is.gd/2018_11_days_left_str8t

Hi Santa Klaus,
i think i remember this one. maybe it is the 11-days-left from last year?

Anyhow, I used a promising (lucky) check to solve it straight forward. I did not find a reasonable contadiction chain.

I had to try AB5 hi/lo. Didn't see a good solution path.

@jgrab:
This was my approach, too.

@morl:
I do not object to be confronted with earlier puzzles, modifeid or not, provided they have been offered some reasonable longer time ago.

...but even making a choice for high/low in column 5 gets me nowhere!

Jan, the real question is : hi/lo between A5 and B5, respectively A5 and A4! (large gaps there).

low gets me to the solution, after several SIs. High doesnt lead me anywhere though, no visible contradiction.

Just so: Even with the low selection in AB5, using the head chain / SI that solves D1 and making as much use as possible of the UR in the lower right (which makes 3 a must in EFG8) doesn't solve. You then get a contradiction chain on one candidate in D2 and the other solves with the help of an x-wing, but all that is rather unsatisfactory...

Hi morl,

seems i got a little confused with my notes, which puzzles i have published and which not.

you're right, this one is a duplicate, but this time not on purpose.

A nice challenge, but I also didn't find a contradiction (head) chain with AB5 high, only (too) late it didn't solve. Making the low choice however provides a solution path solvable with head chains, very nice.

is.gd/2018_12_days_left_str8t

Thanks. Not so easy Setti calculations, after not so easy wing calculations.

Delightful puzzle, solves nicely once you find the key wing combination!

excellent challenge, Stefan.
Key for me was a SI rows AD to define the position of the candidates 1 in there.

I nicely used a lot of the toolbox. CE and UR gets a long way, then some wings and a SI give the final blow.

You don't need an SI or UR for this puzzle. There is an x-wing and a 3-wing on two different digits, with AD1 part of both. This results in an elimination that is key to the solution.

@Jan:
I can't follow your steps... After the initial CE A1 and D1 are soon reduced to 14 both because of BCA 4 and xwing 1.
Then I have still the xwing on 1 and a 3wing on 4 - but none of them lead to further eliminations (as BCA 4 and an xwing on 4 did before). A xwing on 5 clears a bit more, but then I had to use the same SI as Christoph probably on the 1 in D8.

Great puzzle, very challenging, thank you!

Berny,

I also used a 4-wing on 7, which eliminates one of the 1's.

@Ben:
Thanks! Yeah, that's it. Didn't realize that 7 is a must in row E. The 4wing has the same result as the SI.

Ben was there first...the interesting thing is that with the constellation in the three cells in row E, both 6 and 7 are a must!

After lots of Settis the final step I needed was the unique triangle in the lower left solving H1 - the rest was easy.

is.gd/2018_13_days_left_str8t

Thanks again, Santa Klaus! Some CE, and I used UR considerations and some implicite wings to solve w/o chains.

Thank you, Santa! Interesting SI considerations - very nice!

Thanks Santa Klaus,

might it be, that I have this seen (and solved) a few years ago?

thanks Klaus, CE, URs and finally the right Setti, but it took me some time

Thanks! CE and UR to begin, then it took me time (and an error) to find the unlocking Fish and SIs.

hohoho ghw,

i'm impressed. thought i can get away with it, but damn you're right, i did some recycling (and, to be honest, not for the first time).

@ghw unbelievable memory. For me puzzle is new in few weeks and wont remember if I have done it in past.

This one has me baffled...I have five solved cells and the hidden triple...what next?

is.gd/2018_14_days_left_Xstr8t

X Puzzle

Evolves slowly but steady, just perfect - thank you, Stefan!

First signigicant eliminations on the diagonals, some wings and eliminations, and the diagonals again - very nice!

Thanks! This is real X-power.

Nice indeed, it unlocks very gradually making the pleasure last, and you need the X power until the very end. Thanks!

Excellent X-puzzle, Stefan. The whole toolbox needed.

Thanks Stefan, a hidden pair, singles, settis, wings and the diagonals

Need help or a hint. Jan, what do you mean by eliminations on the "diagonals"? Stuck on the gradual unlocking ;)

First question: This puzzle is designed as an "upgrade" to a standard Str8ts, as it additionaly demands that the two diagonals - i.e., the nine cells A1..B2..H8..J9 and the analogous A9...J1 - fulfill the rules. This makes additional eliminations possible. Are you aware of that?

If not, try that 8-). If yes, let us know precisely where you are stuck at the moment...

Nice.

Many URs for me, and also some not too common UR patterns (J23, CD67).

is.gd/2018_15_days_left_str8t

Another very nice one, for more systematic guys probably solvable with standard tools, I used an UR consideration.

three fishes were my essential moves.
Thank you very much, Santa!

nice, thx, Santa Klaus! CE in row E, 1 starfish, 1 x-wing, singles ...

Klaus and Stefan thank you very much for 10 nice and chainless puzzles which had an attractive level of difficulty.
For the last one a yellifish and singles are enough.

thanks Klaus, one large fish and standard tools

Thanks! Took me a while to see the fishes.

nice, not so easy to spot the relevant fishes


Klaus and Stefan thank you very much for your daily Christmas Gifts, this is a superb tradition

There are some fishes and a UR which is not easy to see. Thank you for this chainless piece.

Very nice. Thank you.

Indeed very nice - the hard-to-see 4-wing is enough to solve (together with some singles).

Nice. Several fishes. I got stuck at a point and started to chain until I realised I had missed a CE in a column, which unlocked the rest.