Minesweeper

[Tekiel]

Doing it without marking the bombs really helps cause then you can find the rules.
For example a straight row of the numbers 1-2-1 means that the squares adjacent to the number 2 are not bombs - assuming there aren't numbers to the outside of the numbers 1.  Let me see if I can make a crude pic of it.
X X X A X X X
      1 2 1

The A isn't a bomb.

. . . . I need a life.  

[Eagle Prince]

Yeah I get what you mean, after awhile it gets more and  more about pattern recognition more than figuring out each bomb.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I thought the multiclick thing was cheating at first. But then I adopted it and loved it. Yes, that's part of how I get my times.

There are other more difficult patterns to recognize if you want to be fast.

E X X E
1 2 2 1

where the numbers equal numbers, the E represents an empty box and the X reepresents a bomb. THat will always be the case

The difficult thing about such patterns is reconizing how it fits a pattern even though the exact number isn't what you expect. To expand, using the previous pattern:

E X X E X X E
1 2 2 2 2 3 X

the first part fits the 1-2-2-1, but the fourth number isn't a 1, it's a 2. HOwever, if we already knew what mines were touching the fifth number, then we already know what one of hte mines touching the fourth number is, which means the mines left to discover will match a 1-2-2-1 pattern. Do I make sense?

[Eagle Prince]

Wish I could say that new trick was helping me, but its only shaving off a few seconds.  It does make the average time I finish a game a lot quicker though.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

here's another illustration incase I wasn't clear before. Happened just now, which is why I thought of it.

2 1 2
2 F 3
3 2 3
F 1 1

the F is a mine I've flagged (correctly, I won this particular round) This is what I see. I'm working to the right, this is right at the top of the playing field. everything to the left is clear, but also doesn't bear on this example.

where are the mines? There are exactly two that you can find with that pattern.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

oh, and I got 4 seconds on beginner just now. I would have tied your 3, but I wasn't watching and I started flagging mines. I could have just clicked twice more and gotten it in 2 or 3. Curse my distracti on!

[Entsuropi]

You strange people.

[Tekiel]

Hmmm, apparently I haven't played this as much as I thought.  You say you're working at the top and are heading right.  I only see one mine to the right:

2 1 2
2 F 3
3 2 3 F
F 1 1

Where's the other?

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Right above it. This is an iteration of the 1-2-2-1 pattern in play. The top one needs shows 2, but it needs one more. The next two show three, but they both already border a one, so they each need 2. The last one is an actual one. So the solution is:

2 1 2  
2 F 3 F
3 2 3 F
F 1 1  

[MasterShake]

 My current best times:  
Beginner: 6 seconds  
intermediate: 59 seconds  
Expert: 112 seconds  

Okay I kno these aren't the best of scores but hey I tried!