A Hangman Puzzle
Jack
word, and you try to guess it by guessing one letter at a time. After
each guess, you are shown where that letter occurs in the unknown
word, if at all. If the letter does not occur in the unknown word, you
lose a point. You use this information to decide on the next letter to
guess. You continue guessing until you have guessed all the letters in
the word. Assuming that you know that the unknown word is one of the
words in the list below, what would be the best letter to guess first?
The "best" letter is defined to be the letter that minimizes the
maximum number of incorrect guesses you could make in determining the
identity of the word, if the unknown word is one of the words in the
list.
Norse
birds
dates
gland
moved
plump
sleet
snort
torch
wilts
Jack
bobsled
confirm
culvert
gosling
locking
nodding
quarter
revered
signing
tightly
swp
> birds
> dates
> gland
> moved
> plump
> sleet
> snort
> torch
> wilts
guess in this order: setdlornaimpubcghvwfjkqxyz based on letter
frequency?
s=6, e=5, t=5, d=4, l=4,
o=4, r=4, n=3, a=2, i=2,
m=2, p=2, b=1, c=1, g=1,
h=1, u=1, v=1, w=1, f=0,
j=0, k=0, q=0, x=0, y=0,
z=0
swp
Willem
) On Dec 7, 11:07�am, Jack <jackbate...@live.com> wrote:
)> In the game Hangman, you are given the number of letters in an unknown
)> word, and you try to guess it by guessing one letter at a time. After
)> each guess, you are shown where that letter occurs in the unknown
)> word, if at all. If the letter does not occur in the unknown word, you
)> lose a point. You use this information to decide on the next letter to
)> guess. You continue guessing until you have guessed all the letters in
)> the word. Assuming that you know that the unknown word is one of the
)> words in the list below, what would be the best letter to guess first?
)> The "best" letter is defined to be the letter that minimizes the
)> maximum number of incorrect guesses you could make in determining the
)> identity of the word, if the unknown word is one of the words in the
)> list.
)>
)> norse
)> birds
)> dates
)> gland
)> moved
)> plump
)> sleet
)> snort
)> torch
)> wilts
)
) guess in this order: setdlornaimpubcghvwfjkqxyz based on letter
) frequency?
)
) s=6, e=5, t=5, d=4, l=4,
) o=4, r=4, n=3, a=2, i=2,
) m=2, p=2, b=1, c=1, g=1,
) h=1, u=1, v=1, w=1, f=0,
) j=0, k=0, q=0, x=0, y=0,
) z=0
Quite unlikely. This is meant to be a puzzle, after all.
And in any case, both T and S as first letter lead to a maximum
of three misses, so I guess there is one that guarantees a max of
two missed guesses. Haven't looked in further detail yet, though.
SaSW, Willem
--
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for any of the statements
made in the above text. For all I know I might be
drugged or something..
No I'm not paranoid. You all think I'm paranoid, don't you !
#EOT
Jake
Did it by hand, so this solution might not be unique. Guess l first.
--l-- : wilts
-l--- : gland, plump, sleet
Guess g, then p, and we know which of the three it is, getting at most
two letters wrong.
----- : norse, birds, dates, moved, snort, torch
Guess o.
--o--: snort
-o---: norse, moved, torch
Guess e, and we know which it is, getting at most two letters wrong.
-----: birds, dates
Guess d and we know which it is, getting two letters wrong.
>
>
> SaSW, Willem
Jake
Wrote a program that verified that l was unique, although you can guess r
instead of o at the second stage. Both the bobsled and yiddish groups can
be solved with getting at most one letter wrong, and for both of them the
first letter is unique. Neat puzzles.
Bill
> Nose
> birds
> dates
> gland
> moved
> plump
> sleet
> snort
> torch
> wilts
Start with 's' If the word contains 's', you are left with
Norse
birds
dates
sleet
snort
wilts
Worst case, word ends in 's', Then 'r' . If r is third letter its
birds, 4th letter = snort, no 'r' = wilts.
Word does not end in 's' If word starts with 's' then its sleet or
snort =, then 'n' .
summary S-R-N-L-E-T = longest sequence starting with S
If the word does not contain S, the remaining words are gland moved
plump or torch.
If M then the word is moved or plump depemding on the position of the
M.
If G its gland, If its not gland its torch.
Now the sequence is S M G T O R C H.
Bill J.
Bill
Choose L
If L then the word is bobsled, culvert, gosling, locking of tightly.
The L's are in positions 5 ,3, 4, 1 or 6. and the word is immediately
known.
If not L , then confirm, nodding, quarter revered and sightly
remain.
Choose N
IF N then the word is confirm or nodding, If n=3 its confirm, n = 1
and 6 its nodding
If not N the word is quarter or revered
Choose E. If only one E its Quarter
If the word is quarter the sequence is L N E Q U A R T
Bill J.
Bill
Correction
If not L , then confirm, nodding, quarter revered and signing remain.
Choose N
IF N then the word is confirm, nodding, or signing If n=3 its
confirm, n = 1&6 its nodding,
n = 4&6 for signing
If not N the word is quarter or revered
Choose E. If only one E its quarter
Rich Grise
FWIW, on "Wheel of Fortune" they usually guess R,S,T,L,N,E. ;-)
Cheers!
Rich