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MEOW #6: CANCELLED!
Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 1:01 am
by madhatter5
EDIT:
IMPORTANT: There is a flaw in the grid that I just spotted and that I think will ruin the meta. So I think I may need to cancel the MEOW this week and get some sleep instead
I am usually very careful about avoiding errors so I am so sorry for any time you guys have put into it today. MEOW will be back to usual next week.
Re: MEOW #6: Character Dynamics
Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 4:21 am
by oldjudge
Josh-I don’t know if it matters, but is the puzzle title “Character Dynamics” or “Can’t Put it Down”?
Re: MEOW #6: Character Dynamics
Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 5:15 am
by madhatter5
Sorry, my bad! Doesn't really matter but "Can't Put It Down" was the original title which I decided to change to "Character Dynamics". I forgot to change this in the headings. It's now fixed. (For the web-hosted version you might have to clear your cookies to see the change).
Re: MEOW #6: Character Dynamics
Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 10:19 am
by Joe Ross
Re: MEOW #6: Character Dynamics
Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 4:30 pm
by oldjudge
LOL, good thing this wasn’t a Lion or no one would have solved it. Oh wait, .....
Re: MEOW #6: Character Dynamics
Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 4:34 pm
by madhatter5
Hey, Pumas are no joke either.
Re: MEOW #6: Character Dynamics
Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 4:44 pm
by oldjudge
Dang, that looks like a Sabre-toothed Puma.
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!! (REALLY SORRY)
Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 5:49 pm
by oldjudge
Josh-What happened to the test solver? Anyway, stuff happens—look forward to next weeks.
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!! (REALLY SORRY)
Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 7:48 pm
by ChrisKochmanski
Indeed, sorry to learn of the cancellation. I was intrigued by the things that the puzzle might be suggesting — but I’m glad I didn’t spend too much time being intrigued!
I’ll look forward to MEOW’s return next week. Thanks, Josh!
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!! (REALLY SORRY)
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:13 am
by madhatter5
oldjudge wrote: ↑Wed Jan 06, 2021 5:49 pm
Josh-What happened to the test solver? Anyway, stuff happens—look forward to next weeks.
She solved it! Whimsy has been absolutely fantastic and always provides really detailed and thoughtful feedback on all the puzzles which is highly appreciated and entirely incommensurate with her salary
The issue has nothing to do with her, just with the meager number of brain cells possessed by yours truly.
The puzzle is still solveable but it's also possible the issue might unfairly prevent a solver from seeing it. It should be easy to fix with a few minor changes. I really like the mechanism on this one so I think what I will do is next week I will provide both the new puzzle and the amended and triple-checked version of this one and then we'll be back to normal.
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!! (REALLY SORRY)
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 7:23 am
by Joe Ross
madhatter5 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:13 am
She solved it! Whimsy has been absolutely fantastic...
The puzzle is still solveable...
So, you're telling me there's a chance... YEAH!!!
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 8:33 am
by Wendy Walker
Thanks for the alert, Josh. We worked at it and came up with some strategies that might actually be great meta ideas for a future puzzle!
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 10:55 am
by RPardoe
And I came here thinking CANCELLED was the title of this week's challenge!
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!! (REALLY SORRY)
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:51 pm
by oldjudge
madhatter5 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:13 am
oldjudge wrote: ↑Wed Jan 06, 2021 5:49 pm
Josh-What happened to the test solver? Anyway, stuff happens—look forward to next weeks.
She solved it! Whimsy has been absolutely fantastic and always provides really detailed and thoughtful feedback on all the puzzles which is highly appreciated and entirely incommensurate with her salary
The issue has nothing to do with her, just with the meager number of brain cells possessed by yours truly.
The puzzle is still solveable but it's also possible the issue might unfairly prevent a solver from seeing it. It should be easy to fix with a few minor changes. I really like the mechanism on this one so I think what I will do is next week I will provide both the new puzzle and the amended and triple-checked version of this one and then we'll be back to normal.
So Whimsy solved the puzzle as it now stands?
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!! (REALLY SORRY)
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 2:14 pm
by madhatter5
oldjudge wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:51 pm
madhatter5 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:13 am
oldjudge wrote: ↑Wed Jan 06, 2021 5:49 pm
Josh-What happened to the test solver? Anyway, stuff happens—look forward to next weeks.
She solved it! Whimsy has been absolutely fantastic and always provides really detailed and thoughtful feedback on all the puzzles which is highly appreciated and entirely incommensurate with her salary
The issue has nothing to do with her, just with the meager number of brain cells possessed by yours truly.
The puzzle is still solveable but it's also possible the issue might unfairly prevent a solver from seeing it. It should be easy to fix with a few minor changes. I really like the mechanism on this one so I think what I will do is next week I will provide both the new puzzle and the amended and triple-checked version of this one and then we'll be back to normal.
So Whimsy solved the puzzle as it now stands?
Yes
Basically the mechanism involves noticing a certain pattern which should ideally have been true of the whole grid, but it turns out is only true of most of the grid. So it is still very much solveable if you keep that in mind.
It's turning out to be harder to fix than I thought so I think I'm just going to start afresh next week.
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 2:25 pm
by Hector
RPardoe wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 10:55 am
And I came here thinking CANCELLED was the title of this week's challenge!
It was always only a matter of time until cancel culture came to muggledom.
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 3:21 pm
by whimsy
Just seeing this now so I thought I'd toss in that I did solve but it was with a bit of Josh's nudges toward or away from the sort of stream of consciousness of ideas that I present to him, as an example of how one (possibly wacky
)) solver reacts and thinks.
Won't say any more in case the puzzle returns in tweaked form.
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 5:42 pm
by Meg
With some helpful nudges, I got it! Confirmed.
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 6:16 pm
by oldjudge
Solution sent after a nudge from Josh. Awaiting confirmation—Confirmed.
Re: MEOW #6: CANCELLED!
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2021 2:54 pm
by ChrisKochmanski
Well, with two nudges and a shove, I finally got it.
I’ll look forward to MEOW’s return next week. Thanks, Josh!