Sudoku Players' Forum (clone)

Are there any rating programs out there? I would like to input a puzzle and be given a difficulty rating, not the solution.

I realise that rating the difficulty is subjective and discussed elsewhere.

Good question and a great idea.

Luna

Moschopulus wrote:Are there any rating programs out there? I would like to input a puzzle and be given a difficulty rating, not the solution.

I realise that rating the difficulty is subjective and discussed elsewhere.

Pappocom's Sudoku will rate a puzzle without solving it on this scale:

Very Easy
Easy
Medium
Hard (this is the level the UK Times uses for FIENDISH)
Very Hard
Very Hard, but arguably unfair
Invalid (will not load the puzzle)


Sadman Sudoku will rate a puzzle without solving it on this scale:

Trivial
Easy
Mild
Moderate
Hard
Very Hard
Fiendish
Diabolical


Paul's Pages will rate puzzles without solving them on this scale:

Easy
Moderate
Hard
Really Tough
Outlaw


There may be others. Each uses different criteria to find a rating. Paul's Outlaws and SadMan's top 1 or 2 levels will generally be labeled as "invalid" by Pappocom.

Pappocom's "very hard" level is interesting. My experience is that it is very rare to find a puzzle anywhere else that Pappocom will rate as Very Hard but NOT arguably unfair. I think his goal is to create the hardest possible puzzle that an expert could reasonably be expected to solve without pencil-marks.

Simple Sudoku will NOT rate puzzles you input, but you can 'fast forward' and read the hints to see what tactics are required and make your own judgement.

Sudoku Susser, like SS, will not give you a rating for entered puzzles, but you can select which tactics for the solver to use. If it can solve with all but the easiest unchecked, it's probably much easier than if most tactics must be used.

tso wrote:Sadman Sudoku will rate a puzzle without solving it on this scale:

Trivial
Easy
Mild
Moderate
Hard
Very Hard
Fiendish
Diabolical

Thanks for the listings. I couldn't get Sadman to rate a puzzle until after it had solved it. Only afterwards could I select the option to rate the puzzle.

Moschopulus wrote:I couldn't get Sadman to rate a puzzle until after it had solved it. Only afterwards could I select the option to rate the puzzle.

1) Paste or enter the puzzle you wish to rate.
2) Click ACTION, then CHANGE ALL NUMBERS TO CLUES.
3) Click ACTION, then RATE PUZZLE.

Thanks. One of the nice features of that program is that you can import puzzles in various different formats. I can copy a puzzle from a post here, in any format, and paste it into this program and it works! Not worth paying for though.