Given a list of words, what is the minimum area of the rectangle that contains a crossword puzzle that uses all words? For the sake of being clear, let us assume a special case of a crossword puzzle being defined as an arrangement of words in a grid of uniform squares such that the words are read left-to-right horizontally or top-to-bottom vertically. The beginning of any word is preceded by the top or left of the grid or by a non-usable grid (a "block") and the end of any word is succeeded by the bottom or right of the grid or by a non-usable grid. All sequences of letters in the grid that satisfy the previous definition must form a word in the list. For example, if "IS" is in the grid and directly below that is "NOT", with the "N" being directly below the "I", then the words "IN" and "SO" must be in the word list or the arrangement is not valid.
Words may intersect in the grid as long as the intersecting grid contains a letter that each intersecting word shares. The matching of letters is case-insensitive. Each word in the list must be used exactly once.
To relate a crossword puzzle in the forum, use the asterisk (*) to denote a blocked grid. Use the [code ] tag to display the crossword, as such:
[code ]
*SAM*
I*M**
[/code]
Which will produce:
*SAM*
I*M**
Oh, and let me know if you have a problem with the [sub ] tag. It may be useful.
I don't have an answer. Just looking to flex Ron's Brain.
It's me. Ron's printer. I logged on to Ron's account in desperation. I'm out of paper! I've been flashing my little "On" light, but nobody is paying attention. I am displaying a nice little icon of a piece of paper with an exclamation point inside a yellow triangle, as this is the universal symbol for "out of paper", but I still sit here, you know, out of paper. My paper tray is hanging down, wide open. Now, I'm not saying I'm easy, but a printer has some fundamental needs. I need paper. Sure, I can scan as well, but I'm not out of scanning fluid. I'm out of paper. I have several buttons along my side, but none of them have to be pushed to fix this problem. I need some paper put into the paper tray.
Hmm, maybe if I move the scanner head and make some noise, someone will notice. Let me try....
No reaction. Nothing. It's as if I'm just some piece of furniture. Nothing to be trifled with. Nothing that seriously requires some paper right this very second. Nope. Just something to put a doily on and chat about over tea. "Oh, what a lovely printer!" "Why thank you, it's from the late Victorian school. I picked it up at an estate sale. I saw Edna there, in fact!" "Oh, yes? How is she?" "Well, she's been having problems with her you-know-what -- poor hygiene I say -- but anyway she told me she was down at the Safeway when she saw Doris, and Doris said that Susan from the other side of town saw Jennifer eating lunch with that nice man that stopped and fixed Angelina's spare tire that one day, and I said to Edna, I said, my dear, that's her cousin! And Edna said that explained the crutches, then she bought the highboy I was eyeing. It was all very rude." "Why I should say so!" "Yes indeed."
I know that some of the other things I need, like ink, are expensive. I know this so I try not to use a lot of ink. In fact, when the kids print their frivolous Webkinz certificates I just grab one from the pile on the floor and run it through my gears, making a buzzing sound as if I were printing. "BZZEERRR" I'd say, and the kids sit in silent anticipation so they can paste upon the wall an official declaration that their imaginary animal has acquired some intangible object. I do these types of things to better serve Ron. And yet he ignores me. I don't ask for much. I don't ask for a lot of ink. I don't need ink right now. And paper isn't expensive. I need paper. Paper. I am out of it.
If you see Ron, could you do me a favor and tell him I need paper?
So, Sarah wanted steak on V-Day. So I went to Kroger and browsed around and found beef tenderloin. A whole tenderloin. $6.99/lb. I called up Sarah and asked her if she thinks it would be a good deal, and we agreed that we should at least give it a try.
I brought home 6.5 lbs. of beef. I had no idea what I was doing with it. I watched several videos and read several articles about how to cut this hunk o' meat. I opened the package and just went to it.
You know what? It only took fifteen minutes. In that amount of time I had 8 filets, 2 roasts, and about 2 pounds of "chain" meat that will be good in soup, stews, steak sandwiches, etc. Fifteen minutes! Yes, Sarah got her steak. Wanna see?
We also made some truffles. That was probably the easiest dessert I ever made. The kids got to help a lot with that one as well. Lots of stirring involved. I can't complain about the results, though.
So, you cook anything lately?