So Ray, technically, a 5/10 wouldn't really qualify as a bear for purposes of this thread, now would it?. If 2068431502 is a 9/10, what would qualify as a10/10?
Not a Freecell game...but for you Addiction fans, #2091722950 has been played 125 times (6 by me) and the top score is a 29...
making it worthy of 'Bear' status.
Only one in 1300 managed to crack the 2-minute mark on this’ll: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1334494993. Took me almost 3 minutes to cross the finish line the first time, and that was after a bunch of false starts.
In my own defense, my 7:00 time does not fairly reflect how long my successful play took as I was interrupted twice by a terroristic kitty first knocking over a lamp and then cornering a much larger but meeker housemate. Were it not for those breaks, I’m sure I would have had it done in 4.5 minutes. Of course, on the flip side, I had a good 30 minutes invested in failed attempts before finding a path through.
At least 10 people have managed to complete this one, but I’m not one of them. The current 10th place clocked in at 24 minutes. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=529307030
Good luck!
(*That only 5 have completed it is not very telling given that a relatively small number of players have tried. Still, it’s more challenging than most...)
Alternation game 2023382402 has been won by @jabba. I think it's qualified for "bear" status. I know where all the cards are, but I'm not sure how to get them in the right place.
@jezzbelle, I just played it again and it took me 3 shots to get it out again. Best advice is to get as many low cards as early as possible - it is a bit of a bear
Don't play Freecell much myself, but @dbwoerner started a list of "Killer" Flower Garden games if you like playing that game. These are challenging ones that are {or likely are} solvable. IMHO all listed would be in the 7-10 out of 10 range depending on your skill level:
A moderate bear: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=215787141 . Times 1:38 to 3:10 after 442 plays. The average game has 2 or 3 times under a minute and the 10th position not above 1:10. Any game in which no-one beats 1:00 after a few hundred plays qualifies as a bear cub. Any one with the 10th time well over 2:00 embodies mild ursiniity. Over 3:00 = bear.
This one is pretty bad. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1684110046 \ Can't tell you how many plays as I haven't won, but after 45 minutes finally 10 people did beat it. #10 took 7:00 and #1 managed just under 2:00.
Another incipient bear: not imposssible, just gnarly. First thing you notice is stacked red tens (actuallly tripled-up with a black one). To disperse them you need black jacks -- they are stacked too. Red queens? Stacked. And the black kings are buried deep. At this writing #10 is almost 3 minutes. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=525597643
Middling ursine. Two of the usual suspects are under a minute, but many are over 3:00. If you aren't careful you will find yourself with every red face card in play, and nary a black one in sight. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1046749584
@DeusExMachina, I see you have discovered this beast: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=3548089137 . I saw you managed to get four cards up; I haven't gotten but three so far. (We have both been pushed off the board now.) #10 comes in at 3:35.
Funny how challenging it can be to find a viable path to get started, and how easy it can be once you get just 4 or 5 steps down that path. I must’ve tried at least 40 or 50 opening gambits that all petered out before stumbling on one that yielded a fairly easy stroll to the finish line. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1871248482
Major bear: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1035207148 . Look at those stacked queens. Look at all those 7s and 9s in play with the 6s, 8s, and 10s mostly buried. It goes on and on. Currently the top 10 times range from 2:04 to 4:34. Don't know how many have played it because I haven't beaten the game yet.
Yowza! That one went beyond enjoyable challenge to the realm of torture, @zudensternen. I lost track of how many sessions I devoted to it. At least 4. The funny part is that after dozens if not hundreds of attempts, I finally got onto a winning track by poking randomly at the middle of two columns. DM me if you want hints…
With three sub-60 second times, others clearly found this one way easier than I did, but it sure gave me a run for my money: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1991999552.
A time of 2:10 landed me in 97th place.
Maybe a bear? Not sure this one qualifies because only 59 people have played it to date. But only 8 have beaten it, and the #8 time is 11:11. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1254720052
One man's bear is another's piece of cake, I guess. Judging by the results so far, many people don't find this game particularly challenging — most times range from 1:08 to 1:26 — though I haven't yet found a way through it. But one player, Du Pont de Nevers, beat it in 5 seconds. [ boggle ] Not sure I have ever seen such a gap between the #1 player and #2. Even the fastest anonymous player trails that pace by 41 seconds. I wish our Monsieur Du Pont made how-to videos the way @DeusExMachina does.
@zudensternen That was the game of the day, so that explains folks going out of their way to knock out faster scores. It is indeed a fair tester. Took me longer than usual to break the 10 second mark.
Anyway, here’s a video of the fastest solution I came across:
@DeusExMachina , here's an unbearable one for you. As of now the #1 time is 2:15 and #10 is nearly four and a half minutes. (Recently it was over 17 minutes.) It's deceptive — doesn't look at first glance like there should be anything particularly knotty about it.
@zudensternen: OMG...tried your game=968270913. Lost track of how many tries it took. Almost gave up but at last minute came up with 16th place. Sheer enjoyment. Thanks for finding the game.
Why is it getting more and more difficult to find a "bear" in Freecell. Have been trying almost all evening to get something I can post here. Besides that, something strange is going on. My usual average is in 2m26s, which I'm quite satisfied with, but looking for the bear my times are all in the 1m30s range. This is ridiculous, I can't play that fast...my poor little mouse is exhausted. Is anyone else having the same problem?
Hmm a nice kind of problem to have seems to me, your time cut nearly in half! Seriously though, I haven't seen any systemic change in Freecell. Could just be a run of luck in the random sequences.
I think you are right. Run of luck is the only thing I can come up with also. Ordinarily, I would be jumping with joy with those times but I was looking for something I couldn't win.
Found a bear. Finally 10 players on the board have beat it, but it took a while. First place at the moment goes to aletaster — s/he who routinely shows up in the 30s and 20s of seconds. Number 10 is 3:08 now. Can't tell you how many plays because I haven't beaten it (nor come close).
Now that was a bear...took quite a bit of thought and planning.
Took 3 tries: 1st try placed 355 scored 1, 25 moves in 3m52s
2nd try placed 155 scored 4, 17 moves in 7m13s
3rd try placed 79 scored 52, 101 moves in 5m47s
Great find @zudensternen, really enjoyed it. I understand your feeling conspired against. At first, the thought is to place cards that "fit" with other cards but that didn't work for me...same deal for the second try, no luck. Finally found something that worked for me, placed cards that made a column on the lefthand side of the game, things finally seemed to fall into place by themselves. Fun game
This bear could use more TLC from strong players. Only 8 non-anonymous players have beaten it, and #8 took 25:59 to do so. The one time I won it only 63 had played (over 700 with anonymeese). https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=872270150
This game is some flavor of bear. (Maybe it's like a koala: not a real bear because it doesn't meet the koalafications.) At the moment with just about 500 plays by logged-in players, the #1 time is 1:17. When anonymous players are included (about 7 times as many, which is typical), the top 10 range from 0:40 to 1:04.
It's rare that the anonymeese beat the logged-in so badly as to push them out of the top 10 entirely.
Comments
So Ray, technically, a 5/10 wouldn't really qualify as a bear for purposes of this thread, now would it?. If 2068431502 is a 9/10, what would qualify as a10/10?
Not a Freecell game...but for you Addiction fans, #2091722950 has been played 125 times (6 by me) and the top score is a 29...
making it worthy of 'Bear' status.
I think 1111471466 is harder than some of those games above, so I put it here.
and for 10/10, we gonna save it for the future, right?
That's a big 10/4, Ray. Let us know when you've ID-ed a 10/10.
I got your 10 right here: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=752157795
lol I was just about to say that 10/10 would be a game with no solution!! Just kidding...
Anyway, I'm bored as well after finishing those games above. I will try my best to search and share more with you guys.
@homedoggy thanks for the heads up on Addiction Game #: 2091722950. Tough one for sure, I’m not having much luck with it.
Bear 🐻
Game #: 61994903
This one’s challenging. I had no end of false starts until it eventually fell into place.
Game #: 867851340
Almost 13 minutes to solve this game after many attempts! ...managed to creep into the top 50 😅
This one was finished by only 8 players on about 700 attempts, and only 4 made it under 2 minutes: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=160382409
I’ve managed to limp into 9th place ^ with a plus 8minute time. 🙂
This one took me at least 10 goes: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=678030849
Have fun!
Over 1500 plays; 10th best time: 5:30
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=108275765
I spent waaaay too much time to solve this one: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1924882690
This one’s still looking for someone to break the two-minute mark: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1896560330
Only one in 1300 managed to crack the 2-minute mark on this’ll: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1334494993. Took me almost 3 minutes to cross the finish line the first time, and that was after a bunch of false starts.
Be ye strong enough of will to take on this beast? https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=141228019
In my own defense, my 7:00 time does not fairly reflect how long my successful play took as I was interrupted twice by a terroristic kitty first knocking over a lamp and then cornering a much larger but meeker housemate. Were it not for those breaks, I’m sure I would have had it done in 4.5 minutes. Of course, on the flip side, I had a good 30 minutes invested in failed attempts before finding a path through.
Is anybody out there? I’m getting lonely! Anyway, here’s one that might take you a while: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=352799826
Hi @DeusExMachina I gave it go and struggled into14th place (at the time of posting) with a time of over 5 minutes.
At least 10 people have managed to complete this one, but I’m not one of them. The current 10th place clocked in at 24 minutes. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=529307030
Good luck!
You can be just the 6th person to finish this game!* https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=465089242
(*That only 5 have completed it is not very telling given that a relatively small number of players have tried. Still, it’s more challenging than most...)
1500 plays, 10th place stands at nearly 4 minutes: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=116384844
Solved by only 6. Ranging from 2:42 to 7:54. Have fun! https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=2060690400
Here’s a fun challenge: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1656442496
This’un took me a while: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1220131085
Do Alternation games qualify for 'bear' status?
@jezzbelle: I’m aware of no rules. Post at will.
Alternation game 2023382402 has been won by @jabba. I think it's qualified for "bear" status. I know where all the cards are, but I'm not sure how to get them in the right place.
@jezzbelle, I just played it again and it took me 3 shots to get it out again. Best advice is to get as many low cards as early as possible - it is a bit of a bear
I haven’t been playing Freecell much lately, so it’s been a while since I encountered a bear, but this one sure tested me! https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1612537703
Don't play Freecell much myself, but @dbwoerner started a list of "Killer" Flower Garden games if you like playing that game. These are challenging ones that are {or likely are} solvable. IMHO all listed would be in the 7-10 out of 10 range depending on your skill level:
https://forum.greenfelt.net/discussion/comment/27139#Comment_27139
Bearish but not impossible. After 104 plays, only 5 have beaten it, 2:47 - 6:28. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=324150222
Another similar: only 5 have beaten it. C'mon @DeusExMachina, @Bonz2580, get on the scoreboard!
it took a million tries and several undos but at last!
@zudensternen Forget something?
hey deus! what's turnin'?
Bowls. Lots and lots of bowls. But not so much for the last two weeks thanks to the olympics.
@DeusExMachina Doak! https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1859363049 // You too, @Bonz2580.
More ursinity. In 119 plays, only 7 have beaten it, 1:43 – 6:02. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1855606844
Hey @tucsonsky, good work!
thanks zudensternen, or as i like to think of u, Ursinio Hall
Fun one: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1248123100
Thanks DeusEx. Try this one for ursinity: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1871682664
All right, you know it's a bear when... @BonnieBonz finishes in 2:12. I haven't even beat it, let alone shown up on the board. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=172783853
Most ursine. The top 10 ranges from just under 2 minutes to almost 20. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=277079138
You want a bear? Here's a bear: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=636759831 Only three have beaten it so far (in 3 minutes to 1 hour).
A moderate bear: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=215787141 . Times 1:38 to 3:10 after 442 plays. The average game has 2 or 3 times under a minute and the 10th position not above 1:10. Any game in which no-one beats 1:00 after a few hundred plays qualifies as a bear cub. Any one with the 10th time well over 2:00 embodies mild ursiniity. Over 3:00 = bear.
A true bruin: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=795661151
Pretty darn ursine, @DeusExMachina . I managed to beat it though no one but me can verify that.
This one is pretty bad. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1684110046 \ Can't tell you how many plays as I haven't won, but after 45 minutes finally 10 people did beat it. #10 took 7:00 and #1 managed just under 2:00.
12 minutes and 1 second, but I won it. I did forget to pause, so it might be a little faster. That was twisty.
A bear cub. After 418 plays, the top 10 times range from 1:03 – 2:28. My 3:11 ranks in the top 3%. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1136609715
Another incipient bear: not imposssible, just gnarly. First thing you notice is stacked red tens (actuallly tripled-up with a black one). To disperse them you need black jacks -- they are stacked too. Red queens? Stacked. And the black kings are buried deep. At this writing #10 is almost 3 minutes. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=525597643
Middling ursine. Two of the usual suspects are under a minute, but many are over 3:00. If you aren't careful you will find yourself with every red face card in play, and nary a black one in sight. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1046749584
I began to think this’un was unwinnable: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1950759719
Solved by only 7 players so far.
Pack a lunch!
@DeusExMachina, I see you have discovered this beast: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=3548089137 . I saw you managed to get four cards up; I haven't gotten but three so far. (We have both been pushed off the board now.) #10 comes in at 3:35.
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1807329024
4:51 was good enough to get me 3rd. ‘nuf said
This’un was a pain!
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=27768711
Pack a lunch!
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1225552658
I nearly gave up on this one. Tenth place clocks in at 3:38. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1903001666
Funny how challenging it can be to find a viable path to get started, and how easy it can be once you get just 4 or 5 steps down that path. I must’ve tried at least 40 or 50 opening gambits that all petered out before stumbling on one that yielded a fairly easy stroll to the finish line.
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1871248482
This one gave me a run for my money: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=2130259050. My time of 3:46 landed me in 6th (among signed-in players).
Hmm looks like the bear yielded to more time & players. #10 is now 2:47.
Major bear: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1035207148 . Look at those stacked queens. Look at all those 7s and 9s in play with the 6s, 8s, and 10s mostly buried. It goes on and on. Currently the top 10 times range from 2:04 to 4:34. Don't know how many have played it because I haven't beaten the game yet.
Yowza! That one went beyond enjoyable challenge to the realm of torture, @zudensternen. I lost track of how many sessions I devoted to it. At least 4. The funny part is that after dozens if not hundreds of attempts, I finally got onto a winning track by poking randomly at the middle of two columns. DM me if you want hints…
Ursa Minor: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=52992624
With three sub-60 second times, others clearly found this one way easier than I did, but it sure gave me a run for my money: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1991999552.
A time of 2:10 landed me in 97th place.
Maybe a bear? Not sure this one qualifies because only 59 people have played it to date. But only 8 have beaten it, and the #8 time is 11:11. https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1254720052
Won that one. Twisty but fun.
One man's bear is another's piece of cake, I guess. Judging by the results so far, many people don't find this game particularly challenging — most times range from 1:08 to 1:26 — though I haven't yet found a way through it. But one player, Du Pont de Nevers, beat it in 5 seconds. [ boggle ] Not sure I have ever seen such a gap between the #1 player and #2. Even the fastest anonymous player trails that pace by 41 seconds. I wish our Monsieur Du Pont made how-to videos the way @DeusExMachina does.
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=4093035457
Edit just after posting — In the time I spent composing the above, another player, @Tartempion, posted a time of 7 seconds for this game.
Edit 2 — I finally did find a narrow path to victory, in 4:37. It's a Bear. A Fat Bear.
@zudensternen That was the game of the day, so that explains folks going out of their way to knock out faster scores. It is indeed a fair tester. Took me longer than usual to break the 10 second mark.
Anyway, here’s a video of the fastest solution I came across:
@DeusExMachina — thank you, the video does indeed scratch the itch.
Sheer bear. Fastest time is just under 2 minutes and #10 comes in at 5:22.
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=968270913
@DeusExMachina , here's an unbearable one for you. As of now the #1 time is 2:15 and #10 is nearly four and a half minutes. (Recently it was over 17 minutes.) It's deceptive — doesn't look at first glance like there should be anything particularly knotty about it.
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=443132873
@zudensternen: that was a fun one, indeed. I finally cracked it after about a dozen tries. 4:22 landed me in 14th.
@zudensternen: DEM is right...great game. Took around 4:02 put me in 14th...sorry about that DEM 😏.
@zudensternen: OMG...tried your game=968270913. Lost track of how many tries it took. Almost gave up but at last minute came up with 16th place. Sheer enjoyment. Thanks for finding the game.
Why is it getting more and more difficult to find a "bear" in Freecell. Have been trying almost all evening to get something I can post here. Besides that, something strange is going on. My usual average is in 2m26s, which I'm quite satisfied with, but looking for the bear my times are all in the 1m30s range. This is ridiculous, I can't play that fast...my poor little mouse is exhausted. Is anyone else having the same problem?
Hmm a nice kind of problem to have seems to me, your time cut nearly in half! Seriously though, I haven't seen any systemic change in Freecell. Could just be a run of luck in the random sequences.
I think you are right. Run of luck is the only thing I can come up with also. Ordinarily, I would be jumping with joy with those times but I was looking for something I couldn't win.
Found a bear. Finally 10 players on the board have beat it, but it took a while. First place at the moment goes to aletaster — s/he who routinely shows up in the 30s and 20s of seconds. Number 10 is 3:08 now. Can't tell you how many plays because I haven't beaten it (nor come close).
Everything conspires against you in this game.
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1667342824
Now that was a bear...took quite a bit of thought and planning.
Took 3 tries: 1st try placed 355 scored 1, 25 moves in 3m52s
2nd try placed 155 scored 4, 17 moves in 7m13s
3rd try placed 79 scored 52, 101 moves in 5m47s
Great find @zudensternen, really enjoyed it. I understand your feeling conspired against. At first, the thought is to place cards that "fit" with other cards but that didn't work for me...same deal for the second try, no luck. Finally found something that worked for me, placed cards that made a column on the lefthand side of the game, things finally seemed to fall into place by themselves. Fun game
A bear for your consideration. The top 10 range from 1:55 to 3:21. I haven't beat the game yet so can't report on how many plays this represents.
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1157751
This’un took me a bunch of tries: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=438327894
At the moment only one player has cracked 2.5 minutes (kudos to @evansfan.
Have it, bear-hunters!
This bear could use more TLC from strong players. Only 8 non-anonymous players have beaten it, and #8 took 25:59 to do so. The one time I won it only 63 had played (over 700 with anonymeese). https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=872270150
This’un tested me something fierce: https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=35184595
This game is some flavor of bear. (Maybe it's like a koala: not a real bear because it doesn't meet the koalafications.) At the moment with just about 500 plays by logged-in players, the #1 time is 1:17. When anonymous players are included (about 7 times as many, which is typical), the top 10 range from 0:40 to 1:04.
It's rare that the anonymeese beat the logged-in so badly as to push them out of the top 10 entirely.
https://greenfelt.net/freecell?game=1234726578