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 Use of the "clear all non-bolded" 
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Posted on: Fri Dec 06, 2013 5:31 pm




Posts: 176
Location: Canada
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2011 7:40 pm
Post Use of the "clear all non-bolded"
Does anyone use this feature to their advantage.
In what circumstances?

And a great December to all!
(Apologies to those who do not use the Gregorian calendar or use it in another language: best to you in your current month)


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Posted on: Fri Dec 06, 2013 10:38 pm




Posts: 931
Location: Ladysmith, BC, Canada
Joined: Fri May 13, 2011 1:37 am
Post Re: Use of the "clear all non-bolded"
Only when I have tried to do the puzzles on the computer...but then get stuck and so bold all the cages I know to be right and delete all the others so that I can pr5int a hard copy and try solving later [thumbup]


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Posted on: Sat Dec 07, 2013 5:35 am




Posts: 116
Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 3:18 am
Post Re: Use of the "clear all non-bolded"
I solve the puzzles almost exclusively on the computer. As I go along, I mark the cells that are "given" in bold. By "given," I mean not only the single cells, but also the ones that have only one possibility based on their relationship to single cells, or cells that have to be 0 because of the intersection of a vertical and horizontal cage that are 0x or 0:.

From there, I move on to filling in the rest---but sometimes I reach a point where I realize my logic failed at some point and I have to start over. But rather than go all the way back to no cells filled in, I use the clear all non-bolded cells so at least I don't have to repeat the process of filling in the "givens."

I'm pretty good about saving at points where I'm (fairly) confident of all my entries to that point, and in a case like that, I just refresh the page and it brings me back to a state that includes some cells that are filled in as definite but not bolded as well as pencil marks... but sometimes I either forget to save or there is simply too much wrong and I need a more drastic option.

If I never made a mistake, I would never need the clear all or clear all non-bold... but unfortunately every once in a while I make a bad assumption or a bad calculation or I fail to notice a typo, and that poisons everything that follows, so having a way to preserve at least the bolded cells is a benefit.


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Posted on: Sat Dec 07, 2013 12:07 pm




Posts: 855
Joined: Fri May 13, 2011 6:51 pm
Post Re: Use of the "clear all non-bolded"
opacitaviola wrote:
Does anyone use this feature to their advantage.
In what circumstances?

And a great December to all!
(Apologies to those who do not use the Gregorian calendar or use it in another language: best to you in your current month)


Thank you, Merry Christmas in advance.

Yes, very useful, my experience is similar to that explained in detail by pharosian, specially if you go too fast in the big puzzles :-) :-). But I also use it in different circumstances: sometimes when I think I am dealing with a very difficult or "curious" puzzle, once the "easier" numbers are bolded, I advance to the solution leaving the rest unbolded, at some point I save the diagram so, after sending the solution, later during the day or the following days, if I have time [smile], I can recall the diagram, and start again from the bolded cells just to enjoy it or to study its properties.


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