We've had a few questions come up on Meta regarding a specific type of puzzle Joe Z. has dubbed "mass-producible puzzles."Joe Z. has dubbed "mass-producible puzzles." These, in essence, are puzzles
- which can be produced in great quantities
- for which there are common shared strategies
Two good examples are cryptic crossword clues and Sudoku puzzles. The (potential) problem here is that MPPs (mass producible puzzles) tend to lead to mass-producible questions - that is, we'll end up with dozens of questions regarding specific cryptic crossword clues.
In general, there are two types of MPPs that I see: the first, questions regarding puzzles in the specific ("how do I solve [this specific Sudoku/cryptic clue]"), and questions regarding puzzles in the general ("what strategies move me forward from [certain point in puzzle]", "how does [method] work?", etc.).
We've had a couple meta questions about this topic as a whole already:
- http://meta.puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/213/on-the-posting-of-cryptic-crossword-clues-as-puzzlesOn the posting of cryptic crossword clues as puzzles
- http://meta.puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/215/are-probability-exercises-on-topic-hereAre probability exercises on topic here?
- http://meta.puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/179/are-specific-coded-message-puzzles-on-topic-in-puzzling/Are specific coded message puzzles on-topic in Puzzling?
- http://meta.puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/3/is-it-on-topic-to-present-specific-logic-puzzles-or-brainteasers-as-questionsIs it on-topic to present specific logic puzzles or brainteasers as questions?
These questions, I think, all (generally) come back to this point. Are specific or general MPP questions on-topic?
