From: Elliot Temple <curi@...>
Date: 2006-08-14T01:04:48+09:00
Subject: [Solution] Bonus Questions  [QUIZ] Pen and Paper (#90)


On Aug 11, 2006, at 5:58 AM, Ruby Quiz wrote:

> You get extra points for:
>
> 	- Finding more about this game (name, origin, related articles)
> 	- Filling a 5x5 board with only pen and paper
> 	- Filling a bigger board with only pen and paper
> 	- Finding the worst attempt possible for a given size. For example,
> 	  getting stuck after 10 steps on a 5x5 board is pretty bad:

You can get stuck in 6 steps on 6x6 or larger:

  -------------------------
|  .   .   .   .   .   . |
|  5   .   .   4   .   . |
|  .   .   .   .   .   . |
|  .   .   1   .   .   2 |
|  .   .   .   .   .   . |
|  6   .   .   3   .   . |
-------------------------

For 5x5, I found 9 steps (which is just your example with the first  
step removed b/c it wasn't needed):

   -------------------
|  .   5   2   .   6|
|  .   .   8   .   .|
|  3   .   .   4   1|
|  .   .   .   .   7|
|  .   .   9   .   .|
   -------------------






-- Elliot Temple
http://www.curi.us/blog/