Botsu Bako
I haven't commented on Nikoli puzzles in awhile. A long run of dry days certainly didn't help; it started to seem (to me at least) that every other post was just me complaining again about Yajilin or 10 second puzzles and I don't think I enjoyed criticizing my favorite puzzle source so frequently when I could be using that time more constructively. Things got better last weekend, certainly, with a great juno Masyu and an interesting Hitori, and I think I'll start to just comment here on days particular puzzles seem noteworthy for good or bad reasons and spend what was blogging time doing the writing, layout, and such for my own variety logic book/magazine to put forth some of the ideas that came up during my intense focus on Nikoli.
Still, there was a particular discussion that started with the last Akari Botsu Bako that I felt like returning to this week, particularly about what this classification means. I actually think I agree with part of that discussion but then this month's Hashiwokakero fails again.
I think I'd state that a Botsu Bako should A) feature an extreme, or extremely uncommon, type of logic for a particular kind of problem which is integral to its solution or B) feature an extreme, or extremely uncommon, type of visual theme/twist along the same lines. The Akari last month actually fit into A (and may just have not been a hard enough type of logic to satisfy me that it certainly was uncommon) but my favorite A-type examples might be some of the Shikaku in this classification although others certainly fit. The "all 4 Hashi" certainly fits into B, and is a phenomenal puzzle with some difficulty too. The best Botsu Bako, by pulling off something that has not been seen, become instant classics and discussions like this might take you back to wanting to solve them again.
I suppose this month's Hashi fits into the B classification, but I don't find the theme that extreme or the puzzle at all interesting. This one would certainly just be a normal release in any magazine I ran. I don't believe there are rules about how many circles must be in a row or column or that large gaps aren't allowed. I could imagine this kind of extreme used in a larger puzzle to have more interesting logic there, but without achieving a necessary depth of interest in achieving its theme, the puzzle fails for me. I've never been this dissatisfied with a Botsu Bako. More fuel for my book I guess (although Hashiwokakero is one of many styles that did not make my cut this time around).
Still, there was a particular discussion that started with the last Akari Botsu Bako that I felt like returning to this week, particularly about what this classification means. I actually think I agree with part of that discussion but then this month's Hashiwokakero fails again.
I think I'd state that a Botsu Bako should A) feature an extreme, or extremely uncommon, type of logic for a particular kind of problem which is integral to its solution or B) feature an extreme, or extremely uncommon, type of visual theme/twist along the same lines. The Akari last month actually fit into A (and may just have not been a hard enough type of logic to satisfy me that it certainly was uncommon) but my favorite A-type examples might be some of the Shikaku in this classification although others certainly fit. The "all 4 Hashi" certainly fits into B, and is a phenomenal puzzle with some difficulty too. The best Botsu Bako, by pulling off something that has not been seen, become instant classics and discussions like this might take you back to wanting to solve them again.
I suppose this month's Hashi fits into the B classification, but I don't find the theme that extreme or the puzzle at all interesting. This one would certainly just be a normal release in any magazine I ran. I don't believe there are rules about how many circles must be in a row or column or that large gaps aren't allowed. I could imagine this kind of extreme used in a larger puzzle to have more interesting logic there, but without achieving a necessary depth of interest in achieving its theme, the puzzle fails for me. I've never been this dissatisfied with a Botsu Bako. More fuel for my book I guess (although Hashiwokakero is one of many styles that did not make my cut this time around).