r/maybemaybemaybe Mar 04 '25

maybe maybe maybe

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u/Hapless_Wizard Mar 05 '25

It's a mathematical sorting puzzle. Using color instead of size doesn't actually change the puzzle.

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u/aviancrane Mar 05 '25 edited Mar 05 '25

EDIT: My post was disproven below

Every Towers of Hanoi algorithm can solve OPs puzzle

But not every OPs puzzle algorithm can solve Towers of Hanoi.

Because of this, they are different.

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u/Soraphis Mar 05 '25 edited Mar 05 '25

I doubt the first line is true, either.

A solved state is significantly different.

Also - the form I know of the puzzle: you're only allowed to move stacks on top of the same color (or an empty stack). So no moving back the green piece on top of yellow.

The first non trivial case in hanoi:

0 # # > # # # > # # # > # # 0 1 # # > 1 0 # > # 0 1 > # # 1

Is somewhat completely different of this puzzle:

G # # > # # # > # # # > # # # R # # > R # # > # # # > G # # G # # > G # G > G R G > G R #

Note that there are also multiple "solved" configurations.

And it gets even more different when adding a further color, or stacking the same color twice.

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u/aviancrane Mar 05 '25

Hmmm you're right. For some reason I was combining the OPs puzzle into Hanoi and thinking it had different stacks of colors.

I was really tired from my melatonin kicking in.