Subject: Never won winnables!
Date: Thu Jan 16 22:34:21 2020
User: smelborp
Message:FreeMyCells, would you describe the game; I'd like to try it? Thanks. For actual game difficulty, I look to the empirical game stats.
Date: Fri Jan 17 16:24:32 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:10x0-5 #19671
17/1/5.88%
First try, obviously. Was quite surprised; didn't seem that hard.
Date: Sun Jan 19 12:18:36 2020
User: TitanicTony
Message:Congratulations! You Win
Game #: 10x1 7699;.... Game stats: 9/1/11.11%;.... Difficulty: 8;.... Elapsed: 3:59;.... Streak: 36.
Date: Mon Jan 20 10:04:11 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:10x0-5 31751
18/1/5.56%
Not easy and very intricate. This one I was not at all surprised to see was un-won.
Date: Wed Jan 22 20:49:49 2020
User: Kaos
Message:Game #: 8x2 26390-5
Game stats: 26/1/3.85%
Elapsed: 2:54
Streak: 1
Today: 5
A bit surprising to me to see the low number of attempts.
Date: Thu Jan 23 23:44:37 2020
User: rarefunk
Message:what do the numbers mean? "Game stats: 9/1/11.11%"
Date: Fri Jan 24 00:23:31 2020
User: smelborp
Message:rarefunk, it indicates that out of 9 attempts, one was successful, for 1/9 or 11.11 percent win rate. It's probably indicative of a very difficult game.
Date: Fri Jan 24 16:25:33 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:7x2-5 #12997
11/1/9.09%
Didn't seem all that hard, really.
Date: Sat Jan 25 03:08:58 2020
User: Klepp
Message:4241-5 9X1, first of 28, first attempt, not easy.
Date: Mon Jan 27 20:00:53 2020
User: byronsmoot
Message:6x5
Game #25317
Game stats: 13/1/7.69%
Difficulty: 5
Elapsed: 3:33
I am always pretty pleased with myself whenever this happens ... I am certain someone out there will second this (pun intended).
Date: Mon Jan 27 22:34:23 2020
User: rarefunk
Message:thanks for the clarification
Date: Tue Jan 28 00:48:54 2020
User: smelborp
Message:You are welcome!
Date: Thu Jan 30 17:02:46 2020
User: byronsmoot
Message:6x5
Game #30180
Game stats: 24/1/4.17%
Difficulty: 5
Elapsed: 2:34
Date: Fri Jan 31 17:20:15 2020
User: Kaos
Message:Game #: 8x2 28898-5
Game stats: 30/1/3.33%
Elapsed: 3:00
Streak: 1
Meanwhile, I tried the byronsmoot game several times and I can see why it had never been won before because the solution is lost to me.
Date: Sat Feb 1 12:35:45 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:5x5-5 26639
11/1/9.09%
Didn't seem all that hard.
Date: Sat Feb 1 17:08:10 2020
User: Kaos
Message:Yep, that 5x5-5 doesn't seem that hard. Now 12/2.
Looks like no one else has tried the Game #30180 6x5-5.
Date: Sat Feb 1 17:35:00 2020
User: Oded789
Message:Gave a brief try at that 6x5, but I won't be the second to solve it. Looks nasty.
Date: Sun Feb 2 17:19:13 2020
User: Ellie2
Message:Gee, I got one:
Congratulations! You Win
Game #: 5x6 21354-5
Game stats: 3/1/33.33%
Elapsed: 6:00
Streak: 7
Date: Sun Feb 2 17:46:40 2020
User: byronsmoot
Message:Game #30180 6x5-5
Rang the bell again ... it is winnable
Date: Mon Feb 3 09:28:29 2020
User: Ellie2
Message:I had never played 4x7 before. After getting 4 unwinnable (imo) games in a row, I was finally able to win one, but it sure wasn't easy:
Game #: 4x7 25334-5
Game stats: 2/1/50.00%
Elapsed: 7:22
Streak: 1
Date: Mon Feb 3 10:25:09 2020
User: jamesblackburn-lynch
Message:10x2's are the weirdest.
Got this today:
Game:
10x2 28614-8
Plays:
5
Wins:
1
Percentage:
20.00
Hence I was the first to win it. But...it was absolutely average for a 10x2. Easy, I would call it. How did that happen?
And the reason I'm commenting is that I recently lost a streak of over 500 (every time I pass GGG it happens) by being the first person to lose a game. I was so going to post that one...I made one move without thinking. Literally, one move. Then I spent a long time looking and decided I had lost the game by making that move. (I replayed it to verify that I had a solution if I had not made that first move. It wasn't simple, but doable.) I was so sure it was going to have either a 50% win rate (representing those who didn't make that first dumb move) or even lower.
But...I was wrong. I was the only one who either ever made that dumb first move or it was still winnable and I missed the solution.
The weirdest part of that game was that the first move was to move a black queen onto a red king which frees up an ace. The correct first move was to move the other black queen onto that king. It did not free an ace or the like but had a way to solve it.
10x2's are the most unpredictable variant. To me.
James
Date: Mon Feb 3 18:20:10 2020
User: free@last
Message:Whew!
Game #: 10x1 13688
Game stats: 8/1/12.50%
Difficulty: 6
Elapsed: 14:12
Date: Tue Feb 4 14:49:12 2020
User: Kaos
Message:Game #: 8x2-5 4287
Game stats: 31/1/3.23%
Elapsed: 2:36
Streak: 7
Date: Fri Feb 7 05:35:49 2020
User: Ellie2
Message:Yesterday I got this w6x5 game. I stared at it for over an hour and couldn't find a solution; it is now 0/2!
Maybe one of you better players can solve it; I'd love to know how??
2/6 3:03 pm 6x5 20358-6 Winnable 7:25 Lost
Date: Fri Feb 7 16:19:08 2020
User: byronsmoot
Message:Take a look at this game ... It has been defeated ... but not by me.
6x5
Game #14515
Game stats: 394/3/0.76%
Difficulty: 5
Date: Fri Feb 7 18:37:50 2020
User: byronsmoot
Message:Game #: 6x5 8316
Game stats: 18/1/5.56%
Difficulty: 5
Elapsed: 2:34
Date: Sat Feb 8 14:16:19 2020
User: jamesblackburn-lynch
Message:This was a total shocker:
Congratulations!
You Win
Game #: 9x2 14559
Game stats: 75/1/1.33%
Difficulty: 9
Elapsed: 15:44
I swear, it’s not THAT hard.
James
Date: Sat Feb 8 15:13:47 2020
User: Ellie2
Message:My game mentioned above (Fri Feb 7 05:35:49 2020), 6x5 20358-6 Winnable, was 0/2, and is now 0/6, so someone else has tried it, but to no avail.
Can't somebody solve this game, and give me a clue how to do it? I'd still like to know how?
Date: Sat Feb 15 13:05:36 2020
User: mrbuck
Message:11 x 1: 27983 1/1, super easy.
mrbuck
Date: Sat Feb 15 17:28:55 2020
User: Uberman
Message:Gave that 6x5 another 8 tries today and it's now 58-0. Kept checking to see if I'd typed the game no. in correctly, because if this is winnable, I have no idea how.
Date: Sun Feb 16 23:02:47 2020
User: Winsol
Message:That 6x5 is now 106/1.
Ellie,Uberman,Mastermind and any one else who has had a go, clear column 4 and build a string KQJ etc. Several possibilities open up and all of you can win with some manoeuvring.
Date: Mon Feb 17 08:58:12 2020
User: Uberman
Message:Thanks for at least proving it does in fact belong in the winnable variant! Of course, I tried what you said and got nowhere near - pretty sure I'd been down that route several times in the past also - but perhaps I'll keep trying and see the solution some day.
Date: Sun Feb 23 06:13:41 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:8x1-5 #14415
Now 1/5; first try.
Date: Wed Feb 26 08:24:32 2020
User: TitanicTony
Message:This w6x5 game sure looks impossible to me:
Sorry You Lose
Game #: 27380
Game stats: 25/0/0.00%
Difficulty: 5
Elapsed: 2:38
Streak was: 2
Date: Wed Feb 26 18:56:11 2020
User: byronsmoot
Message:Re: TitanicTony #27380
Tough Game
Was able to solve this one
Game #: 6x5 9821
Game stats: 15/1/6.67%
Difficulty: 5
Elapsed: 3:17
Date: Wed Feb 26 19:06:34 2020
User: Oded789
Message:Game #: 10x0 20023
Game stats: 24/1/4.17%
Difficulty: 4
Elapsed: 6:55
Sadly, half of these tries are mine, and more importantly, I wasn't able to get through this maze with a ZZ tournament on the line and only about 3 minutes left, which were something like 60 less than what it took me to get over the hump.
Date: Thu Feb 27 22:02:49 2020
User: WRAC
Message:Wow, tough 11x1, ix. Took me 11 tries... although if I had to bet, I'd say Kaos would get it in fewer than 5, maybe 1st try if not playing in "tournament" mode.
Oh, and I doubt Hop would even blink. ;-)
Date: Fri Feb 28 05:34:19 2020
User: TitanicTony
Message:Well, the (W)6x5 game I mentioned above is still not won, but with 57 additional tries! It is now 0/82!
Date: Wed Feb 26 08:24:32 2020,..... User: TitanicTony
Message: This w6x5 game sure looks impossible to me:
Sorry You Lose,... Game #: 27380-5;... Game stats: 25/0/0.00%.
Could somebody PLEASE win it, and then tell me how???
Maybe free@last could ask his solver!
Date: Fri Feb 28 15:16:14 2020
User: Kaos
Message:ix's 11x1 isn't talking to me but I decided to make a few more runs at TitanicTony's problematic 6x5:
Game #: 6x5 27380-5
Game stats: 135/1/0.74%
Elapsed: 5:30
Twelfth attempt today. Six before getting whooped on by calicokid in today's Traditional and then six more after. Spoiler alert: hints to follow.
Two lines of opening play looked promising to me:
1) treat the ace in column 1 as a tease and build down on the 7C to clear column 3.
2) clear column 6.
Clearly, having all the low red cards buried deep is the biggest obstacle but lots of other key cards are buried deep too. After playing around with each of the openings above, I decided that getting a red 8 and trying to get to the diamonds had to be the better option so the winning opening is to clear column 6. (doesn't it often come down to "free a column; use it wisely").
There's lots of very patient play that has to follow after that.
Date: Fri Feb 28 15:42:26 2020
User: TitanicTony
Message:BRAVO Kaos, , 🙂!!!!!!
Date: Fri Feb 28 16:57:53 2020
User: WRAC
Message:Congratulations, Kaos! Words fail at how impressed I am. :-)
Again, mild spoilers follow.
Like you, I pondered how to get to a red 8. After giving up on column 6 (the winning approach), I tried one other line you didn't mention: clearing column 1 and building down on the black 7.
Finally, in desperation (and to get my life back!), I read your post and went back to the column 6 approach. It was a little easier once I had the confidence that was the way to go, but there's no substitute for knowing for sure you're on the right path.
Great job!
Date: Fri Feb 28 19:58:37 2020
User: Kaos
Message:Thanks TT and WRAC. Definitely a challenging game.
WRAC wrote: "but there's no substitute for knowing for sure you're on the right path"
So true. But, a close second is deluding yourself into knowing you are on the right path. I reread my post above and the phrase: "...had to be the better option..." didn't really describe my state of mind at that point. What I really decided is that clearing column six just had to be the right opening. So, I knew for sure I was on the right path.
Of course, sometimes I get this feeling and then nothing pans out leading to 10-20 minutes of time falling behind in a tournament. Probably the biggest factor in why I can have such widely inconsistent results
Date: Sat Feb 29 20:37:38 2020
User: d164280
Message:ix's 11x1 29472-8, first try in 1:07:03. The kind of game if in regular 11x1 I would have given up after about half an hour, sure it was unwinnable. Then totally bummed when I saw it was winnable!
Date: Sat Feb 29 21:21:48 2020
User: Dr.Bombay
Message:Wow. That’s really impressive. First for getting it on the first go. Second, for having that much patience. I’m not sure I’ve ever waited more than five minutes to make some type of opening move.
Date: Sat Feb 29 22:09:40 2020
User: ix
Message:really impressive indeed! and yes, the patience, and concentration, to get it first time! tourney mode and streak mode are like developing nuclear ordnance (we need it asap) and disarming nuclear ornance (take as many tries as you need as long as it's one)
Date: Sun Mar 1 14:10:12 2020
User: byronsmoot
Message:11x1: 29472-8
I have lost this game now 50X ... like my dad used to say ... oh well, the world needs ditch diggers, too.
Date: Mon Mar 2 01:15:17 2020
User: Mastermind
Message:53/1 now. Not bad, only 5 attempts .
Date: Wed Mar 4 10:45:18 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:Mildly surprising:
12x0-6 #4294. Now 1/5.
Post follow-up