Camp Ivanhoe

[Young Writer]

So, in reference to Sam's all 4 strategy, for the tiebreaker wouldn't all 9s be better?

It's unclear which number is the one that tiebreaks but all 9s isn't reachable from our combination.

[Oracle]

I think it's likely the first 2 guesses are gonna be 01234+56789 or 12345+67890

So we should avoid  putting 0 1 5 6 as the first digit, 1 2 6 7 as the second digit ect., no? Since we don't want to give exact placements?

I absolutely agree with you on one condition. Don’t do the exact reverse either if possible.

[Young Writer]

I think it's likely the first 2 guesses are gonna be 01234+56789 or 12345+67890

So we should avoid  putting 0 1 5 6 as the first digit, 1 2 6 7 as the second digit ect., no? Since we don't want to give exact placements?

Once again, they aren't guessing the number we scramble to I don't think

[Wes Anderson]

I think it's likely the first 2 guesses are gonna be 01234+56789 or 12345+67890

So we should avoid  putting 0 1 5 6 as the first digit, 1 2 6 7 as the second digit ect., no? Since we don't want to give exact placements?

Once again, they aren't guessing the number we scramble to I don't think

They will be given your scrambled number and will have to work back to your original number.

[Oracle]

To be clear the “secret combination number” is the “original number”?

[Wes Anderson]

yep!

[Young Writer]

So the strategy for guessing once without considering the 15 clicks is rather simple.

Guess 01234 then 56789 and keep doing combinations until you have all 5 digits, then start shift that guess with all 5 correct digits over one until you have enough info about "correct placements' to just have the combination (or maybe some more efficient way to do it still working it out).

The real question is where we implement the 15 clicks. I'm not sure it's important in the first two guesses, but every guess after should be a valid combination at the least.

[Oracle]

So I have a weird WIFOM thought, why don’t we leave the number as is and they assume we changed it?

[Young Writer]

So I have a weird WIFOM thought, why don’t we leave the number as is and they assume we changed it?

Because we HAVE to move it 15 clicks exactly.

[Oracle]

So I have a weird WIFOM thought, why don’t we leave the number as is and they assume we changed it?

Because we HAVE to move it 15 clicks exactly.

Ah okay never mind then. Thanks for helping me understand.

[M. Gustave]

that moment when you check back in a little late and see a 2 hour timer, only to see that it's mercifully just a single submission. i was hoping for a puzzle in my confessional, and it looks like i got my wish, lol.

so it's basically numbers version of mastermind, but each team gets a scrambled version of the solution provided to them, and then we work backwards from the scramble to get the real combo. that's my understanding, correct me if i'm wrong.

[Suzy Bishop]

I’m sorry, I just woke up from a pretty long nap. Catching up on what’s going on!

[Young Writer]

It's sound like M. Gustave has volunteered to bring us to victory, how wonderful!

[Oracle]

Okay I've booted up my computer to give more coherent thoughts.

So here is how I understand this challenge so far:

1. We have a combination number of 26599
2. We have 15 clicks (1 number in any direction per click) to change the sequence.
3. Once both teams have submitted the incorrect sequence, we have 20 hours to start guessing numbers.
4. Each time we guess, the mods will tell us how off each one is (Lingo style if anyone has watched that game show). They will tell us correct, incorrect, or correct but in the right place essentially.
5. The team who gets the right number in the fewest amount of guesses wins.

So initial thoughts: Unless their number is super randomized there is a rhyme or reason to this 26599 however is kind of a terrible starting number for us because if they guess 01234 and 56789, they would get "1 correct" and "2 correct in the right place and 1 correct". Then they just have to factor in how the 15 clicks works in order to lock into our number. It could take awhile or it might not.

My big question for the mods, are we going to be told if a number is correct and in the right place as in "x6xx9"?

[Richie Tenenbaum]

It's sound like M. Gustave has volunteered to bring us to victory, how wonderful!

The M. stands for Mastermind, it all makes perfect sense now

[Young Writer]

My big question for the mods, are we going to be told if a number is correct and in the right place as in "x6xx9"?

I think they'll just learn "3 correct, 2 in the right place" but not know which ones are in the right place. Still it does appear our number is disadvantageous to the actual strategy.

[Wes Anderson]

Okay I've booted up my computer to give more coherent thoughts.

So here is how I understand this challenge so far:

1. We have a combination number of 26599
2. We have 15 clicks (1 number in any direction per click) to change the sequence.
3. Once both teams have submitted the incorrect sequence, we have 20 hours to start guessing numbers.
4. Each time we guess, the mods will tell us how off each one is (Lingo style if anyone has watched that game show). They will tell us correct, incorrect, or correct but in the right place essentially.
5. The team who gets the right number in the fewest amount of guesses wins.

So initial thoughts: Unless their number is super randomized there is a rhyme or reason to this 26599 however is kind of a terrible starting number for us because if they guess 01234 and 56789, they would get "1 correct" and "2 correct in the right place and 1 correct". Then they just have to factor in how the 15 clicks works in order to lock into our number. It could take awhile or it might not.

My big question for the mods, are we going to be told if a number is correct and in the right place as in "x6xx9"?

You'll be told in the same format as the sample from the challenge post, ie "X numbers correct. X correct numbers in the correct place."

Yep Young Writer beat me to it.

[Oracle]

My big question for the mods, are we going to be told if a number is correct and in the right place as in "x6xx9"?

I think they'll just learn "3 correct, 2 in the right place" but not know which ones are in the right place. Still it does appear our number is disadvantageous to the actual strategy.

It's possible they did something similar to the number on the other side, but I'm guessing not. It's a pretty bad starting place.

So it then becomes a logic puzzle to solve when it's time for us to start guessing which is why we have the doc, however there's clearly no rule against repeating numbers in the final combo, so it's 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 which is about 100,000 possibilities until we get more information and then clicks will probably start eliminating guess count once we are able to determine one or two of the numbers as it just becomes an educated guessing game after.

So really the biggest thing is it almost doesn't matter what sequence we give them though one possibility is to leave the 6 and the 9 alone and do some funky click things with the other three numbers or like waste 2 clicks on the 6 or 9 to throw them off a bit.

There's a number of ways we can approach this however it once again boils down to WIFOM and guessing.

Thank you Wes and YW for clarifying my question. That actually helps.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

There is some strategy to figuring out the pattern in Mastermind but unfortunately I haven't really played it in at least a decade so I'm more than a little rusty

[Anthony Adams]

I think it would be best to go for 2 low numbers, 2 high numbers and 1 repeat?

[Oracle]

I don't even know what Mastermind is so that's going way above my head as a reference haha.

[Oracle]

One more question for the mods and then I'm going to go grab food:

26599
16599
26599 is considered 2 clicks and a valid way to build our final incorrect combination that we can send to the other tribe correct?

[Anthony Adams]

I don't think so they said to get there the most efficient way which would be 0.

[Young Writer]

One more question for the mods and then I'm going to go grab food:

26599
16599
26599 is considered 2 clicks and a valid way to build our final incorrect combination that we can send to the other tribe correct?

Based on the rules, no. They say it has to be the shortest possible route to be used.

[M. Gustave]

It's sound like M. Gustave has volunteered to bring us to victory, how wonderful!

The M. stands for Mastermind, it all makes perfect sense now

i laughed

for oracle: it is/was a board game of this logic puzzle, but with colored pegs instead of numbers. i realize now that it could well have been called something totally different outside the united states.
pedit: anthony is right, that would count as 0 clicks. and young writer, too.