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Advent of Code 2025: Number of puzzles reduce from 25 to 12 for the first time

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Re: Advent of Code 2025: Number of puzzles reduce from 25 to 12 for the first time

#201

Post by SmellTheGlove »

thomasqbrady wrote: post #181

This is fantastic in every way. The hardest part of participating for me was finding more time closer to the holidays as the challenges got harder. Fewer, better challenges, with more space between them and the end of the year is a brilliant solution. So excited and grateful.

I came here to say almost the same thing - except I don't think there's more space between the puzzles. From the post:

  Why did the number of days per event change? It takes a ton of my free time every year to run Advent of Code, and building the puzzles accounts for the majority of that time. After keeping a consistent schedule for ten years(!), I needed a change. The puzzles still start on December 1st so that the day numbers make sense (Day 1 = Dec 1), and puzzles come out every day (ending mid-December).
Honestly, I prefer this. I've never had time to finish AoC because as we get later into December, I'm crunched with wrapping up work things so that I can do more family things and prep for the holidays. I look forward to this every year, and every year, I can see that I stop around day 11 +/- 1 day (except for 2021 when I somehow got to day 17).

Re: Advent of Code 2025: Number of puzzles reduce from 25 to 12 for the first time

#202

Post by MBCook »

ricardobeat wrote: post #196
MBCook wrote: post #194

I’ve always wanted to try this, but I always seem to end up hearing about it too late. This sounds like a nice change to me. But since this is the first time I’ve been to the site, I’ve never seen it before. Oh my God it’s completely unreadable. Seems only FF supports alternate stylesheets, so that’s not a useful solution for me. Shame. I’m not going to fight that hard to read a website. I’m really sorry, readability…

So you’ve never used a terminal? Most browsers have a “reader mode” which might help you.

Sure I have. They’re not that color scheme, they have enough contrast to be readable.

“Use reader mode”. It’s clearly a problem. There is an entry in the FAQ about it. The solution just isn’t useful to 98% of browser users.

If the author is willing make alternate color schemes with acceptable contrast users should be able to use them without switching browsers.

Re: Advent of Code 2025: Number of puzzles reduce from 25 to 12 for the first time

#203

Post by nikolay »

I love Advent of Code, but my family hates it! Especially the timing in PST! While I understand the challenges of having a global contest, the way this is organized leads to discrimination if, in some countries, you need to be up in the middle of the night.

Re: Advent of Code 2025: Number of puzzles reduce from 25 to 12 for the first time

#204

Post by rbits »

boccaff wrote: post #183
gs17 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the easiest way to have 24/25 of something would be to have the "part 2" for each puzzle get released the next day. It would probably ruin the momentum about as much as having days off would (as another alternative to make the timing fit "advent"), but there could be a fun extra layer of puzzle with a hint of what the part 2 will be so people can try to speculate and modify their code in anticipation.

I am not aware of Eric saying something about that alternative, but this comment on reddit[1] makes a lot of sense to me: > Given that part 2 is often a very simple modification of part 1, this could lead to many of the days being total letdowns. I can enjoy a simple puzzle, but I'd be a bit disappointed if one day is a single line change to the previous day. I'd also add that not having to be worried everyday about…

Plus, I like doing Part 2 immediately after Part 1, cause then I don't have to remember how my solution worked.

Re: Advent of Code 2025: Number of puzzles reduce from 25 to 12 for the first time

#205

Post by rbits »

HiPhish wrote: post #32

If he has cut the number of puzzles in half, why not then release a new puzzle every other day? That would make more sense because AoC would still run until Christmas, and it would give people more time per puzzle. Maybe unlock part 2 of each puzzle the day after the puzzle has been posted, so there still something new every day. I once tried participating, but gave up halfway through because one puzzle per day was j…

One puzzle per day was too much for me as well, but I just spent more than one day per puzzle. And now that the leaderboards are gone, there's no reason to you have to do them the same day.

Re: Advent of Code 2025: Number of puzzles reduce from 25 to 12 for the first time

#206

Post by normie3000 »

Fnoord wrote: post #164
dangrie158 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not in all traditions. E.g. in Germany Christmas Eve is typically the last day so you only get 24.

Winter Solstice is usually (not always) on 21th December.

Sometimes on 23nd?

Re: Advent of Code 2025: Number of puzzles reduce from 25 to 12 for the first time

#207

Post by bmitc »

shrx wrote: post #3

One of the reasons I stopped participating was that as the second half of december was approaching I had less and less free time for solving the puzzles. So to me it is also a welcome change, I will try to finish it again this year.

I stopped doing it because it felt like I was restarting every puzzle rather than building on top of something, and that's not all that interesting to me. I'm not judging the process, as that's just my personal perspective about what's interesting to me.

Re: Advent of Code 2025: Number of puzzles reduce from 25 to 12 for the first time

#208

Post by niij »

sltkr wrote: post #197
clbrmbr wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now it’s The 12 Days of Code.

Technically the 12 Days of Christmas are from December 25 to January 5, but close enough.

That's honestly be a better time to have it. Most white collar employees are off work or things are at least quiet those weeks.

Re: Advent of Code 2025: Number of puzzles reduce from 25 to 12 for the first time

#209

Post by narimiran »

bmitc wrote: post #207
shrx wrote: post #3

One of the reasons I stopped participating was that as the second half of december was approaching I had less and less free time for solving the puzzles. So to me it is also a welcome change, I will try to finish it again this year.

I stopped doing it because it felt like I was restarting every puzzle rather than building on top of something, and that's not all that interesting to me. I'm not judging the process, as that's just my personal perspective about what's interesting to me.

> building on top of something

If you want that, try AoC 2019. Day 2, day 5, and then every odd day till the end: day 7, 9, 11, ... 23.

Re: Advent of Code 2025: Number of puzzles reduce from 25 to 12 for the first time

#210

Post by kanbara »

Fnoord wrote: post #163

> If you're still stuck, maybe ask a friend for help, or come back to the puzzle later. You can also ask for hints in the subreddit. Not sure why this is OK but prompt engineering isn't? If someone wants to test that skillset, let them be instead of asking 'please don't'. Especially given the competitive nature is now optional.

you can't see how asking for a hint and formulating using your own brain is totally different than telling the AI to code the entire thing for you?
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