Name:

Comment:

Name: Josie
Comment: Yes, I agree with Jeff

Name: Jeff Loeb
Comment: A lot of your futoshiki puzzles have multiple solutions. This is very frustrating.

Name: Les
Comment: Hello again, Robert. Now that the dribbling witless undead have found your site, maybe you should think about dropping the comments page.

Name: *****
Comment: i'm hot

Name: ml
Comment: comment back if you are hottttt

Name: Susan
Comment: Hi - this is a great site: Futoshiki has become my favourite puzzle. I struggled a bit at first but now I'm finding the puzzles too easy. Could you make them more difficult - say, with 36 or 49 squares instead of 25?

Name: C-DUBBS $=
Comment: wow you are all lozers c u never hahaha bye bye!!!!!!!!

Name: C-DUBBS $=
Comment: wow you are all lozers c u never hahaha bye bye!!!!!!!!

Name: C-DUBBS $=
Comment: WOW i think thease games are really easy and i think that they should be harder and ya the website could use A LOTof help =( . i kindva lost intrest after the 6th puzzle way to go!!!!! i wont be on here for much longer so comment back A.S.A.P. thx. ~!C-DUBBS /= ??

Name: C-DUBBS $=
Comment: WOW i think thease games are really easy and i think that they should be harder and ya the website could use A LOTof help =( . i kindva lost intrest after the 6th puzzle way to go!!!!! i wont be on her for much longer so comment back A.S.A.P. thx. ~!C-DUBBS /= ??

Name: C-DUBBS $=
Comment: WOW i think thease games are really easy and i think that they should be harder and ya the website could use A LOTof help =( . i kindva lost intrest after the 6th puzzle way to go!!!!! i9 wont be on her for much longer so comment back A.S.A.P. thx. ~!C-DUBBS /= ??

Name: MiketheBike
Comment: My comment a moment ago did not retain my formatting as I typed it, so I'm going to type my answer again: First row: 1 5 2 3 4 2nd row: 4 2 1 5 3 3rd row: 3 4 5 2 1 4th row: 2 3 4 1 5 5th row: 5 1 3 4 2

Name: MiketheBike
Comment: Puzzle ID52575 wrongly told me my answer was wrong. My answer was: 1 5 2 3 4 4 2 1 5 3 3 4 5 2 1 2 3 4 1 5 5 1 3 4 2

Name: AYomTov
Comment: Think I've sussed it - it seems my computer decided to reset my cookies setting, all on its own....... Hopefully the problem is now resolved.

Name: YomTov
Comment: Something funny is going on - the level keeps reverting to 3 and often, even though I've clicked 5 again, it gives me a level 3 puzzle. Seems like there's some glitsch in the system at the moment. Hope you can sort it. I am somewhat dependent on this site........ thank you! And I look forward to the more difficult puzzles when you get the time.

Name: Robert
Comment: Hello Jasmine. Yes, I've identified ways to make harder puzzles I just need to find the time to do the updates. Right-click to erase a pencil mark is a good idea, I'll do that also. Thanks.

Name: Jasmine
Comment: Hello. I've just found your site and I think it's wonderful. I have 2 requests (1) please could we have a level 6 (2) it would be nice if right clicking on an individual pencil mark would erase it. Keep up the good work!!

Name: Robert
Comment: Hi Les. If you send me an email (qov@techie.com) I'll send you a note when I get some updates posted. I haven't given up, just had to put the updates on hold for a while, lots of other responsibilities.

Name: Les Barker
Comment: I think it's time to leave the comments page, dnt u? ys. Bye, Robert. I'll still play the game, but do try to make it tougher. Best wishes. Les.

Name: Jaspen
Comment: Thanks, Jeff! I'll look that up!

Name: Jeff
Comment: Jaspen, Amazon.com has a futoshiki book from Puzzler, the UK company

Name: Jaspen
Comment: Yes! I'd love to see some Futoshiki books available. Also, how about a daily Futoshiki puzzle on my "MyYahoo" home page?

Name: Nanhite@aol.com
Comment: I love these new puzzles. Where can I buy a book of them? I have been trying to find one .

Name: dougal
Comment: Correct Taryn - perhaps we can call them perfect and imperfect triples....

Name: Taryn
Comment: SQL problems? For a day or so, I've been seeing "Can't create/write to file '/var/lib/mysql/#sql_6629_0.MYI' (Errcode: 122)" on the puzzle page

Name: Robert
Comment: taryn: I think this could be a problem with the javascript that the player uses to check your solution. I've made it possible to play that particular puzzle:
http://futoshiki.justplayfreegames.com/723355.php
if anyone else find a problem, please let me know.

Name: taryn
Comment: re: pairs and triples. The triples don't have to be perfect, e.g. 3 boxes all limited to 135, that assure the other two are 2 and 4. A triple like 135, 15, 135, or even 13, 35, 15, has the same effect, in that row, the others must be 2,4.

Name: taryn
Comment: I've a solution to puzzle 723355 which the page says has 22 wrong answers, but seems perfect to me:
1 3 2 5 4
2 4 3 1 5
4 5 1 2 3
5 2 4 3 1
3 1 5 4 2
Perhaps I've missed something, but I've checked and re-checked. Thanks so much for this site. The puzzles are great fun, I really appreciate the clean, crisp, and calm page layout.

Name: dougal
Comment: I have occasionally found naked trios if that's the right term

Name: Robert
Comment: "Naked pair" is the term someone came up with for the same situation in Sudoku. I put up a video showing how I solve that particular puzzle. You can find it at the bottom of the how-to page. (I played the puzzle twice before making the video, so I could do it fast and keep the video small).

Thanks for playing, I'm glad you enjoy the puzzles. I do have lots of big plans for improvement, just not enough hours in a day :-) ~ Robert

Name: Mikethebike
Comment: Thanks for your recent response. I do know what a "naked pair" is (don't get the name, but anyway) -- I use em all the time. Seems I must have missed something, so I will try the puzzle again.

Name: Robert
Comment: So I've been able to solve that puzzle, start to finish, with just logic. I noticed that after the first 5 answers could be found the only next logical move required the discovery and use of a naked pair. Perhaps those are what have been tripping you up.

Naked pair: 2 cells in a row or column which together contain only the same 2 candidates. These candidates can be excluded from other cells in the same row or column.

If you would like to play that puzzle again, you can do so here: futoshiki.justplayfreegames.com/932628.php

I will be making a video showing the solving of that puzzle to post up soon.

Regards,
Robert


Name: Robert
Comment: Thanks Mikethebike. I will be looking closely at that puzzle. If I find that trial-and-error is required to solve it, I will fix my puzzle generator. If I find it can be solved completely with logic I will post a step-by-step walk through for that puzzle.

Name: Mikethebike
Comment: Hi: I wrote a while back commenting that it seemed to me some of the puzzles required trial-and-error to solve, which I believe should not be the case -- from what I've read elsewhere, I understand that the "perfect" futoshiki puzzle should be entirely solvable using logic. You asked me then to provide examples. Well, I visit your site religiously once a day and try to polish off a level 5 puzzle, and I think I've noticed this problem a few times...but I haven't been certain enough to get back to you. This morning, I was working on 932628; I filled in about five squares (can't remember exactly which five, and they've since been wiped off the puzzle) before getting to a point where I'm pretty certain pure logical analysis will take you no further. You have no choice but to try one of the possibilities for a square, see where that takes you and backtrack if it leads to a dead end. Looking at some of the recent comments posted on the site, looks like I'm not the only one raising this question. I still love the site -- my only interest is helping to make it better, if possible, than it already is.

Name: Les Barker
Comment: Thank you, Robert. I look forward to more challenging puzzles, and I'm still playing! I think the problem for me is with the word "guess". If you have two possibilities for a cell, with no obvious logical proof that one or the other is correct, then trying one will possibly lead to a contradiction, so establishing that the other is in fact correct. This isn't guessing as I would call it, but exploring logical possibilities. I did this quite a bit with your puzzles, often going to second generation "guesses", that is, what if this, then what if that? Of course, I now know that I don't have to do that with your futoshiki and have worked out how to solve them without what I would call branching, or guessing. But there are sudoku problems, for example, that would not be solvable without testing out possible entries for cells. But it's still logical. And I do like your site.

Name: Robert
Comment: Hello Les. A good puzzle will never require guessing to find the solution - there should always be a logical process to follow through to the end.

It is, in fact, possible to make Futoshiki puzzles more difficult without introducing the need to guess. I have identified several more advanced methods of finding solutions to Futoshiki puzzles. The current puzzles on this site do not require the use of these new methods. When I have the chance to update my puzzle generator there will be a new difficulty level that requires the identification and exploitation of these solving methods in order to arrive at a logical conclusion.

The only reason to use a guess and check approach (no matter what difficulty level) is if you are unable to locate the next logical move. With the puzzles on this site, however, there always IS a next logical move.

Name: Les Barker
Comment: Hello?

Name: Les Barker
Comment: I've been doing my daily exercises on your excellent futoshiki for some time. However, I'm now stuck on level 5 and am solving them pretty easily. The problem is that, without guess and check, you can't make them any harder. Why is there an issue with this? Isn't the need to explore avenues of possibility part of the complexity and hence the challenge?

Name: Robert
Comment: Hello Mikethebike - I assure you, every puzzle on my site can be solved without guesswork. Every puzzle here has been solved with a Futoshiki solving program I wrote, and that program solves them with logic and does not guess (it doesn't know how to guess, I didn't "teach" it how).

If you find a puzzle you are certain requires a guess-and-check to solve, send me the puzzle ID (under the bamboo) and I will solve it myself to check.

Thanks, Robert.

Name: mokie
Comment: yay futoshiki is so kewl !!! ive just done my first level 4 puzzle and i did it in about 5 minutes yay im the greatest ^.^

Name: Mikethebike
Comment: I'm no sophisticate when it comes to Futoshiki, so I love your site and can't pretend to have found multiple answers to any puzzles. But I have noticed that quite commonly they require trial-and-error (a/k/a guesswork) -- that is, there comes a point where logic will not take you further, and you simply have to try one route (usually of two possible ones) and backtrack if that ends up not working. My understanding, from puzzles I've seen in British newspapers, is that a "pure" puzzle should not require guesswork.

Name: Robert
Comment: @Aza - my email is qov@techie.com. I might be able to give you some tips.

Name: Aza
Comment: Hi Robert, could you please tell me how to create Futoshiki game. i am talking about source code. Actually i need to submit assignment, and the teacher want me to creat futoshiki game. i have no idea how to do it now. Please help me out.Thank you

Name: King
Comment: I am spending thousands of seconds to work it out, I am using c# any ,but I will come through it soon!

Name: J
Comment: Thanks Robert, i am working on it, hope i will do in C#. and i for incrementing the click from 1 to 3 i am using Ajax control. that work great.I will show you when i will do it.

Name: Robert
Comment: J - I have spent many hours coding the Futoshiki puzzle generator in PHP. My C skills are not up to the task. Also, the function that increments the clicks from 1 thru 5 are written in javascript.

Name: Robert
Comment: Ross - Yes, the printable puzzles are using the old generator and will not always be unique, an update is planned.

Ola - The playable online puzzles shoud all have unique answers. Two previous people have said they found puzzles with multiple solutions but have not been able to prove it. If you find one, please take a screen shot, or just tell me the puzzle ID, you can find it under the bamboo on the left.

Name: J
Comment: I need a very simple puzzle of 3*3. and i want it in c# code. and please tell me that what is that control, the one we click and its value change from 1 to 5, Is that label or TextBox or button.Thank you

Name: J
Comment: Hi Robert, could you please tell me how to create Futoshiki game. i am talking about source code. Actually i need to submit assignment, and the teacher want me to creat futoshiki game. i have no idea how to do it now. Please help me out.Thank you

Name: Ola dunk
Comment: I have done some of the level 5 puzzles, more than one solution has been found to some of them. But I don't mind. Futoshiki is a nice variant of Sudoku

Name: Ross Taylor
Comment: Your futoshiki puzzle solutions are not always unique. For example, playing the current "Print Futoshiki Puzzles", top right and middle left have two solutions.

Name: Ola dunk
Comment: Interesting puzzle. I will continue to visit this website.

Name: Robert
Comment: Sorry for the down-time, our web host experienced server issues. We are back up and running 100%.

Name: Robert
Comment: Rudy, yes a screenshot would be great. Email it to qov@techie.com please. Thanks.

Name: Rudy
Comment: I have found a level 5 puzzle with an alternate solution. Do you want the screenshot?

Name: Robert
Comment: Rudy - I'm glad you like the puzzles. I've been made aware of additional ways to increase the difficulty of the puzzles that I will be implementing.

I've considered a timer, it should be easy enough. I'll add that to the list.

I've got a large list of Futoshiki improvements at the moment, to name a few:
Windows program
New web site
Log-in to keep track of finished puzzles
Monthy tournaments
Mailing list to notify you of updates

So keep playing!

Name: Rudy
Comment: I like the level 5 puzzles. Can you put on a timer?

Name: Robert
Comment: Nanowit, if you ever see another one like that I'd like to know about it. Look below the bamboo on the left for the puzzle id number and send me an email (qov@techie.com)

Name: Nanowit
Comment: LOVE your game, play it LOTS! I have found two puzzles with alternate solutions, which fit but are not your solution.

Name: Robert
Comment: @ Jared > Updates for the printable puzzles are planned. But there are other features ahead of that on the list.

@ Nanowit > That is a good idea and I will look into the best way to do that. But, I have several other Futoshiki improvements coming out first. Perhaps I will discuss some of the more advanced solving tips on the how-to page. That should help you out when you get stuck.

Name: Nanowit
Comment: If possible, a nice addition would be a button that, when clicked, would suggest what boxes (notes or values) can be logically deduced from the data and notes now displayed. Sometimes I get stuck.

Name: Jared
Comment: Is it possible to have a difficulty selection for the printable puzzles as well?

Name: Unknown
Comment: Hello! great idea of color of this siyte!

Name: Robert
Comment: I've stopped using puzzles generated from ihan's program and started using puzzles i've generated. This has allowed me to rate the puzzles by difficulty. All puzzles have a unique solution that can be determined with logic and without guessing.

Name: molly
Comment: i used to love sudoku but got bored with them and this is my new craze

Name: Donna
Comment: There are free downloadable futoshiki puzzles at www.boxnine.com with unique solutions.

Name: Robert
Comment: The long awaited redesign is here. All the puzzles now have unique solutions, thanks to the Futoshiki program by ihsan. I am now working on a way to rate the puzzles by difficulty.

Edit: No longer using puzzles from ihsan's program and difficulty ratings are finally here!

Name: Futoshiki Tips
Comment: Look for 4's with a 'less than' sign next to them, you know the number on the other side has to be a 5. It's the same with 2's with a 'greater than' sign, you know the number on the other side has to be a 1.

Name: guy mansford
Comment: generally good puzzles, but some with multiple answers. difficulty rating before starting wouldbe helpful

Name: ihsan
Comment: Puzzles created with UniqueSolution option ticked should have unique solutions. You can download futo20ku.zip, all puzzles there are unique.

Name: steve
Comment: ihsan - i tried some of the puzzles on your site and they had multiple solutions too!

Name: ihsan@ihsan.biz
Comment: Good work.. However most of your puzzles seem to have multiple solutions. You are welcome to download free Futoshiki program at www.ihsan.biz that would detected and display multiple solutions. Program can also suggest additional constraints to make a solution unique.

Name: jen
Comment: cool game

Name: Robert
Comment: Welcome to futoshiki.justplayfreegames.com

Name: en
Comment: en