« Scoring and rule changes | Main | Challenge 1 prizes etc »
October 03, 2005
48 hours for Challenge 1, scoring for Challenge 2
You have 48 hours left to submit your solution to Challenge 1. The next challenge gets published at 4pm on Thursday, but there is no need to rush to download it. The points scheme for Challenge 2 will award seven points for any solution we receive Thursday, 6 points for any solution we receive on Friday and so on so you can take your time.
Posted by Harry at October 3, 2005 11:15 PM
Comments
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sometimes when i go on the website it is not up to date
Posted by: asim mulla at October 8, 2005 12:31 PM
Ben,
Presumably the slashes would be removed by the checker before it compared your solution to the answer so it wouldn't matter. So long as you have the right letters in the right order you have a correct solution and it doesn't matter about punctuation or whether you use upper or lower case.
Posted by: Ruth at October 6, 2005 06:22 PM
Ben, you can leave the slashes in, just as you would leave spaces in text. We will delete them for you.
Posted by: Harry at October 6, 2005 06:19 PM
is it just us or is there a spelling mistake in 2B? we are thinking there is a 'k' when there should be a 'c' in a rather important name...
Posted by: the cipherettes at October 6, 2005 06:10 PM
Well, I did it a bit ago. In doing it I found a few problems with my crypto program, mainly with the morse code part which I just kind of shoved on, so I had to use trusty old Word to remove the spaces. I was a bit slow with the deciphering as well, for my standards. But that doesn't matter because of the scoring anyway...
The Russian's English is proving to be quite good - only 2 spelling mistakes in the whole text. But is it really written by a Russian?
Posted by: Jason at October 6, 2005 05:52 PM
Learn to program and make your own its much more satisfying and easier. Im made a range of tools.
Posted by: Amish at October 6, 2005 05:30 PM
I am having problems with challenge 2 part b in that i am not whether to submit my entry with or without the slashes? I am not sure what to do and help would be welcomed.
Thank you
Posted by: Ben Campbell at October 6, 2005 05:18 PM
Ho ho, keep looking. Maybe I'll geive you a hint about how to do this later. All the best, Harry
Posted by: harry at October 6, 2005 05:14 PM
is this MORSE CODE???? can anyone find anyhting to decrypt morse code? I've scoured the internet and found NOTHING!!! I'm helpless!
Posted by: mavis at October 6, 2005 05:00 PM
Presumably at the same time as Cipher 2...ie 4.00pm today.
Posted by: harry de voil at October 6, 2005 08:32 AM
So when is this leaderboard being published?
Posted by: cecil at October 6, 2005 07:34 AM
Yes there is a reduction. If you look at other comments in the log you'll see how it works. Accuracy still counts for more than speed though.
Posted by: Harry at October 5, 2005 09:54 PM
Does challenge 1 have any reduction in scoring for entering towards the deadline like with challenge 2?
Posted by: lil fil at October 5, 2005 09:49 PM
Errr, joint 1st place, joint second place etc. Later on when the time intervals shrink the leader board will separate out. You'll see, it will all work out!
Posted by: Harry at October 5, 2005 09:02 PM
hmmmm....?
interesting
Posted by: me at October 5, 2005 08:12 PM
Further to what Jason said, I suppose I'll be up there at the top of the leader board along with the (possibly) several hundred other people who submitted a 100% correct solution within the first 48 hours. Maybe you could do it alphabetical order, but then evertbody would call them selves Aaron or something. Hmm. Maybe the order/time would be better. Then you get back to the problem of too many entries submitted close together (by different teams, quite legit) to clog up your server. Poor server. :(
Posted by: cecil at October 5, 2005 07:32 PM
I'm confuzzled about how you can have a leaderboard if everyone who enters a correct submission on Thursday gets the same number of points and everyone on Friday all get the same of points...etc. Please could you explain the issue in more detail?
Posted by: Jaccy at October 5, 2005 07:01 PM
Claire, it would be the later entry. You should get an email confirming your entry soon after you sned it in, and feedback within the next twenty four hours, so please try to be patient and hold your nerve. If you really are worried and unsure email us to ask if we got the entry.
Posted by: Harry at October 5, 2005 03:31 PM
if you enter in an entry say on thursday, and then on friday get a little bit paranoid that maybe your entry didnt work, so you enter it again incase, which entry will count ( presuming they say the same things, just the timing score will be different). is it your first correct entry that counts or your most recent entry?
Posted by: claire at October 5, 2005 03:21 PM
Oh yes that Double Playfair...
So any time on Thursday, exactly the same score. That will stop people rushing for sure. But what are you going to do on the leaderboards? =1,=1,=1,=1,=1,=1,=1,=1,=1...
And what order? Will you still use time anyway to decide this small problem?
Posted by: Jason at October 4, 2005 05:08 PM
Jess, they will diminish, but by the time they get down to one hour it will take a lot longer to solve than an hour, so there shouldn't be a serious disadvantage. There is no way round the slight disadvantage taht we can think of.
Posted by: Harry at October 4, 2005 08:18 AM
Cecil, this year we are actively discouraging multiple submissions like this. Remember we only score your most accurate submission, so they don't help you, and they do overlaod us. All the best, Harry
Posted by: Harry at October 4, 2005 08:16 AM
I see the time intervals for the scoring differences have diminished. Will this happen next time too? And if so by how much? It would be really awkward if we had to get it in within the hour for maximum points because some people have to get home before they can look at the site and by that time they could be at a real disadvantage.
Posted by: Jess at October 4, 2005 07:56 AM
That scoring sounds fair, and means we can wait until after after-school clubs before looking at the challenge.
Just a little question regarding scoring:
Last year, solving the Double Playfair by hand, I was taking a long time to do it, but kept resubmitting every couple of digraphs. Is this sensible in getting the maximum score or will we get disqualified from submitting too many entries?
Thanks,
Cecil
Posted by: cecil at October 4, 2005 07:06 AM