Solver for the puzzles featured on the game show Countdown
Make sure countdown.pl and words.txt are in the same directory, then run
./countdown.pl --<mode> <args> where mode and args are described below.
--letters
Args should be either 9 letters (separated by spaces) or a 9 character string.
eg. ./countdown.pl --letters abcdefghi. The solver will look for any words in
words.txt that can be formed using only the provided letters and then print
them in order from shortest to longest.
--conundrum
The same as --letters, but the solver will only consider 9 letter words.
--numbers
Args should be 7 numbers separated by spaces, the 6 chosen numbers should appear
first and the target number last.
eg. ./countdown.pl --numbers 100 25 4 7 3 5 297. The solver will build a set
of expression trees that use the chosen numbers at most once each and give a
value within 10 (above or below) of the target.
- Numbers mode should order results by distance from target so nearest totals are printed last.
- Implement teaser mode (same as conundrum but could use less than 9 letters)
- Improve numbers solver efficiency
- Add validation to numbers mode
- numbers must be positive
- values > 10 can appear at most once each and must be a multiple of 25
- values <= 10 can appear twice at most
- Add validation to letters mode
- Minimum three vowels
- Minimum four consonants
Wordlist is a modified/trimmed version of the brit-a-z wordlist compiled by Curlew Communications