OCTO Puzzle 2014 Mensa Regional Gathering Doug Gardner

OCTO Puzzle ® 2014 Mensa Regional Gathering Doug Gardner

Introducing the OCTO Puzzle. . .

OCTO came about as an attempt to combine Sudoku and Kakuro Each puzzle has a unique type of logic that I enjoy--I wanted a puzzle that combined both positional and mathematical logic

Hexagons didn’t work because you had to provide so much information that solving became trivial

Octagons, however, showed great promise. But what’s to be done with those big goofy diamonds at the intersections of the octagons? Making the diamonds clues solved a lot of problems and the OCTO was born!

It is possible to patent a puzzle if the physical structure of the puzzle is unique and non-obvious Patent applied for in Oct 2008, granted in Feb 2011

OCTO Timeline Jul 2007 -- Initial concept Dec 2007 -- Wrote initial program to generate puzzles Jan to Jun 2008 -- “Perfected” the program to handle anomalies and settle on the presentation Jul to Oct 2008 -- Patent application Jan 2009 -- Self-published first book, OCTO Unleashed 2010 -- Started selling at D. C. area fairs and markets Feb 2011 -- Patent issued

OCTO Timeline May 2011 -- Global on-line OCTO competition sponsored by Logic. Masters India, the Indian national puzzle organization Nov 2011 -- OCTO competition at the first annual Arlington Puzzle Fest Jun 2012 -- “OCTO for i. Pad” available as a free app on the Apple App Store Nov 2012 -- Self-published seventh OCTO puzzle book, “OCTO Fireworks” Dec 2013 – Wrote a program that solve OCTO puzzles, finally automating the “manufacturing” process

OCTO Highlights: Over the past few years, OCTO puzzles have been regularly published in about twenty university newspapers OCTO for i. Pad on the Apple App Store Seven books (all self-published)

What are the parts of an OCTO puzzle?

So how does it work? Here are the rules. . . and here are the clues explained.

Basic Row/Column/Major Diagonal Techniques “Column by Octagon” “Number off the Row”

Basic Math Techniques “Start Here” “Diamond Options”

Additional Techniques “Rare Diamond Combinations” “Gimme Diagonals” “Diagonal Factoring”

Factoring and Pairs For Six-Number Diagonals: The total for the numbers 1 to 8 is 36 Start with the difference between the diagonal sum and 36 Two numbers that add up to the difference always travel in pairs If one number of a pair is in the diagonal, the other has to be in the diagonal If one number of a pair can be excluded, the other can also be excluded Ruling out a pair tells you what the six numbers have to be, which allows you to use the same techniques you used on rows, columns, and major diagonals

Personal Impact Inventor! Patent application/patent law Toy Fair and Game Development Marketing/Website/Fairs and Markets Meeting puzzle lovers from around the D. C. area Getting familiar with the Global Puzzle Community Arlington Puzzle Fest! November 8, 2014