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		| nataraj 
 
 
 Joined: 03 Aug 2007
 Posts: 1048
 Location: near Vienna, Austria
 
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				|  Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 6:42 am    Post subject: Oct 2 vh |   |  
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				| I had a very good time solving this one (with a twist at the end) After basics, there is a skyscraper (6) in rows 4 and 8, plus an x-wing (4) in rows 6 and 8.
 
 After that,
 
  	  | Code: |  	  | +--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
 | 4       13      5        | 7       6       8        | 13      9       2        |
 | 6       2       38       | 1       9       5        | 38      7       4        |
 | 79      18      79       | 4       2       3        | 5       16      68       |
 +--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
 | 8       4-6 !   1        | 2       3       7        | 46      5       9        |
 | 37#     36*     237      | 9       5       4        | 18      12-6    68       |
 | 5       9       24       | 6       8       1        | 7       24      3        |
 +--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
 | 13#     348     368      | 5       14      9        | 2       36*     7        |
 | 19      7       69       | 3       14      2        | 46      8       5        |
 | 2       5       34       | 8       7       6        | 9       34      1        |
 +--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
 
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 a w-wing (6)r5c2=r7c8,
 which not only eliminates 6 from r5c8 directly, but serves as a new strong link,
 which allows to eliminate 6 from r4c2 as well:
 
 (6) r4c2-r5c2=[w-wing]=r7c8-r8c7=r4c7-r4c2
 
 
   
 P.S. I see that there is also a xy-wing (14-13-34 boxes 7 and 8) that has the same effect (r4c2=4).
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		| Asellus 
 
 
 Joined: 05 Jun 2007
 Posts: 865
 Location: Sonoma County, CA, USA
 
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				|  Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:03 am    Post subject: |   |  
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				| Not only does that 134 XY Wing have the same effect, it is all you need from the get-go to solve the puzzle. |  | 
	
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		| nataraj 
 
 
 Joined: 03 Aug 2007
 Posts: 1048
 Location: near Vienna, Austria
 
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				|  Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:30 am    Post subject: |   |  
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				|  	  | Asellus wrote: |  	  | Not only does that 134 XY Wing have the same effect, it is all you need from the get-go to solve the puzzle. | 
 
 Boy, am I glad I did not see the xy-wing. Would have completely ruined my day
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		| tlanglet 
 
 
 Joined: 17 Oct 2007
 Posts: 2468
 Location: Northern California Foothills
 
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				|  Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 12:33 pm    Post subject: |   |  
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				| Sorry to say that I saw the xy-wing <134> one-punch knockout. However I did the puzzle a second time and ignored it; three steps were required. 
 Ted
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		| arkietech 
 
 
 Joined: 31 Jul 2008
 Posts: 1834
 Location: Northwest Arkansas USA
 
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				|  Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 1:39 pm    Post subject: |   |  
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				|  	  | Code: |  	  | +--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 4       13      5        | 7       6       8        | 13      9       2        |
 | 6       2       38       | 1       9       5        | 38      7       4        |
 | 79      18      79       | 4       2       3        | 5       16      68       |
 +--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
 | 8       4-6     1        | 2       3       7        |B46      5       9        |
 |a37#    *36      237      | 9       5       4        | 18      12-6    68       |
 | 5       9       24       | 6       8       1        | 7       24      3        |
 +--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
 |A13#     348     368      | 5       14      9        | 2      *36      7        |
 | 19      7       69       | 3       14      2        |b46      8       5        |
 | 2       5       34       | 8       7       6        | 9       34      1        |
 +--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
 a w-wing
 ab w-wing
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 Did I get it right? Is it one pattern or two? What do you call it?
 
 W-wings sure come hard to me.
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		| eddieg 
 
 
 Joined: 12 Jan 2006
 Posts: 47
 Location: San Diego, CA USA
 
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				|  Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:35 pm    Post subject: Puzzles getting easier -or- Puzzlers getting smarter |   |  
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				| Maybe some of both? |  | 
	
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		| nataraj 
 
 
 Joined: 03 Aug 2007
 Posts: 1048
 Location: near Vienna, Austria
 
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				|  Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:58 pm    Post subject: |   |  
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				| arkietech, the pattern *-a-A-* in your grid is a w-wing.
 Characteristics:
 "the pincers": two identical bi-value cells (r5c2,r7c8 have two candidates 3 and 6) that do not share a house.
 
 The "wing": both cells "see" the ends of a strong link in one of the two candidates (in this case the candidate is 3, the strong link is between r5c1 and r7c1)
 
 The victim: Every cell that sees both pincers cannot contain the other candidate (6), so r5c8<>6.
 
 The pincers act as a strong link (at least one of them must be 6), so we can construct another elimination altogether (not a w-wing), that gets rid of the 6 in r4c2. This other elimination is shown in my drawing. I gave the "shorthand" notation for this AIC
 (6) r4c2-r5c2=[w-wing]=r7c8-r8c7=r4c7-r4c2
 , what it means is:
 if r5c2 is not 6 then (because of the w-wing) r7c8 is 6.
 But then r8c7 is not 6, then r4c7 is 6.
 r4c2 sees both r5c2 and r4c7 and therefore cannot be 6
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		| Clement 
 
 
 Joined: 24 Apr 2006
 Posts: 1113
 Location: Dar es Salaam Tanzania
 
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				|  Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 3:39 pm    Post subject: Daily Sudoku: Thu 2-Oct-2008 VH |   |  
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				| XY-Wing  134 Pivot {1,3}r7c1 with Pincers in r9c3{3,4} and r7c5{1,4} eliminating the 4's in r7c23 leaving 4 as the only candidate in r4c2. This solves the puzzle. |  | 
	
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		| Marty R. 
 
 
 Joined: 12 Feb 2006
 Posts: 5770
 Location: Rochester, NY, USA
 
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				|  Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 3:53 pm    Post subject: |   |  
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				|  	  | Quote: |  	  | The pincers act as a strong link (at least one of them must be 6), so we can construct another elimination altogether (not a w-wing), that gets rid of the 6 in r4c2. This other elimination is shown in my drawing. I gave the "shorthand" notation for this AIC (6) r4c2-r5c2=[w-wing]=r7c8-r8c7=r4c7-r4c2
 , what it means is:
 if r5c2 is not 6 then (because of the w-wing) r7c8 is 6.
 But then r8c7 is not 6, then r4c7 is 6.
 r4c2 sees both r5c2 and r4c7 and therefore cannot be 6
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 Hate to be critical, old buddy, but isn't this a little overkill for what is a simple case of pincer coloring, or transport, if you will?
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		| nataraj 
 
 
 Joined: 03 Aug 2007
 Posts: 1048
 Location: near Vienna, Austria
 
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				|  Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 5:20 pm    Post subject: |   |  
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				|  	  | Marty R. wrote: |  	  | Hate to be critical, old buddy, but isn't this a little overkill for what is a simple case of pincer coloring, or transport, if you will?
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 Total overkill, I agree, for what is essentially a one xy-wing puzzle.
 But that wasn't the criticism, was it ?
   
 Overkill for "what is a simple case of ..." ?
 
 Don't know. "pincer coloring" or "transport" might not be so simple. I don't mind typing a few more lines and spell out the logic. One doesn't come across a w-wing with pincer coloring every day ...  Good thing you answered archietech's "What do you call it" question... I missed that one completely.
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		| George Woods 
 
 
 Joined: 28 Mar 2006
 Posts: 304
 Location: Dorset UK
 
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				|  Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 8:19 pm    Post subject: A Variant of an Xy Wing? |   |  
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				| The simple solution is the XY wing in boxes 6 & 7 BUT I used a solution albeit more complex but to me is interesting. 
 Looking for an XY I saw the 13 (box1) and 36(Box 4) and looking for a 16 to complete the XY I noticed the one in box3. No good BUT the 68s in col 9 connect the 36 to the 16 to give an XY 13 36 68 86 61 chain, eliminating 1 from r1c7 to give an easy solution.
 
 I presume XY chains are "inferior"  to XY Wings, But it didn't need the 68 link to be a naked pair (allowing a simple XY chain). Had the 6's been strongly linked in col 7 the same logic would have worked albeit no simple XY chain. Has this variant of an XY chain got a name?
 
 Incidentally I often find recently , and so it was today, the the ranking (very Hard) does not appear on th print out. By using draw/play , and the tab "Today" followed by print, I get the grading!
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		| Asellus 
 
 
 Joined: 05 Jun 2007
 Posts: 865
 Location: Sonoma County, CA, USA
 
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				|  Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:33 pm    Post subject: |   |  
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				|  	  | George Woods wrote: |  	  | I presume XY chains are "inferior" to XY Wings, But it didn't need the 68 link to be a naked pair (allowing a simple XY chain). Had the 6's been strongly linked in col 7 the same logic would have worked albeit no simple XY chain. Has this variant of an XY chain got a name? | 
 Some folks call your XY Chain an "Extended XY-Wing" since it is an XY-Wing "extended" by the locked pair.  You are correct that an "extension" by the conjugate <6>s alone is equivalent and I would consider that to be an Extended XY-Wing as well.
 
 I am not among those who consider XY Chains "inferior".  But, I also don't consider AICs inferior and would call the short chain with the conjugate <6>s just a simple Alternate Implication Chain (AIC).
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		| keith 
 
 
 Joined: 19 Sep 2005
 Posts: 3355
 Location: near Detroit, Michigan, USA
 
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				|  Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 12:28 am    Post subject: |   |  
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				| I am late to the discussion, and I have not read all the posts in detail.  This one took not much time.  After filling in the singles, and only candidates in those cells where there are two: 
 No pairs, no line/column intersections. There is an XY-wing <134> in B7R7. In C2, R7 is not <4>, R4 must be <4>, and the puzzle is solved. 	  | Code: |  	  | +----------+----------+----------+ | 4  13 5  | 7  6  8  | 13 9  2  |
 | 6  2  38 | 1  9  5  | 38 7  4  |
 |    18    | 4  2  3  | 5  16 68 |
 +----------+----------+----------+
 | 8  46 1  | 2  3  7  | 46 5  9  |
 | 37 36    | 9  5  4  |       68 |
 | 5  9  24 | 6  8  1  | 7  24 3  |
 +----------+----------+----------+
 | 13 (-4)  | 5  14 9  |       7  |
 | 19 7     | 3  14 2  | 46 8  5  |
 | 2  5  34 | 8  7  6  | 9  34 1  |
 +----------+----------+----------+
 | 
 
 Keith
 
 Last edited by keith on Fri Oct 03, 2008 10:09 pm; edited 1 time in total
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		| DennyOR 
 
 
 Joined: 12 Sep 2007
 Posts: 33
 Location: Portland, Oregon
 
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				|  Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 7:53 pm    Post subject: |   |  
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				| My solution was the xy chain 34-46-69-91-13. 
 Since I look for xy chains instead of xy-wings, I'm as likely to find a long chain as a 3-member chain (wing). Flitting around from one linked pair to the next to see if I can find any matched ends that eliminate numbers is my sudoku fun time. I find the rest of process of solving a sudoku to be tedious (but still satisfying).
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