Check out https://greenfelt.net?game=254205382 now. 29 seconds possible for me; just didn't want to spend the time memorizing the clicks to go that low.
This one is not terrible, but after 2100+ plays #10 is 1:43, and #1 is only 1:12. That would be moi. I want to see how fast you guys can shatter that time. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=627805291
I managed only 1:22 on my first try—just outside the current top ten.
Replaying games was a big part of developing my speed techniques. Especially the game of the day, of course. But I also replay a game if my time is 3x or 4x that of the fastest time recorded. Not because I care a wit about climbing the board for that game but rather because I’m curious to figure out how someone else solved it so much faster—like what did I miss on my first attempt?
I’ve gotten into the habit of checking the high scores for each game before starting (except in the first 5-10 minutes at the top of the hour when the sample set is too small to learn much). Having a sense of how difficult a game is really helps in deciding how aggressively to attack that game. If anybody’s cracked 30 seconds, then I look for the most obvious opening moves. If the best scores are more than a minute and a half, then I figure the obvious starting points (if there are any) are a dead end.
I’m curious about what others are looking for when starting a game. My main strategy is to find a a column that i can clear with one tap, leaving at least two free cells open.
This’un Just about broke me: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1321601319
Currently only 8 winners in 1757 attempts. Fastest time: 1:54, slowest: 18:24.
Took me at least an hour and half to solve it. (I sometimes think it’d be cool to have the site track the collective time spent and number of attempts, but I’m not sure I really want to know)
New first-place in both time and moves: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1321601319. Pretty tough, especially getting from 95 to 94 moves. A little practice would let me do it in 24 seconds using touchpad.
Bearslayer
Not a bear; perhaps a young velociraptor. After 3000+ plays the range is 1:12 - 2:12. I'm on the board until you guys try your hand and kick me off #10. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=947264449
[ Note added 5 minutes later: already booted to #11 before you got there. ]
Ok, the Bearslayer has subdued Deus' challenge game: https//greenfelt.net/freecell?game=422234307. Now, if Deus will indulge me, I would wager he could complete the game in 9.5 seconds (I don't believe Greenfelt rounds up, so it would post as 9 seconds). By using both hands and a touch screen, Deus is about 3X faster than I, by my calculations. I'm basically a click-per-second guy using my touch pad. This one took 31 clicks to complete (including auto-finishes), and I managed 29 seconds due to the relatively good proximity of a few of the moves. If interested, give me the word, and I'll post the click sequence
Muchas gracias, Deus. There was never a doubt in my mind that a 9-sec time by you was possible. However, I do doubt you could reach 8 playing your moves. I do believe it's possible (8 sec) because Carpediem+ knocked it out in 94 moves, a feat of mental gymnastics, which if I could figure out how he did it, should bring my time down to 24, and therefore yours to 8. Should we anticipate 3bc checking in with a sub-5? Now if I can only find some fool who'll wager with me.
Oh ye of little faith, @gammarho496!
Would love to know how many user operations it took @Carpediem+ for the 94-move solution. Mine is down to about 26
[my initial time was about 1:45–and that took me at least 20 attempts. The sub-minute time came when I replayed just to check on the number of plays...]
Yeah, I suppose it would. Heck, the link doesn’t even work for me, and I can’t find a link to a game in my private Slack channel. So in short, no clue what I was thinking, and that tester is lost to the ether...
Another bear cub. This one has 3300 plays and only 9 have won it; #9 is at 31 minutes (!). I'm currently #3 at 3:07 and confidently expect several of you to knock that down a few places. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1518047067
Hey good work @GammaRho496! Now I'm #6 and the top 10 go from 1:49 to 4:43. Still pretty ursine. I can't see how many have played at this point without winning again, and I don't think I can do that. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1518047067
Bearish again. I turned up as #1 with a time of 1:54 after like 650 plays; before 1700 plays someone had dislodged me (by 1 sec.) and #10 was 3:07. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1375467275
Here's a bear from yesterday that never got many plays: only 264 to date. I managed #3 at 2:16. There have been only 5 wins (2 of them mine). https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1099677013
help .. i have enjoyed/wasted so much time on https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=266606376 when i should have been working ... if anyone has done it and has any hints or even the complete solution, i would be most grateful so i can put it out of my head! thanks heaps in advance
A tester, indeed, @wtown.
Hints
1. The opening gambit is near center stage, but pull up a card short of what seems smart
2. Then look left for an opportunity clear a column to the foundation, but then avoid the obvious play to that open column.
Or if you just want to see a solution, here you go:
Game #: 1758448387
Took me over 8 minutes to solve this one. Think others found it tricky as well because despite my slow time I still managed to get into the top 4%
Comments
Semi-tough. Times now 1:27 – 2:18 at 1700 games played. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1270459542
whaddyuh MEAN?!!? it's barely a game!!!!
Relatively small sample set—fewer than 800 plays. But fastest time is1:20 and 10th fastest time is a whopping 3:46: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=254205382
And comparable top 10 times with twice as many plays: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1845822162
Check out https://greenfelt.net?game=254205382 now. 29 seconds possible for me; just didn't want to spend the time memorizing the clicks to go that low.
Oops, https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=254205382. Getting sleepy.
Ditto at https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1845822162.
Ditto for "semi-tough" from 5/31/19 posting, at https://greenfelt.net/freecell?1270459542.
Ditto for Deus' 5/30/19 "real tester" posting at https://greenfelt.net/freecell?1066687874.
Correcting links for previous 2 posts; my bad!! FreeCell skills, OK; hypertext transfer protocol, needs work. Herewith,
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1270459542
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1066687874
Final challenge here on Corleone Day. Ditto for zudensternen's 5/7/19 posting
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=256672899
Bearslayer
I've been stockpiling links for y'all:
1. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1139482701
2. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1397484159
3. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=940137128
And another: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1177280792
This one is not terrible, but after 2100+ plays #10 is 1:43, and #1 is only 1:12. That would be moi. I want to see how fast you guys can shatter that time. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=627805291
zuden, sorry to say, 51 secs on 2nd try
Hey, nothing to be sorry, congrats! I see D.E.M. is on the board as well at 58 sec.
There's a subtle skill I haven't developed yet: glancing at a new deal and intuiting a direction of play that might be fruitful.
that's the way i do it, zuden, i usually look ahead only 1 or 2 moves, otherwise i get a brain cramp, wahhhh
I managed only 1:22 on my first try—just outside the current top ten.
Replaying games was a big part of developing my speed techniques. Especially the game of the day, of course. But I also replay a game if my time is 3x or 4x that of the fastest time recorded. Not because I care a wit about climbing the board for that game but rather because I’m curious to figure out how someone else solved it so much faster—like what did I miss on my first attempt?
I’ve gotten into the habit of checking the high scores for each game before starting (except in the first 5-10 minutes at the top of the hour when the sample set is too small to learn much). Having a sense of how difficult a game is really helps in deciding how aggressively to attack that game. If anybody’s cracked 30 seconds, then I look for the most obvious opening moves. If the best scores are more than a minute and a half, then I figure the obvious starting points (if there are any) are a dead end.
I’m curious about what others are looking for when starting a game. My main strategy is to find a a column that i can clear with one tap, leaving at least two free cells open.
This’un Just about broke me: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1321601319
Currently only 8 winners in 1757 attempts. Fastest time: 1:54, slowest: 18:24.
Took me at least an hour and half to solve it. (I sometimes think it’d be cool to have the site track the collective time spent and number of attempts, but I’m not sure I really want to know)
1st with 103, 1m25s BAM!
New first-place in both time and moves: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1321601319. Pretty tough, especially getting from 95 to 94 moves. A little practice would let me do it in 24 seconds using touchpad.
Bearslayer
Thanks again DEM ...
way to go, gamma rho!
Funny how a game can stump you until hit upon a single turn of the card, and then the rest falls right into place.
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1574037446
If you have always wanted to be the first player in over 4000 to crack the two minute mark, well here’s your chance: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=422234307
Uffda, that one's ursine. It's telling that you aren't in the top 10, @DeusExMachina. Or have you just not tried yet?
That’s me in the clubhouse with a 2:18 in 112 strokes. Forgot to change from my name du jour into my DEM outfit...
that one went from ursine to sasquatchine, best i can do is 7th/moves, 8th/time .. .. .. i need a drink! Deus, u buying?
Sure. First rounds on me. Have the bartender put it on my tab.
But you’ll have to guess which pub, tavern, bar, taproom or roadhouse I’m at ;-)
i hear they serve a mean sazerac at the comstock saloon
Not a bear; perhaps a young velociraptor. After 3000+ plays the range is 1:12 - 2:12. I'm on the board until you guys try your hand and kick me off #10. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=947264449
[ Note added 5 minutes later: already booted to #11 before you got there. ]
Ok, the Bearslayer has subdued Deus' challenge game: https//greenfelt.net/freecell?game=422234307. Now, if Deus will indulge me, I would wager he could complete the game in 9.5 seconds (I don't believe Greenfelt rounds up, so it would post as 9 seconds). By using both hands and a touch screen, Deus is about 3X faster than I, by my calculations. I'm basically a click-per-second guy using my touch pad. This one took 31 clicks to complete (including auto-finishes), and I managed 29 seconds due to the relatively good proximity of a few of the moves. If interested, give me the word, and I'll post the click sequence
Oops, https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=422234307. I have more difficulty with the dadgum hypertext protocol than I do with the puzzles.
Zudensternen, spotted a dead velociraptor in aisle 24 (seconds): https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=947264449. Probably road kill.
so, zuden, i had to look up velociraptor but i think something is wrong with google, it kept showing me a picture of my ex-mother-in-law, wahhhh
Consider yourself indulged, @GammaRho496
Muchas gracias, Deus. There was never a doubt in my mind that a 9-sec time by you was possible. However, I do doubt you could reach 8 playing your moves. I do believe it's possible (8 sec) because Carpediem+ knocked it out in 94 moves, a feat of mental gymnastics, which if I could figure out how he did it, should bring my time down to 24, and therefore yours to 8. Should we anticipate 3bc checking in with a sub-5? Now if I can only find some fool who'll wager with me.
Oh ye of little faith, @gammarho496!
Would love to know how many user operations it took @Carpediem+ for the 94-move solution. Mine is down to about 26
Small sample set (<500), but still worth calling out: https://adobeprovideo.slack.com/archives/G0KC08AKC/p1561484218027300
[my initial time was about 1:45–and that took me at least 20 attempts. The sub-minute time came when I replayed just to check on the number of plays...]
Hey @DEM, that Slack channel needs a member login.
Yeah, I suppose it would. Heck, the link doesn’t even work for me, and I can’t find a link to a game in my private Slack channel. So in short, no clue what I was thinking, and that tester is lost to the ether...
Set aside some time for this’un: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=26802597
Cinch! I zipped through it in just under 37 seconds minutes
Pretty durn bearlike. Top 10 are mostly 1:20 - 2:00 (w/#1 & #2 as outliers) after 4500 plays. I managed 3:35 so far. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1746782821
Good one, @zudensternen. It has several opening gambits that seem oh so promising but run into a a wall.
Zud and Deus, the Bearslayer strikes. Moves and Time: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1746782821
Cool, @GammaRho496!
Another bear cub. This one has 3300 plays and only 9 have won it; #9 is at 31 minutes (!). I'm currently #3 at 3:07 and confidently expect several of you to knock that down a few places. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1518047067
Hey good work @GammaRho496! Now I'm #6 and the top 10 go from 1:49 to 4:43. Still pretty ursine. I can't see how many have played at this point without winning again, and I don't think I can do that. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1518047067
Bearish again. I turned up as #1 with a time of 1:54 after like 650 plays; before 1700 plays someone had dislodged me (by 1 sec.) and #10 was 3:07. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1375467275
Here's a bear from yesterday that never got many plays: only 264 to date. I managed #3 at 2:16. There have been only 5 wins (2 of them mine). https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1099677013
Came very close to giving up on this one: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=266606376
More of a porcupine than a bear. Took me forever to find an opening gambit that led anywhere.
Funny @DEM, I was just going to post that game. I never found an opening into it.
And good work on https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1099677013 -- still only 9 wins on the board.
help .. i have enjoyed/wasted so much time on https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=266606376 when i should have been working ... if anyone has done it and has any hints or even the complete solution, i would be most grateful so i can put it out of my head! thanks heaps in advance
A tester, indeed, @wtown.
Hints
1. The opening gambit is near center stage, but pull up a card short of what seems smart
2. Then look left for an opportunity clear a column to the foundation, but then avoid the obvious play to that open column.
Or if you just want to see a solution, here you go:
oh man .. so obvious now i have been shown it .. thanks heaps for saving my sunday!
Yikes!
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=553836397
Fun one: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=223849919
Thanks again!
Whew, what a relief to solve this’un: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=59532129
Nearly succumbed to despair.
You can be the first to break the 2 minute mark: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1594856133
Of over 700 plays, only three have cracked 3 minutes
!! Bearslayer strikes: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1594856133
I eventually managed to solve this bear after15+ minutes
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=308886589
This one is tricky:
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1767254354
Eventually solved it after 7+minutes of deliberation and, despite the lack of speed, still placed 25th out of 5911
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=26802597
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=26802597
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=26802597
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=26802597
A whole month since the last bear? Try this one:
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=2006276149
Over 2K plays and the #10 score is 3:10.
And this one is pretty challenging. 1161 plays and #10 is 9:39 (!). https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1982835672
Thanks Z!
Just when I thought I was out!
...they pulled me back in
Took me ages to solve this one.
Gotta love that complete column of black with a red ace at the top.
New bear in town: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=2084611489 // The two aces are oh so tempting but... resist.
That was a tricky one.
Game #: 1758448387
Took me over 8 minutes to solve this one. Think others found it tricky as well because despite my slow time I still managed to get into the top 4%
Game #: 1468172543
thanks .. a good bear .. took quite a few tries!
Thanks for the bear - it was a gnarly one and took quite a few goes but got there in the end!
Hi @wtown glad you got there in the end
it took me quite while to solve it.
Bearish indeed. Top 10 are ~ 1:30 to 3:00 after 15K plays.
Another tricky one:
Game #: 520718651
Took me a while to work this one out:
Game #: 993072924
Another
Game #: 599215538
Thanks .. a lot of moves but didn't take me as many tries as usual!
Well done @wtown, you have the free cell magic touch
I was lost in the maze and it took me over 20 minutes to find the path to solve that one
At least a bit tougher than your average bear: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=870253996
This one was tricky to solve:
Game #: 1862586040
Relatively small number of plays (<500), but fewer than 10 people finished it. And 9th place pushes 10 minutes.
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1340662592
My brain feels mauled
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1435715897
Okay, now I can go to bed. Wasn’t looking promising for a while.
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1705002526
Have at it: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1931296676
Yes, a tough bear! Thanks!
Nearly 3000 plays, and so far only 6 players have solved it in under 3 min.
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=783952002
Make it 7. The 96 moves part is tougher.
Finally got a chance to share with you guys: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1111471466
I would rate this one 5/10.
I think we can start the rating system. For example, this one would be a 9/10: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=2068431502