How do people get such quick times?

[elanyela]

I'm pretty sure this has been discussed already, but I didn't see a thread on the forum page. Are there strategies for getting sub-500 seconds on 4x7 challenging?

[quackduck314]

Practice - scanning the clues for "easy" ones, filling those in first, then going from there. I basically only use the top row unless there are specific other clues I need - definitely never copying anything down from the top row to the lower ones. Leads to somewhat consistent times of ~300 seconds unless I misread a clue. Sometimes lower if it's a set of clues that make more sense to me, sometimes higher if there's a specific weird clue type I can't figure out.

[ella]

We used to have a ton of very helpful threads on the boards for getting better times. I don't know a way to find them, or if they've disappeared forever, which I think was mentioned when the move was about to happen, but I've forgotten specifics.

As for the timer, it never stops. You can save and come back the next day, but all that time you were away will count. If you restart, the clock doesn't.

So the only thing to do is practice and use strategies like the one quackduck314 suggests. I'm sure we'll be able to rebuild some threads in this new space, once we get going again.

I'm sure you know these, but this basic page is a good place to start -- if you know how to use all of these methods, you're well on your way: https://logic.puzzlebaron.com/how-to...gic-puzzle.php

[fromalabama]

After playing them enough, you will probably also get to the point where you automatically know what the interval is so that you know how many boxes to click. It's pretty easy for some puzzles, where for example you're assigning things to a year and they're all one year apart (like the superheroes, or the comets, etc.), but then you get some that are kind of wacky, like the Dutch windmills (23 year interval) or the air conditioners ($65 interval). Initially I had to do the math for those, but after a while I got used to it and now if it says 92 years or $325 I just know how many boxes that means without having to devote much time to it. So, as usual, the main answer to being fast is practice!

[pub4]

We used to have a ton of very helpful threads on the boards for getting better times. I don't know a way to find them, or if they've disappeared forever, which I think was mentioned when the move was about to happen, but I've forgotten specifics.

As for the timer, it never stops. You can save and come back the next day, but all that time you were away will count. If you restart, the clock doesn't.

So the only thing to do is practice and use strategies like the one quackduck314 suggests. I'm sure we'll be able to rebuild some threads in this new space, once we get going again.

I'm sure you know these, but this basic page is a good place to start -- if you know how to use all of these methods, you're well on your way: https://logic.puzzlebaron.com/how-to...gic-puzzle.php

Where did you find that link, fromalabama ? I've searched the Logic Puzzle home page and fact page (and other pages) and cannot find it.

[Firestar]

https://logic.puzzlebaron.com/how-to...gic-puzzle.php. This is a good list of "tricks" to speed up your thinking.

[Guest]

Why don't my messages post? I get this error for mesg 6/28: Page Not Found

We've recently updated our website and some pages may have changed locations. Apologies for any inconvenience.

[ella]

Why don't my messages post? I get this error for mesg 6/28: Page Not Found

We've recently updated our website and some pages may have changed locations. Apologies for any inconvenience.

I have no idea why that happened. As far as I know, nothing huge has been taking place so recently. This message posted though - so maybe you can re-ask your question? I saw that you'd posted, but as you note, when I went to look for the message, I couldn't find it. Probably was just a weird glitch. Those things do sometimes happen. Happy puzzling!

[betmelo]

I usually leave the clues begginning with "of..." for last. But I don't know if that is the fastest way to solve. What do you think?

[chimaera]

I usually start with 'absolute' clues i.e. ones that allow a choice to be ruled in or out. E.g. Neither ... nor ... clues, clues that say something is or is not equal to something else, clues where there something can be one of two choices (the two choices can't equal each other). From there, I'll move to clues with the greatest span between the two ends: for a 4x7 grid, the ones with a span of 5 between them very often lead to a confirmed link when combined with the absolute clues already worked out. Work down through 4, 3, 2 if they exist, then a run through the whole list to update before I tackle the 'Of' clues: with the information already on the grid, these often resolve at this point. After that it's slogging through the clues and the grid as fast as you can.