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Difficulty: Hard Sunday, March 11, 2007

Not Completed Play This Puzzle

CHAT LOG for Sunday, March 11, 2007

12:42 am
WHB

Done
1:33 am
peternl

hi all
4:54 am
moedog

hi folks
5:06 am
moedog

not too terrible
5:26 am
h

go
5:33 am
h

only 4 filled - going autofill green
5:34 am
h

crap - i just realized im on ie6 - cant autofill... sigh.
5:46 am
malaraky

how do you auotofill greens, anyway?
5:46 am
h

copy/paste some javascript i got from krys10 profile...
5:47 am
malaraky

ahhh
5:47 am
h

this one seems to flow nicely with manual green tho - so im glad i didnt use it...
5:53 am
h

done
7:33 am
mumeishi

go
8:30 am
spreadeagle

Trying to do this one without greens, 19 filled, struggling....
8:49 am
spreadeagle

23
8:49 am
sprite

so far so good, but I don't have 23 yet :)
8:51 am
spreadeagle

Hey Sprite. See how far you can get without the greens. I may have reached my limit.
8:51 am
sprite

guess you're better at this than I am, so not much further, I think :)
8:52 am
sprite

still struggling with the march 3 grid, btw. I copied it on paper and look at it every now and again, but no joy yet.
8:52 am
spreadeagle

You'll get there eventually
8:54 am
sprite

I read the log of that day yesterday, and there was something on Xwings. Checked the link too, but haven't been able to apply it to the sudoku, lol.
8:55 am
spreadeagle

x-wings and y-wings seem too complicated to me. maybe someday I'll sit down and figure out what they are trying to do.
8:56 am
sprite

usually I can solve a grid without special techniques, just working my way from one 'known' to the next. But with the March 3 grid I might have reached my brick wall. :(
8:58 am
spreadeagle

That happens to use all. I give up on this one; going green now to find out what I'm missing.
8:58 am
sprite

I have 19 filled in now
9:00 am
night_walker_52

Does anyone know if they will put March 8th in the archives?
9:00 am
sprite

you mean it is not there?
9:01 am
night_walker_52

nope
9:01 am
sprite

I checked, lol, it isn't. Perhaps you should email drG about it, this is strange.
9:02 am
artlady

that's odd. That hasn't happened before, has it?
9:02 am
sprite

no, so far all days are accounted for. Until that 8th.
9:03 am
spreadeagle

Done. Really easy with the greens.
9:04 am
sprite

26 without now, but kinda stuck
9:05 am
spreadeagle

There are some pairs that I could not see. Obvious with greens.
9:05 am
sprite

wait, I see a pair
9:06 am
sprite

yes, that was it, thanks, now it more or less solves itself
9:06 am
spreadeagle

That is odd about March 8th.
9:08 am
sprite

isn't it!
9:09 am
sprite

probably some bug. I am off, thanks for the help!
9:11 am
spreadeagle

bye
9:56 am
yul

hello
9:56 am
twstedangel

good morning
10:01 am
twstedangel

that was not so bad... took a little thinking though
10:10 am
yul

you are a swift angel ;)
10:11 am
twstedangel

why thank you, how's it going for you?
10:11 am
yul

very slowly today. did you green?
10:13 am
twstedangel

not until the end... i had most of them filled in
10:14 am
yul

good. I shall think harder
10:14 am
twstedangel

the chatterbox gave some good tips... look for pairs.
10:15 am
twstedangel

there were a LOT of pairs
10:15 am
yul

thanks
10:15 am
twstedangel

np
10:15 am
yul

i just found a tripple
10:15 am
twstedangel

i'm working on an archive right now... it's a killer! medium level though... sigh
10:15 am
yul

triple
10:16 am
twstedangel

lots of triple
10:16 am
twstedangel

s
10:17 am
twstedangel

have you upgraded to a pro account yet?
10:17 am
yul

i will never
10:18 am
twstedangel

may i ask the reason, just curious...
10:19 am
yul

being like that has it's own advantages. If I miss a day, I don't think about making it up
10:20 am
twstedangel

ahh, i see... well that makes sense... although I've missed several months --- that's why I'm working on archives!
10:21 am
yul

that's what I am trying to avoid
10:21 am
twstedangel

yeah, it's pretty addicting... but then again, so is sudoku
10:22 am
yul

I love playing too much so I could get stuck here for days.
10:23 am
twstedangel

lol... i try to limit myself on the (hours) played... whether here, or in my printed books laying around the house. Also, having an infant helps keep me to my limits
10:24 am
yul

That's the right way, I agree
10:25 am
yul

I have a printed book but i take it to holidays only
10:25 am
twstedangel

besides, sudoku is a "calming agent" for me... much like a spa treatment, or aromatherapy for others... I just find it so relaxing
10:26 am
twstedangel

i have so many printed books of varying degrees. i have a rule in my books though --- only filling in the answers in the boxes, no process of elimination (much like the "greens" here...)
10:26 am
yul

similar here but if i get stuck on expert, i get obsessed
10:28 am
twstedangel

i just can't stick to the "no greens" here... it's so easy to "cheat" and not get caught... unlike in the books where the mistake, guess, p.o.e is caught right there on the paper.
10:28 am
twstedangel

Yeah, obsession over the more difficult ones is a problem for me too
10:29 am
yul

:(
10:29 am
yul

I am glad that there were not many difficult ones lately
10:30 am
twstedangel

but it's a healthy obession, i think... i mean it's not like I am doing anything illegal, or wrong... or gambling away my childs future or anything... you know?
10:30 am
yul

the weather is getting too nice for them
10:31 am
twstedangel

yeah, but the difficult ones are a challenge, and isn't that part of the fun of the puzzle?
10:31 am
twstedangel

haha... where are you from?
10:31 am
yul

Yes, it's an easy way to check that we should stay clear of gambling :)
10:31 am
smooth_pappa

whoo hoo! a puzzle that will take me longer than 5 minutes to finish. :-D
10:32 am
yul

I live in London
10:32 am
smooth_pappa

I mean, good morning everyone.
10:32 am
yul

hi
10:32 am
smooth_pappa

or rather, good evening to you Yul
10:32 am
twstedangel

morning pappa
10:32 am
smooth_pappa

hey angel
10:33 am
yul

it's 3.33 pm here :)
10:33 am
twstedangel

I've always wanted to travel to London...
10:33 am
smooth_pappa

ok afternoon then. lol my brain isn't awake enough yet to start computing time zones.
10:34 am
yul

where you from, angel?
10:34 am
twstedangel

only four hours time difference? Hmm... I thought it was 5
10:34 am
twstedangel

it's ok pappa... dlst, remember?
10:34 am
twstedangel

boston, ma
10:35 am
smooth_pappa

dlst?
10:35 am
twstedangel

recently moved here from closer to "our nations capitol"
10:35 am
twstedangel

daylight savings time... too early for acronyms too... I suppose :-P
10:36 am
smooth_pappa

errr... oh yeah. HA! I just changed my cloks too.
10:36 am
yul

I haven't been to America yet, I must see it
10:36 am
smooth_pappa

*clocks*
10:36 am
smooth_pappa

there's a lot of it to see, yul.
10:36 am
twstedangel

you're not really missing too much yul...
10:37 am
yul

I know, it's massive!
10:37 am
twstedangel

it's ok... not everyone's a morning person pappa... haha that's what sudoku and coffee are for!
10:37 am
twstedangel

I mean apart from the usual touristy spots... not much else to see yul
10:38 am
smooth_pappa

exactly... I'm slowly becoming a morning person though... not by choice... with a recent upgrade in position at my job, I now get up at *gasp* 6:30 am... but not today. lol
10:38 am
twstedangel

although, like i'd mentioned earlier... I'm a recently new, new englander so... I'm fascinated by this new place.
10:39 am
twstedangel

well, I'd hope not today. Otherwise that'd be some upgrade pappa... haha
10:39 am
yul

I am sure I'll find something amazing
10:40 am
twstedangel

I am a SAH mom now... recently... I have no particular time to get up... when my alarm clock sounds --- I mean my daughter... that is when I get up
10:40 am
twstedangel

what are you interested in seeing yul?
10:41 am
smooth_pappa

It all depends what you are looking for, yul... I know that a lot of Europeans (at least a lot I've met) are fascinated by our cities because of the sheer moderninity of them, the same way we can be taken by the old world fascination of european cities. there are also vast stretches of sparsly populated wilderness areas that hold a lot of fascination to me...
10:41 am
OrangeSlice

aha, a morning discussion of some sort.
10:42 am
smooth_pappa

morning slice
10:42 am
yul

desert :) New York, Miami and see otters :)
10:42 am
twstedangel

true... i think that is what fascinates me about Boston, the old world charm --- mixed with the modernity of downtown Boston.
10:42 am
twstedangel

morning Orange
10:42 am
OrangeSlice

Seattle's decent.
10:42 am
OrangeSlice

Mornin' all
10:43 am
yul

sea otters :D
10:43 am
smooth_pappa

lol slice, out of the 30-some states I've been, I've Not yet made it to our Pacific coast states
10:43 am
OrangeSlice

tsk, the pacific coast is the best part.
10:44 am
smooth_pappa

heh... I've been to the pacific in other countries, but not here
10:44 am
twstedangel

now i'll have to differ with you on that one Orange... the east coast is pretty interesting for it's diversity
10:44 am
smooth_pappa

and I'm a fan of the rocky mtn states, myself
10:44 am
OrangeSlice

diversity in what context?
10:44 am
hokie carla

I loved San Francisco, Carmel
10:46 am
hokie carla

what country are you from, yul?
10:47 am
yul

i'm Russian from London
10:47 am
twstedangel

well... there are cities like Boston where you almost feel like you're in another country at times (apart from driving on the right side of the road...) next to places like downtown Boston where there is a tunnel underneath the city... then there is NYC --- full of lights. Then there is the Nations capitol. The east coast is well... "older" and more diverse than the west
10:47 am
smooth_pappa

russian, yul? That place holds a spot in my heart. I've been there 3 times now.
10:48 am
yul

were exactly?
10:48 am
smooth_pappa

mostly in Nizhni Novgorod
10:48 am
smooth_pappa

but a little in moscow, also
10:48 am
yul

cool, i love it!
10:48 am
hokie carla

I've lived in the east (VA & NC) my whole life. haven't done a lot of traveling, but I think I prefer the west.
10:48 am
OrangeSlice

I've never been further east than Chicago.
10:49 am
smooth_pappa

yeah, Nizhni was a blast... good friends, good drink, American money goes a VERY long way there... I almost married a girl from there
10:49 am
yul

have you seen the wooden architecture museum, S_P?
10:49 am
twstedangel

You should one day... there are some great parts of history here.
10:49 am
hokie carla

besides san fran, I think Taos, NM is the only other place I've been out west.
10:50 am
smooth_pappa

maybe, yul... it sounds familiar, but I can't think of t specifically
10:51 am
yul

Everything made of wood but without nails. In the middle of the forest
10:51 am
smooth_pappa

is it near Vladimir?
10:51 am
OrangeSlice

Seattle is a great touristy city.
10:52 am
hokie carla

OS: lol, I read your earlier statement wrong. I was like, how is he going to Seattle w/out going past Chicago?
10:52 am
OrangeSlice

California gets all the credit for west-coastiness.
10:52 am
OrangeSlice

They're completely different from us in the northwest.
10:53 am
hokie carla

I'm sure I would like the northwest. probably the cities less, though.
10:53 am
yul

Near Novgorod, only it's not near Nizhni Novgorod, sorry to confuse you
10:53 am
smooth_pappa

I've heard that orange... I tend to gravitate towards places off the tourist track... which I think is why IO'd like to see a lot of oregon on the west coast... it seems that less people go there than to washington and cali
10:54 am
OrangeSlice

Oregon is a beautiful state.
10:54 am
yul

I forgot about 2 Different Novgorods
10:54 am
smooth_pappa

ok yul, I remember going to a lot of places that were out of nizhni, towards and around vladimir..
10:55 am
OrangeSlice

I toured through it for several days on my way down to Cali for a funeral a few years back. It's very nice.
10:55 am
yul

Vladimir is very pretty
10:55 am
smooth_pappa

hehe... I was pretty confused the first time I went. to Rusiia. I knew I was going to Nizhni Novgorod, and I found *Stari* Novgorod on the map first, and thought that's where I was going... until I got there
10:56 am
smooth_pappa

where in Russia were you from Yul?
10:57 am
yul

I am from the south of European part of Russia and I lived in Moscow for 10 years. It was 10 yeas since I left Russia so I get forgetful a bit
10:58 am
smooth_pappa

thank you for brinign such fond memories back, yul... I love to remember that country. But with so much more of the world to see, I doubt I'll be going back there any time soon
10:59 am
yul

Stari Novgorod is a hoot with all this amazing architecture and 500 years old frescoes which you could touch
11:01 am
yul

I now :) it's so grate to travel
11:02 am
smooth_pappa

ok... starting to get stuck on this puzzle... may not be long before I bring out the greens
11:02 am
OrangeSlice

I've done that already, heh
11:04 am
hokie carla

yep, just finished marking the greens
11:04 am
OrangeSlice

I isolated a naked triple in my head, and used it to green in a naked pair that was left over, and then realized... what the hell. lol
11:04 am
smooth_pappa

lol
11:08 am
smooth_pappa

whoo! opened up a good roll... should be done in no time
11:08 am
smooth_pappa

and done!
11:09 am
yul

Done! no greens and chatting!
11:09 am
hokie carla

yep, never stopped once I marked the greens
11:09 am
OrangeSlice

I must be slow this morning.
11:09 am
hokie carla

bye, all!
11:09 am
smooth_pappa

well done yul! I had the chatting part, but I used greens. :(
11:09 am
smooth_pappa

bye carla
11:09 am
OrangeSlice

Coffee isn't strong enough.
11:09 am
yul

usually if I chat I have to start over
11:09 am
smooth_pappa

and I am off, as well... nice chatting with all of you... see you next time
11:10 am
OrangeSlice

bye
11:10 am
yul

good bye all
11:12 am
twstedangel

later, off to be productive!
11:13 am
OrangeSlice

good luck
12:02 pm
Minski

Done! Only one guess then everything fell into place. Always use the greenies.
12:14 pm
Krys10

Happy Birthday Iron Sudoku!!
12:22 pm
OrangeSlice

guess? :(
12:25 pm
mamabear

hmmm.... looks like a toughie
12:26 pm
OrangeSlice

Wasn't too bad. I had to use greens, but it fell into place after that. No guesses.
12:27 pm
mamabear

well that's encouraging, thanks orange!
12:27 pm
miller da killer

hi everyone!
12:27 pm
OrangeSlice

Hello
12:28 pm
miller da killer

how's the sudoku today?
12:28 pm
mamabear

hey miller
12:28 pm
mamabear

too early to tell
12:28 pm
OrangeSlice

It's a very pretty shade of green.
12:29 pm
miller da killer

:) same here mama...haven't gotten to the greenies orange
12:29 pm
mamabear

and it is celebrating it's birthday today!
12:29 pm
miller da killer

wow!!! i've been here sporadically since then
12:31 pm
miller da killer

so...how many sudokus exist in the world? do you know how to do the math to figure out how many are actaully possible?
12:31 pm
OrangeSlice

hmm
12:31 pm
miller da killer

because then we can predict iron sudoku's death as well as know it's birth
12:31 pm
mamabear

have no idea, miller
12:31 pm
mamabear

aw miller, that's not a good idea!
12:32 pm
OrangeSlice

1.3421773^17
12:32 pm
miller da killer

i know...
12:32 pm
miller da killer

wow orange...big numbers
12:32 pm
OrangeSlice

134217730000000000
12:32 pm
OrangeSlice

That's how many.
12:33 pm
miller da killer

yeah...this site isn't dying for a long time
12:33 pm
miller da killer

so don't worry mama
12:33 pm
mamabear

whew! I'll sleep better tonite
12:34 pm
miller da killer

:)
12:35 pm
OrangeSlice

oh shoot, wait, I did something wrong.
12:35 pm
miller da killer

uhoh
12:35 pm
OrangeSlice

let me recaucluate
12:36 pm
mamabear

*orange is taking his socks off*
12:36 pm
OrangeSlice

or calculate. one of the two :) I can't type today.
12:36 pm
OrangeSlice

there are 9 columns AND 9 rows, I need to raise it to a different power. I only figured for nine rows.
12:40 pm
miller da killer

...as we wait for the calculator to do the math...
12:40 pm
mamabear

OK. all greened up - I hope I didn't make a mistake
12:41 pm
OrangeSlice

I think I'm using the wrong formula to get a certain value that needs to be raised.
12:41 pm
mamabear

this looks like it is going to live up to it's "hard" category
12:41 pm
miller da killer

maybe we should just google it or something
12:41 pm
miller da killer

yes it does look rather hard so far
12:41 pm
OrangeSlice

that's always easier
12:42 pm
mamabear

oh wait I see sumthin
12:43 pm
miller da killer

i've been trying to keep up with my mom on these...i checked my ranking the other day and she was 1 point ahead of me. so i'm going to sudoku alot in the next few days to pass her again
12:43 pm
mamabear

who's your mom, miller?
12:43 pm
OrangeSlice

Now I got 1.3931407E11
12:43 pm
OrangeSlice

I'm going to stop with that.
12:44 pm
miller da killer

mayan warrior
12:44 pm
mamabear

why don't we just say "alot", orange! LOL
12:44 pm
OrangeSlice

sounds good to me!
12:45 pm
mamabear

but I applaud your mathematic ambition
12:45 pm
miller da killer

as do i
12:45 pm
OrangeSlice

I want to learn calculus.
12:45 pm
OrangeSlice

But I don't have time to spend 6 quarters in calc courses.
12:46 pm
miller da killer

why would you want to?
12:46 pm
OrangeSlice

Because math is something I'm good at.
12:46 pm
mamabear

being good at math gives you tremendous choices out there, orange
12:47 pm
miller da killer

well. i enjoy the kind of math where you draw things...like the beginning of geometry when you get t odraw things with a compass...and i like working with triangles in trig
12:48 pm
OrangeSlice

My math professor right now is one of those nutty number theorists.
12:48 pm
miller da killer

though i don't know much about calc yet. but i'll learn
12:49 pm
OrangeSlice

I'll be starting logic in a few weeks.
12:50 pm
miller da killer

my teacher right now is a really funny guy. we're learning about parabolas in conics right now and the four people in that class convinced him that making parabolic solar ovens and figuring out the focus was a good thing to do
12:51 pm
mamabear

this isn't as bad as I thought it would be
12:51 pm
miller da killer

not yet
12:51 pm
OrangeSlice

My math teacher's full name adds up to a perfect number when written numerically.
12:52 pm
OrangeSlice

And she knows this. Why anyone would figure something like that out is beyond me.
12:52 pm
miller da killer

:)
12:54 pm
mamabear

all done!
12:55 pm
OrangeSlice

Try Nov. 17 (medium), that one gave me hell. lol
12:58 pm
miller da killer

hmm...today's wasn't too hard
12:58 pm
mamabear

I'm all done in the archives.....
12:59 pm
mumeishi

done finally
12:59 pm
miller da killer

you've finished all the archives???
12:59 pm
OrangeSlice

bah
12:59 pm
OrangeSlice

I've just made it into "regulars" in the ranks.
12:59 pm
miller da killer

i think i
1:00 pm
miller da killer

i think i'm still a newbie
1:01 pm
mamabear

yep
1:01 pm
miller da killer

yeah...i am
1:02 pm
OrangeSlice

Medium puzzles tend to give me more trouble than hard or expert.
1:02 pm
miller da killer

yes...same here
1:02 pm
mamabear

I was doing Babble a year ago today when Dr. God broke into the chatlog and announced his new Sudoku creation!
1:02 pm
OrangeSlice

It's rather frustrating.
1:04 pm
OrangeSlice

I suck at babble.
1:04 pm
mamabear

I had a ton left to do at one point and just whittled away at them when I had time....
1:04 pm
miller da killer

me too...i like playing boggle at home when i make up my own words
1:05 pm
brittlefish.com

go
1:05 pm
OrangeSlice

Babble has words that someone else made up, lol
1:05 pm
miller da killer

darn dr. god
1:05 pm
OrangeSlice

And grammatically incorrect suffixes, and occasionally a word that _does_ exist will be "not found in the dictionary"
1:06 pm
miller da killer

yes...very frustrating
1:07 pm
mamabear

it uses a dictionary called Enable - it does come up with some weird stuff - have come to take on a "stupidhead" word name
1:07 pm
OrangeSlice

There's also foreign words in there.
1:08 pm
miller da killer

:)
1:09 pm
miller da killer

my mom's really good at boggle and babble...it's just not my thing
1:10 pm
OrangeSlice

The heck... I've got a giant chain left in this medium puzzle... this is the kind of thing you always see on experts.
1:10 pm
mamabear

I used to do Babble almost every day - now I just do it occasionally - it takes a much larger time commitment than sudoku. However, I enjoy the chat with friends I've met there (as in here :) )
1:12 pm
mamabear

maybe I'll hop over and see how it is today..... have a good day, all!!!!!
1:13 pm
OrangeSlice

Goodbye
1:13 pm
brittlefish.com

c'ya
1:14 pm
OrangeSlice

whew, solved it.
1:14 pm
OrangeSlice

I hate mediums.
1:15 pm
mamabear

good job, orange!
1:16 pm
OrangeSlice

thanks
1:31 pm
brittlefish.com

done
2:27 pm
drwho

Difficulty score 35. All became obvious after I filled in the greens.
3:54 pm
davekingpt

Kinda stinks to struggle on something labelled "medium". It's like falling on a blue ski slope.
3:55 pm
LeslieAnn

they lull you into a false sense of security.
3:56 pm
OrangeSlice

I struggle on medium all the time.
4:03 pm
OrangeSlice

Heck, I'm struggling on "easy" right now.
4:13 pm
OrangeSlice

Granted, I have a lot of non-sudoku things on my mind right now. That must be it.
5:56 pm
peternl

well that was easier once I saw what I was missing ;)
6:40 pm
chebuctonian

hello :)
6:40 pm
miller da killer

hi!!!
6:51 pm
chebuctonian

done!
6:51 pm
chebuctonian

on to the last couple day's :(
7:07 pm
Zugzug7

Go
7:19 pm
Zugzug7

Done. I tought that was pretty simple. no guessing at all.
8:03 pm
aceymcc

what are 'greens'
8:10 pm
brittlefish.com

hold shift when clicking a number and it fills in as a little green number (alt for red). it's for making notes.
8:11 pm
aceymcc

oh thanks brittlefish
8:54 pm
davekingpt

For a "hard" I thought today's puzzle was fairly straight forward. Not much more than cross hatching and finding pairs.
8:56 pm
davekingpt

Hey, I just hit the century mark. Not too much firther to get rid of the "newbie" handle.
9:18 pm
twstedangel

I'm almost a pro! yay!
10:32 pm
helenkeller

go
11:00 pm
OrangeSlice

Nov. 8 is killin' me
11:03 pm
OrangeSlice

Usually I can solve these... :(
11:06 pm
helenkeller

done