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RegEx Crossword

jimbly.github.io

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Re: RegEx Crossword

#21

Post by afranchuk »

reificator wrote: post #18

So many of these start or end with an `x*`, `(x|y)`, `[xy]` or `[^xy]` that I only see two characters I can fill in before I need to start looking at multiple constraints for the same cell and either doing combinatorics or guess-and-check. This might be fine for hard mode, but as someone who considers themselves a regexpert it's not very approachable as a first puzzle IMO. A more gradual introduction to the format wo…

I just completed it, and can say with certainty that it is solvable by only taking into consideration two constraints at any given time, with the exception of 3 at just one point early on (and they were the easier constraints in the puzzle). That being said, the nature of regex means you kind of need to jump around as far as which constraints you combine.

Re: RegEx Crossword

#24

Post by EGreg »

afranchuk wrote: post #21
reificator wrote: post #18

So many of these start or end with an `x*`, `(x|y)`, `[xy]` or `[^xy]` that I only see two characters I can fill in before I need to start looking at multiple constraints for the same cell and either doing combinatorics or guess-and-check. This might be fine for hard mode, but as someone who considers themselves a regexpert it's not very approachable as a first puzzle IMO. A more gradual introduction to the format wo…

I just completed it, and can say with certainty that it is solvable by only taking into consideration two constraints at any given time, with the exception of 3 at just one point early on (and they were the easier constraints in the puzzle). That being said, the nature of regex means you kind of need to jump around as far as which constraints you combine.

Is the complexity basically NP-hard, equivalent to a SAT solver or even harder?

Re: RegEx Crossword

#25

Post by reificator »

afranchuk wrote: post #21
reificator wrote: post #18

So many of these start or end with an `x*`, `(x|y)`, `[xy]` or `[^xy]` that I only see two characters I can fill in before I need to start looking at multiple constraints for the same cell and either doing combinatorics or guess-and-check. This might be fine for hard mode, but as someone who considers themselves a regexpert it's not very approachable as a first puzzle IMO. A more gradual introduction to the format wo…

I just completed it, and can say with certainty that it is solvable by only taking into consideration two constraints at any given time, with the exception of 3 at just one point early on (and they were the easier constraints in the puzzle). That being said, the nature of regex means you kind of need to jump around as far as which constraints you combine.

I don't doubt that, and I don't doubt it's a good puzzle, especially if you're already familiar with the format.

But since this is my first introduction to this kind of puzzle, I need some anchor points at the beginning so I feel like I have something to work off of.

I'm not even asking for a whole row, just an easier set of known chars at the start of the round so I have a hint at which of the 39 constraints I should start with.

To be honest I'm not even saying this puzzle should change so much as I am looking for a different puzzle to dip my toes.

I don't have any interest in starting the puzzle if I don't feel like I can put a foot down somewhere. It's like trying your first Minesweeper game, making two random clicks, and getting two `7`s. Where do you go from there? Or learning Sudoku from the hardest difficulty level, without having built up a library of patterns from the easier difficulties.

Re: RegEx Crossword

#27

Post by ufo »

hateful wrote: post #23
ufo wrote: post #16

Is it supposed to have an unique solution or are multiple solutions possible?

Also, are the answers real words, or random strings?

It has to be fake words. It's possible to see this because some of the words have to contain things like "cdd", "rrp" and "rxo", which aren't part of any real words.

Re: RegEx Crossword

#28

Post by hateful »

ufo wrote: post #27
hateful wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, are the answers real words, or random strings?

It has to be fake words. It's possible to see this because some of the words have to contain things like "cdd", "rrp" and "rxo", which aren't part of any real words.

Plus, now that I think about it, having a grid without the gaps usual crosswords have would be very complex to create with actual words. Even more so when using hexagons.

Re: RegEx Crossword

#30

Post by freeopinion »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #12
Naac wrote: post #5

Any reason why this is implement as a hex instead of the traditional crossword style? There isn't a technical reason why the traditional crossword format can't have clues in the shape of regex right?

Don't think there's a technical reason. I'd previously seen this site linked from here that does it slightly more traditionally: https://regexcrossword.com/

Lost interest on 3rd beginner puzzle when validation failed for multiple valid solutions.
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