From: Gavin Kistner <gavin@...>
Date: 2005-08-29T21:23:30+09:00
Subject: Re: [SOLUTION] Word Chains (#44)

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On Aug 28, 2005, at 5:16 PM, Levin Alexander wrote:
>>> An interesting chain to stress-test your algorithms is "sahara" <- 
>>> > "cloudy" (46 links)
>>> (in my dictionary at least)
>>
>> Mine is missing many of the words in that chain. What dictionary  
>> is yours?
>
> "/usr/share/dict/british-english" from Ubuntu Hoary.
>
> You can get the Package from <http://packages.debian.org/unstable/ 
> text/wbritish>

Thanks...took me a bit to figure out how unpack a .deb file and get  
the dictionary out of it. My computer/algorithm is not as fast as  
yours, as it takes 210 seconds with a maximum chain limit of 100, or  
60 seconds with a chain limit of exactly 46 ;)

I also had to modify my program, since it does not normally accept  
capitalized words as an acceptable variation, which were necessary  
for that chain (including the first link). My Scrabble roots showing  
through, I suppose.

I would not have suspected that there could be a minimum-length chain  
that long for such short words. Very interesting :)

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