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From: nobody@nowhere.co.uk (nobody)
Subject: Re: Nudge, please:  Magic Toyshop
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References: <65016.mamster@pomona.edu> <45mjfv$1m8@crl7.crl.com> <we68hont2u.fsf@iasc3.scm.liv.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 08:33:33 GMT

In article <we68hont2u.fsf@iasc3.scm.liv.ac.uk> Bruce Stephens <bruce@liverpool.ac.uk> writes:
>From: Bruce Stephens <bruce@liverpool.ac.uk>
>Subject: Re: Nudge, please:  Magic Toyshop
>Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 13:22:17 GMT

>>>>>> "Neil" == Neil Demause <neild@echonyc.com> writes:

>
>> Yeah, but Catherine lies about the dot puzzle when she says it's to
>> your advantage to go first. So I assumed it was a "well-known"
>> puzzle that I simply wasn't familiar with (some British thing,
>> perhaps), and which I needed to find a cheat for.

>This is the dots and boxes game is it?  I think it is an advantage to
>go first: it's dead easy to get a draw (2 boxes each).  It's just not
>so easy to win!  It is a relatively well-known children's game, I
>think; I remember playing it, anyway, although it's possible I have
>strange parents.

>> I also tried a brute-force search of the options (with a friend
>> who's better at these things than I) and didn't get anywhere, so
>> this may be a harder puzzle than you had though.

>I wrote a program to do a brute force exhaustive search yesterday, and
>assuming I got it right, there *is* a forced win for the first player
>(3 boxes to 1).  I'm not too confident, though, it's entirely possible
>I made an error in writing the program.

>> Well, Catherine also tells you that it's a parity puzzle. (Though if
>> you don't know how parity works, you're screwed.) Not that this
>> helped me solve it, though.

>I think this one requires cheating, and I don't know how.  My guess is
>I don't have an appropriate object.

You *don't* have to cheat to solve the dots puzzle!



Alison
<richards@logica.com>
