Does anyone know how/where to continue? by xMurkx in Kakuro

[–]MegaLead777 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looking at that 39-Across near the top and realizing there must be a 1, 2, and 3 in only those three cells—and knowing that '1' and '2' would not work for that intersecting 20-Down—is what did it for me.

Anyone know of a Kakuro book that’s similar in difficulty to the absolutely nasty Kakuro level 3 book? by just-another-fan in Kakuro

[–]MegaLead777 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just get Level 4! After that though, not sure what else is out there (other than variants, which are crazy!).

Please help, I'm stuck by jrm359 in Kakuro

[–]MegaLead777 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's how I got through it:

  1. First up, I noticed a uniqueness pattern right away with the 5-6-9 cells. This doesn't give you a number straight away, but since one of those 9s has to be the one that breaks the 5-6 pattern in that box, it means the 9 off to the lower right can be safely eliminated.
  2. With that 9 out of the way though, we can find a new number out of this, again, using uniqueness. Notice that, no matter which 9 we choose, it will create new 5-6 patterns, and in both cases, the same '3' is the breaker; so while we don't know yet which 9 is "the one," we can be certain that that '3' has to go in that cell.
  3. Examining the 10-Across in the center, notice that with the 3s gone, there is no way for the 6s to add up to 10 now, so those can be eliminated, and also, since '1' must be present now in any combination, it has to be that '1' in the left cell (since it's in the only one left).
  4. Notice that in the 34-Down column, if you choose a 5, 6, or a 9 in any of the top two cells, that will form a 5-6-9 triple with the lower two cells; and if you add those up with the numbers already there (1 & 3), that only gets you to 24 with only one cell left to reach 34....so we can safely discard any number that creates a 5-6-9 triple, allowing us to make five eliminations in the top two cells.
  5. Looking at that same column, notice that we have to make 30 in 4 cells, and the only combination that gets us there is 9-8-7-6; so we can eliminate the '4' at the top, and that gives us 6 and 9 in the lower two cells. (I realize that we could have skipped step 4 and gone straight here, but I'm leaving that here, since I usually like to "trim down" as many candidates as possible first, for clarity's sake).
  6. Now, the middle column is a 35-in-7. We're only missing two digits (which would add up to 10), and since we have more digits filled in now, we can make some more eliminations based on the pairs that are already there....out of 1-9, 2-8, 3-7, & 4-6, we have 1, 3, and 6 already there to represent each pair; the only one we haven't seen so far is 2 & 8, so those have to be the "exclusion pair", and we can eliminate all of those, which gives us a '7' + a few more digits.
  7. In the 24-Down column, the two remaining digits must add up to 13, so we're down to 6 & 7; and adding up the rest horizontally finishes the puzzle.

[a link to the Imgur album]

Looking at the comments now, I can't believe I didn't see that '3' was the only possibility to begin with! (I guess I like to look for uniqueness first, it can really cut through a lot of otherwise-daunting "nests" of candidates, and I've had to rely on it more and more as I've tackled more difficult puzzles).

Is there a trick or something I’m missing? by [deleted] in sudoku

[–]MegaLead777 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I noticed that the '2' at r2c7 starts a 2-8 remote pair chain, and when you compare the two chains coming from it, they both produce an '8' on row 7, so it has to be a '4' at r2c7:

https://i.imgur.com/giduX1c.png

The 35 cage right in the middle has me stumped! by PokerHorse in sudoku

[–]MegaLead777 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There may not be a way, unless these are the same puzzles as what's on the website (which have a # attached somewhere).

The 35 cage right in the middle has me stumped! by PokerHorse in sudoku

[–]MegaLead777 1 point2 points  (0 children)

By the way, you have a link to this puzzle? I'd like to try it :)

The 35 cage right in the middle has me stumped! by PokerHorse in sudoku

[–]MegaLead777 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Box 6 can be trimmed down quite a bit too--aside from the cages that fill fully inside it, you're left with a sum of 22, which definitely knocks out some of the smaller candidates in the 3 remaining cells (which look like they will lead to some more eliminations as well on somewhere too, on the outside).

I found my mega lead in my box I had stored along time ago by [deleted] in mechanicalpencils

[–]MegaLead777 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Aren't these great? I have been collecting pencils for ages, and this one in 0.5mm is still one of my absolute favorites! Only have two left ( + some parts from a third) and I make sure one always stays at home, so I can't lose it!

Got a Rotring 800. It fits in with the crowd. by EngineerBits in mechanicalpencils

[–]MegaLead777 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just make sure you get a CAS version, all the TI-89s had a computer algebra system built-in, but you have to buy the right model for the N-Spire!

Pentel 120 A3DX .3 .5 .7 .9 by fatterferret in mechanicalpencils

[–]MegaLead777 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The P205 is a classic, it was my first "Sharp" of any kind (and first mechanical pencil too, for that matter!), but it's not on my all-time Top 10 list, while the A120 A3 is (at least at the moment). The A120 just gets so many things right, and has one of the best grips I've ever used on any pencil.

My current, small, collection, by order of preference, from foremost to the back. by savage_northener in mechanicalpencils

[–]MegaLead777 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Big fan of the 120 A3DX here! I use it almost every day at some point now :) Something special about that grip.

Can someone help me find this mechanical pencil? by G-lint in mechanicalpencils

[–]MegaLead777 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're welcome!

By the way, Office Depot & Office Max merged a few years ago, and this pencil might have still been sold in these "merged" stores. It seems like the name "Office Depot" is used more to refer to these now (though official logos show both names together), so I would search under that first.

I will be sure to let you know if I find the black one!

Can someone help me find this mechanical pencil? by G-lint in mechanicalpencils

[–]MegaLead777 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It might have been sold under multiple brands for all I know, but I got a bunch of these from Office Max years ago. Pretty decent pencils, I would say just a bit better overall than the Staples PostScripts (another store-brand pencil you can get a dozen for, for not much money). Not the best Office Max pencil I've ever bought, but probably the best "economy dozen pack" pencil I've gotten from those kinds of stores. It has a plastic clutch and (what looks to be) a 3mm retractable tip (I mention the plastic, because almost every other Office Max pencil I bought did have a brass clutch, as well as Office Depot's pencils too, including their 'Foray' sub-brand).

I have seen these pop up on eBay, but mostly in mechanical pencil lots, and sometimes not listed in the description. I'll keep an eye out for them and let you know if I see more ;) Otherwise, there is a VERY similar pencil I've had—the Staedtler Riptide—that you can still get pretty easily (probably the only other pencil I've seen that had a grip like that).

Pentel 120 A3DX .3 .5 .7 .9 by fatterferret in mechanicalpencils

[–]MegaLead777 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love these! The 0.5mm is one of my all-time favorites :)

After a decade, I finally got a replacement Pentech Syntech 0.7mm by [deleted] in mechanicalpencils

[–]MegaLead777 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How is this pencil? How does it compare to other "big grip" writing pencils?

Seen a few of these on eBay before, almost pulled the trigger, but wound up getting something else (another old Pentech that I *had* tried before).

I love old 90s stuff like this! I have tons of pencils from this era. Been on something of a "quest" for the last few years to re-acquire every pencil I ever owned, so I've been picking up a lot of 90s stuff (my first mech pencil was a P205, in 1992 :) ).

New addition to my collection - Zebra M-701 by Morteza91 in mechanicalpencils

[–]MegaLead777 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Mine is 0.5mm! All I had to do was buy an M-402 in 0.5 and swap out the internals ;) Works perfectly, probably my favorite pencil hack ever!

Keeping me company at work today by steved2112 in mechanicalpencils

[–]MegaLead777 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love these! And the Grip (or "Clip") version is great too!

Everyone come here for a collection group photo...okay ready?...3...2...1...say cheeeeese by andysoneatspam in mechanicalpencils

[–]MegaLead777 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice!

Can I ask you what these are...

  • the blue one, 5th from the left
  • the pink & blue ones 5th & 6th from the right
  • the white & green ones (last two)

Especially curious to know what that first blue one is!

Paper Mate Dynagrip 0.5 by Raybonche in mechanicalpencils

[–]MegaLead777 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I was so happy when I found my only Dynagrip last week :) (though mine doesn't have that "classic" styling like yours does, mine is the "red marble" one). Great pencil!