Student Rant: Google Da Vinci Code quest # 19: Symbol Challenge

Hello everyone... welcome back. On a personal note, I just got done with the last of my finals. I guess you might have noticed that in the last couple of days, I was trying to be brief at the best with respect to the puzzles. Sometimes I posted the wrong quest number... stuff like that. Well, finals done, let's get rocking on the quests.

We are approaching the final stretch of the Da Vinci Code webquests starting today. Today's quest is the Symbol Challenge

The instructions are as follows
"Tom Hanks is professor Robert Langdon, an expert on the interpretation of symbols.

Use your logic skills and drag the symbols onto the grid such that the symbols in each row are all distinct, the symbols in each column are all distinct, and the symbols in each shaded region are all distinct. Some symbols may have already been placed and cannot be moved.

Okay, let's get started...
Today's challenge looks definitely like a good challenge. The number of blocks have increased. We now have a 6 x 6 block with 6 unique symbols... the new addition being a key looking symbol. NOTE: The puzzle and the location of the symbol might vary on your screen. However, follow the approach and you should be all set.

Step # 1: Look for the region with the maximum number of symbols already placed, whether a row or a column or a shaded region. Using my example, I will approach column 1 first with four symbols already placed and fill them up with 2 more unique symbols

Step # 2: Next, i approach the region with the max symbols already placed. This would be the dark red shaded region on the top. Fill them up with unique symbols taking care of the row and column requirements too. Also, I finish up the first row which now has 5 symbols already placed and fill it up with the unique symbol for that row.

Step # 3: Now its a lot more trickier with a max of 3 symbols in any region. A good approach would be finish up the corners and then come towards the middle. So I go for the last column on the right hand side which has 3 symbols already placed in them.

Step # 4: Again, a similar dilema with a max of 3 symbols placed in any region. Now with both our extreme ends filled, don't go for the bottom row. Approach a shaded region with the most symbols in it. I go for the light brown shaded region knowing that once i am done with that, I will have more information for the next rows. Fill the region with 3 more unique symbols taking care of the row and column requirements and the shaded region requirements.

Step # 5: Next, i finish out row 4 which just needs 1 more symbol and also row 3 which needs 2 more symbols. Once i am done with this, I am also done with the brown shaded region.

Step # 6: Now, i finish out column 5 which has 5 symbols already placed and with that row 2 which has 4 symbols placed.

Step # 7: Now, towards the end, approach towards filling up the columns instead of the shaded regions. Finish up the remainder.


Next, we are asked our trivia question.

During his Italian Journeys, William Dean Howells visits the Protestant ragged schools at this city.

We are told to search for this information using Google Book Search. A quick query gives me the answer to the name of the city.

NOTE: The trivia question on yours might be different. Open up Google Book Search and then type in the part of the question given in bold and if you don't get the answer, follow it up with the name of the author.

Good luck solving !!

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