Difficulty score 14.

start

done

start

done

go

I have to give up for now, to many distractions and interruptions.

go

done no greens

Done, but took longer than expected.

go

done

start

which is to say... go

done

no greens

That was very easy

Done, no greens, but I agree with eyeman...

I've always wondered if a puzzle is easier or harder depending on where you start... sometimes, I start looking for all 1s, then 2s, etc. Sometimes, when I'm bored, I start at 9s and go down. I've always wondered if some puzzles just work faster when you start at one or the other or even from the middle...

Having said that... I don't remember if I started today' at 1 or 9... (I've done 3 since then so my mind has been sufficiently scrambled :)

I do the same thing. Many times it seems easier to start with the 9's.

I just wonder if, when you're in the middle of doing the puzzle, the fact that you started from one side or the other (which therefore changes what's filled in) makes the puzzle that much easier or harder to solve... those times when one person says it's dead simple and others are stuck scratching their heads.

Having said that, it should make a difference. One way might expose Unique Rectangles or XY-Wings and the like while the other makes them not even necessary.

I believe the way a person thinks can make it easy or hard to use a given method of solution.

That too...

go

done. no green.

Andy, if you're still here - I never get as systematic as searching 1's, 2's etc. until I'm fairly stuck. I start by waiting for something obvious to jump out at me - today it was a 4. then I tend to just concentrate on the denser parts of the puzzle until I have to play the counting game as I call it.

Makes sense...

I generally look for the obvious, starting at 1 (or 9) and going up (or down). Sometimes I open a puzzle and say, a 5 goes here and start at 5s and then jump around. After I get all of the obvious out of the way, I start looking at blocks, rows, and columns and saying: What's missing and working through that. Then I double back to the original cross-hatching and alternate until stuck. Then I try to find pairs, triples, and any advanced things I can find without greens. Then out come the greens :)

I agree with spreadeagle too - Ihave a lot of trouble taking in a whole row or column at a time so it is way easier for me to see a naked pair in a box, e.g., than a missing digit. so I look for what is easy for me. sometimes it takes me a long time to notice something that only needed the starter squares to deduce.

Some days I'm just lazy or want a "quick fix" and I go auto g+r very quickly. I try to never do that on day-of puzzles, just archives (of which I have 14 left so those days are coming to an end...)

Make that 13...

I've been weaning myself from auto green the last few weeks - was using a borrowed computer and didn't have my bookmarks so I had to go through a bit more trouble to copy the script etc. Now I'm tempted to erase it from my bookmarks because I think I learned patience (a bit). I use a totally different mindset once the greens are up.

I agree. Once I am through the archives, I will probably remove my bookmark as well. I don't know why, but I don't feel right using it on day-of puzzles.

I'm definitely keeping the erase pencilmarks script though!

Absolutely :)

I am hearing a lot of really loud thumping and banging downstairs. I really hope my son is playing EyeToy on the Playstation2 otherwise the house might actually be falling down.

12...

'course, I left myself only easies to do...

11...

Dang! Messed up an easy and have to start over. That hasn't happened for a long time. Guess my zen approach works better after I have had my coffee...

lol

astoundingly easy. thanks for not challenging me on monday morning

Ok. I have only 9 left in the archives, all easies, all from Dec 2006.

I'll stop here and come back to it later.

Have a great day all!

go, again, lets try without interuptions.

Go.

more interruptions, I'll have to come back, but still not finding it easy.

go

done Did anyone ever explain how Rankinggate came about? How did mkt (?) get those extra points?

*not mkt, another three letter handlle which I cannot find in the elites

Inge - when I emailed and asked, Dr God said therehad been a short lag between new puzzleflip and rankings calc, and he must have done the puzzle during those few minutes at the flip. Said he was fixing that problem.

done

thanks Cathy for that explanation. Does Dr. G know taht Angiplumpit was planning a sacrifice of a lamb?

go

done

Done, no greens. I would have saved time if I hadn't been looking for pairs all the time.

done

go!

done. no greens

go

done

what are greens??

killer - go to help, above

uh

am i suppose to hit ok?

ok in reference to what?

oh i see ..ok

greens (and reds) are possibles for a particular square, accessed by "shift" and "alt" keys; wonderful helps provided by DrGod, the creator of this site

go

lets try again,go.

done, at last, too many interruptions before, that was more like it.

start

done... super easy

oh yeah, no greens

go

done... no greens.. have a great day

done - have a great day all !

start

done

start

finished how good am i virgin or wot

Good job!

okay off to bed might be 4.20pm were you are but its 22.20pm were i am

Sleep tight ..

torbaby

Hurshbaby!

hows things

Good and bad ..

what's bad?

I'm flying to Ohio tonight for my mum's funeral ..

oh, i'm so sorry

She was sick for a long time ..Alzheimer's ..

ah, that's not pleasant.

She was pretty tough .. she survived longer than anyone thought she would ..

how old was she?

82

that's a long life

sorry to hear your Mom died torgone

Thank you ..

so what's good?

I'm not dead ..

is that it?

i mean is that what you had in mind when you said good and bad?

I'm feeling good .. still losing weight ..I have my kids near me ..Lots of good ..

ok

How's by you?

good and bad also

I brought out my bad ...

i just have a lot of decisions and i don't like any of my options and i hate that everything impacts everything else.

I'm sure all will work out ..

yeah, right

I'm trying to remember a trite bit of wisdom I saw once ..

Probably wouldn't help much anyway . .

prolly not

I am sorry for your troubles ..

something like "when God closes a door, he opens a window somewhere"

hey, at least i have my cats

There you go .. And they love you ..

cats are very important, they never judge and they give unconditional love

yep, they're glad i'm home

..as long as you feed them ..

have you thawed out yet

oh, yeah, i had lots of layers, i was fine, my toes were numb but that's about it

Looks pretty chilly in Ohio ..

you were smarter than the giants coach, his face got so red that I was afraid it was going to crack

it was pretty chilly in green bay last night

red is ok, it's when it goes bloodless that you worry

It was apparently too chilly in Foxborough yeaterday ..

oh are you a chargers fan?

Yep ..

i'm a packer fan, obviously.

I don't know who I want to win, I was going for the Packers but now that's out

the super bowl that is

I like the Packers too .. This is going to be one boring Superbowl ..

yeah, who cares. even their colors are the same.

go 1/15/2008

yeah, go 1/15!! you can kick 1/14's butt!!

LOL

ha!

I just pwnd 10/27/07 ..

what's pwnd?

That's leet speak for owned ..

what's a leet?

People who spend all day on the internet and like that .. It's short for elite ..

i think torgone means in the language of vegetables (or is that leeks?), s/he kicked 10/27/07's butt

That's where lol and such come from ..

tor is a he, don't you see his little blue person?

he, just saw that. was being lazy.

yes but i know lol, i just didn't know leet

You don't spend your life in chatrooms, n00b ..

no, not most of it

Neither do I, but I do get around teh intarwebs a bit and see some this stuff ..

i get too bored with it.

I get bored too ..

why do you keep doing it then?

Because I don't have much of a life ..

well, i don't either. i haven't got any friends, at least, not in the area. but there are books...

and cats ...

Not having a life is actually the source of most of what's on the internet, so I guess I relate a little bit ..

and atalantes

those are very boring

no, atalantes can draw and they know all the sciency words and they will even have tea with you at the ritz

LOL well thats not exactly a hardship!

i would relate to that too, tor, but then, that would depress me further, to dwell on it, etc.

well you said "cats" and what hardships have they got? mine, i mean?

erm ....!

i mean, sure, feral cats have a tough time of it, but, ours are so comfortable.

mine is traumatised. I just took the piece of paper she was trying to rip into 1000 pieces away from her

oh the felinity!

oh yes. much angst and glaring

Paper shredder with fur ..

she really is. I could hire her out by the hour

there you go, just give sily some documents with personally identifiable info.

I know a guy who makes pretty good money on the side shredding paper ..

from the bank details he sees before shredding???

He picks up old file boxes from lawyers and such, charges for the shredding, and if they want sella the folders and stuff back to them ..

oh cool! nice easy way to make money

I think his kids feed the shredder ..low overhead ..

hmmm.... would it pay enough to live on?

was just wondering that

I don't think so .. It's supplemental income ..

But if you had a big vehicle and a lot of contacts in offices ..

..and slave labor ..

i can't believe i'm still so sleepy

kids are great slave labour

done. no green.

if i said i used no greens but used 600+ reds....does that contradict anything?

no greens

go 12/7/06

Game delay on account of possible mouse in room or nearby

Game delay on account of possible mouse in room

Game delay on account of possible mouse in room or nearby

Game delay on account of possible mouse in room or nearby

Game delay on account of possible mouse in room or nearby

God I hate it when the chatterbox does that :(

Andy is putting out a 5 mouse alert!! Stand by

lol

And I know it's not my computer because it's a laptop. Get it? No mouse? I'll be here all week.

laptop here too, but wireless mouse - he usually behaves

If it were my house and my mouse, it would likely be more than a 5 mouse alert... it's that kind of winter out on the farm!

It's been a mousy winter here too. Old house, cold winter. So far, the cat's only managed to get her paw stuck in a glue trap.

Hmmm... my 4 cats have only managed 1 decapitation. It's my dog that's the mouser.

lol!! really?? that's funny!

had a few of em about a year ago - my broom acted as mouser

They don't show their little noses in the kitchen thanks to the cat who spends the nights on guard down there. But since our bedroom is in the attic, we hear a lot of it on the other side of the wall

Do dogs throw up the heads/skins the way cats do? Might be a cleaner solution :)

(not to be gross or anything)

excuse me........

They kind of eat them so there are no juicy remnants.

oooh... feature!

ok.... puke time

Did you eat a mouse too???

*ducks fast*

(to avoid impending broom strike)

damn... I thought the label said chocolate mousse!

LOL

ha ha ha :)

you're totally cracking up my wife (who never posts here)

"Jamsicle"????? cute name

Thanks!

Cool picture too, as is yours, mamabear

done with that one, finally :)

danke!

go 12/14/06

How can you sudoku and focus when there's mousy conversation???

sudoku in one hand, broom in the other

ADD

It's easy to solve -- look! shiny things!

AHA! go figure

SUBTRACT

Be fruitful and...

DIVIDE!!!!

no.... wait......

and conquer?

Ok, you are all too much fun right now... I doubt I will finish my 8 remaining puzzles to make it to Elite status tonight...

FIND THE SQUARE ROOT OF 1,493!!!!

go 12/16/06... last one I can handle tonight, falling asleep... no elite for me tomorrow...

it's dark, put on elite so you can see!!!

I don't know how I solved an expert... I'm so darn tired!

nite

g'night Andy