In the grid below, start at the A and end at the W, by first moving two positions (horizontally, vertically or diagonally), then by three positions, etc., alternating between 2- and 3-position moves. Never go to the same letter twice (though you may cross over a previous letter) and never reverse directions 180 degrees from one move to the next. Also never land on or even jump over the two hyphens.
For example, a valid start is A-C-P-R, and then the only valid move is the diagonal to B, as you can't backtrack to O, nor go up past the hyphen, nor is there enough room to go down three positions, nor any space to the right. Diagonals are always allowed, not just when you're stuck like this.
A B C D E
F G H I J
K L M N -
- O P Q R
S T U V W
What is the shortest such path? ... and the longest?
(In reply to
Solution by Harry)
I didn't use a computer program, just a trial-and-error approach, yet I did find the same routes for the shortest path:
A-K-N-T-W and longest path: A-C-P-R-B-D-Q-G-T-V-F-H-U-W.
I did notice that I had to avoid any path that led to the center row, KLMN-, with a 2-position move as it meant an immediate dead end. The longest path avoids this row completely.
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Posted by Dej Mar
on 2009-03-22 23:26:39 |
re: Solution (spoiler)
