Tough Sudoku for 2/February/2006

first in line ! come on...
without any help

Bluey from Port Kembla (of Tough)and to many others who ask
Sudokuese chat favs
BTW - By The Way
CSL - Can't Stop Laughing
IMHO- In My Humble Opinion
LOL - Laughing out Loudly/Lots of Love
MAEN- Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night
OMG _ Oh My God!
ROTFL- Roll On The Floor Laughing (I guess)
TGIF- Thank God Its Friday!(I guess)
THTD- Thought For The Day

welcome to add to the list!

Steve from Ohio - quick question: I am unfamiliar with the notation 'c2<>a7' - can you explain? The I can follow your great commentary....

I mean style of notation, not that specific one....

some pet having a high life!well today to i've to struggle a bit for the nos.doesnt seem to flow anymore.think better take a break and do some homework in sandbox.till then bye folks.

A man walks into a restaurant with a full-grown ostrich behind him.
The waitress asks for their orders.
The man says, 'A hamburger, fries and a coke,' and turns to the ostrich, 'What's yours?' 'I'll have the same,' says the ostrich.
A short time later the waitress returns with the order.
'That will be $9.40 please,' and the man reaches into his pocket and pulls out the exact change for payment.
The next day, the man and the ostrich come again and the man says, 'A hamburger, fries,

The ostrich says, 'I'll have the same.'
Again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.
This becomes routine until, the two enter again.
'The usual?' asks the waitress. 'No, this is Friday night, so I will have a steak, baked potato, and salad,' says the man.
'Same,' says the ostrich.
Shortly the waitress brings the order and says, 'That will be $32.62.'
Once again the man pulls the exact change out of his pocket and places it on the table. The waitress can't

The waitress can't hold back her curiosity any longer.
'Excuse me, sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change out of your pocket every time?'
'Well,' says the man, 'several years ago I was cleaning the attic and found an old lamp. When I rubbed it a Genie appeared and offered me two wishes.
My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything, I would just put my hand in my pocket and the right amount of money would always be there.'
'That's brilliant!' says t

That's brilliant!' says the waitress. 'Most people would wish for a million dollars or something, but you'll always be as rich as you want for as long as you live!'
'That's right. Whether it's a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact money is always there,' says the man.
The waitress asks, 'But, sir, what's with the ostrich?'
The man sighs, pauses, and answers, 'My second wish was for a tall chick with a big butt and long legs who agrees with everything I say.'

10:59 Is it me, or was that easy. First time I've got through all levels without a mistake. Ah well, back to work.

13.31? must have made a mistake

10:49 Good Maen all

Well why not get some privacy, he says!!

4:20 well, done for the day. might try and get some sleep now. it is now 12:07am

by the way the pic is good. looks like someone has had too many!!

You guys are the best. Found the sights and solved yesterdays tough puzzle in record time for me. I'm sure I will get better and faster.
Good mean to you all.

all this for a dead cat?
mybe he just can't find his way out of a paper bag :)

The day after the Su PURR bowl. Sarah, ROTFL. Hillarious!! 20 min today. Not so great, but still trying to get it.

At 52 filled, remote pairs (1,9) allow elimination of 1's and 9's in e4 and f7.

Start at e8 with the 1,9 pair. Then to i8, then to g7, then to h6, then to f6, which allow eliminations of 1's and 9's in e4 and f7.

See ttp://www.scanraid.com/AdvanStrategies.h tm#RP

Congratulations to you, Hugh, for having a good puzzle day. Mine, on the other hand ...
And the picture is proof that we can forget about expensive cat and dog toys--just give them a box and they're happy. Thanks for the laugh, Sarah, and have a wonderful Maen, everyone!

Christina : '<>' means 'not equal to'.

LOL, kitty!

Larry La Prise, the man who wrote 'The Hokey Pokey', died peacefully at age 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him in to the coffin. They put his left leg in, and then the trouble started!!!

Merci gb

what's the difference between a duck

3:32 after setup - seemed too easy to be a tough one. Did anyone else think that? Good MAEN, everyone. Looks like someone found the perfect place for a nap...

Mostly naked and hidden pairs. At 59 filled, a couple of identical FC's linking the 19's in f6 and e8 eliminate the 1 and the 9 in f7. Then it's a yawn. Good thing. I don't have time today to spend on this stuff.

cb from nc: Right. 'Locked pairs' is a better term for those who have picked up the jargon from the Scanraid site.

NOT a good puzzle day here (must be b/c I'm supposed to be working). Stuck in both hard & tough b/c missed some possibilities - resorted to ONE guess with Allow incorrect unchecked (Oh, the shame of it all!), then went smoothly to end. You don't want to know how long....
Great joke Sarah.

A possible way for that easy puzzle.

1) easy fillings to 27
2)eliminate def5=8 (1 set), then easy fillings to 31.
3) eliminate c1=4 (2 sets), a3=9 (2 sets), f7=1 (2 sets, consider the 1s in col g), then easy to the end (a1=4%block, a2=9%col...).

Total cost : 7 sets to examine, max depth needed : 2.

alistair : it's one of my all-time favorites (though my version was about a craw instead of a duck...) !

good usa beer...

11:53

To Judie: My time was much longer than yours, but yes, everything fell into place quickly after a bit and it did seem too easy for a TOUGH.

Alastair, I haven't heard that one in ages...I must remember to try it on my kids.

GB found an error on my part on yesterdays puzzle. thats the trouble with trying to do tough puzzles in the middle of work. thanks.

First time on the Tough level and done in 4:52!
Couldn't believe it!

way too long

Is anyone else having problems with the ARP unchecking itself before starting or the save game function not working? It has been acting up the last few days for me.

Totally brain dead today. I got to 52 filled and I'm stuck there. Sorry, gb, I don't get 'consider the 1's in col g'; sorry, nc, I checked out remote pairs and I'm completely lost!