :) Now I've put one down for his nap and I hope that I can get serious again

oh man, I'm struggling, I did the two in todays paper no problem, this one is taking some thinking, where a number doesn't belong is as important as where is does go, gotta remember that :(

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!

I'll second that!!

and I'll third it.

and fourth

These things make me feel so stupid sometimes!

5

I'm getting screwed and I am not even enjoying it.

that's a switch for YOU!

Yeah, I hear ya

i know how you feel, I'm not enjoying this one at all

Ok, clean grid...here goes again.

Does this require guessing?

I think smoke is coming out my ears

This is the hardest expert in a loooonnnnggg time.

I think I've cleared it about three times already!

I can't seem to get any 3's or 4's at all

*begins banging head on keyboard*

making a 50/50 guess...I hate to do that but this is no fun

Who knows...you may solve it that way...

I mean, by banging head on keyboard!

lol, i'll let you know

I am about to utter profanity over here

about to? The air is blue here!

bottom row helped me considerably.

fsk

last 5 numbers didn't fit, had to vlear

*clear

Intercorse

needs a second 50/50 guess...now my odds are down to 25%

limer- you're always cracking me up - RANK ME BABY !!!

no, just kidding - keep being distracted by football & having to start over - 3x aldready!!!

Well, this one is pretty rank, baby!

LOL

That's good helen. If you'd finished we were going to throw things at you!

LIke a hissy fit

hell - i've been at this on & off for 2 hours now

DOH!

there we go, I've written it out now, I'll work on it on paper for a while

I thought I'd just take a little break from working....ha!

YESSSSSSSSS!!! I finally did it!!!!!!!

*sob*

Oh, artlady, you need to be happy for me. I've worked on this for hours!

wtg steph !!!!!

Ok, congrats! I haven't been at it for hours. Yet.

Stephanie, you are my new best friend

Well, I must admit, I guessed just about the whole puzzle!

I don't know any strategies.

I guess we'll call you a very luck guesser.

Arrrgggh!! Mistake somewhere!

done!

finally!!!!!!!!!!

Yay for helen!

good luck everyone !

later gators :)

ps - rank me baby! LOL

we need more than luck and i wish i knew what it was/is.

well the 8s were pretty pain free...now for the rest of the numbers LOL

1s are no problem, either

so I've just noticed ;o)

the rest... are a bit more troublesome

Just wait....I'm on my 3rd restart.

hahaha, just what I need an Expert before going to bed

well I've mucked up, all those 4s and 7s have tripped me up somewhere

jeez this is annoying, I've gotten to a point that it can only be guess work by the looks of things

yep

dang

Well, patience, persistence and just plain stubbornness paid off. Got it!

what the??!!! I had saved my work ... it even SAID so and NOW that I've restarted my browser it's ALL GONE!!! BOOOOOO

How do you save

only on pro membership do you get to save

YES! Did it without guessing!

wow. this one makes my brain hurt.

caff! so long since i've chatted with you on here ...

lol. i have 12.

Hey drwho, are you around? I'm curious as to what your program rated this one..

Whoa, this is a new record, 78!

Hah.. I thought so! This one is a killer..