Exploring Sudoku

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

When I have to resort to [what I am told is] coalescing, I use capital letters* to mark my proposed choices. That way my alternatives are still there if my first choice does not pan out.

*I, Z, E, H, S, G, T, B or Q.

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 2:08:00 PM
From: Jerry Martin
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

Hi Garth,

I don't have your problem for 2 reasons. 1) if I do a puzzle and set it aside for a few days I can do the same one again and won't remember it.
Of course this requires making copies. The other solution is a website (there are many), my favorite, called "Enjoy Sudoku" is free and they send me
14 new puzzles everyday over the internet. Of the 14 there's a tremendous range of difficulty, from very easy to monstrously difficult.
I do the ones in the middle range. There are many aids for learning more patterns and tactics, also. Very helpful for improving and relaxing.

Jerry Martin


Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 11:30:00 AM
From: Garth Miller
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-27-2024 00:38
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-26-2024 23:10
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:48
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:36
From: Martha Sonsteng
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

------------------------------
Teresa Campbell
Avon, CT

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 03:35
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

Ah, but making copies is another problem for sudoku puzzles, especially when I have no printing or copier facilities.   For 10 cents a sheet I can copy at the library or Seniors, but I could manually copy a puzzle which is what I often do.   Not much ambition this morning waiting for NPR's 'This American Life' and 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' for this Saturday's programming and checking on NCAA scores or if I want to travel to the CD Casino to watch a game.   And doing the usual mental composing and story telling and trying to remember past events or people to combat the dementia.   And thinking it's been over a year, going on two that girlfriend May was taken from her home by son and daughter to be put in care facility somewhere on the west side, or possibly Wenatchee for her Alzheimer's; and no contact since.   Disappointing college football bowl games including the12 team champion serries of games.   The new conference alignments and money making and sharing have messed with our public education; and attached sports.   Have made a little progress om the Mensa mag X-word, but still have difficulty using a magnifying glass to read, and finding the right answers.   Yeah, remembering an event, living in one side of a duplex I'd just bought, in Grand Junction, drinking and entertaining some folks including the sister of a new co-worker/friend's wife/girlfriend.  Just had turned 21 and shortly before hired in a career conditional job paying $3,820. annual salary as an engineering draftsman, and doing land classifying draweings and contour mapping.   A long time ago.   Oh yeah, still with the military, Army Reserves, as buck sgt. practicing doing cadre training for upcoming summer 'camps' in Ft. Ft. .Leanardwood, MO and Jackson, SC.

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

$3,820 annual salary I hope you meant $38,200.

------------------------------
Emily Hoffman
Kalamazoo, MI

Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2025 14:11
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah, but making copies is another problem for sudoku puzzles, especially when I have no printing or copier facilities.   For 10 cents a sheet I can copy at the library or Seniors, but I could manually copy a puzzle which is what I often do.   Not much ambition this morning waiting for NPR's 'This American Life' and 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' for this Saturday's programming and checking on NCAA scores or if I want to travel to the CD Casino to watch a game.   And doing the usual mental composing and story telling and trying to remember past events or people to combat the dementia.   And thinking it's been over a year, going on two that girlfriend May was taken from her home by son and daughter to be put in care facility somewhere on the west side, or possibly Wenatchee for her Alzheimer's; and no contact since.   Disappointing college football bowl games including the12 team champion serries of games.   The new conference alignments and money making and sharing have messed with our public education; and attached sports.   Have made a little progress om the Mensa mag X-word, but still have difficulty using a magnifying glass to read, and finding the right answers.   Yeah, remembering an event, living in one side of a duplex I'd just bought, in Grand Junction, drinking and entertaining some folks including the sister of a new co-worker/friend's wife/girlfriend.  Just had turned 21 and shortly before hired in a career conditional job paying $3,820. annual salary as an engineering draftsman, and doing land classifying draweings and contour mapping.   A long time ago.   Oh yeah, still with the military, Army Reserves, as buck sgt. practicing doing cadre training for upcoming summer 'camps' in Ft. Ft. .Leanardwood, MO and Jackson, SC.

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-01-2025 14:15
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 2:08:00 PM
From: Jerry Martin
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

Hi Garth,

I don't have your problem for 2 reasons. 1) if I do a puzzle and set it aside for a few days I can do the same one again and won't remember it.
Of course this requires making copies. The other solution is a website (there are many), my favorite, called "Enjoy Sudoku" is free and they send me
14 new puzzles everyday over the internet. Of the 14 there's a tremendous range of difficulty, from very easy to monstrously difficult.
I do the ones in the middle range. There are many aids for learning more patterns and tactics, also. Very helpful for improving and relaxing.

Jerry Martin


Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 11:30:00 AM
From: Garth Miller
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-27-2024 00:38
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-26-2024 23:10
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:48
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:36
From: Martha Sonsteng
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

------------------------------
Teresa Campbell
Avon, CT

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 03:35
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

No $3820., but a year later, went to $3880. per year; when the highest paid executives went from $20,000. annual salary to $24,000.   When I went to basic training at Ft. Ord, CA, after graduating from HS, my monthly pay, as E2 was $82.50, not $78.00, the monthly pay for an E1 recruit, because I'd over 6 months service being in HS and attending weekly Monday night NG meetings.   A draft dodging technique to get some pay for college tuition which was $120./ semester at a private school, or $68./quarter at a state 'land grant' University.   Times have changed, and I'm not sure it's for the better.  

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2025 14:15
From: Emily Hoffman
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

$3,820 annual salary I hope you meant $38,200.

------------------------------
Emily Hoffman
Kalamazoo, MI

Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2025 14:11
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah, but making copies is another problem for sudoku puzzles, especially when I have no printing or copier facilities.   For 10 cents a sheet I can copy at the library or Seniors, but I could manually copy a puzzle which is what I often do.   Not much ambition this morning waiting for NPR's 'This American Life' and 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' for this Saturday's programming and checking on NCAA scores or if I want to travel to the CD Casino to watch a game.   And doing the usual mental composing and story telling and trying to remember past events or people to combat the dementia.   And thinking it's been over a year, going on two that girlfriend May was taken from her home by son and daughter to be put in care facility somewhere on the west side, or possibly Wenatchee for her Alzheimer's; and no contact since.   Disappointing college football bowl games including the12 team champion serries of games.   The new conference alignments and money making and sharing have messed with our public education; and attached sports.   Have made a little progress om the Mensa mag X-word, but still have difficulty using a magnifying glass to read, and finding the right answers.   Yeah, remembering an event, living in one side of a duplex I'd just bought, in Grand Junction, drinking and entertaining some folks including the sister of a new co-worker/friend's wife/girlfriend.  Just had turned 21 and shortly before hired in a career conditional job paying $3,820. annual salary as an engineering draftsman, and doing land classifying draweings and contour mapping.   A long time ago.   Oh yeah, still with the military, Army Reserves, as buck sgt. practicing doing cadre training for upcoming summer 'camps' in Ft. Ft. .Leanardwood, MO and Jackson, SC.

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-01-2025 14:15
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 2:08:00 PM
From: Jerry Martin
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

Hi Garth,

I don't have your problem for 2 reasons. 1) if I do a puzzle and set it aside for a few days I can do the same one again and won't remember it.
Of course this requires making copies. The other solution is a website (there are many), my favorite, called "Enjoy Sudoku" is free and they send me
14 new puzzles everyday over the internet. Of the 14 there's a tremendous range of difficulty, from very easy to monstrously difficult.
I do the ones in the middle range. There are many aids for learning more patterns and tactics, also. Very helpful for improving and relaxing.

Jerry Martin


Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 11:30:00 AM
From: Garth Miller
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-27-2024 00:38
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-26-2024 23:10
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:48
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:36
From: Martha Sonsteng
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

------------------------------
Teresa Campbell
Avon, CT

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 03:35
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

Wow, checked current tuition at private school. where I'd paid $240. per year- now $6,688, and the in-state tuition, which was $304. is now $8,310, with out-of-state tuition being $23,884. at USU.   Estimated living costs on-campus about $14,000, with off-campus about $17,500.   That is a shock.   E-1 military recruit pay is now $1,949.10 rather than $78. per month, with E-2 being $2,261.10 rather than $82.50.   Where have I been to be so surprised at these costs.   Then listened to ski workers at Park City striking because hourly wage was only $26., and not enough to provide a living.   

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2025 23:12
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

No $3820., but a year later, went to $3880. per year; when the highest paid executives went from $20,000. annual salary to $24,000.   When I went to basic training at Ft. Ord, CA, after graduating from HS, my monthly pay, as E2 was $82.50, not $78.00, the monthly pay for an E1 recruit, because I'd over 6 months service being in HS and attending weekly Monday night NG meetings.   A draft dodging technique to get some pay for college tuition which was $120./ semester at a private school, or $68./quarter at a state 'land grant' University.   Times have changed, and I'm not sure it's for the better.  

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2025 14:15
From: Emily Hoffman
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

$3,820 annual salary I hope you meant $38,200.

------------------------------
Emily Hoffman
Kalamazoo, MI

Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2025 14:11
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah, but making copies is another problem for sudoku puzzles, especially when I have no printing or copier facilities.   For 10 cents a sheet I can copy at the library or Seniors, but I could manually copy a puzzle which is what I often do.   Not much ambition this morning waiting for NPR's 'This American Life' and 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' for this Saturday's programming and checking on NCAA scores or if I want to travel to the CD Casino to watch a game.   And doing the usual mental composing and story telling and trying to remember past events or people to combat the dementia.   And thinking it's been over a year, going on two that girlfriend May was taken from her home by son and daughter to be put in care facility somewhere on the west side, or possibly Wenatchee for her Alzheimer's; and no contact since.   Disappointing college football bowl games including the12 team champion serries of games.   The new conference alignments and money making and sharing have messed with our public education; and attached sports.   Have made a little progress om the Mensa mag X-word, but still have difficulty using a magnifying glass to read, and finding the right answers.   Yeah, remembering an event, living in one side of a duplex I'd just bought, in Grand Junction, drinking and entertaining some folks including the sister of a new co-worker/friend's wife/girlfriend.  Just had turned 21 and shortly before hired in a career conditional job paying $3,820. annual salary as an engineering draftsman, and doing land classifying draweings and contour mapping.   A long time ago.   Oh yeah, still with the military, Army Reserves, as buck sgt. practicing doing cadre training for upcoming summer 'camps' in Ft. Ft. .Leanardwood, MO and Jackson, SC.

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-01-2025 14:15
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 2:08:00 PM
From: Jerry Martin
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

Hi Garth,

I don't have your problem for 2 reasons. 1) if I do a puzzle and set it aside for a few days I can do the same one again and won't remember it.
Of course this requires making copies. The other solution is a website (there are many), my favorite, called "Enjoy Sudoku" is free and they send me
14 new puzzles everyday over the internet. Of the 14 there's a tremendous range of difficulty, from very easy to monstrously difficult.
I do the ones in the middle range. There are many aids for learning more patterns and tactics, also. Very helpful for improving and relaxing.

Jerry Martin


Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 11:30:00 AM
From: Garth Miller
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-27-2024 00:38
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-26-2024 23:10
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:48
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:36
From: Martha Sonsteng
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

------------------------------
Teresa Campbell
Avon, CT

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 03:35
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

•  Because of vision problems, I seem unable to solve even thwe easiest Sudoku or other, including X-word puzzles.   I might retry the ones that I failed to solve, starting fresh.

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2025 23:12
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

No $3820., but a year later, went to $3880. per year; when the highest paid executives went from $20,000. annual salary to $24,000.   When I went to basic training at Ft. Ord, CA, after graduating from HS, my monthly pay, as E2 was $82.50, not $78.00, the monthly pay for an E1 recruit, because I'd over 6 months service being in HS and attending weekly Monday night NG meetings.   A draft dodging technique to get some pay for college tuition which was $120./ semester at a private school, or $68./quarter at a state 'land grant' University.   Times have changed, and I'm not sure it's for the better.  

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2025 14:15
From: Emily Hoffman
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

$3,820 annual salary I hope you meant $38,200.

------------------------------
Emily Hoffman
Kalamazoo, MI

Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2025 14:11
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah, but making copies is another problem for sudoku puzzles, especially when I have no printing or copier facilities.   For 10 cents a sheet I can copy at the library or Seniors, but I could manually copy a puzzle which is what I often do.   Not much ambition this morning waiting for NPR's 'This American Life' and 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' for this Saturday's programming and checking on NCAA scores or if I want to travel to the CD Casino to watch a game.   And doing the usual mental composing and story telling and trying to remember past events or people to combat the dementia.   And thinking it's been over a year, going on two that girlfriend May was taken from her home by son and daughter to be put in care facility somewhere on the west side, or possibly Wenatchee for her Alzheimer's; and no contact since.   Disappointing college football bowl games including the12 team champion serries of games.   The new conference alignments and money making and sharing have messed with our public education; and attached sports.   Have made a little progress om the Mensa mag X-word, but still have difficulty using a magnifying glass to read, and finding the right answers.   Yeah, remembering an event, living in one side of a duplex I'd just bought, in Grand Junction, drinking and entertaining some folks including the sister of a new co-worker/friend's wife/girlfriend.  Just had turned 21 and shortly before hired in a career conditional job paying $3,820. annual salary as an engineering draftsman, and doing land classifying draweings and contour mapping.   A long time ago.   Oh yeah, still with the military, Army Reserves, as buck sgt. practicing doing cadre training for upcoming summer 'camps' in Ft. Ft. .Leanardwood, MO and Jackson, SC.

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-01-2025 14:15
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 2:08:00 PM
From: Jerry Martin
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

Hi Garth,

I don't have your problem for 2 reasons. 1) if I do a puzzle and set it aside for a few days I can do the same one again and won't remember it.
Of course this requires making copies. The other solution is a website (there are many), my favorite, called "Enjoy Sudoku" is free and they send me
14 new puzzles everyday over the internet. Of the 14 there's a tremendous range of difficulty, from very easy to monstrously difficult.
I do the ones in the middle range. There are many aids for learning more patterns and tactics, also. Very helpful for improving and relaxing.

Jerry Martin


Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 11:30:00 AM
From: Garth Miller
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-27-2024 00:38
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-26-2024 23:10
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:48
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:36
From: Martha Sonsteng
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

------------------------------
Teresa Campbell
Avon, CT

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 03:35
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

! tried one five part sudoku copied from 'Exploring Sudoku', but didn't get far (some 2's duplicated) before I gave it up.   Still blame vision, and possibly the lighted magnifying glass I'm using.    

•  Because of vision problems, I seem unable to solve even thwe easiest Sudoku or other, including X-word puzzles.   I might retry the ones that I failed to solve, starting fresh.

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2025 23:12
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

No $3820., but a year later, went to $3880. per year; when the highest paid executives went from $20,000. annual salary to $24,000.   When I went to basic training at Ft. Ord, CA, after graduating from HS, my monthly pay, as E2 was $82.50, not $78.00, the monthly pay for an E1 recruit, because I'd over 6 months service being in HS and attending weekly Monday night NG meetings.   A draft dodging technique to get some pay for college tuition which was $120./ semester at a private school, or $68./quarter at a state 'land grant' University.   Times have changed, and I'm not sure it's for the better.  

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2025 14:15
From: Emily Hoffman
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

$3,820 annual salary I hope you meant $38,200.

------------------------------
Emily Hoffman
Kalamazoo, MI

Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2025 14:11
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah, but making copies is another problem for sudoku puzzles, especially when I have no printing or copier facilities.   For 10 cents a sheet I can copy at the library or Seniors, but I could manually copy a puzzle which is what I often do.   Not much ambition this morning waiting for NPR's 'This American Life' and 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' for this Saturday's programming and checking on NCAA scores or if I want to travel to the CD Casino to watch a game.   And doing the usual mental composing and story telling and trying to remember past events or people to combat the dementia.   And thinking it's been over a year, going on two that girlfriend May was taken from her home by son and daughter to be put in care facility somewhere on the west side, or possibly Wenatchee for her Alzheimer's; and no contact since.   Disappointing college football bowl games including the12 team champion serries of games.   The new conference alignments and money making and sharing have messed with our public education; and attached sports.   Have made a little progress om the Mensa mag X-word, but still have difficulty using a magnifying glass to read, and finding the right answers.   Yeah, remembering an event, living in one side of a duplex I'd just bought, in Grand Junction, drinking and entertaining some folks including the sister of a new co-worker/friend's wife/girlfriend.  Just had turned 21 and shortly before hired in a career conditional job paying $3,820. annual salary as an engineering draftsman, and doing land classifying draweings and contour mapping.   A long time ago.   Oh yeah, still with the military, Army Reserves, as buck sgt. practicing doing cadre training for upcoming summer 'camps' in Ft. Ft. .Leanardwood, MO and Jackson, SC.

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-01-2025 14:15
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 2:08:00 PM
From: Jerry Martin
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

Hi Garth,

I don't have your problem for 2 reasons. 1) if I do a puzzle and set it aside for a few days I can do the same one again and won't remember it.
Of course this requires making copies. The other solution is a website (there are many), my favorite, called "Enjoy Sudoku" is free and they send me
14 new puzzles everyday over the internet. Of the 14 there's a tremendous range of difficulty, from very easy to monstrously difficult.
I do the ones in the middle range. There are many aids for learning more patterns and tactics, also. Very helpful for improving and relaxing.

Jerry Martin


Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 11:30:00 AM
From: Garth Miller
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-27-2024 00:38
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-26-2024 23:10
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:48
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:36
From: Martha Sonsteng
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

------------------------------
Teresa Campbell
Avon, CT

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 03:35
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

Ah, but making copies is another problem for sudoku puzzles, especially when I have no printing or copier facilities.   For 10 cents a sheet I can copy at the library or Seniors, but I could manually copy a puzzle which is what I often do.   Not much ambition this morning waiting for NPR's 'This American Life' and 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' for this Saturday's programming and checking on NCAA scores or if I want to travel to the CD Casino to watch a game.   And doing the usual mental composing and story telling and trying to remember past events or people to combat the dementia.   And thinking it's been over a year, going on two that girlfriend May was taken from her home by son and daughter to be put in care facility somewhere on the west side, or possibly Wenatchee for her Alzheimer's; and no contact since.   Disappointing college football bowl games including the12 team champion serries of games.   The new conference alignments and money making and sharing have messed with our public education; and attached sports.   Have made a little progress om the Mensa mag X-word, but still have difficulty using a magnifying glass to read, and finding the right answers.   Yeah, remembering an event, living in one side of a duplex I'd just bought, in Grand Junction, drinking and entertaining some folks including the sister of a new co-worker/friend's wife/girlfriend.  Just had turned 21 and shortly before hired in a career conditional job paying $3,820. annual salary as an engineering draftsman, and doing land classifying draweings and contour mapping.   A long time ago.   Oh yeah, still with the military, Army Reserves, as buck sgt. practicing doing cadre training for upcoming summer 'camps' in Ft. Ft. .Leanardwood, MO and Jackson, SC.

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I love the Samurai Sudoku found in the Sunday Washington Post comics. I screen shot the puzzle then crop and print. It is 5 puzzles in one. The four corner squares of a central puzzle is shared as a corner of 4 other puzzles. I used to live in the DC area and got Sunday delivery. Now I get it online. A regular nine square puzzle rarely interests me now. Too bad can't attach an image here⁷. So much for our archaic communication tool.

Original Message:
Sent: 1/4/2025 3:12:00 PM
From: Garth Miller
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah, but making copies is another problem for sudoku puzzles, especially when I have no printing or copier facilities.   For 10 cents a sheet I can copy at the library or Seniors, but I could manually copy a puzzle which is what I often do.   Not much ambition this morning waiting for NPR's 'This American Life' and 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' for this Saturday's programming and checking on NCAA scores or if I want to travel to the CD Casino to watch a game.   And doing the usual mental composing and story telling and trying to remember past events or people to combat the dementia.   And thinking it's been over a year, going on two that girlfriend May was taken from her home by son and daughter to be put in care facility somewhere on the west side, or possibly Wenatchee for her Alzheimer's; and no contact since.   Disappointing college football bowl games including the12 team champion serries of games.   The new conference alignments and money making and sharing have messed with our public education; and attached sports.   Have made a little progress om the Mensa mag X-word, but still have difficulty using a magnifying glass to read, and finding the right answers.   Yeah, remembering an event, living in one side of a duplex I'd just bought, in Grand Junction, drinking and entertaining some folks including the sister of a new co-worker/friend's wife/girlfriend.  Just had turned 21 and shortly before hired in a career conditional job paying $3,820. annual salary as an engineering draftsman, and doing land classifying draweings and contour mapping.   A long time ago.   Oh yeah, still with the military, Army Reserves, as buck sgt. practicing doing cadre training for upcoming summer 'camps' in Ft. Ft. .Leanardwood, MO and Jackson, SC.

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-01-2025 14:15
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 2:08:00 PM
From: Jerry Martin
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

Hi Garth,

I don't have your problem for 2 reasons. 1) if I do a puzzle and set it aside for a few days I can do the same one again and won't remember it.
Of course this requires making copies. The other solution is a website (there are many), my favorite, called "Enjoy Sudoku" is free and they send me
14 new puzzles everyday over the internet. Of the 14 there's a tremendous range of difficulty, from very easy to monstrously difficult.
I do the ones in the middle range. There are many aids for learning more patterns and tactics, also. Very helpful for improving and relaxing.

Jerry Martin


Original Message:
Sent: 1/1/2025 11:30:00 AM
From: Garth Miller
Subject: RE: Some Of My Tactics...

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-27-2024 00:38
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-26-2024 23:10
From: Garth Miller
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

------------------------------
Garth Miller
Elmer City, WA

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:48
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 06:36
From: Martha Sonsteng
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

------------------------------
Teresa Campbell
Avon, CT

Original Message:
Sent: 12-12-2024 03:35
From: Lawrence Vangarde
Subject: Some Of My Tactics...

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

These 5 part overlapping puzzles are fun to do.   I found another page of 4 more difficult puzzles to solve in the puzzle booklet I've been working, and the first one has me stumped for now.   Wonder how long it would take me to hand copy this....

I love the Samurai Sudoku found in the Sunday Washington Post comics. I screen shot the puzzle then crop and print. It is 5 puzzles in one. The four corner squares of a central puzzle is shared as a corner of 4 other puzzles. I used to live in the DC area and got Sunday delivery. Now I get it online. A regular nine square puzzle rarely interests me now. Too bad can't attach an image here⁷. So much for our archaic communication tool.

Ah, but making copies is another problem for sudoku puzzles, especially when I have no printing or copier facilities.   For 10 cents a sheet I can copy at the library or Seniors, but I could manually copy a puzzle which is what I often do.   Not much ambition this morning waiting for NPR's 'This American Life' and 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' for this Saturday's programming and checking on NCAA scores or if I want to travel to the CD Casino to watch a game.   And doing the usual mental composing and story telling and trying to remember past events or people to combat the dementia.   And thinking it's been over a year, going on two that girlfriend May was taken from her home by son and daughter to be put in care facility somewhere on the west side, or possibly Wenatchee for her Alzheimer's; and no contact since.   Disappointing college football bowl games including the12 team champion serries of games.   The new conference alignments and money making and sharing have messed with our public education; and attached sports.   Have made a little progress om the Mensa mag X-word, but still have difficulty using a magnifying glass to read, and finding the right answers.   Yeah, remembering an event, living in one side of a duplex I'd just bought, in Grand Junction, drinking and entertaining some folks including the sister of a new co-worker/friend's wife/girlfriend.  Just had turned 21 and shortly before hired in a career conditional job paying $3,820. annual salary as an engineering draftsman, and doing land classifying draweings and contour mapping.   A long time ago.   Oh yeah, still with the military, Army Reserves, as buck sgt. practicing doing cadre training for upcoming summer 'camps' in Ft. Ft. .Leanardwood, MO and Jackson, SC.

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I like the five part ones, I also like the "3D" ones where three puzzles share edges; I have seen them in the NYT puzzle book.  And the "loco" ones where the 9 squares are not squares, but oddball shapes.  

These 5 part overlapping puzzles are fun to do.   I found another page of 4 more difficult puzzles to solve in the puzzle booklet I've been working, and the first one has me stumped for now.   Wonder how long it would take me to hand copy this....

I love the Samurai Sudoku found in the Sunday Washington Post comics. I screen shot the puzzle then crop and print. It is 5 puzzles in one. The four corner squares of a central puzzle is shared as a corner of 4 other puzzles. I used to live in the DC area and got Sunday delivery. Now I get it online. A regular nine square puzzle rarely interests me now. Too bad can't attach an image here⁷. So much for our archaic communication tool.

Ah, but making copies is another problem for sudoku puzzles, especially when I have no printing or copier facilities.   For 10 cents a sheet I can copy at the library or Seniors, but I could manually copy a puzzle which is what I often do.   Not much ambition this morning waiting for NPR's 'This American Life' and 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' for this Saturday's programming and checking on NCAA scores or if I want to travel to the CD Casino to watch a game.   And doing the usual mental composing and story telling and trying to remember past events or people to combat the dementia.   And thinking it's been over a year, going on two that girlfriend May was taken from her home by son and daughter to be put in care facility somewhere on the west side, or possibly Wenatchee for her Alzheimer's; and no contact since.   Disappointing college football bowl games including the12 team champion serries of games.   The new conference alignments and money making and sharing have messed with our public education; and attached sports.   Have made a little progress om the Mensa mag X-word, but still have difficulty using a magnifying glass to read, and finding the right answers.   Yeah, remembering an event, living in one side of a duplex I'd just bought, in Grand Junction, drinking and entertaining some folks including the sister of a new co-worker/friend's wife/girlfriend.  Just had turned 21 and shortly before hired in a career conditional job paying $3,820. annual salary as an engineering draftsman, and doing land classifying draweings and contour mapping.   A long time ago.   Oh yeah, still with the military, Army Reserves, as buck sgt. practicing doing cadre training for upcoming summer 'camps' in Ft. Ft. .Leanardwood, MO and Jackson, SC.

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

Thanks- I did not even consider finding sudoku puzzles on the internet.   I'll give it a try, but it may supply a lot more than I can ever solve.

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I seem to have run out of a supply of Sudoku puzzles as they seldom show up in any of the mags or papers I get.   Maybe they've all been solved many times.   There are a lot of X-word puzzles, but so full of long multi-word answers that I can't figure out and struggle to get even half filled out.   So what, it is just filling- wasting time....

On the one I had to guess, it was not an actual "guess." I had to apply a "what if" to one of two choices and see how it affected the rest of the puzzle.

I enjoy doing sudokus and look for them in papers and mags.   But I can't meet any time limits as I ritually list the numbers 1-9, with number of 'clues, and the order I solve them in the puzzle.  Very few leave me to guess an answer of two possibilities to advance to a solution.   A recent AMAC mag had one that I was slow to get solved, but it was done logically and completed w/o guesswork.  

I like logic grid puzzles, Numbrix, clueless crosswords, cryptograms & Mastermind, to name a few. (I like 2048, too, but it is hard to break away from.)

I have a high percentage of solving them, but I hardly ever come close the solving speeds posted. ("Processing speed" is the lowest of my IQ sub-scores...)

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

I absolutelyLOVE those logic puzzles. They're so fun to do and I even found an app soo I can do them on the go

Ah. So there ARE others that have found sudoku puzzles where you have to guess. Makes me feel better that there may be puzzle issues rather than me having problems figuring something out. Thanks. So just curious if most Sudoku people also like those logic problems that have a grid with maybe five people that like five different colors buying five cars in five towns and they give you several sentences that are suppose to be able to let you determine who did what? I have never really enjoyed those. Not like I do Sudoku. 

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------

That's a great idea about using the letters when you're down to just two choices. That way you don't have to rethink the block every single time you come across it again.

(WebSudoku lets me do this, but so many others do not.)

When a number (within a 3x3 cell) is limited to a single column, a single row or only two positions, I mark them with letters instead of numbers: i, z, e, h, s, g, t, b & q. That way, I know to look for its remaining possibilities when one is eliminated. I do not like the sudokus that rely on guesses, but when I encountered one, I capitalized the hypothetical guesses. WebSudoku only allows five note characters in a square, so I will use the letters (as above) and a "?" if the number of possible numbers exceeds five, and revisit it later.

When I work a sudoku on paper, I write my [3x3 row & column] placements outside of the grid using a technique that I developed for Jigsawdoku.

------------------------------
Larry Vangarde

"Average people are so mean...!"
------------------------------