Subject: 8x3 Level 7 Project
Date: Sat Feb 17 20:46:03 2018
User: ix
Message:Kaos wrote:
>> Looks like there are about 100 un-played deals per 1000 from the 8000's on up.
how did you arrive at that number? the back of my envelope gives a little more than twice that. just curious, i'm not daunted, i like the nothing at risk nature of the project.
Date: Sat Feb 17 20:54:06 2018
User: Kaos
Message:In tournament mode, sometimes you make a guess based on limited information and hope it works out.
Date: Sat Feb 17 21:03:00 2018
User: ix
Message:the key is being able to make the guess quickly. i took 3 days and 17 pages of engineering graph paper to come up with mine.
Date: Mon Feb 19 12:43:04 2018
User: Colt_McCoy
Message:<<<clear column 4, you'll fill the freecells but you can then clear column 2 and it falls apart right away.>>>
Yep, it was just that easy.
We're now in the 11th millennium of deals.
Date: Mon Mar 26 19:41:53 2018
User: ix
Message:the only remaining unwon games in the 10-11,000 range are:
10182 2
10517 10
10779 11
10909 10
10999 10
11103 62
11218 1
11294 14
11536 1
10182, 11218 and 11536 are unwinnable and i don't seem to be able to get any of the others. i didn't try very hard on 10517 since free@last's solver didn't get it and i didn't try 11103 at all.
Link: http://www.freecell.net/f/c/view_games.html?;8x3,7,p,0
Date: Mon Mar 26 22:03:48 2018
User: Mastermind
Message:#11103 is not such a demon at all.
Date: Wed Mar 28 22:45:27 2018
User: CubicSprock
Message:a lot of attempts...but got 10517
Date: Fri Apr 13 20:43:58 2018
User: ix
Message:as soon as these two are won, all winnable games up to 13000 will be solved. most of the plays are mine, i just can't get them.
10909 31
11294 24
Date: Tue Apr 17 11:12:25 2018
User: Colt_McCoy
Message:Somebody got 11294. All I did was add another 12 attempts to the loss column.
Date: Tue Apr 17 12:11:00 2018
User: ix
Message:calicokid solved it
Date: Thu Apr 26 19:23:45 2018
User: ix
Message:three games will get us into the 14000's
13791 14
13828 16
14007 6
the first two are just games i can't get, the third is another that free@last's solver didn't get but that is solvable. i tried it twice half heartedly, like i was interviewing to be head of NASA, i was pretty sure i wasn't going to get the job.
Date: Thu Apr 26 20:49:57 2018
User: calicokid
Message:I solved the last one, first try.
Date: Thu Apr 26 21:03:19 2018
User: ix
Message:i'm stunned, this is a game that stumped a solver, could you tell me what you saw after the 2 of diamonds? i see nothing.
Date: Thu Apr 26 23:15:03 2018
User: ix
Message:never mind, a few more tries and i got it, guess i was overly intimidated.
Date: Fri Apr 27 13:02:01 2018
User: calicokid
Message:I don't remember how I attacked it, but I was being overly cautious because it showed up on the list. I can tell you one of the other games is ridiculously hard 13791, I think. That game is a beast!
Going to make some more attempts at it.
Date: Fri Apr 27 13:03:26 2018
User: calicokid
Message:Somebody got 13791...
My hats off to whoever did it!
Date: Fri Apr 27 13:05:35 2018
User: calicokid
Message:13828 has been solved too...
Guess its back to 9x2 for me
Date: Fri Apr 27 16:28:14 2018
User: TNmountainman
Message:Pardon me for asking, as I haven't kept up with this thread at all, but how do you know which games are winnable - if they didn't get solved by free@last's project? I know he published a list of the unsolved games, but how do you know which few of those games actually *are* winnable?
Date: Fri Apr 27 17:10:09 2018
User: ix
Message:i have what i believe to be a robust solver which i ran free@last's list through to find solvables.
Date: Fri Apr 27 18:46:46 2018
User: ix
Message:should have added "exhaustive" to "robust solver". it declares games winnable or unwinnable (without ever running out of memory and showing number of attempts which gets quite large), and i'm quite confident in it.
Date: Fri Apr 27 18:47:53 2018
User: ix
Message:memory, and
Date: Sun Apr 29 15:54:48 2018
User: Dr.Bombay
Message:I thought #15029 was tough
Link: stats
Date: Sun Apr 29 16:29:49 2018
User: ix
Message:i got it first try but it took me 17:06
Date: Sun Apr 29 18:38:33 2018
User: ix
Message:9 tries to get 15062, it was an interesting game that i recommend trying, it looks so friendly at first. i think a good solver could get it in a few, or knowing the players here, one!
Link: http://freecell.net/f/c/view_one_game.html?;15062,7,8x3
Date: Sun Apr 29 18:39:03 2018
User: ix
Message:now 1/33
Date: Tue May 15 17:06:53 2018
User: Colt_McCoy
Message:All deals are attempted through #16383, the halfway mark. Although, there are still some unwon winnables in the 15000s.
FYI, 16383 in binary is 11111111111111.
Date: Mon Jun 4 19:23:55 2018
User: Kaos
Message:I've played and solved a bunch of these. Definitely a few challenges. It seems it is past the halfway point.
Date: Sun Jun 10 15:56:58 2018
User: ix
Message:somebody (Kaos?) has reduced the 16000's to 2 games and gotten well into the 17000's also.
these will finish the 16000's
16580 60
16965 17
the remaining unwinnable games are
17870
18212
18620
19010
19150
20045
20549
22517
23050
24024
24385
24474
25815
26181
26809
26814
26924
27160
27922
29669
29671
31175
31449
Link: https://www.freecell.net/f/c/view_games.html?;8x3,7,p,0
Date: Sun Jun 10 21:11:50 2018
User: Kaos
Message:16580 is supposed to be solvable but the solution escapes me. I think at least 40 of the 60 losses are mine.
Date: Tue Jun 12 14:26:08 2018
User: free@last
Message:Took me 13 tries. Those damn 8's and 9's!
Game #: 8x3 16580
Game stats: 140/1/0.71%
Difficulty: 7
Elapsed: 5:19
Date: Wed Jun 13 10:36:34 2018
User: Buttock-Wrench
Message:As a newcomer to this project, I've been clearing up both unplayed and unsolved games (and, of course, failing to clear up a fair few). Is anyone "leading" this project and, if so, would they prefer one or the other? The variant is growing on me.
Date: Wed Jun 13 10:55:13 2018
User: ix
Message:it was Colt McCoy's idea but is pretty much a communal thing, some people jump in for the hard games (like 16580), some go for the unplayed and unsolved games. it doesn't matter which you play since they all need solved anyway. any help is appreciated. btw, 16965 will finish the 16000's. thanks for playing!
Date: Wed Jun 13 12:23:11 2018
User: Buttock-Wrench
Message:Thank you, ix: that allows me to adopt a suitably anarchic approach.
All the best from B'derry Lower, by the way.
Date: Wed Jun 13 13:52:49 2018
User: ix
Message:.hug butt
Date: Thu Jun 28 06:57:30 2018
User: Buttock-Wrench
Message:19613 looks solvable but I'm buggered if I know how.
Date: Thu Jun 28 16:51:00 2018
User: calicokid
Message:Just solved 16965, took 6 tries.
Date: Fri Jun 29 12:43:05 2018
User: calicokid
Message:Whew!
Just tackled 17685, a tough one for me, took 17 tries. Now 53/1/1.89
Date: Fri Jun 29 12:52:29 2018
User: calicokid
Message:17648 is down now too.
Took 10 attempts, game is now 109/1/0.92%
Time for some breakfast, my brain is drained!
Date: Fri Jun 29 18:41:15 2018
User: calicokid
Message:Got 19613 knocked out, not sure how many times I tried.
Date: Sat Jun 30 06:13:25 2018
User: Buttock-Wrench
Message:Thank goodness for that
Date: Sun Jul 1 15:15:49 2018
User: ix
Message:17000's are done, looks like the next rough game is
18460 114
Date: Sun Jul 1 15:34:56 2018
User: Buttock-Wrench
Message:I wondered who had finished the 17s there: I had logged off with a few yet to do. Good fun, this.
Date: Sun Jul 1 17:15:46 2018
User: ix
Message:i accidentally played 18460 as an 8x4, it looked impossible to me even with 4 freecells. its 36 percent as an 8x4.
Date: Sat Jul 7 13:43:52 2018
User: calicokid
Message:I'm currently attacking 18460, at LEAST 100 of those attempts are mine. A beast of a game...
Date: Sat Jul 7 13:54:23 2018
User: calicokid
Message:WHEW!!!!
18460 is completed!
That game just zapped me....
Date: Sun Jul 8 14:40:33 2018
User: Kaos
Message:Nice job calicokid! I think I've tried that one 40 or so times myself. Lots of paths look promising but they all seem to fizzle out one freecell short. I must say the game certainly looks winnable.
FWIW, I think 19413 is going to be the next game in the looks winnable but is in the maddeningly hard category.
Date: Fri Aug 10 16:34:15 2018
User: Colt_McCoy
Message:To answer Buttock-Wrench's question, I'm supposed to be spearheading this, but I've been without computer access since May. Hopefully, I can start pitching in, again. Thanx to all who have been working through this in my absence.
Post follow-up