US Puzzle Championship 2011

The 2011 US Puzzle Championship was held on 27th August, 2011.

View Championship Page

USA Results

1. Palmer Mebane (USA) - 415
2. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 349
3. William Blatt (USA) - 309

Complete Results

This was my first 'complete' USPC. Since it is midnight in India during USPC, I dozed off last two years.

Congrats to Palmer Mebane for ending Thomas Snyder's five-year reign at the USPC! Both of them have been performing consistently well in championships throughout the year, and I'm sure they would be among the top guns at the WPC in Hungary.

You can read more about the championship on the champions' blogs:
Thomas Snyder's views
Palmer Mebane's views

Looking forward to meet you'll and your team in Hungary.

Logic Masters India - August 2011 Puzzle Test

Logic Masters India announces the August 2011 Puzzle Test 'Japanese Puzzle Land'. It was held on 20th-21st August, 2011.
The authors of the puzzles are Yosuke Imai, Atsumi Hirose, Takeya Saikachi and Daisuke Takei.

Championship Page
Download Instruction Booklet
Download Puzzle Booklet
Download Solution Booklet
Forum

The list of puzzles that appeared in the test are:

Sudoku
Kakuro
Fillomino
Numberlink
Slitherlink
Masyu
Heyawake
Akari
Shikaku
Hitori
Shakashaka
Mochikoro
Yajilin

Results

1. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 550
2. Kota Morinishi (Japan) - 434
3. Tarotaro (Japan) - 426
4. Endo Ken (Japan) - 426
5. Volxa (Japan) - 424
6. Ko Okamoto (Japan) - 421
7. Palmer Mebane (USA) - 410
8. Shinichi Aoki (Japan) - 398
9. Psyho (Poland) - 381
10. Yukkuri (Japan) - 356

Best Indians

37. Rakesh Rai - 266
58. Rohan Rao - 219
87. Rajesh Kumar - 178
101. Amit Sowani - 160
105. Harmeet Singh - 150

Complete Results

Excellent set of puzzles. For the first time, Japanese authored an LMI and test and what a huge success! It saw maximum number of participants in an LMI test!
Congrats to the Japanese authors and also to the Japanese participants who had some tremendous results. And needless to say, congrats to Thomas for winning yet another LMI test.

Rules of 'Heyawake'

Blacken some cells so that all remaining cells are connected orthogonally. No two black cells can share an edge. Any single horizontal or vertical line of white cells cannot traverse more than one thick line. Numbers indicate the amount of black cells in that region.

EXAMPLE:


UNIQUE SOLUTION:

Logic Masters India - August 2011 Sudoku Test

Logic Masters India announces the August Sudoku Test 'Sudoku City'. It was held on 6th-7th August, 2011.
The author of the puzzles is Nikola Zivanovic.

Championship Page
Download Instruction Booklet
Download Puzzle Booklet
Password is SkyIsTheLIMIT
Forum

Results

1. Yuhei Kusui (Japan) - 93
2. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 83
3. Branko Ceranic (Serbia) - 81
4. Jason Zuffranieri (USA) - 79
5. Jakub Hrazdira (Czech Republic) - 79
6. WaterlooMathie (Canada) - 77
7. Hideaki Jo (Japan) - 77
8. Kota Morinishi (Japan) - 73
9. Bastien Vial-Jaime (France) - 71
10. Rohan Rao (India) - 71

Best Indians

10. Rohan Rao - 71
17. Rakesh Rai - 57
53. Neeraj Mehrotra - 33
54. Harmeet Singh - 32
83. Prasanna Seshadri - 22

Complete Results

Before
Skyscraper Sudoku variants. This promises to be an exciting contest. The variation look good and Nikola has never disappointed me :-)
I'm been performing below par in the last couple of tests, maybe I can redeem with this one.


After
What a city! Nikola has proved he's the best architect among puzzlers by building this beautiful city. I'm sure most citizens who entered the city did not want to leave!

Logic Masters India - July 2011 Puzzle Test 2

Logic Masters India announces the July Puzzle Test 2 'Magic Cube'. It was held on 29th-30th July, 2011.
The authors of the puzzles are the puzzle-makers of the 20th World Puzzle Championship (which will be held in November).

Championship Page
Download Instruction Booklet
Download Puzzle Booklet
Password is WPCandWSCinHungary2011
Forum

The list of puzzles that appeared in the test are: (In cube format)

1. Magic Snail
2. Hitori
3. Cave
4. Dutch Loop
5. Sudoku
6. Capsules
7. Heyawake
8. Fillomino
9. Slalom
10. Star Battle
11. Crosswords

Results

1. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 1226
2. Ko Okamoto (Japan) - 1085
3. Palmer Mebane (USA) - 1080
4. Peter Hudak (Slovakia) - 1065
5. Hideaki Jo (Japan) - 1045
6. Ulrich Voigt (Germany) - 950
7. Kota Morinishi (Japan) - 935
8. Nikola Zivanovic (Serbia) - 900
9. Jan Mrozowski (Poland) - 845
10. Shinichi Aoki (Japan) - 825

Best Indians

56. Rohan Rao - 510
68. Rajesh Kumar - 460
73. Rakesh Rai - 440
75. Amit Sowani - 430
79. Swaroop Guggilam - 420

Complete Results

Thanks to all the organisers of this test and the WPC for having this test. It is a very good set of puzzles, especially for those who will be present in Hungary for the WPC.