Comments on: The 24 Puzzle http://imprompt.us/2009/the-24-puzzle/ Computer Science and Teaching and Other Ancillary Things Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:23:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Peter Boothe http://imprompt.us/2009/the-24-puzzle/comment-page-1/#comment-16742 Peter Boothe Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:57:59 +0000 http://imprompt.us/?p=141#comment-16742 "Free time", hah! “Free time”, hah!

]]> By: F. Carr http://imprompt.us/2009/the-24-puzzle/comment-page-1/#comment-16741 F. Carr Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:17:47 +0000 http://imprompt.us/?p=141#comment-16741 So a random choice still has a 1/6 to 1/5 chance of FAIL. Neat, thanks :-)<br><br>I wonder if the hardcore kiddies memorize these FAIL patterns like Scrabblers memorizing the drop-all-7-letters patterns, or if these patterns are just disallowed? On the other hand, if there are "only" 404 patterns that use digits 1-9 and are feasible, maybe those 404 could be committed to memory...<br><br>Or maybe one could enumerate all solutions for those 404 patterns, then find the smallest set of solution-methods that cover the largest number of those patterns with a solution! Like, "our analysis produced 5 solution-methods that cover 94.2% of all cases."<br><br>It's a good thing you're a prof and have time to work on these things. I'm coding in python, so I don't even have a compile-step --- I have to be running the build-regressions to get a decent block of productive-yet-idle time :-) So a random choice still has a 1/6 to 1/5 chance of FAIL. Neat, thanks :-)

I wonder if the hardcore kiddies memorize these FAIL patterns like Scrabblers memorizing the drop-all-7-letters patterns, or if these patterns are just disallowed? On the other hand, if there are “only” 404 patterns that use digits 1-9 and are feasible, maybe those 404 could be committed to memory…

Or maybe one could enumerate all solutions for those 404 patterns, then find the smallest set of solution-methods that cover the largest number of those patterns with a solution! Like, “our analysis produced 5 solution-methods that cover 94.2% of all cases.”

It's a good thing you're a prof and have time to work on these things. I'm coding in python, so I don't even have a compile-step — I have to be running the build-regressions to get a decent block of productive-yet-idle time :-)

]]> By: Peter Boothe http://imprompt.us/2009/the-24-puzzle/comment-page-1/#comment-16740 Peter Boothe Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:30:40 +0000 http://imprompt.us/?p=141#comment-16740 495 != 9*9*9*9<br><br>This is because we treat 1,1,1,2 the same as 1,1,2,1. 495 != 9*9*9*9

This is because we treat 1,1,1,2 the same as 1,1,2,1.

]]> By: Peter Boothe http://imprompt.us/2009/the-24-puzzle/comment-page-1/#comment-16739 Peter Boothe Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:22:44 +0000 http://imprompt.us/?p=141#comment-16739 <code>$ grep -v '[0-9][0-9]' rawoutput.txt | wc -l<br>495<br>$ grep -v '[0-9][0-9]' rawoutput.txt | grep No | wc -l<br>91</code><br><br>91 out of 495 problems have no solution.
$ grep -v &#39;[0-9][0-9]&#39; rawoutput.txt  | wc -l<br>495<br>$ grep -v &#39;[0-9][0-9]&#39; rawoutput.txt | grep No | wc -l<br>91

91 out of 495 problems have no solution.

]]> By: F. Carr http://imprompt.us/2009/the-24-puzzle/comment-page-1/#comment-16738 F. Carr Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:37:01 +0000 http://imprompt.us/?p=141#comment-16738 Uh... the comment-posting for this site + my webbrowser is not teh awesome? Uh… the comment-posting for this site + my webbrowser is not teh awesome?

]]> By: F. Carr http://imprompt.us/2009/the-24-puzzle/comment-page-1/#comment-16737 F. Carr Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:36:14 +0000 http://imprompt.us/?p=141#comment-16737 Definitely teh awesome :-)<br><br>The wikipedia page says the game is played with numbers 1-9 versus 1-[N]. (Or for the HARDCORE kiddies, -9 to 9 with some fractions thrown in. But "meh" to the hardcore.) Question: what fraction of the 9*9*9*9 problems using just digits 1-9 have no solution? Definitely teh awesome :-)

The wikipedia page says the game is played with numbers 1-9 versus 1-[N]. (Or for the HARDCORE kiddies, -9 to 9 with some fractions thrown in. But “meh” to the hardcore.) Question: what fraction of the 9*9*9*9 problems using just digits 1-9 have no solution?

]]> By: F. Carr http://imprompt.us/2009/the-24-puzzle/comment-page-1/#comment-16736 F. Carr Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:27:48 +0000 http://imprompt.us/?p=141#comment-16736 Definitely teh awesome :-)<br><br>The wikipedia page says the game is played with numbers 1-9 versus 1-[N]. (Or for the HARDCORE kiddies, -9 to 9 with some fractions thrown in. But "meh" to the hardcore.) Question: what fraction of the 9*9*9*9 problems using just digits 1-9 have no solution? Definitely teh awesome :-)

The wikipedia page says the game is played with numbers 1-9 versus 1-[N]. (Or for the HARDCORE kiddies, -9 to 9 with some fractions thrown in. But “meh” to the hardcore.) Question: what fraction of the 9*9*9*9 problems using just digits 1-9 have no solution?

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