Okay, so I saw this “diamond division” thing on the NYT, and I was like, “What’s that all about?” I’m always up for a little brain teaser, so I decided to give it a shot. Figured I’d share my experience, you know, in case anyone else is curious.
First, I found the game on the NYT games section. Honestly, finding it was probably the easiest part of this whole thing. It’s pretty prominently displayed.
My First Attempt (and Many Fails)
The game loaded up, and I was presented with this…diamond…thing. A bunch of numbers and empty spaces. The instructions were pretty minimal, basically saying you gotta fill in the blanks so that the numbers add up correctly in all directions. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong.
- I started by just throwing numbers in, kinda randomly. Big mistake.
- Then I tried to be a little more methodical, focusing on one line at a time. Still no luck.
- I kept getting these red error messages, telling me my sums were off. It was frustrating!
- I think I spent a good 20 minutes just staring at the screen, feeling like a complete idiot.
The “Aha!” Moment
After a bunch of failed attempts, I finally started to see a pattern. It’s all about finding the relationships between the numbers. You can’t just focus on one line; you have to consider how each number affects all the surrounding sums.
I started looking for smaller, easier-to-solve sections within the diamond. Like, if two numbers were already filled in, I could figure out the third one pretty easily. Then, I could use that new number to help solve other parts of the puzzle.
Slowly but Surely…
It was still a slow process, but I started making progress. I used a lot of trial and error, plugging in numbers and seeing if they worked. When I got a red error, I didn’t give up; I just backtracked and tried a different approach.
I’d fill in some parts, erase them and try again. There are a few points I felt stuck, and restart it.
Victory!
Finally, after what felt like forever, I managed to fill in all the blanks correctly! I got this green checkmark, and I gotta say, it felt pretty good. I wouldn’t say it was easy, but it was definitely satisfying to finally crack it.
So, that’s my experience with the NYT’s “diamond division.” It’s a good little challenge if you’re into number puzzles. Just be prepared to use your brain (and maybe a bit of patience!).
