Back from dinner if you would like to puzzle some more :)

Will work on #26 in meantime

@Sciborg, I am back from my dinner

Hello puzzling buddy!

It was the Weekly Grandparent Dinner

Did you have to endure any Republican Grandparents stuff?

no politics

sorry, no politics

as in, there wasn't any politics

Ah, that's always a good thing

I loved my grandpa but he would get on a real roll about politics sometimes :p

I think my grandpa likes Trump (because he's "strong"), but grandpa is also too lazy to figure out how to vote, and doesn't know enough English to talk politics.

What's his first language?

Cantonese

He doesn't want to try to learn English because he might fail

so, there's some logic for you

Sounds very logical

Cantonese is a neat language though :)

so, how far did you get on Statue Parks?

I got a bit through #26, there has been lots of piece bank logic. Placed two tetros

need nudge?

Trying to figure out some extendability logic, let me show where i'm at

i placed U and L through piece bank logic/extending logic, but now trying to do the others

because obviously bottom right corner is next

but i'm not quite sure where to go

hmm, what happens if the cell above bottom-center dot is ocean?

then that bottom tetro goes 1 right and then up

and then...?

Deus appears

oh hey Deus :D

then, hm, i guess it has to be Z or F

can bottom-center dot and bottom-right dot both become pieces that are left in the bank?

the problem is that the right corner tetro exists and therefore bottom tetro cannot touch it

so no, actually

therefore it has to go up

so you got a new island dot!

i see a step that could be more helpful

yeah :D

and now i can place another ocean because Ocean Connectivity

what's your step Deus?

this puzzle is suspiciously symmetric - what shapes can go in the corners?

when I get stuck I usually resort to trying to determine island/ocean one cell at a time

same, i do one cell at a time when i get stuck

but for the corners, i've already said by connecting logic they must have a 2x1 region, therefore piece bank gives me F, T, N, V, Z and Y

which doesn't help me much

can you actually fit all of those?

well, not N, since it doesn't fit in either of those three spots - blocks oceans and causes Problems

any others that cause Problems?

(by the way Deus are you free tomorrow for Fillomino solving?)

i think not Y either, because it hits other tetros

(sure, i should be free)

so down to F, T, V, Z.

great, I'll ping you once I'm ready

how many corners are there?

i'm looking at the 3 (top left, top right, bottom right) that i haven't filled

and those are 4 possible tetros

hm, i missed one of those, but i think this can still be salvaged with what you figured out

there might be another one that doesn't work, i think they are all workable though in various orientations

no ocean-blocking or Problems that i can see

unless, wait...

none directly, but i think you can do some useful arguments with the bottom now

Z can't work on bottom right for sure, causes Ocean Problems and bothers bottom tetro

V, T and F are all fine there though

oh i do see something else actually

i know bottom right and top left are Important Deduction Areas, but i can't figure out the intended Deduction

from what I remember I may have case-bashed through the latter half of this puzzle

i'd actually not focus on those - instead, you know that your N and Y can't go in the corners. which of the other dots can they go on?

if N and Y can't go in corners, must be top and bottom middle dots

or right dot, too actually

so 3 possible places

hmm, if right dot then what happens to bottom-right corner?

nothing?

can it fit a piece?

possibly

i think so

drat

if Y is on that side, yes, but i believe if N, no

oh i only saw N

yeah Y works

i'm determined to find the intended deduction, there must be one somewhere

bottom middle dot - if it's N or Y, does that cause Problems?

yeah if N is on the right side then i don't think you can fit a piece in the bottom corner. but i can't see a why to extend that so never mind

i think if the bottom middle dot is N, it causes Problems because it blocks oceans no matter what the bottom right tetro is.

and if N can't be on right... N goes on top middle?

well these are pentominoes, not tetrominoes

also i think bottom right can be T

but if we've said N can't be right or bottom, it must be the top middle dot, right?

i'm not convinced N can't be bottom

okay, hang on, i will fill squares

can't it go up-up-right-up, and then put T in the bottom right

....oh yeah. drat

but then does that tell us the bottom middle must go up one more? (3x1)? because 2x1 causes corner issues?

yeah i believe so

excellent, so that narrows something down at least

yay for incremental deductions!

so now we're here

and doesn't same logic apply to top left?

or similar logic at least?

top middle dot could escape right, right?

that's the thing, yeah. top middle dot can escape right so we're not sure which direction it goes

you could put Y in top middle and Z in top left

also I was solving this Statue Park-Tapa hybrid from Grandmaster Puzzles in my head during Grandparent Dinner, and I somehow remembered the board well enough to deduce where I was making a wrong deduction and work out contradictions in my head

help me

i'll put in some ghost squares to remind myself that bottom middle must now be either Y or N

I think I may have passed some point of no return to the Land of Grid-Deductioners

or have you ascended

bottom middle has to be either Y or N now right? no other options?

it's the Tetris Effect, but with grid deduction puzzles

@Sciborg I believe so

bottom right corner narrowed to V, T, or F, and i think i know the deduction now. since bottom middle MUST be Y or N, the bottom right now cannot be V, because either bottom middle option hits it and causes Problem. bottom right is therefore either T or F. kicker: no matter what orientation of F, it will block off an ocean. therefore, bottom right is T

right???

right

HAHAHAHAHA

YES

(also, Mando is starting so I may be distracted at some points)

I FOUND THE THING

there are probably multiple Things

are you not psyched that i figured that out????

i'm so happy!!!

have a bunny picture as celebration

:D :D :D

so NOW i have the remaining two corners narrowed to V, F and Z for sure

and it looks like they both work in both places, so will have to do some more Thinking

picture?

i'm still so happy about Deductioning that bottom right corner all by myself

want a nudge?

sure

what happens if left-middle dot has an ocean above it?

left-middle?

right-middle

directions are hard

if right-middle has an ocean over it, it has to go down-left-left

this doesn't work with current piece bank

therefore it goes up

yay!

and that means hehehe

clicking sounds

wait wait, this can't be right

it can't go up, because then it has to go left and so does top right?

and i don't have piece bank to allow that either

??

you don't know that it goes all the way up

but it goes at least one up

it could also go down

oh

but even knowing that it goes one up should let you make further deductions

well yes, because now top right is Z

and right must be V

hm, why not F?

doesn't work now, must be V

oh wait I mixed up directions again

and bottom middle must not be N, meaning it's Y

and now boop, solved

what did you boop?

hmm, wait, un-boop, i accidentally blocked an ocean

re-booping

there we go

yay!

:)

#27 is going to require a) counting b) a bunch of global reasoning and c) probably some beak-extraction, due to the first two items

yeah, i'm gonna need like constant supervision for this thing, i got nowhere on it

worst one

so, which pieces can use 3 dots?

(remembering the ocean along aisle)

i didn't know at the time and i still do not know

i present a visual proof for why it is only W and Z

ahh, that is helpful, thank you

so W and Z

if you have 3 dots in a diagonal line, these are the only shapes which combine them

okay, now: are there any pieces that can only use one dot?

or actually how about no dots?

on this particular grid or in general?

(I think no dots is the actual thing to reason about)

on this specific grid, are there any pentos which can't use the given dots?

the I piece can't for sure

so i'm guessing i will place that last

any others?

i think the rest are okay

(there is one more)

did you do oceans along the top and bottom?

ohh, L can't either, doesn't fit anywhere.

so I and L must go off the grid

actually you can fit L

where? i don't see a spot it can go without intersecting

i guess on the topmost right and bottom-most left

how about the dots at the top of the left-diagonal, or the bottom of the right-diagonal?

but then wouldn't it block Oceans and cause Problems?

no

???? but it would, you would block the top right and bottom left oceans in those spots

why?

couldn't it go straight up/down?

also, I do mean left diagonal top

the diagonal below the other one, its top dots

blocks oceans

or the diagonal above the other one, its bottom dots

oh. yeah, it could go in those

i was looking at wrong spots, sorry

okay, back to the piece bank

there is one more pento that can't use any dots

well, i'm darned if i know which one

do you want me to just tell you?

yeah

T

ohhh

yeah, that makes sense

so now we have 2 pieces which use 3 dots, and 2 pieces which use no dots

how many dots are there?

on the grid?

yes, count the black dots

14

and we've used 6 of them in this hypothetical

meaning i have to cover 8 of them still

how many pieces do you have left?

8 - 4 = 4 pieces left

so the 4 pieces must cover 2 dots each

haha!

T, I = off grid, W, Z = 3 dots each, L, P, U, X = 2 dots each i guess

that's the Big Global Deduction

okay

so does that help me place things?

the next deduction: finding two areas which are the only possibilities for two pieces

lots of globals = mick brain aneurysm

well, i know the L must go in those two spots

so that's a thing i guess

any other "2 dots" pieces which can only go in those two spots?

X can't go there, U can't go there

P can, i think

hmm, one of those is wrong

??

oh, yeah, U can go there

can U go anywhere else?

no

so those dots are claimed - no other pieces can use them

also, I think you can place some islands

yeah

so now i've got next spots

L, U are claimed as two-spotters, so now X, P are left as my two-spotters

now some more counting

how many dots are left for each diagonal?

ughhhhh

i hate counting

there are 5 dots left in each

so 3,2 and 3,2 is the layout

now let's place the I

let's do what now

it has to go in one of the triangles

which does it fit in?

gotcha

we could have done this earlier, but I though you'd want a break after the global thinking

any puzzle that has both heavy global deductions and counting makes me unhappy

what does your picture look like now?

so now I is placed, and bottom left diagonal is squished up

so bottom left diagonal must be a 2-fer

and of my 2-fer options left (P, X) only P fits

but then Oceans are unhappy?

oh wait, there we go

so P goes there

and now i can place L

because Oceans must be happy

so other twofer on right side is the X

and now i know which three dots must have my three-fer, which is now W

and can place U now too

so now other side has X and Z

and also has T floating off somewhere

now how do the X and Z go, hm

ahh, got it

Z goes like that and X goes like this

and now i just gotta place the T so it doesn't cause Problems

hm

there

seems like I managed the hand-holding to just past the tricky part right?

yup, now i'm at the end trying to place the T

which is proving... problematic

did i screw up somewhere?

picture?

where does this stupid T go

isn't bottom-triangle blocked off?

ocean connectivity and all that

f*ck

i was breezing along all happy, where did i go wrong

the cell diagonally right and up from the I must be ocean

for ocean happiness

so..... P doesn't go there, or?

P doesn't go there

but X wouldn't go either?

why does it have to be a 2-dot?

goddamnit

screw this counting global madness puzzle, i'm doing game dev instead

I shall do some of my own puzzling then

i get too frustrated when i get that far and then realized i screwed up on like step two

nice relaxing code, code can't hurt my emotions

how is your puzzling going

I am trying to make another Sashigane

ooh :D

what kind of sashigane is it?

a pi-themed one

or at least it is before the need to force a unique solution destroys the clue pattern

that's amazing

does it form a pi shape at the end?

no, the clues are (from top-to-bottom, left-to-right) writing out pi

3, then a vertical arrow (for 1), then 4, then a vertical arrow, then 5, then 9, then two vertical arrows (for II in roman numerals), then 6

my puzzles tend to start out with a vague idea and then spiral out of my control

Nifty :D

i would probably be the worst student for you to tutor in a class, you would try to hammer on a point i'm bad at and i would just start crying and/or curling into a ball of frustration

i would wait for you

(seriously, I have experience tutoring some special-ed kids)

i would definitely be a, uh, special-ed kid

also I have a nice reserve of various ways to explain the same concept, so I'm used to switching between them as needed

you're a really good tutor of both math and teaching me puzzles - i'm just like level zero at controlling frustration

strong emotions and sensitive mick often mix poorly :p

I got better at that because my parents kept telling me how stupid it was to feel frustrated, and I didn't want to be stupid

aw :(

i wish more parents and/or parenting books would internalize the concepts of validating feelings and telling kids that actions are bad, but the child and their emotions are still okay and valid.

we're doing therapy again aren't we

we are

point is: your feelings are important

now we can get back to puzzles

so you can back up to where you placed the P

reluctantly, yes

frustration has subsided

now i know it can't be P or X, so it must be one of the three-bys. and Z doesn't fit, so that must be the W?

why doesn't Z fit?

because since the top right corner ocean of I must be ocean, Z can't fit anymore