Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

am 15. Dezember 2025, 14:26 Uhr von marajade
I really like how you used the doubler cells in this puzzle (especially their interactions with the German whispers & region sum lines, although the five lines were fun too). Very enjoyable!

---Hey thanks for taking a look at some of my older puzzles! I enjoy doing that too when I find something new I enjoy from a constructor with a publishing history. I've gotta ask, do you have a personal favorite?

---Thanks for your reply, and thanks for all the fun I've gotten from going through your back catalog! I decided to catch up on the last few of your puzzles I hadn't gotten around to before I answered your question (though I'm quite stuck on the break-in for the baseball one so I've set that aside and will hope that coming back to it with fresh eyes will do the trick!)
Choosing favorites isn't easy and I've been sitting here for a bit thinking about it...I'd have to say that as frustrated as I was at points while solving Pogo Stick Repair, the experience of finally breaking through was so rewarding that I think it might be my favorite. (And definitely one of my favorite experiences with Dutch whispers—usually one of my less favorite constraints!) The other one in the running for favorite is this one (Good Night Co-Captain); German whispers are one of my favorite constraints so I found box 7 particularly delicious. Oh and the Egg hunts puzzle is close behind them in third place!
I'm curious, what's your favorite constraint? I'm wondering if it's region sum lines, since you seem to make such good use of them in quite a few of your puzzles.

---You are very welcome. I only noticed because this puzzle sat at 7 recorded solves for a long time and when I have a new puzzle out, like I do now, I like to keep up with any new comments. No spoilers for 10th Inning, got it. I will start with the constraint I consider my least favorite because that's an easier decision to make. It's the German whisper. It had a good showing in this one and in 10th Inning but I feel it is generally overplayed, overpowered and loses its intrigue too quickly. I've also struggled constructing with it before. Fun fact, the Dutch whisper in Soda Pop was supposed to be a German one but it kept breaking the puzzle! I was unwilling to compromise on the Full Rank rule so it had to go. Simon likes to give the Dutch whisper a bit of grief when he encounters it in a CTC solve but the fact that you can sort one bit of it out but still not know much about the rest makes it much more interesting. I also find it easier to balance with other rules. That's something that I feel sets Pogo Stick Repair apart from many of my other puzzles, the clues are well balanced with one another. I would say that Counting Circles was my first favorite constraint early on but I didn't want to use the same rule too many times for want of exploring others. I like region sum lines because I feel they make for a good background clue in a puzzle with some other central concept, but it also had a good showing in Pogo Stick Repair and as a segment sum in Parity Pillars. I find them easy to balance with other constraints. Okay, controversial opinion but my favorite constraint is grid size. If you only ever make 9 by 9 puzzles and especially if you only use the digits 1-9, then there is so much you are missing out on. I want you to check out "Battle for territory" by fnin. I think it is a wonderful example of the kind of magic that can come out of a different size grid.

am 24. Februar 2025, 21:45 Uhr von FireTruckFuel
added hyperlink to puzzle and re-spaced text

am 5. Februar 2025, 14:46 Uhr von welgen
Great puzzle, I thorougly enjoyed it.

am 5. Februar 2025, 12:01 Uhr von FireTruckFuel
Adding image file

am 5. Februar 2025, 07:00 Uhr von josemadre
Impressive first construction! Looking forward to the next one

am 4. Februar 2025, 23:06 Uhr von FireTruckFuel
Link to puzzle is at the beginning of the rules