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--- haas:fall2017:discrete:projects:wpfb [2017/10/30 22:27] – wedge
+++ haas:fall2017:discrete:projects:wpfb [2017/10/30 22:55] (current) – wedge
@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 ======Project: WEEKLY PUZZLE FUN (wpfB)======
-=====Part 1: 7x7 difficult logic-grid puzzle=====
+=====Part 1: 6x6 challenging logic-grid puzzle=====
 ====Objective====
-To apply your skills in the solving of a logic puzzle.
+To apply your skills in the solving of a logic puzzle. We've now been through the gamut of resolutions on easy and medium difficulty. You'll find the clues may reveal fewer direct things, while really cranking up on the indirect- this is where the connections will be made.
+====Grid-Based Puzzle Strategies====
+Some things to keep in mind when solving this type of puzzle:
+  * no selection in any category can be used more than once
+  * analyzing what is **NOT** possible can be just as helpful as finding what **IS** possible
+  * be mindful of the properties of your basic logical connective words:
+    * **NOT**: typically stating an invalidation
+    * **AND**: identifying a grouping (bread AND butter, indicating the two are paired in some fashion of consideration)
+    * **OR**: for the purposes of these puzzles, the association of various items with the **OR** connective is typically done in an **EXCLUSIVE** fashion versus the **INCLUSIVE** fashion it can also be used as. An **EXCLUSIVE OR** (XOR) means ONE or the OTHER, but **NOT BOTH**
+  * Mark off disproven cells with an **X**
+  * For proven cells, some sort of confirmation mark (I like using a small solid circle)
+  * Some print out the puzzle and complete it in pencil; others load the image into some sort of image/paint program and use the "fill" tool (with two different colors queued up) to complete the puzzle. Either way, you will want to record your resulting associations to report to the submit tool
+  * From experience, especially with any new or less familiar activity, the more manual you make the process and perform it **by hand**, the more improvement you will reap over time
+  * Be sure to cross-reference! Sometimes you'll get "half" or indirect clues in one category, which can be linked to an associated "half" or indirect clue in another category, enabling further cell eliminations or even derivations of confirmed association(s)
+  * Be aware of your units, and how they progress; provided clues will often play off the patterned ordering of the units
+  * Once you have fully exhausted a clue, cross it out to aid you in focusing on the clues that still need resolution
-What you'll likely encounter is that there will be more indirect clues (ie knocking something out directly from a clue in one area, which can have secondary elimination moves elsewhere on the grid). Some of the existing puzzles have aspects like this, but may not have as heavily utilized them as central means to solving the puzzle.
+Remember, keeping track of what has been eliminated is just as important as tracking what has been identified. A lot of trouble or "dead ends" have emerged when people were not keeping full inventory on grid box eliminations.
-Remember, keeping track of what has been eliminated is just as important as tracking what has been identified. A lot of trouble or dead ends emerged when people were not keeping full inventory on grid box eliminations.
+Please do endeavor to put forth original, honest effort in the solving of these puzzles, by hand; the process will help foster and solidify many analytical reasoning skills that will influence and improve your logic and programming skills. Improvements won't happen overnight, but through consistent practice, by the end of the semester you should start reaping the benefits of such an activity.
 ====Puzzle Backstory====
+Help make sense of a doctor's appointment list for today. Match each patient to their appointment time, medical complaint and insurance company.
-An environmental impact conference is being held this month in Pasadena, where a different presentation will be made each day. Match each presenter to their topic and institution, and determine the day on which each will give their talk.
 ====Puzzle====
-{{ :haas:fall2016:discrete:projects:wpfb.png |}}
+{{ :haas:fall2017:discrete:projects:wpfB.png |}}
 ====Clues====
-  - The solar energy expert is scheduled 3 days after the sulfur oxide expert.
+  - Neither Zachary nor Fernando is the patient with Medicorp insurance.
-  - Bridget is scheduled 1 day after the presenter from Brown.
+  - Of the patient with Lifealign insurance and the patient with the 12 noon appointment, one is complaining about foot pain and the other is Zachary.
-  - Neither the presenter who will speak on May 16th nor the presenter who will speak on May 14th will be the global warming expert.
+  - Of Leroy and the person with the 2:00pm appointment, one is complaining about heartburn and the other is complaining about back pain.
-  - The acid rain expert is scheduled sometime after the nitrogen usage expert.
+  - Steven has an appointment sometime after the person with HealthCo insurance.
-  - The global warming expert is scheduled 2 days after Oliver.
+  - Of Zachary and the patient with HealthCo insurance, one has the 10:00am appointment and the other is complaining about shingles.
-  - The person who will speak on May 16th isn't from Cornell.
+  - The person with the 1:00pm appointment is complaining about migraines.
-  - Gerard won't be speaking on May 15th.
+  - Zachary has an appointment sometime after the person with Medicorp insurance.
-  - The presenter from Stanford will discuss wind power.
+  - Neither the person suffering from foot pain nor the person with HealthCo insurance is Ronnie.
-  - Ramon will speak on May 16th.
+  - The patient suffering from heartburn has an appointment 1 hour after the patient with Lifealign insurance.
-  - The person who will speak on May 12th is from Duke.
+  - Ronnie isn't complaining about back pain.
-  - The presenter from Yale is scheduled 2 days after the presenter from Brown.
+  - Neither Steven nor Fernando is the patient suffering from foot pain.
-  - Of the presenter who will speak on May 13th and Nancy, one will discuss fossil fuels and the other is from Brown.
+  - Fernando doesn't have insurance through Red Shield.
-  - Kristen is scheduled 1 day before the person from Ohio State.
+  - Ronnie has Ambercare insurance.
-  - The person from Harvard will be either Oliver or the person who will speak on May 10th.
-  - Nancy is scheduled 1 day after Kristen.
-=====Part 2: Word Math Puzzle=====
+=====Part 2: Letter Division Puzzle=====
 ====Objective====
 Logic grids are not the only form of logic puzzle; here is another one that relies heavily on logic and reasoning in order to sift through.
-A word math puzzle is one where the numbers 0-9 have been replaced with various letters of the alphabet; it is your task to determine what number each letter maps to, and report that to me in the project submission.
+A letter division puzzle is one where the numbers 0-9 have been replaced with various letters of the alphabet; it is your task to determine what number each letter maps to, and report that to me in the project submission.
-For this sort of problem, you will likely want to take notes; all the various little tests you concoct to prove or disprove some relationship. This may also take a bit longer and seem more overwhelming, but really, it is just longhand math :) Remember to attack the problem in pieces, and not head-on all-at-once.
+====Letter Division Puzzle Strategies====
+Some things to keep in mind when solving this type of puzzle:
+  * take copious notes
+  * jot down patterns and observations
+  * perform tests to prove or disprove a relationship
+  * look for any "obvious" giveaway clues, like what letters could represent 0, 1, and 9
+  * try to identify the non-borrows, borrows, and "double" borrows, marking them as appropriate
+  * write out relationships so that you can keep track of them, things like:
+    * <nowiki>A < B << C</nowiki>
+      * I use the single less than to denote a direct neighbor (A is one less than B), and the double less than sign to denote general less than-ness (we know that B is less than C, but we do not know how much it is less than C).
+  * use "process of elimination" number sets
+    * I will also write out each letter and all the numbers it could be, erasing eliminated values along the way. Sometimes you will arrive at an association through this method.
+    * For example:
+      * A = { 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 }
+      * B = { 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 }
+        * and so on for each letter. If we were to determine that B is not 9, erase it from B's number set. That way, when we're hunting for possible candidates for 9 (for example), we can directly rule out B
+  * sometimes you can derive important clues from the multiplication aspect of the puzzle (especially finding the occasional dead-ringer for 0 or 1)
+  * don't rely on just one method: use all of these methods. With different puzzles you will find differing levels of values with each method (but in general, I find the more methods I use the easier the overall puzzle becomes)
+As I said: For this sort of problem, you will likely want to take notes; all the various little tests you concoct to prove or disprove some relationship can be important in the bigger picture. This may also take a bit longer and seem more overwhelming (especially at first), but really, it is just longhand math :) Remember to attack the problem in pieces, and not head-on all-at-once.
 Practice some similar math problems to derive patterns so that the seemingly unfamiliar letters performing math can start to make more sense.
@@ Line 54: / Line 87: @@
 <code>
-               SAT
+            HIIE
-        +----------
+      +---------
-  BRAKE | ASBESTOS
+VATNV | NVHVBVTN
-         -ABRETR
+       -JTYIH
-          ------
+        =====
-           KTWARO
+        VJBYTV
-          -KORBSW
+       -VYNBII
-           ------
+        ======
-            RLEKOS
+         VJVIHT
-           -RAWOAR
+        -VYNBII
-            ------
+         ======
-             REOBL
+          VATJEN
+         -VJVIJE
+          ======
+           VANJT
 </code>
 ^ number ^  0  ^  1  ^  2  ^  3  ^  4  ^  5  ^  6  ^  7  ^  8  ^  9  |
 | letter |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
-=====Part 3: Numerical Reasoning=====
+=====Part 3: Sudoku puzzle=====
 ====Objective====
@@ Line 78: / Line 115: @@
 ====Puzzle====
-|     |  5  |  9  ^ |  4  |     |     ^ |     |  7  |     |
+|     |  2  |     ^ |     |  7  |     ^ |  4  |     |  9  |
-|     |  8  |     ^ |  6  |  7  |     ^ |     |     |     |
+|     |     |     ^ |  1  |     |     ^ |     |  6  |     |
-|     |     |  7  ^ |  8  |  9  |  2  ^ |     |     |     |
+|  4  |  1  |     ^ |     |  8  |     ^ |     |  5  |  7  |
 ^     ^     ^     ^ ^     ^     ^     ^ ^     ^     ^     |
-|  9  |     |     ^ |     |  2  |  7  ^ |     |     |  3  |
+|  2  |  9  |     ^ |     |     |     ^ |     |     |     |
-|     |  3  |  1  ^ |     |     |     ^ |  5  |  8  |     |
+|  7  |     |     ^ |  3  |     |  5  ^ |     |     |  2  |
-|  5  |     |     ^ |  1  |  8  |     ^ |     |     |  9  |
+|     |     |     ^ |     |     |     ^ |     |  9  |  3  |
 ^     ^     ^     ^ ^     ^     ^     ^ ^     ^     ^     |
-|     |     |     ^ |  2  |  5  |  8  ^ |  7  |     |     |
+|  1  |  8  |     ^ |     |  4  |     ^ |     |  3  |  5  |
-|     |     |     ^ |     |  4  |  6  ^ |     |  5  |     |
+|     |  3  |     ^ |     |     |  9  ^ |     |     |     |
-|     |  6  |     ^ |     |     |  9  ^ |  8  |  4  |     |
+|  9  |     |  2  ^ |     |  3  |     ^ |     |  4  |     |
 Enter numbers into the blank spaces so that each row, column and 3x3 box contains the full sequence of numbers 1 to 9.
@@ Line 95: / Line 132: @@
 ^  pos #0  ^  pos #1  ^  pos #2  ^  pos #3  ^  pos #4  ^  pos #5  ^  pos #6  ^  pos #7  ^  pos #8  |
-|     |  5  |  9  |  4  |     |     |     |  7  |     |
+|     |  2  |     |     |  7  |     |  4  |     |  9  |
 =====Submission=====
 To submit this weekly puzzle, simply run the **submit** line below; a submit-time questionnaire will collect your puzzle results.
 ====Submit Tool Usage====
 When you have completed work on the project, and are ready to submit, you would do the following:

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