The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[JPF]

current score = 156 ; still waiting for a 158...

JPF

[JPF]

Here it is:

Score = 158
-------------------------

Grid 6 - Sol 1.JPG (20.08 KiB) Viewed 1444 times

JPF

[Leren]

I think what JPF actually meant was here they are. There are 20 solutions with a maximal score of 158, with the value of the five 9 letter words set to JPF's values, r1c45678 set to "WAXED", r12345c4 SET TO "WAVED" and r6c9 set to Z or Q.

With these restrictions I still found 144,045,830 solutions. The 20 maximal solutions are detailed below:

Hidden Text: Show

Code: Select all

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M A |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C A B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F A Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M A |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C A B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F E Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M A |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C O B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F A Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M A |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C O B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F E Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M E |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C A B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F A Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M E |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C A B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F E Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M E |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C O B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F A Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M E |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C O B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F E Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M I |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C A B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F A Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M I |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C A B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F E Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M I |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C O B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F A Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M I |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C O B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F E Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M O |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C A B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F A Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M O |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C A B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F E Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M O |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C O B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F A Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M O |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C O B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F E Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M U |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C A B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F A Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M U |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C A B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F E Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M U |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C O B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F A Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M U |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O D # C O B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F E Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 158

To avoid you going goggle eyed, the differences are only trivial. r3c9 can be A,E, I, O or U; r5c7 can be A or O; r7c5 can be A or E.

Finding the basic solution was an amazing feat, well done JPF !

With that one out of the way maybe we should revisit the earlier grids and make them Scrabble compliant. The high scoring solutions all contained more than 3 Z's and I can't see how this can be done at all in Scrabble.

You can have grids with up to 3 Z's but that's because there are 2 blank tiles in Scrabble, which can be used as wild cards, but their tile score is 0. So ZZZS can be used but its score is 11, not 31, as we scored it in the original grids, and you shouldn't be able to use it twice (5 or 6 Zs). I just looked up PIZZAZZES in a Scrabble word checker site, and it says it is a valid Scrabble word, but I can't see how you can ever use it because you would need 3 blank tiles.

Leren

PS Close but no cigar : putting "WAVEY" into r123454 gives 114 solutions with a score of 157. Here's one :

Hidden Text: Show

Code: Select all

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M A |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O Y # C O B # |
| G A B # A R F # Z |
| U G # F A Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 157

and "WAVES" into the same location gives 20 solutions with a score of 157. Here's one :

Hidden Text: Show

Code: Select all

---------------------
| J O # W A X E D # |
| E M P A N E L E D |
| W O # V A N # M A |
| S P H E N O D O N |
| # H O S # C A B # |
| G A B # F R Y # Z |
| U G # F A Y # Q I |
| V I E R # S K I N |
| S C R A T T I N G |
---------------------
Score = 157

Leren

[JPF]

OK, let's revisit this grid with "scrabble" rules:

Grid 2.JPG (17.97 KiB) Viewed 1419 times

Maximum = 162
I am away for a couple of days, but with a laptop.
Good luck!

JPF
Ps: please post only one grid, but you can report on the progress of your score.

[Leren]

OK will do, will take me a couple of days to prepare. Leren

[Leren]

Code: Select all

---------------------
| # E X H A L E D # |
| S Q U A L E N E S |
| O U # L U V # C H |
| P I C O M E T R E |
| # P U G # R E E # |
| J A Z E R A N T S |
| A G # T I G # A W |
| R E M O V E D L Y |
| # D Y N O D E S # |
---------------------
Score = 142

Hi JPF. As agreed, if I find a higher score before you respond, I'll edit this post with the new high score but no diagram.

Leren

[JPF]

Hi Leren,
Nice score, but your post doesn't fit the proposed grid.

JPF

[Leren]

Ouch, back to the drawing board. Won't here from me for a couple of days at least.

Perhaps we could use my pattern when this one is exhausted. I'd hate to waste all that hard work.

Leren

[Leren]

Code: Select all

---------------------
| F A U T # S K U A |
| U N M E A N I N G |
| E N # A B O # D E |
| L E O T A R D E D |
| # A B A C T O R # |
| P L A S T I C L Y |
| L I # T O N # I O |
| U N D E R G O E R |
| E G E R # S I R E |
---------------------
Score = 102

Hi JPF. Not really meant to be a high score but if you post something else it may help me debug my newly minted code.

Cheers, Leren

[JPF]

Hi Leren,

I just realized I have worked on a wrong pattern - with a black square in the middle!
Then for me too, back to the drawing board!
I'll post something ASAP.

JPF

[JPF]

Is the word FRORTIEST really in your dictionary?
I don't find it in mine.

JPF

[Leren]

Hi JPF, welcome to the club !

I'm beginning to wonder if there is a bug in my code or whether there are simply very few solutions, because of the large open space in the middle of the pattern.

I was thinking that adding a black cell in r5c5 to the current pattern might also be a good pattern to work on, because it will certainly have more solutions.

Also I had to replace my earlier solution with another one. It had too many A's but that was due a minor bug - I had allowed for too many A's.

Leren

[JPF]

I don't have GRARNABLE either.

JPF

[Leren]

Hi JPF, your comment helped me find my bug - thanks for the help. Hopefully no more bugs! Replaced my example diagram with, I think, a valid one. Now to continue the search ....

Leren

[JPF]

Here is one:

Score = 114
---------------------------

Grid 2 - Sol 1.JPG (20.07 KiB) Viewed 1363 times

JPF