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chichiri
Decorated
Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 207
#173-purple-circle set-the 14-15 puzzle Sam Loyd (1841-1911) was born in philadelphia and lived in new york.
Loyd was one of the greatest puzzle designers of his time and the 14-15 puzzle was perhaps his most infamous. This puzzle was a traditional sliding tile puzzle, arranged just like the one below. The challenge was to move the 14 and 15 tiles back to their correct position.
Loyd offered a $1000 prize for the first correct solution, an enormous amount of money back then, but it was never claimed despite the thousands who say they performed the feat. He recounts that people became infatuated with the puzzle and ludicrous tales are told of shopkeepers who neglected to open their stores; of a distinguished clergyman who stood under a street lamp all through a wintry night trying to recall the way he had performed the feat. The mysterious feature of the puzzle is that none seem to be able to remember the sequence of moves whereby they feel sure they succeeded in solving the puzzle.
Instead of tormenting you with his original 14-15 puzzle, here is a slightly easier version. What is the shortest way to move the tiles in order to get the vacant square from the bottom right to the top left corner and to swap the 14 and 15 tiles?
see card catalog
that was a long one, succeeded is one of those words that just doesn't feel correct when you write it, well anyway thats all of my cards posted.
no da
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:23 am
Langley Moor
Veteran
Joined: 27 Oct 2005 Posts: 86
How many attempts have people managed to do this in? I've done it in 68, but that's wrong.... therre's plenty of theory on how to do these if you fancy reading around, that's probably the way to find the fastest approach...
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:52 am
spugmeistress
Unfettered
Joined: 22 Feb 2005 Posts: 455 Location: manchester, uk
Re: #173-purple-circle set-the 14-15 puzzle
chichiri wrote:
see card catalog
as far as i can see there isnt an image up on the card catalog, and it doesnt seem you can do the puzzle without it, so if anyone could get an image for those of us without the cards, thatd be nice :)
rach =)
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 5:43 pm
Hunting4Treasure
Unfettered
Joined: 06 Aug 2005 Posts: 385 Location: Tampa Bay Area, FL USA
Until someone can get an image up, the tiles are placed like this:
Code:
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 15 14 *
*empty space
'13 15 14' isn't a typo
I've found a solution for successfully switching 15 and 14 into their proper spaces, but it leaves the blank in a different spot... *not* in the upper left spot. From what I've read in research, it's *impossible* to place them correctly and have the blank in the bottom right corner.
I didn't know what they were asking before now, so I'll have to research further to find a solution placing the blank in the upper left corner.
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:35 pm
Wowbagger
Boot
Joined: 22 Aug 2005 Posts: 69 Location: Leafy Surrey, UK
Here you go guys, as I'm having a scanning frenzy today...
Description
Filesize
20.16KB
Viewed
136 Time(s)
Description
Filesize
20.28KB
Viewed
173 Time(s)
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:39 am
kksweety
Veteran
Joined: 14 May 2005 Posts: 103 Location: Liverpool UK
insoluble?? ok, found this website...
http://www.mathematische-basteleien.de/15puzzle.htm
which says:
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
found an insoluble 15puzzle in Italy, where the numbers 14 und 15 are changed.
The puzzle in this order was a big seller in the 19th century. The inventor Sam Lloyd offered $1,000 for a solution. This puzzle is unsolvable. The permutation (1,2,...,13,15,14) is odd because of the pair (15,14). You can't change it by sliding to the even permutation (1,2,...,13,14,15).
I thought that it was intention to make the puzzle insoluble. Now in August 2004 Martin Beckenkamp sent me an email that a 15puzzle is installed at his handy [England: mobile (phone), USA: cell (phone) ] and shows "solved", if the numbers have this order
01 02 03 __
04 05 06 07
08 09 10 11
12 13 14 15
You can reach this order with the Italian puzzle above, where 14 and 15 are changed.
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:39 am
kksweety
Veteran
Joined: 14 May 2005 Posts: 103 Location: Liverpool UK
also found this if it helps
http://www.cut-the-knot.com/pythagoras/fifteen.shtml
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:53 am
cronogenesis
Decorated
Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Posts: 201 Location: Notts UK
Theres a solve on the card.
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
14 11 12 8 7 6 10 12 8 7 4 3 6 4 7 14 11 15 13 9 12 8 4 10 8 4 14 11 15 13 9 12 4 8 5 4 8 9 13 14 10 6 2 1
And make sure yer say thanks
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 12:58 pm
Nightingale
Veteran
Joined: 28 Nov 2004 Posts: 86
Cronogenesis, bloody good work - that man(or woman)!
Nightingale
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 1:45 pm
cronogenesis
Decorated
Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Posts: 201 Location: Notts UK
Its 15 year old male gaint actually
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 1:58 pm
Langley Moor
Veteran
Joined: 27 Oct 2005 Posts: 86
Well done on that one, was getting close but couldn't get it quite as efficient as that... now there's only the yellows, which are harder than this due to the number of possible answers!
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 2:10 pm
Nightingale
Veteran
Joined: 28 Nov 2004 Posts: 86
Bloody good solve that 15 year old male giant then!
Nightingale
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 2:11 pm
uneasyjd
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Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 130 Location: Denmark
Thank you thank you thank you!
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:18 pm
jamesi
Sentient Being
Joined: 25 Sep 2002 Posts: 2115 Location: Canadia
thanks a bunch cronogenesis, for allowing me to sleep tonight
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:39 pm
simonfr
Kilroy
Joined: 16 Dec 2005 Posts: 1
I'm a bit confused by the instructions. (This is also my first post here, so I apologise if the use of spoiler space is inappropriate)
"What is the shortest way to move the tiles in order to get the vacant square from the bottom right to the top left corner and to swap the 14 and 15 tiles?"
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Does this mean that the rest of the tiles have to be in order? I infer that from some of the posts here, but the card doesn't mention that requirement - could the rest of the numbers be in any position as long as the blank is in the top left, 15 is in 14's original position, and vice versa?
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:15 am
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