From 5e869aff1b0ff6db75b48c84f2f12d4b758e1d0a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jason Hall Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2017 13:00:33 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] Add to README --- README.md | 192 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 192 insertions(+) diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 60d0ad2..49e8606 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,3 +1,195 @@ # Spelling Bee Generates NYT Spelling Bee puzzles + +## Rules + +Spelling Bee puzzles present solvers with 7 letters in a circle, with one letter +in the middle. The game is to identify as many words as possible using only +these letters, which can be repeated, and where the letter in the center must be +used. + +Each word is worth one point, and words using all seven letters are worth 3 +points. + +Generally, underneath the puzzle there's a scale saying "XX points is good, YY +points is great, ZZ points is genius". The list of answers is printed in next +week's issue. + +For the purposes of generating puzzles, a puzzle is considered "valid" if it has +at least 10 answers, to weed out puzzles with too few answers, and if there is +at least one answer that uses every letter, because finding the 3-pointer is +best part. + +## Runtime + +Without parallelism, generating 7-letter puzzles takes about 5 and a half hours, +and generates 51912 unique puzzles. + +## Findings + +### Longest answers + +48 puzzles have an answer with 15 letters, all of which are 3-point answers. + +``` +7 unconsciousness +7 superstructures +7 nonintervention +7 interconnection +7 inconveniencing +7 inconsistencies +7 consciousnesses +6 nationalization +``` + +### Most popular answers + +The most popular answer is "deeded", which is found in 3630 different puzzles. +Basically, any puzzle that has "e" and "d" in it, where either "e" or "d" is the +required letter. + +``` +3630 deeded +3569 sissies +3569 sises +3516 serer +3516 seers + ... +``` + +### Least popular answers + +62 different words are only found once in all the puzzles. + +Nearly all of these are 3-point answers using all the letters in the puzzle. +Exceptions come from puzzles without enough answers to be valid, or answers like +`chintz` where the only longer answer is `chintzy` which is a 3-point answer. + +``` +1 backward +1 bigotry +1 blindfold +1 bloodhound +1 bobwhite +1 bullhorn +1 bumpkin +1 burdock +1 chintz +1 chintzy +1 crudity +1 dizzy +1 dogfight +1 drawback +1 equinox +1 exorcize +1 forklift +1 fortify +1 frigidity +1 fullback +1 girlhood +1 gluttony +1 gryphon +1 halfback +1 helpful +1 homepage +1 homophobia +1 hoodwink +1 horribly +1 hunchback +1 hurtful +1 imbroglio +1 invincibly +1 jackpot +1 jollity +1 jovial +1 jovially +1 judicial +1 kazoo +1 liturgy +1 luxury +1 menfolk +1 mindful +1 monthly +1 mortify +1 mythology +1 orthodoxy +1 pettifog +1 prodigy +1 public +1 publicly +1 quandary +1 quickly +1 rhombi +1 rhomboid +1 truthful +1 truthfully +1 unkempt +1 unmindful +1 wakeful +1 windfall +1 withhold +``` + +### Puzzles with the most answers + +The puzzle `eirstad` has the most answers, at 456. Interestingly, `deeded` is an +answer in this puzzle, and #3 in the list. + +``` +456 eirstad +445 eiprsta +440 eprstad +440 einrsta +439 elprsta +... +``` + +### Puzzles worth the most total points: + +The puzzle `einrsta` (#4 on the list of most answers) has the most total points +available, because it contains a lot 3-point answers. + +The puzzle with the most answers, `eirstad`, has the second-most available +points. + +``` +504 einrsta +484 eirstad +484 staeinr +484 taeinrs +482 einrstd +... +``` + +### Puzzles with the fewest answers + +There are 563 puzzles with only 10 answers, among them: + +``` +10 abcdkrw +10 abcfhkl +10 abdgotu +10 abehitu +10 abeiotv +... +``` + +### Puzzles worth the fewest total points: + +517 puzzles only have 12 points. + +12 points is the fewest possible points for a valid puzzle, since every puzzle +must have 10 answers and at least one of them must be worth 3 points. + +``` +12 abcfhkl +12 abdgotu +12 abehitu +12 abeiotv +12 aceiloz +... +``` + +Puzzles that have only 10 answers worth more than 12 points must include +multiple 3-point answers.