Problem 396 (locked)

[mdean]

Well, I think it's safe to say brute force isn't going to work with this one. I just about choked when I saw the increase from G(7) to G(8)...

[TripleM]

What exactly is the point of posting that message? This forum is for problem statement clarifications. Is there something you don't understand?

[mdean]

With all due respect, the title of the board is "Project Euler Problems", not "Clarifications on Project Euler Problems". While the main purpose of the board is I'm sure to air concerns on the clarity of said problems, this board seems the logical place to cover non-spoiler discussion of the problems.

In fact, if you sort the topics on this board in ascending order you will find more than a few complete threads not dedicated to clarifications on a particular problem.

[TripleM]

Your comment about brute force not being valid is definitely a spoiler for me, as I haven't yet solved the problem and was considering how quickly a brute force solution would become unusable.

Also, link, link, link.

[mdean]

Maybe my brute force simply isn't up to par. Your mileage may vary.

And if you consider that I said I tried brute force a spoiler, what would you think if I told you there was a whole topic dedicated to solving problems without a program at all?

Paper/Pencil Problems

That would be our same moderator in a topic not asking for clarifications. Speaking of clarifications, this topic is dedicated to those who clearly don't need any.

To those who achieved 100%

So based on past history, it is safe to say this board has been used for more than asking for clarifications. I gave no partial solutions (nothing quantifiable anyway) and mentioned nothing of my methods other than "brute force", which is just more or less the polar opposite of solving by pencil and paper. If it's not a spoiler to say that people solved certain problems without having a program do any work, it shouldn't be a spoiler to more or less say that I attempted to have the computer do much of the work. And while this is a stated as a place to air concerns or difficulties in understanding problems, a grocery store is a place to buy food, yet you can usually buy things like laundry detergent as well. I wouldn't try cooking with it.

This is as much a defense for potential moderators as well as a response for you, otherwise I would have left this as a pm; for certainly if we weren't on topic before, we clearly aren't on topic now. So, by all means, if you have future concerns, either send me a private message or flag the message for moderation and let a moderator decide. As much as I don't relish the thought of having hk look over this topic (judging from his latest activity in this forum, he does not appear to be in good spirits lately...), it is what the moderators are for.

[ffff0]

You'll be surprised, but it can be brute-forced. I've done it and several others too.

[hk]

To save others going through this nonsense I'll lock this topic and change the title.
@mdean, could you be so kind and refrain from this kind of messages in the future and stop behaving like a schoolboy. You're not in class here.

[euler]

Ironically I'm probably not the right person to arbitrate here, but I can see why such a conflict might occur. Firstly my take on these threads is that they are a place to ask for clarification and/or to obtain subtle hints. The key phrase in the warnings above is, "... you are requested to be thoughtful in not posting anything that might explicitly give away how to solve a particular problem."

However, I can see that there are two reasons why someone might use these threads.

Some people will use them as a place to check before they begin to solve a problem in case there has been some common misunderstanding in the wording which if identified early on can save many hours of frustration.

Others will use them as a place to check once they've started to solve the problem and are hopeful that someone's question and the related reply, or an observation, might provide some subtle hint to help them advance.

Creating two threads: one for only problem clarification and an other for questions and hints would be unpractical given the number of problems that already exist.

My only suggestion for future would be to visit these threads with caution as you may see something more than you were hoping to see. There is always going to be a fine line between what is considered a spoiler (and should use the respective spoiler BBCode) and what is a harmless observation.

The bottom line is that I've said a lot which is probably of little help.