Setup and Rule Diagrams

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[gcs4v333]

I ran out of time on this problem so didn't get a good diagram in. When I went back to relook at it, I discovered that I should've done some templates based on the various positions of W. But when I tried to do the questions it seemed like I was missing something. Is there some other big factor I should have taken into account?

My templates looked something along the lines of:

T V W Y/Z Z/Y

J/N _ _ _ _/O O/

and

__ __ __ __ W

__ __ __ __ L/N

[Adam Tyson]

Hey there gcs4v333, I happen to be one of the biggest template junkies I know, and I too started looking at this game to see if templates were a good idea. I based mine on the OZ block, figuring that placing that would do a lot to force T-V-W into position. I was right about that when that block went either first or last, but the other three were pretty lame, and I abandoned the idea quickly. I think this game is really just one that requires a lot of "brute force", although most of the questions turn out not to be that troubling (the last one being the most time consuming and labor intensive). I would just go into it with the two sequences of J-K-L and T-V-W, the not block for NY, the block for OZ, and the not-law for W at 4, and then off to the races!

If I were to do anything more it would be based around pushing the T-V-W sequence to its extremes, because of the additional restriction on W. If T is 3rd, the latest it could be, then Y and Z must be in the first two spaces, and Y would have to be paired with J (and that looks like the correct answer to #19, as well as eliminating three of the wrong answers to #22 AND three of the wrong answers to #23). If W is 3rd, the earliest it could be, then Y and Z get forced to the last two spaces, and Y must be with L (which didn't appear to help at all with any of the questions).

Sometimes you just have to try a few things out and then get on with it! Again, I don't think templates are the way to go here, and W is only one factor to consider. Those two hypotheticals are all I would do before diving in, especially with only 5 questions to be answered. This is coming from a major template junkie, again, so take that into consideration!

[CJ12345:]

Hi, Powerscore,
I split the boards by placing W in 3 or in 5. In the situations where W in 5, where most questions rely on, is there any way to further split the boards or make some inferences? I found it very difficult to just brute-force the game by using this board (I understand I have to leave space of the block OZ, and make sure NY cannot go together). Are there any other inferences that would make this board easier?

[Adam Tyson]

I'll refer you back to my earlier post, CJ12345:, and say that I don't think templates are a good approach here. When W is 5th, there's nothing else that cleanly divides the game into two or even three options, so at that point it would probably be best to just head into the questions and expect to do a lot of local diagramming.