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Re: Lollapuzzoola 2020 Online Tournament

Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 7:45 pm
by Hector
Right. The joon #4 puzzle is especially striking that way, because you had to figure out what was going on and get just how the mechanism applies in individual cases; that in itself must have occupied 5 of my minutes. Slowed me down so much that my #4 time was twice my #5, and nowhere close to the upper echelons. Incredible, but humbling, to see brilliance in action.

(On the other had, my phlebotomists usually tell me I have VERY good veins; maybe these people have iffy ones? Probably not. Pls give blood if you can.)

Re: Lollapuzzoola 2020 Online Tournament

Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 9:33 pm
by damefox
Hector wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2020 7:45 pm The joon #4 puzzle is especially striking that way, because you had to figure out what was going on and get just how the mechanism applies in individual cases; that in itself must have occupied 5 of my minutes.
One of the fastest solves on this puzzle was Erik Agard, who was in the Downs Only division. That may have been an advantage here, although, you miss out on a lot of the cleverness of the construction. Looking at the scoreboard for the Downs Only (10 of them, not counting Brian Cimmet, who is listed but was hosting and so didn't solve live), two of those solvers took less than 30 seconds more to complete puzzle 4 than to complete puzzle 3, and one solver was actually faster on puzzle 4.

Re: Lollapuzzoola 2020 Online Tournament

Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 10:03 pm
by Laura M
ky-mike wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2020 4:55 pm Completed the two practice puzzles in good time. I thought "OK, I got this."

Completed (well, actually worked on as I didn't complete them all in the allotted time) the five contest puzzles and had my wife grade me. Had I competed yesterday, my score would have placed me just above the bottom 20% in the express category and just slightly lower overall. I can do the puzzles, but I have no idea how some people complete them in the time that they do. The top competitor overall spent just over 18 minutes completing ALL of the five puzzles. I timed out on the last two 40 minute puzzles and spent a total of 130 minutes out of the allotted 160 minutes.

I am in awe of those fast solvers.

For those yet to do the puzzles, enjoy and please share your thoughts on the contest.
When I emailed my answer for Will's Weekly Meta today, I made a comment about how far out of my league I was at Lollapuzzoola. Will P. replied with:
As Will Shortz once said "Rushing to solve a crossword is like stuffing a fine four-course meal down your throat as fast as you can. It doesn't make much sense."
I like that! I respect and admire the superhumanly fast solvers (I'm including at least the top third of the Lolla board here), and I would like to improve my speed and accuracy a bit. But the truth is that I'm never going to be competitive at something like this, and I enjoy taking my time :-)

Re: Lollapuzzoola 2020 Online Tournament

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 2:02 pm
by Joe Ross
Hector wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2020 7:45 pm (On the other had, my phlebotomists usually tell me I have VERY good veins; maybe these people have iffy ones? Probably not. Pls give blood if you can.)
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