Fastest solvers: An experiment

[Deanna48]

Thanks for doing this guys...it's neat to see the results! Of course, if any of us want to retain any records at all, we will have to get Will back to school!!! Maybe summer camp???

[puffybob]

Great stuff. I'm always just pleased to see that I still have even one record out there! I would love it if the site could somehow tell us how many records each player holds.

[Eureka]

Will/mysavinggrace, in case you missed it in the chat box, munchlet and MoiAussi are the same person. Many thanks to you and azhang941 for compiling these lists. It makes my job as archivist that much easier.

[will0416]

Ok, thanks Eureka! I'll make the edit.

[nedzeppelin1453]

Wow, I never realized just how many records the top few players have. Thanks to everyone who collected data. It would be great if admin could keep track of records, in monthly competitions or even better, as another all-time ranking list.

[Klebbtheklari]

Inspired by all of you (and being online friends with will and azhang), I have embarked on an even bigger (crazier? stupider?) experiment related to this.

The Giant Crypto Experiment, Continued to Top 3's

I am collecting the names of the top 3 UNIQUE solve times from ~500 Cryptograms. (yes there are lot of names...)
I will then condense the data using something along the lines of: each 1st place finish will yield 3 points, followed by 2 points for 2nd, and 1 for 3rd.
Any and all repeats will be included.
Any top 3's that I achieve during this period will NOT be included, though they will be noted.
This will (hopefully) be done at 100% solve rate.

Hopefully this goes well.

As of writing this post, I am 100 solves in, and there are already many clear patterns.

Data (which is being updated live!):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Why do this?
I noticed a lot of recurring names in the higher spots of leaderboards, but these people rarely got records. So, I wondered if there were any implications from this and hence extended this experiment to more spots.

[puffybob]

Tremendous, Klebbtheklari. Can't wait to see the results.

[Eureka]

That's quite an ambitious project you've got going there Klebbtheklari. It will be interesting to see the results. I'm guessing that you, will and azhang are all Science Olympiad friends?

[azhang941]

That's quite an ambitious project you've got going there Klebbtheklari. It will be interesting to see the results. I'm guessing that you, will and azhang are all Science Olympiad friends?

Yup, we know each other from Science Olympiad. I guess the spirit of competing against each other went past solving cryptograms and into compiling records now.

[puffybob]

What I really like about Klebb's experiment is that now, if I make it into the top three on a puzzle, it's almost like a little plane flies by.

[oddcouple]

What's somewhat concerning to me is the speedsters with multiple accounts. Let's say there's three speedsters in a month that are solving large number of puzzles at fast speeds and are in the top 10 to 15 average times for the month with both accounts. That means three users fall just OUTSIDE the top 20 and are deprived of that recognition. It's happened to me and to others as a result. Just as bad, and maybe worse, are the top 20 results on individual puzzles. Those users who would be inside the top 20 but for the speedsters with multiple accounts are deprived of recognition and others will get knocked off every time they get a superfast time with their second IDs for the first time.

I realize these users sacrifice percentages to keep their average times super low, and I'd rather have a high solve percentage. But I wonder why user A also has ID user B has ID user C. Does it give them a thrill to get multiple speed awards each month? Is it an ego-driven thing or what? It wouldn't appeal to me. Taking a look at will0416 average this month shows he fails to solve 16% of his puzzles, but has averaged just over 10 seconds on the 84% he was successful on. I would be horrified to fail that often, and a super fast average wouldn't make up for it. I'm more impressed with those who can maintain 100% solve rates that can average in the sub 40 range. I see some very familiar names there-nanrich, deanna, gryhnd, lily, puffybob, and opallady. A standing ovation from me to them.

Just thinking out loud, I don't need anyone to be offended. Ultimately, my pleasure is in the solving, not in the recognition.

[Eureka]

Frankly, I'm just happy that a 15-year-old is playing word games instead of so many other things that he could be getting into. But I get where you're coming from, oddcouple. In theory, someone could have twenty different IDs, play like crazy all month, and get all the top 20 spots. Not that I'm trying to give anyone any ideas...

[will0416]

What's somewhat concerning to me is the speedsters with multiple accounts. Let's say there's three speedsters in a month that are solving large number of puzzles at fast speeds and are in the top 10 to 15 average times for the month with both accounts. That means three users fall just OUTSIDE the top 20 and are deprived of that recognition. It's happened to me and to others as a result. Just as bad, and maybe worse, are the top 20 results on individual puzzles. Those users who would be inside the top 20 but for the speedsters with multiple accounts are deprived of recognition and others will get knocked off every time they get a superfast time with their second IDs for the first time.

I realize these users sacrifice percentages to keep their average times super low, and I'd rather have a high solve percentage. But I wonder why user A also has ID user B has ID user C. Does it give them a thrill to get multiple speed awards each month? Is it an ego-driven thing or what? It wouldn't appeal to me. Taking a look at will0416 average this month shows he fails to solve 16% of his puzzles, but has averaged just over 10 seconds on the 84% he was successful on. I would be horrified to fail that often, and a super fast average wouldn't make up for it. I'm more impressed with those who can maintain 100% solve rates that can average in the sub 40 range. I see some very familiar names there-nanrich, deanna, gryhnd, lily, puffybob, and opallady. A standing ovation from me to them.

Just thinking out loud, I don't need anyone to be offended. Ultimately, my pleasure is in the solving, not in the recognition.

I held my other account at ~15-16 seconds at 99% for the earlier part of this month, but I started realizing that wasn't really how I wanted to play, so I let go of that endeavor and started messing around on that account. To each their own I guess.

[azhang941]

What's somewhat concerning to me is the speedsters with multiple accounts. Let's say there's three speedsters in a month that are solving large number of puzzles at fast speeds and are in the top 10 to 15 average times for the month with both accounts. That means three users fall just OUTSIDE the top 20 and are deprived of that recognition. It's happened to me and to others as a result. Just as bad, and maybe worse, are the top 20 results on individual puzzles. Those users who would be inside the top 20 but for the speedsters with multiple accounts are deprived of recognition and others will get knocked off every time they get a superfast time with their second IDs for the first time.

I realize these users sacrifice percentages to keep their average times super low, and I'd rather have a high solve percentage. But I wonder why user A also has ID user B has ID user C. Does it give them a thrill to get multiple speed awards each month? Is it an ego-driven thing or what? It wouldn't appeal to me. Taking a look at will0416 average this month shows he fails to solve 16% of his puzzles, but has averaged just over 10 seconds on the 84% he was successful on. I would be horrified to fail that often, and a super fast average wouldn't make up for it. I'm more impressed with those who can maintain 100% solve rates that can average in the sub 40 range. I see some very familiar names there-nanrich, deanna, gryhnd, lily, puffybob, and opallady. A standing ovation from me to them.

Just thinking out loud, I don't need anyone to be offended. Ultimately, my pleasure is in the solving, not in the recognition.

For this month, my alt account was mostly a test of how fast I could solve while my main maintained a 100% rate, and I was strongly considering intentionally dropping it down under 75% solve rate so that it does not qualify for the speed competition, which I now have done. To me, my alt account was never for the recognition, but a test of what I could do without sacrificing the goal I wanted to achieve on my main account.
Personally, I have always admired a faster solve time more, but I think we should give credit to both our top 100% rate solvers and our top speed solvers. It takes significant skill to solve at 100% rate quickly, but it also takes an extreme amount of skill to solve at the speed people such as will and lacrossesticks do even when they sacrifice speed.

[Fudi]

Hey, I'm just wondering ... when I click on the spreadsheet link, I don't see any data - I only see heading words about what the spreadsheet will eventually contain. Am I doing something wrong? Or are we not able to see the numbers until you let us know that the experiment is complete?