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Coincidence
https://www.calcudoku.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=873
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Author:  marblevolcano  [ Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:24 am ]
Post subject:  Coincidence

Today both of my 4x4's were dismal. They were so dismal, in fact, that they were nearly identical even to their degree of dismalness ( [unsure] )! The first one was 17.688 seconds (257th) and then the second was 17.683 seconds (a NEW 257th). So yeah... utterly dismal. [mellow]

Author:  paulv66  [ Sat Feb 25, 2017 2:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Coincidence

marblevolcano wrote:
Today both of my 4x4's were dismal. They were so dismal, in fact, that they were nearly identical even to their degree of dismalness ( [unsure] )! The first one was 17.688 seconds (257th) and then the second was 17.683 seconds (a NEW 257th). So yeah... utterly dismal. [mellow]


Your dismal is approximately 0.1 seconds slower than my fastest ever 4x4 (17.586 seconds).

Author:  marblevolcano  [ Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Coincidence

...
Oh

Well I'm sorry if I offended you then [sad]

Author:  jaek  [ Sat Feb 25, 2017 4:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Coincidence

Oh I don't think that was paulv66's meaning at all. Rather that the coincidence - getting a 257th best score followed immediately by a new 257th best score - is really compelling and we can all agree on that, while the actual times are more relative. Rather than taking offense, he was marveling at the speed of a youth who can call something dismal that he would have been rather pleased with. "Well done you", if you will.

Another aspect that is funny to me is that, having solved 4 timed 4x4 puzzles a day for so long now, when I get a dismal time it will be my 5000th "best" time. A new 257th best time for me would almost certainly ensure 2 or 3 points instead of just 1. I bet I get at least one puzzle a day that takes 18 seconds or more. But I definitely don't get a 257th or better best time each day.

Edit: I just solved my first timed 4x4 of the day. 17.398 seconds and my 4225th best. Dismal! [biggrin]

Author:  paulv66  [ Sat Feb 25, 2017 6:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Coincidence

marblevolcano wrote:
...
Oh

Well I'm sorry if I offended you then [sad]


As jaek said, I wasn't taking offence. I was just expressing my admiration for how fast you are. [thumbup]

For me, it's just a matter of trying to improve on my previous times. I'll never make the top 10 for the 4x4, 5x5 or 6x6, although I might be a bit faster if I used a computer with a keyboard rather than a tablet. But it would require a lot of practice with using one hand for entering the numbers and the other hand to move from cell to cell. So far, any time I've tried using the keyboard, I've been much slower than when I use the tablet.

The only exception is the 8x8, where it's much more about speed of thought than manual dexterity (I know both are needed to be really fast, but the smaller the puzzle, the greater the impact of manual dexterity). I've actually managed to get one top 5 and three or four other top 10s in the 8x8. If the 8x8 was opened to non subscribers, I'd have no chance of ever doing this again.

Having said this, maybe I can suggest a compromise to Patrick. How about allowing non subscribers to attempt an 8x8 timed puzzle on the 1st of each month? Or maybe on one particular day each week? That would still leave it as an extra perk for subscribers most of the time, but would give non subscribers a chance to try it out.

Author:  eclipsegirl  [ Sat Feb 25, 2017 9:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Coincidence

Paul and I are both impressed with the speedsters.

I usually do the normal puzzles on an iPad and then switch to a laptop to do the timed puzzles.
But I do not have acces to a laptop for three weeks, and when I did the 8 x 8, I did better than usual.

We shall see how it works over this vacation. On vacation, I am not usually able to do every puzzle and timed puzzles are of a low priority.

Author:  marblevolcano  [ Sat Feb 25, 2017 10:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Coincidence

marblevolcano wrote:
So yeah... utterly dismal. [mellow]

Judging by the fact that i have only solved 436 puzzles, 257th is more than halfway down the list, so...

And thank you for the compliments, eclipsegirl and paulv66 [smile]

Author:  beaker  [ Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Coincidence

I think you are doing well with your younger mind and nimble figures..........my much older mind can see where the numbers are supposed to go but my arthritic fingers have only allowed a -15 sec- best time.......so enjoy your youth.......one other thing, most of my solved 4x4 puzzles always takes just about the exact same time give or take a couple of 1/100ths of a second !!

Author:  marblevolcano  [ Tue Feb 28, 2017 1:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Coincidence

Also, today I just posted what I believe is my first double-sub-10 day in 4x4s! [woot] (because I am not a subscriber [sad] )

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