| Leaderboard Limbo |
procrastinator
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1083
Best Total: 12m 56s | Posted - 2006.03.26 07:04:26
How low can we go? Champions total is now under 24 minutes, but my time is not a good one. I'd estimate close to five minutes for today's puzzle - probably the easiest we've seen. |
foilman
Kwon-Tom Admin
Puzzles: 3411
Best Total: 24m 6s | Posted - 2006.03.26 10:37:49
Well done on the new champions total! But 5 minutes... I'd be very impressed if someone does manage that, at my top clicking speed I'm lucky to approach 8 minutes on an easy weekend puzzle. |
procrastinator
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1083
Best Total: 12m 56s | Posted - 2006.03.26 13:12:22
Quote: Originally Posted by foilman 5 minutes... I'd be very impressed if someone does manage that,
|
It'll happen, just a question of when.
Taking your post as a challenge, I went back to the "Awe" thread (where drnull and I both registered our amazement at astrokath getting the first time under 6 minutes, then ironically ended up beating it ourselves) to find a weekend puzzle I knew was easy, and sure enough it only took me 4:58 despite a "not done yet" where I'd made two loops. That's 32 seconds faster than seven weeks ago.
So we're fast enough already and probably still getting faster, it's just a matter of someone doing it on a live puzzle. Today's didn't seem any harder than that one, so I won't be surprised, just impressed as you say.
Quote: Originally Posted by foilman
at my top clicking speed I'm lucky to approach 8 minutes on an easy weekend puzzle.
|
Really? I can't imagine my fingers could be that much faster than yours, perhaps you are putting in a whole lot of Xes that I'm not? |
foilman
Kwon-Tom Admin
Puzzles: 3411
Best Total: 24m 6s | Posted - 2006.03.26 13:21:14
Yes, that could be it... I do tend to put lots of Xs in, and I'm sure it'd be much quicker if I didn't, just that my brain can't handle the open spaces!!! Also during the week I do the puzzles at work where I use the mouse with my left hand (I'm right handed) so that's another handicap... I don't like to make things too easy.  |
astrokath
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 3258
Best Total: 13m 42s | Posted - 2006.03.26 13:38:16
Well, that's another 32 seconds off the total, but I'm not sure I could do it much faster than that at all. I'm fairly sure I've seen easier puzzles; or maybe my mind just processes certain options faster than the ones we had today.
But look! All of the top ten are within an hour! How about that, folks? Two of us are within the 28m record set last year, and I'm sure that'll improve over the day.
So how much lower can it go? I think it all hangs on getting a superb friday score. Thanks to Dr Null for that this week.
Anyway, I'm going to stick my neck out and say we'll never break 20min..
Last edited by astrokath - 2006.03.26 14:57:30 |
procrastinator
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1083
Best Total: 12m 56s | Posted - 2006.03.26 13:39:25
Quote: Originally Posted by foilman during the week I do the puzzles at work where I use the mouse with my left hand |
I'm sure there must be a sane reason for that, but it's just not coming to me... |
astrokath
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 3258
Best Total: 13m 42s | Posted - 2006.03.26 13:46:40
Quote: Originally Posted by foilman Also during the week I do the puzzles at work where I use the mouse with my left hand (I'm right handed) so that's another handicap... I don't like to make things too easy. |
So, does that make you Inigo Montoya or the Dread Pirate Roberts...? |
foilman
Kwon-Tom Admin
Puzzles: 3411
Best Total: 24m 6s | Posted - 2006.03.26 16:43:33
Hehe. Yes, I was inspired by The Princess Bride!
No, the real reason is that I am insane. |
procrastinator
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1083
Best Total: 12m 56s | Posted - 2006.03.27 10:30:34
Shaved another few seconds off today.
Quote: Originally Posted by astrokath
I'm going to stick my neck out and say we'll never break 20min..
|
I think we will. We've had a 9-minute week, and a 5:30 weekend day, so if an easy enough week turns up... But I think we're still improving as time goes on, and wouldn't rule out getting good enough to do this week in under 20. And even if the current big guns can't get much better individually, the talent-pool is deepening, so we'll be more consistent as a group. |
procrastinator
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1083
Best Total: 12m 56s | Posted - 2006.03.27 10:36:18
I'm sure I've heard something about drawing with the left hand somehow prompting the other side of the brain to take control. I wonder if using his left hand has any effect on how foilman solves puzzles other than making his fingers slower? There's got to be some bizarre explanation behind him being so consistently competitive without ever winning a day outright. |
foilman
Kwon-Tom Admin
Puzzles: 3411
Best Total: 24m 6s | Posted - 2006.03.27 13:22:53
Quote: Originally Posted by procrastinator There's got to be some bizarre explanation behind him being so consistently competitive without ever winning a day outright. |
Well there's an easy explanation for that, I can do all the puzzles fairly easily, just not as quick as some of you! So I'm always "up there" with the leaders, but never win a day. I remember the days when it was just me on the leaderboard! Then again, that was before anyone else was playing... |
astrokath
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 3258
Best Total: 13m 42s | Posted - 2006.03.27 13:43:23
Quote: Originally Posted by foilman
Well there's an easy explanation for that, I can do all the puzzles fairly easily, just not as quick as some of you! So I'm always "up there" with the leaders, but never win a day. I remember the days when it was just me on the leaderboard! Then again, that was before anyone else was playing...
|
Ah, I remember those days, when I was a clueless Kwontom N00b...
I'd be curious to see a database of scores weighted by experience... the scientist part of me thinks there's gotta be some fairly general trends in improvement going on, and wants to make some graphs! |
foilman
Kwon-Tom Admin
Puzzles: 3411
Best Total: 24m 6s | Posted - 2006.03.27 15:29:11
Here's a little graph I knocked together to show the number of puzzles a user has solved against their fastest recorded time for a week's worth of puzzles (measured in total number of seconds).
Any use?? |
procrastinator
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1083
Best Total: 12m 56s | Posted - 2006.03.27 16:06:26
I see a hummingbird.
The meaningful data is along the top of the clump, because some people will have started with a fair bit of solving experience (bet I can name some of those outliers: myself and tzukanion, Onion, m2e, and drnull might be another), and some with none. The top of the clump certainly shows a trend toward lower scores, and a much stronger trend toward consistency.
Of course the people who've solved a whole lot of problems but haven't got any faster might just have given up in disgust.
Anyone know enough stats to produce a best-fit exponential trend-line? I wanna see if it intersects 1200 seconds.  |
astrokath
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 3258
Best Total: 13m 42s | Posted - 2006.03.27 17:52:25
Quote: Originally Posted by procrastinator Anyone know enough stats to produce a best-fit exponential trend-line? I wanna see if it intersects 1200 seconds. |
Procrastinator, you trying to disprove my 20min rule then? Still, I bet I can identify our two points on that graph!
As to statistics, yes, but I'm probably not the only one. But if foilman wants to pass on the raw data, I'll play around with it.
And yes, I'm another with previous slitherlink experience - I completed all the free Puzzle Japan problems quite a while before finding this site.
Last edited by astrokath - 2006.03.27 17:53:15 |
drnull
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1053
Best Total: 23m 25s | Posted - 2006.03.27 18:26:58
I also did all the free slitherlink puzzles, as well as some others when they were having a free weekend (I think around new year's or something).
Who on earth is the dude who's completed less than 50 puzzles and still has a best week of 2500?? That's excellent.
Which points me to another table that it would be nice to see.... best ever weekly totals. That'd be some serious bragging rights right there (and I'm pretty sure 1st place would be either astrokath or procrastinator, judging from that graph)
In other news, I really stunk it up this weekend (compared to the leaders, anyways). I was reading the forums on how easy the puzzles were before I did them, then found myself making mistakes on both of them and having to restart. Next time I'll do the puzzles, then check times and such. |
procrastinator
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1083
Best Total: 12m 56s | Posted - 2006.04.29 02:40:28
Quote: Originally Posted by foilman at my top clicking speed I'm lucky to approach 8 minutes on an easy weekend puzzle. |
Lucky you.
Great time, but if you got close to your best maybe someone else will too? Let's see if we can do a little more limbo today. |
astrokath
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 3258
Best Total: 13m 42s | Posted - 2006.04.29 08:28:58
One minute off, first time round, but annoyingly, I missed a few obvious logic steps.
It can be done in <5.30 (which would lower the bar by a fair few seconds).
Last edited by astrokath - 2006.04.29 09:37:25 |
procrastinator
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 1083
Best Total: 12m 56s | Posted - 2006.04.29 17:03:53
Quote: Originally Posted by astrokath
It can be done in <5.30 (which would lower the bar by a fair few seconds).
|
Because tzukanion got us so close (3s) to a best-ever champions' total, I figured I had a responsibility to do it tonight, even though I was feeling tired enough that I normally would have left it til tomorrow. I managed to get it so badly wrong I had to reset, then so badly I should have reset instead of fixing it. That'll teach me.
But after a session of beer and air hockey, I got back and tried again and it only took 4:39. I really hope drnull does it tonight (not that he ever does Saturday on Saturday) because a time like that will smash the champions' total record. |
AmyR
Kwon-Tom Obsessive
Puzzles: 911
Best Total: 30m 18s | Posted - 2006.04.29 18:23:24
Ok, you people are getting too fast for me! I'm much faster than I used to be, but when I started I was in the top 10 my first week... Everyone has gotten super fast - good job... though I may have some time on my hands soon, so maybe I'll try to get bck in the game... |
