Slash Pack by Murat Can Tonta
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Theme: Logical? Did you notice anything interesting in the solution?
Author/Opus: This is the 30th puzzle from our contributing puzzlemaster Murat Can Tonta.
Rules: Divide the grid into regions by adding diagonals into empty cells. Two diagonals cannot cross in one cell, and there can be no loose ends. Each region must contain the numbers 1 to 4 exactly once (1 to 3 in the example).
Answer String: Using ‘-’ for an empty cell and ‘\’ and ‘/’ for the two diagonals, enter the contents of each cell in the marked rows from left to right. Separating each row’s entry with a comma. The example has the answer “-\/\-,-/-/-”.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 2:15, Master = 3:15, Expert = 6:30
Solution: PDF
Hmm not sure what to make of this one.. i took a few logical steps then got stuck and used pure intuition to arrive at the solution, which i have almost never done before.. i’m curious to see other solvers’ reactions!
Ok, so i just solved it again, this time with logic, and it suddenly worked really well! I think i need more of this puzzle type to get comfortable with it. Is this an original style or are there other Puzzles to be found somewhere?
Last I saw it was on last year’s 24h marathon, Matúš’s round (round 8, available here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j51k67fn86s3u16/AADURHqkXhBZLr5gGehLmWrna). I made one for croco-puzzle after that (http://www.croco-puzzle.com/Ue-Raetsel/serie.php?serie=41). Experience with the type does seem to help quite a bit.
Very pretty puzzle, thanks Murat!
I believe this was first on a Japanese Puzzle Championship but I definitely ran into it when Serkan included it in the OAPC series #4. Serkan gave it the English name.
Upon first looking at the puzzle yesterday, I found it very hard to make any progress (other than some obvious slashes implied directly by the rules). Today, when I revisited it, it almost solved itself…
Not sure I’m getting the theme! Orfvqrf gur K-funcr, V’z abg abgvpvat nalguvat cnegvphyneyl vagrerfgvat nobhg gur fbyhgvba.
Well, I’m afraid K-funcr is about it. This genre does not really lend itself to aesthetics, at least for me. Sorry 🙂
Murat’s original title was “k znexf gur fcbg” (rot-13 of that of course). Getting that result in the grid seemed fairly cool, but I didn’t want to hint at the solution so I went to the description above.
Perhaps a slightly more solver-friendly format: http://i.imgur.com/4TQo4pd.png
9:45.Cool Puzzle!
Origin? See Bellos’ book, Puzzle Ninja. Inventor Yosuke Imai 2007.