Timing TBLR Sudoku, 11/17/09-11/23/09

Today was a really bad day for TBLR Sudoku. I had the incredibly fast time from last Tuesday staring over my shoulder, and I ended up imagining the incorrect number in a square, which lead to the inevitable TBLR fail. I got another copy of the Variety section that was laying around, and started doing the puzzle the regular way. I imagined something that wasn’t there then too, and I failed on a 2-star, which is pretty rare for me. I copied the puzzle onto a piece of paper and tried again, finally succeeding. Sounds like Swamp Castle (“Ah, but the fourth castle, it stayed up!”). I am therefore 1 out of 2 in solving 2-star puzzles TBLR in 30 minutes.

Wednesday, 11/18/09: 3-star. I did the puzzle, but didn’t record what I’ve usually been recording. I therefore count myself as 0 for 2 in solving 3-stars (by “solving” I mean “solving TBLR in 30 minutes”)
Thursday, 11/19/09: 4-star, 56 open squares, 0 filled, 31 identified in 30 minutes. That’s a new personal best on the number of squares identified in a 4-star. I filled in the squares I identified, and took an additional 3:03 to finish the puzzle. 0 for 2 in solving 4-stars.
Friday, 11/20/09: 5-star. I didn’t count the squares because I failed in both the TBLR solving and the solving of any kind. 0 for 3 in solving 5-stars
Saturday, 11/21/09: 6-star. I did the puzzle, but didn’t try to do it TBLR.
Sunday, 11/22/09: Didn’t do the puzzle.
Monday, 11/23/09: 1-star, 56 open squares, 56 filled in 18:13. New personal best, making up for the lousiness of earlier in the week. 1 for 2 in solving 1-stars.