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Deckardv 2025 Puzzle Night 4 Recap + Experience

Wait, 2025? Not 2024? Oh wait...

Another puzzle night (speed solving competition) was hosted by Deckardv on his puzzle server! I participated and placed... 3rd (!) out of 25 participants, which was in the podium! (you can see my post on Puzzle Night 3 to see the zone colors and placements). My goal this time was the "purple zone" or higher, because that's where I placed last time. And, while I didn't expect it, I placed in a higher zone! Funny thing: I placed above three puzzle winners despite not placing in the podium in any puzzle lol

This night was based on Nikoli-styled puzzles.

Puzzle 1: LITS \ Time: 4:42 \ Placement: 8th

First, we had a LITS that was slightly above GAPP level. I had a nice start and found a few nice logic points, but eventually resorted to bifurcation around 2-3 minutes in.

Puzzle 2: Yajilin \ Time: 4:53 \ Placement: 8th

Next up was a Yajilin puzzle. This one claimed to be the easiest puzzle, and... it was of similar difficulty to the first puzzle for me, judged by my time. I did lose a few seconds because my laptop was almost out of battery (and I had to go charge it), which probably cost me a placement. Oh well.

Puzzle 3: Pentopia \ Time: 9:12 \ Placement: 5th

The third puzzle of the night was a Pentopia, which claimed to be harder. And it was. I kept shifting between struggling and smooth sailing. Near the end, I thought I was missing something, but the answer check triggered, indicating that I really wasn't. But despite the difficulty of the puzzle, I actually placed better than in the previous puzzles!

Puzzle 4: Tapa \ Time: 3:04 \ Placement: 4th

Wait, this isn't a Nikoli puzzle! But it's still Nikoli-styled. Anyways, I bifurcated a lot on this puzzle, and I got pretty lucky with my guesses! I thought I wouldn't place as well due to my time, but I placed even better than in the Pentopia!

Puzzle 5: Fillomino \ Time: 9:41 \ Placement: 9th

The last puzzle of the night was a Fillomino. I used a bit of bifurcation and thought I broke the puzzle a few times, but eventually, I found a solution. Because of my time, I got 9th -- my worst placement of the night. But still pretty good!

Practice Puzzles

I didn't make a practice set this time, mainly due to (over)confidence with the genres.

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