Simple and Hard

December 8, 2004 3:14 AM

Quzzle. Using the basic 'dad's puzzle', a 5X4 grid with a number of blocks, Jim Lewis calculated the most difficult solvable variation (yes of course that's quibbleable). Read more here.
posted by biffa (21 comments total)

for shizzle bizzle this quzzle is a tuzzle.
posted by three blind mice at 3:52 AM on December 8, 2004

There goes my day.
posted by The Ultimate Olympian at 4:13 AM on December 8, 2004

vaguely related - cousineau + mauny (no idea why that book is so expensive on amazon - i'm sure you can get it for less) have a worked example showing how to solve a variation of a puzzle like this (6x4 rather than 5x4, iirc). in case anyone wants to do something similar... (they use ocaml which is a pretty nice language).
posted by andrew cooke at 4:26 AM on December 8, 2004

Easy.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 4:57 AM on December 8, 2004

hey furious,

congrats! i'm sure even my poodle could figure it out, if it had enough time. how long did it take you to do it? minimum moves is not an issue considering you can back up or restart. so, calm yourself! you're not that special.
posted by grehy at 5:37 AM on December 8, 2004

i'm sure even my poodle could figure it out, if it had enough time.

My dog can't even use a mouse!
posted by trharlan at 5:47 AM on December 8, 2004

...and as we descend through the mefi undergrowth we come to the source of that noise - a noob-on-noob snark as the little critters jostle for intellectual superiority. and across here, the subject over which they are fighting (possibly to the death) - a child's puzzle. watch, now, how grehy emits bile from the specialised glands just behind his pocket protector. this is a truly remakable example of physical and social evolution proceeding hand in hand. but what's that crashing noise in the distance? a quonsar crushing everything in it's path? we leave this scene to explore further...
posted by andrew cooke at 5:49 AM on December 8, 2004

trharlan,

is your dog a poodle? nuf said.
posted by grehy at 6:07 AM on December 8, 2004

It's a shame this thread hasn't become about the fact that there are new people here being dense.
posted by The Ultimate Olympian at 6:07 AM on December 8, 2004

lol
posted by furiousxgeorge at 6:16 AM on December 8, 2004

Poodles are for wusses.
posted by jpoulos at 6:35 AM on December 8, 2004

...and as we descend through the mefi undergrowth we come to the source of that noise - a noob-on-noob snark as the little critters jostle for intellectual superiority. and across here, the subject over which they are fighting (possibly to the death) - a child's puzzle. watch, now, how grehy emits bile from the specialised glands just behind his pocket protector. this is a truly remakable example of physical and social evolution proceeding hand in hand. but what's that crashing noise in the distance? a quonsar crushing everything in it's path? we leave this scene to explore further...

In my head, this is narrated by David Attenborough.
posted by LunaticFringe at 6:37 AM on December 8, 2004

The Ultimate Olympian - sorry, maybe that was too much. or maybe it should simply not have included the noob bit.
posted by andrew cooke at 6:48 AM on December 8, 2004

this is narrated by David Attenborough.

I think it's safe to assume that was the intention.
posted by biffa at 7:03 AM on December 8, 2004

my poodle can take on any wusses. he'll even do it fresh from a grooming, but you'll have to pay for another trip.
posted by grehy at 7:06 AM on December 8, 2004

.... to explore further into the decaying neighborhood of first generation mefi-immigrants who condescend, in their heavily accented voices, and patronize the behavior of the "newbies."

"it's not the way we've done things in the past," they confide in each other, speaking in hushed tones.

"we feel they ignore us," says one, while another complains in the nearly unintelligible dialect of the old country, "they do not treat mefi-speaking people with respect."

on the surface, they squabble over the operation of the neighborhood: the sins of re-posting, the poor spelling, the lack of cleverness and wit, and always how the older generation did everything better.

but there is a deeper clash: a cultural divide which may never be bridged. and so the story continues....
posted by three blind mice at 7:09 AM on December 8, 2004

bugger. i really didn't want to get involved in noobie-bashing. i was objecting to the snarky attitude in grehy's post. the noob reference was just a cheap shot that's blown in up in my face....
posted by andrew cooke at 7:15 AM on December 8, 2004

hey everyone,

i wasn't meaning to be snarky. i've only been having a bit of fun from the start. sorry. but i may continue. so, be careful!
posted by grehy at 7:18 AM on December 8, 2004

andrew cooke, your post was funny and spot on.

there is a lot of newbie bashing going on all over mefi and your clever comment opened a door for me to make a general comment about it.

imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.
posted by three blind mice at 7:23 AM on December 8, 2004

group hug!
posted by andrew cooke at 7:24 AM on December 8, 2004

andrew cooke - I wasn't having a dig - I enjoyed your post (although I heard it more as a Bellamy (David, not Craig) than an Attenborough (David, not Dickie)) and was merely trying to distract attention away from the fact that I can't do the puzzle.

Oh alright - and I was having a dig - but to discuss that further would be to get bogged down in the very thing I was knocking in the first instance.
posted by The Ultimate Olympian at 7:42 AM on December 8, 2004