275 karma · joined March 3, 2023
That bumps the math to log₂(279,498) ≈ 18.1, so 19 guesses in the worst case and about 18 on average with perfect play
The word list / dictionary provided by the site only had around 170k lines so it must not be a complete version.
I would guess they have excluded some obscure words. I can't see anywhere in the information which dictionary is used.
You’ve got ~170k possible words and a pure higher/lower signal, so with perfect play it’s just binary search. Number the words 1 to 170k, guess the middle, then keep halving the range. In binary terms, each guess is basically telling you whether the next bit is 0 or 1.
Since log₂(170,000) ≈ 17.4, you need at most 18 guesses. On average it’s a bit less: about half the words take 18 guesses, a quarter take 17, an eighth take 16, etc. So the expected number of guesses works out to 17.
All of that assumes you know the exact ordering of the dictionary, of course. Once you don’t, it stops being optimal and starts being human. That’s where the difficulty actually comes from.
Re: the timer, whoops! I'll fix that asap.
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for taking the time to give me feedback :)
This take allows for other features not present in traditional crosswords to be introduced, for example, different levels of difficulty (i.e. more letters paired = easier and viceversa) or having more flexibility when it comes to clue-making.
This is my first version, hope you like it!
Having said that, I have a couple of routines lined up that target specific body parts for those days when you want to really go for the stiffest areas (ETA: these would just live permanently in the page).
1. Fixed 2. Sorry I didn't quite get this, do you mind explaining it more in detail? 3. Working on it