Nadav Samet's Blog

The Python Challenge had started two years ago, in April 2005. The basic idea of the Python Challenge was to introduce people to the wonderful world of Python by creating a puzzle which will encourage them to solve programmatic problems with a bit of Python code. It got amazingly popular and some people had admitted they are strongly addicted to it.

The vast popularity of the Python Challenge had pushed the creative juices in my head and a new puzzle with actual rewards is being “cooked” while you are reading this post.

This is the right moment to announce who were the great winners of the Python Challenge. The following ten were the first to successfully complete all the 33 levels of the puzzle. The list is sorted by completion time from the first to the last. Next to the names you will find the first thought which occurred in their minds at the finishing line.

Each of the winners get the prize of being mentioned in this list (I can link to your site if you wish).

But before we’d go on with the list of winners, I’d like to thank to all those who participated in the Python Challenge and those who suggested levels. I’d like to thank my girlfriend Avital who gave me the inspiration. Special thanks go to Tim Peters and Martijn Pieters who helped moderating the forums.

1. bit4: I finally had time to code and run the etch-a-s[ck]etch solver and get past the smiling python. Lovely!
2. wo: Good Game!!I’m learning python since 2005-05-05.
3. University_of_Ulm_ms55_gh5: We needed 3 hours to fully reveal that smiling python image by hand… (and 4 fields had been wrong).But of course it was fun – even as there was the possibility that the next image would be of size 100×100 *g*.
4. cosimo: Three weeks of challenge. Really great time for me! (excluding one or two levels
5. gbrandl: Was fun, again! Loved especially 32…
6. DJohn The <spoiler removed> one required too much external knowledge. But the rest have been fun.
7. mfuzzey: Great fun – very addictive.
8. Hemlock: Loved it!
9. acw1668: I really enjoy the journey and I hope there are more levels soon.
10. Fraxas: Thanks so much for doing this puzzle for us all, thesamet. it’s been great fun.Pharaohmagnetic: I’ve been working on this challenge with Fraxas for the past several weeks. In that time, it has intrigued, frustrated, and thrilled us to no end. We finally made it to his page. Congratulations on making an awesome puzzle.

Here are few more quotes from people who completed the challenge later:

• ajohnson: Wow, that was great. I’m sure my work suffered while I devoted much time to this. I do feel I needed more help than I should have, but it was still much fun!
• confused: Thanks for some really great challenges, it has been a lot of fun.
• sdsmith: At the end at last! It’s been a fun couple of days… ahem… weeks… ahem… well, anyway, thanks for all the superb problems!
• Pinzo: Hey! I’ve done it!!! I’ve done it!!!Continue the great job!
• jazzgeorge: This was a lot of fun. I didn’t know python at all when I started, and this was a great way to learn!
• divergentdave: These puzzles were a great way for me to learn more about Python, such as stuff like string[::-1].
• Franio: more levels please!!!
• Xofon: Guess I have not been first, but this was not why I struggled through all of this. A pleasant way to learn Python.
• Asi.tak: Thank you for this wonderfull game. I really liked it. I’ve never done anything in Python before and I feel that this Challenge was the best way to learn it and start to like it. It was a lot of fun. So thanks a lot. I am looking forward to new levels.
• nageroc: Can it really be the end? Thanks for the challenge!
• nmcserra: This was great fun! Thanks for creating this challenge.
• arnache: Great site.

Could never have done more than half of them without the hints forum: some of them are just to hard without indication (don’t pretend the hints you give are helpful), and easy once we have it. But that’s the nature of riddles isn’t it ?

• interesse: Solved the first level on July 30th 2006. Now we have December 11th. What a time burner…
• grzes: that was fun. took me a long time though. when i started a little less then a year ago all i knew about python was the wikipedia entry on it… this challenge served me as a python tutorial of sorts…
• tomk: Yes!!!! Finally made it, thanks for a really great way to waste loads of time 😉
• newfweiler: I made it! Wow! Thanks for a fun way to learn Python. I’m going to go send you a second Paypal donation just because this was worth more than buying another Python book.

And finally, here are some quotes from quick fellows who have completed the challenge before it had 33 levels:

• jtauber: This challenge is fantastic. Clever, addictive and really gets your mind working. I feel like I’m playing Myst.
• japyh: Please, stop, no more. I beg you.
• Hang: What was fun! Very good brain exercises.It ‘forced’ me to discover something new python stuff, and make some new friends too.
• birkenfeld: Yay! Has been fun till here, hope there’ll be 100 soon! <wink>

To be continued.