Talk:15 puzzle solver
Mathematical meaning of minimum
The meaning of minimum has been discussed see: Minimum. It means 52 not 58, assuming fewest is a synonym for minimum. I think the task description should call for 'minimum solutions to random 15 puzzles' (see below)--Nigel Galloway (talk) 10:28, 6 October 2017 (UTC)
- I am surprised that anyone thinks that 52 < 31. Pete Lomax (talk) 05:11, 24 October 2017 (UTC)
Mathematical meaning of random
Unlike minimum, which I am surprised that anyone thinks means anything other than 'reduced to the least possible amount or degree', random means easy mathematically. There are 16!/2 15 puzzles, a little over 10 trillion, of which the number that are hard to solve is counted in the hundred thousands. Therefore a randomly chosen puzzle is easy. --Nigel Galloway (talk) 10:36, 6 October 2017 (UTC)
- see for an analysis of 20 randomly generated 15 puzzles--Nigel Galloway (talk) 13:00, 20 October 2017 (UTC)
- page updated with better results, and now linked from the task description Pete Lomax (talk) 05:10, 24 October 2017 (UTC)
Extra credit for non-random puzzles
We could offer extra credit for solving hard puzzles:
2 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0
and
0 12 9 13 15 11 10 14 3 7 2 5 4 8 6 1
--Nigel Galloway (talk) 13:08, 6 October 2017 (UTC)