the rest of this post is practically a spoiler, which might spoil the game for others
Apologies- I'll edit to avoid ruining it for anyone else.the rest of this post is practically a spoiler, which might spoil the game for others
Yes that threw me too. And it's a part of the world I DO know fairly well!
I got it in 4 but my opening station helped. The short walking connection confused me a bit and when I saw the answer it wasn't where I thought it was going to be!
Hopefully everyone who wants to still do today's puzzle will either be done by now or will steer clear until they've done it- I don't know how to do spoiler tags!
I had been looking at that part of the network when planning a trip recently, so it was fresh in my mind, and once I had worked out that I was changing at Birmingham New Street and had a L, I went for the one I knew better, but it was wrong!
Lichfield City was a tricky one. I started at Leeds so got the first letter, and in trying to work out where there'd be two 5 minute journeys to get there I went for Liverpool Central (I'd momentarily swapped Moorfields & Central in my head)... Of course the game assumes a walk anyway if going between Lime Street & Central. This gave me the last letter too, so it was easily gettable from there.
it was Inverness one day last week!
So it was
And I got it in two! There aren't many 7 hour connections from Peterborough!
I got it in three! From my first guess I basically had to take a gamble between Aberdeen and Inverness, and I picked the wrong one for guess #2....
I haven't been able to remember every puzzle since I started playing, and can't remember if Shrewsbury has been used twice in that time... But if it has, it means there's no point in finding out what stations had come up before, as there's nothing to say they won't come up again. In the last few puzzles I've been picking a station from the handful that I have a personal connection with (and which are unlikely to add a needless extra step to the routing- so Taunton and Huddersfield are on my list, but Ormskirk, Hampton Court and Denby Dale aren't).
That 20 minutes can be a giveaway though. I can't think of another 20 minute walk I have encountered, maybe Kings Cross to Euston but I think when it was Stafford, I was routed Kings Cross to Euston as a 5 minute tube journey.
I think I've had Kings Cross to Euston as a 10 minute walk. The way it handles cross London transfers messes my thinking up, as Tube journeys aren't indicated as such until after the puzzle is solved (or you've used up all your guesses) and for some transfers the tube isn't used at all. The first time it sent me up the ECML from Huddersfield it confused me, as it insists on doing the Wakefield shuffle instead of just changing at Leeds.
I've avoided London starters because of how confusing the routings can be if the target station is accessed via another London terminal... but maybe it is worth a try!
