Calcudoku puzzle forum
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Timed Puzzles
https://www.calcudoku.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=40
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Author:  sneaklyfox  [ Sun May 13, 2012 5:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Timed Puzzles

Ok, so today I had better than normal times... like, I posted two 6.something 4x4s and three 40something 6x6s! I felt like my brain was able to work faster too. So I was thinking about what was different about today and I realized that just before I did the timed puzzles, I was having a speedcubing session. (For those who don't know what speedcubing is, I was practicing my 3x3 Rubik's Cube.) I think my brain was in the speed mode and that continued a bit into the calcudoku. (Usually I do the timed puzzles right after I do all the normal daily puzzles.)

Of course, I'm not suggesting that everyone start speedcubing although that would be awesome, but maybe before doing the timed puzzles it would be beneficial to do something else that involves thinking fast. Like, Lumosity http://www.lumosity.com has some games that may require quick thinking and reaction. Maybe kind of like stretching before you have a race. I'm sure there's a better analogy...

Author:  picklepep  [ Sun May 13, 2012 5:46 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Timed Puzzles

There are lots of regular 4x4 puzzles one can use to practice, no?
Even in the books, newspaper, etc...

Patrick[/quote]

It's not the same

Author:  danvijan  [ Tue May 29, 2012 5:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Timed Puzzles

OMG. So a 19sec 5x5 only gets me 4th place?!? I hope I won't be pushed outside the top 10 by the end of the day...

Author:  pnm  [ Tue May 29, 2012 5:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Timed Puzzles

danvijan wrote:
OMG. So a 19sec 5x5 only gets me 4th place?!? I hope I won't be pushed outside the top 10 by the end of the day...

Meh, only 19.679 I see [flapper]

My "mini goal" is to pass you on all three "65%" rankings pages,
but for the 6x6 that is proving to be difficult :-/

Author:  rickt  [ Mon Jun 25, 2012 6:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Timed Puzzles

Just an observation:

Looking at the stats for all timed puzzles (4x4, 5x5, 6x6) rankings - Average of 65%/100 best times, I see the same 3 individuals in all 3 lists. This has been consistent for a great period of time. Congrats to you three for your time solving abilities!! You 3 have the "corner on the market" for this. In fact the timing point rankings last 7 days shows these same 3 - day in and day out. Whereas the other statistical rankings - regular, bonus, extra and all seem to juggle many different people on their lists.

Also, the newly added "extra" puzzle and rules associated with it lend to added strategy that is very intriguing. Kudos to Patrick for this creative addition to the site!!!

Author:  pnm  [ Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Timed Puzzles

rickt wrote:
Looking at the stats for all timed puzzles (4x4, 5x5, 6x6) rankings - Average of 65%/100 best times, I see the same 3 individuals in all 3 lists. This has been consistent for a great period of time. Congrats to you three for your time solving abilities!! You 3 have the "corner on the market" for this.

This is slowly pointing to a next large project: enable people to do
timed puzzles against each other (so "find opponent", then start
at the same time on the same puzzle). Puzzlers would then get
an Elo rating as well [blink]

Author:  beaker  [ Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Timed Puzzles

Greatest time ever!!!!......I started a 6x6 only to be interrupted by a lawn sprinkler company to give me a qoute on a new lawn system and then I came back in and fifished the puzzle......a little over 31 minutes [thumbsup]

Author:  sneaklyfox  [ Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Timed Puzzles

beaker wrote:
Greatest time ever!!!!......I started a 6x6 only to be interrupted by a lawn sprinkler company to give me a qoute on a new lawn system and then I came back in and fifished the puzzle......a little over 31 minutes [thumbsup]


Awesome! [razz] but does it record as 31 minutes? Or would you have had a better time if you had "quit"? (18 mins) I guess all in all it doesn't really matter.

Author:  rickt  [ Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Timed Puzzles

Another thing from perusing the various statistics is that it appears that over 650 people complete one or more regular puzzles daily (or last 7 days) but only about 10% of that amount even bother to do timed puzzles. Of that 60 or so that do timed puzzles, the same 20 or so manage to garner more than the minimum 1 point allotted for merely completing a timed puzzle on a regular basis. I would have to conclude from this that timed puzzles are overvalued in the total scheme of things on this wonderful site that Patrick has built. An interesting oddity much like the Rubic cube speed solving craze back in the day. This is not to diminish the accomplishments of skilled puzzle speedsters, but merely to put a perspective on the weighting of points allotted for this particular skill.

Author:  picklepep  [ Wed Jun 27, 2012 4:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Timed Puzzles

rickt wrote:
Another thing from perusing the various statistics is that it appears that over 650 people complete one or more regular puzzles daily (or last 7 days) but only about 10% of that amount even bother to do timed puzzles. Of that 60 or so that do timed puzzles, the same 20 or so manage to garner more than the minimum 1 point allotted for merely completing a timed puzzle on a regular basis. I would have to conclude from this that timed puzzles are overvalued in the total scheme of things on this wonderful site that Patrick has built. An interesting oddity much like the Rubic cube speed solving craze back in the day. This is not to diminish the accomplishments of skilled puzzle speedsters, but merely to put a perspective on the weighting of points allotted for this particular skill.


i used to post some fairly bad times in the timed puzzle competition. So much so that it was my least favorite part of the sight. i am sure that if you search the forum you will find the post [razz] . Anyway... because the rankings meant something to me I have put alot of time and energy into improving my timed scores. Back in the day there were often times 7-8 names that were #1 on the leader boards. I cannot see a better way of differentiating between the top ranked players than the timed puzzles.

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