This is an extreme example but I'm still slow at these where the ordering constraints (X is 1 before Y, Z is 2 after x) interact. Writing out the orderings often helps but that's slow too. How do people think about these or hold them in their heads? I guess I just need to sit down and practice.
So here, for instance, we have clues 5 and 9 give us Denise, Almerini/seventh. They're both written in the same order (X is 1 longer than Denise) so I can handle those OK. Ditto clues 6 and 7 give us Ronald, somebody, Zachary, Nick. And clues 8 and 10 give us second, Condini, sixth.
But then my brain is just kinda overloaded. And... hmm. Yeah. I guess I kinda overlooked clue 1 (Nick is sixth) because it seemed too simple and often those ones end up last. And actually that instinct is good for clue 2 (Otis isn't Manzella), which fills in the last square at the very end. Ah, but those are usually negative, and clue one is positive, giving you a connection. Yeah. I'm just having trouble holding all nine items in three chains in my head, so I missed that Nick/sixth ties two of them together. OK, I can work on that.
So then equating Nick/sixth means working backwards to get Ronald, second, Zachary/Condini, Nick/sixth. Geez, six pieces in a single chain of four. That feels like a lot. So I can work on getting better at that. Because if I really put that together solidly then it'll be more clear that second has a bunch of possible students ruled out: can't be Ronald, Zachary, or Nick, so that just leaves Denise or Otis. And Denise is in a chain, can she be second? Denise/second would be followed both by Almerini/seventh and Zachary/Condini, so that's a conflict with Almerini/Condini. Then it all falls out, because we have a whole chain of students: Ronald, Otis, Zachary, Nick.
But it took me forever to get to that point. So I guess my two weak spots are:
Noticing that we've ruled out all but two of something; can we rule out one more? As in "second can't be Ronald/Zachary/Nick" here.
And matching up the orderings for conflicts: I still often have to painstakingly work those out by hand, especially when sometimes the clues are worded in the opposite order ("after" vs. "before") or when there are lots of clues like this puzzle. How do you quickly remember which ones cause conflicts, and which ones don't so you should be looking for another connection before they'll give you a deduction? Or is it just more practice?
So here, for instance, we have clues 5 and 9 give us Denise, Almerini/seventh. They're both written in the same order (X is 1 longer than Denise) so I can handle those OK. Ditto clues 6 and 7 give us Ronald, somebody, Zachary, Nick. And clues 8 and 10 give us second, Condini, sixth.
But then my brain is just kinda overloaded. And... hmm. Yeah. I guess I kinda overlooked clue 1 (Nick is sixth) because it seemed too simple and often those ones end up last. And actually that instinct is good for clue 2 (Otis isn't Manzella), which fills in the last square at the very end. Ah, but those are usually negative, and clue one is positive, giving you a connection. Yeah. I'm just having trouble holding all nine items in three chains in my head, so I missed that Nick/sixth ties two of them together. OK, I can work on that.
So then equating Nick/sixth means working backwards to get Ronald, second, Zachary/Condini, Nick/sixth. Geez, six pieces in a single chain of four. That feels like a lot. So I can work on getting better at that. Because if I really put that together solidly then it'll be more clear that second has a bunch of possible students ruled out: can't be Ronald, Zachary, or Nick, so that just leaves Denise or Otis. And Denise is in a chain, can she be second? Denise/second would be followed both by Almerini/seventh and Zachary/Condini, so that's a conflict with Almerini/Condini. Then it all falls out, because we have a whole chain of students: Ronald, Otis, Zachary, Nick.
But it took me forever to get to that point. So I guess my two weak spots are:
Noticing that we've ruled out all but two of something; can we rule out one more? As in "second can't be Ronald/Zachary/Nick" here.
And matching up the orderings for conflicts: I still often have to painstakingly work those out by hand, especially when sometimes the clues are worded in the opposite order ("after" vs. "before") or when there are lots of clues like this puzzle. How do you quickly remember which ones cause conflicts, and which ones don't so you should be looking for another connection before they'll give you a deduction? Or is it just more practice?