Java 13,923 (min: 11, max: 17)
Update: improved score (broke the <14/crack avg!), new code
- Checking of known characters now denser (now ABABAB*, instead of -A-A-A-A*)
- When no known characters are available, two unknowns will be counted in a single guess
- Wrong guesses are stored and used to check possible matches
- Some constant tweaking with new logic in place
Original post
I've decided to focus completely on the amount of guesses instead of performance (given the rules). This has resulted in a very slow smart program.
Instead of stealing from the known programs I decided to write everything from scratch, but it turns out some/most ideas are the same.
Algorithm
This is how mine works:
- Do a single query which results in the amount of e's and characters
in total
- Next we look for the spaces, appending some unknown characters at the end to get a character count
- Once the spaces are found we still want to find out more character counts, in the mean time I also get more data on the known characters (if they are on even positions) that will help me
eliminate a lot of phrases.
- When we reach a certain limit (trail/error) it generates all possible phrases and starts a binary search, most of the time still appending unknown characters at the end.
- Finally we do some guesses!
Example guesses
Here is an actual example:
Phase 1 (find the e's and total character count):
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbccccccccccccccccccddddddddddddddddddffffffffffffffffffgggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiijjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkllllllllllllllllllmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooppppppppppppppppppqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrssssssssssssssssssttttttttttttttttttuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Phase 2 (find the spaces):
----------------iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
----------aaaaaaaaaaaa
-------------sssssssssssssss
--------------rrrrrrrrrrrr
---------------nnnnnnnnnnn
-------ttttttttt
---------oooooooo
--------lllllll
Phase 3 (discovery of characters, collecting odd/even information):
eieieieieieieieieieieieicccccc
ararararararararararararddddd
ntntntntntntntntntntntntuuuuu
Phase 4 (binary search with single known character):
------------r------------ppppp
Phase 5 (actual guessing):
enveloper raging charter
racketeer rowing halpern
Because my code never really focusses on single words and only collects information about the complete phrase it has to generate a lot of those phrases making it very slow.
Code
And finally here is the (ugly) code, don't even try to understand it, sorry:
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileReader;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
public class MastermindV3 {
// Order of characters to analyze:
// eiasrntolcdupmghbyfvkwzxjq - 97
private int[] lookup = new int[] {4, 8, 0, 18, 17, 13, 19, 14, 11, 2, 3, 20, 15, 12, 6, 7, 1, 24, 5, 21, 10, 22, 25, 23, 9, 16};
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
new MastermindV3().run();
}
private void run() throws Exception {
long beforeTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
Map<Integer, List<String>> wordMap = createDictionary();
List<String> passPhrases = createPassPhrases();
int min = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
int max = 0;
for(String phrase:passPhrases) {
int before = totalGuesses;
solve(wordMap, phrase);
int amount = totalGuesses - before;
min = Math.min(min, amount);
max = Math.max(max, amount);
System.out.println("Amount of guesses: "+amount+" : min("+min+") max("+max+")");
}
System.out.println("Total guesses: " + totalGuesses);
System.out.println("Took: "+ (System.currentTimeMillis()-beforeTime)+" ms");
}
/**
* From the original question post:
* I've added a boolean for the real passphrase.
* I'm using this method to check previous guesses against my own matches (not part of Mastermind guesses)
*/
int totalGuesses = 0;
int[] guess(String in, String pw, boolean againstRealPassphrase) {
if(againstRealPassphrase) {
//Only count the guesses against the password, not against our own previous choices
totalGuesses++;
}
int chars=0, positions=0;
for(int i=0;i<in.length()&&i<pw.length();i++){
if(in.charAt(i)==pw.charAt(i))
positions++;
}
if(positions == pw.length() && pw.length()==in.length())
return new int[]{-1,positions};
for(int i=0;i<in.length();i++){
String c = String.valueOf(in.charAt(i));
if(pw.contains(c)){
pw = pw.replaceFirst(c, "");
chars++;
}
}
chars -= positions;
return new int[]{chars,positions};
}
private void solve(Map<Integer, List<String>> wordMap, String pw) {
// Do one initial guess which gives us two things:
// The amount of characters in total
// The amount of e's
int[] initialResult = guess(Facts.INITIAL_GUESS, pw, true);
// Create the object that tracks all the known facts/bounds:
Facts facts = new Facts(initialResult);
// Determine a pivot and find the spaces (binary search)
int center = ((initialResult[0] + initialResult[1]) / 3) + 1;
findSpaces(center, facts, pw);
// When finished finding the spaces (and some character information)
// We can calculate the lengths:
int length1 = (facts.spaceBounds[0]-1);
int length2 = (facts.spaceBounds[2]-facts.spaceBounds[0]-1);
int length3 = (facts.totalLength-facts.spaceBounds[2]+2);
// Next we enter a discovery loop where we find out two things:
// 1) The amount of a new character
// 2) How many of a known character are on an even spot
int oddPtr = 0;
int pairCnt = 0;
// Look for more characters, unless we have one HUGE word, which should be brute forcible easily
int maxLength = Math.max(length1, Math.max(length2, length3));
while(maxLength<17 && !facts.doneDiscovery()) { // We don't need all characters, the more unknowns the slower the code, but less guesses
// Try to generate a sequence with ABABABABAB... with two characters with known length
String testPhrase = "";
int expected = 0;
while(oddPtr < facts.charPtr && (facts.oddEvenUsed[oddPtr]!=-1 || facts.charBounds[lookup[oddPtr]] == 0)) {
oddPtr++;
}
// If no character unknown, try pattern -A-A-A-A-A-A-A... with just one known pattern
int evenPtr = oddPtr+1;
while(evenPtr < facts.charPtr && (facts.oddEvenUsed[evenPtr]!=-1 || facts.charBounds[lookup[evenPtr]] == 0)) {
evenPtr++;
}
if(facts.oddEvenUsed[oddPtr]==-1 && facts.charBounds[lookup[oddPtr]] > 0 && oddPtr < facts.charPtr) {
if(facts.oddEvenUsed[evenPtr]==-1 && facts.charBounds[lookup[evenPtr]] > 0 && evenPtr < facts.charPtr) {
for(int i = 0; i < (facts.totalLength + 3) / 2; i++) {
testPhrase += ((char)(lookup[oddPtr] + 97) +""+ ((char)(lookup[evenPtr] + 97)));
}
expected += facts.charBounds[lookup[oddPtr]] + facts.charBounds[lookup[evenPtr]];
} else {
for(int i = 0; i < (facts.totalLength + 3) / 2; i++) {
testPhrase += ((char)(lookup[oddPtr] + 97) + "-");
}
expected += facts.charBounds[lookup[oddPtr]];
}
}
// If we don't have known characters to explore, use the phrase-length part to discover the count of an unknown character
boolean usingTwoNew = false;
if(testPhrase.length() == 0 && facts.charPtr < 25) {
usingTwoNew = true;
//Fill with a new character
while(testPhrase.length() < (facts.totalLength+2)) {
testPhrase += (char)(lookup[facts.charPtr+1] + 97);
}
} else {
while(testPhrase.length() < (facts.totalLength+2)) {
testPhrase += "-";
}
}
// Use the part after the phrase-length to discover the count of an unknown character
for(int i = 0; i<facts.charBounds[lookup[facts.charPtr]];i++) {
testPhrase += (char)(lookup[facts.charPtr] + 97);
}
// Do the actual guess:
int[] result = guess(testPhrase, pw, true);
// Process the results, store the derived facts:
if(oddPtr < facts.charPtr) {
if(evenPtr < facts.charPtr) {
facts.oddEvenUsed[evenPtr] = pairCnt;
}
facts.oddEvenUsed[oddPtr] = pairCnt;
facts.oddEvenPairScore[pairCnt] = result[1];
pairCnt++;
}
if(usingTwoNew) {
facts.updateCharBounds(result[0]);
if(result[1] > 0) {
facts.updateCharBounds(result[1]);
}
} else {
facts.updateCharBounds((result[0]+result[1]) - expected);
}
}
// Next we generate a list of possible phrases for further analysis:
List<String> matchingPhrases = new ArrayList<String>();
// Hacked in for extra speed, loop over longest word first:
int[] index = sortByLength(length1, length2, length3);
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
List<String>[] lists = new List[3];
lists[index[0]] = wordMap.get(length1);
lists[index[1]] = wordMap.get(length2);
lists[index[2]] = wordMap.get(length3);
for(String w1:lists[0]) {
//Continue if (according to our facts) this word is a possible partial match:
if(facts.partialMatches(w1)) {
for(String w2:lists[1]) {
//Continue if (according to our facts) this word is a partial match:
if(facts.partialMatches(w1+w2)) {
for(String w3:lists[2]) {
// Reconstruct phrase in correct order:
String[] possiblePhraseParts = new String[] {w1, w2, w3};
String possiblePhrase = possiblePhraseParts[index[0]]+" "+possiblePhraseParts[index[1]]+" "+possiblePhraseParts[index[2]];
//If the facts form a complete match, continue:
if(facts.matches(possiblePhrase)) {
matchingPhrases.add(possiblePhrase);
}
}
}
}
}
}
//Sometimes we are left with too many matching phrases, do a smart match on them, binary search style:
while(matchingPhrases.size() > 8) {
int lowestError = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
boolean filterCharacterIsKnown = false;
int filterPosition = 0;
int filterValue = 0;
String filterPhrase = "";
//We need to filter some more before trying:
int targetBinaryFilter = matchingPhrases.size()/2;
int[][] usedCharacters = new int[facts.totalLength+2][26];
for(String phrase:matchingPhrases) {
for(int i = 0; i<usedCharacters.length;i++) {
if(phrase.charAt(i) != ' ') {
usedCharacters[i][phrase.charAt(i)-97]++;
}
}
}
//Locate a certain character/position combination which is closest to 50/50:
for(int i = 0; i<usedCharacters.length;i++) {
for(int x = 0; x<usedCharacters[i].length;x++) {
int error = Math.abs(usedCharacters[i][x]-targetBinaryFilter);
if(error < lowestError || (error == lowestError && !filterCharacterIsKnown)) {
//If we do the binary search with a known character we can append more information as well
//Reverse lookup if the character is known
filterCharacterIsKnown = false;
for(int f = 0; f<facts.charPtr; f++) {
if(lookup[f]==x) {
filterCharacterIsKnown = true;
}
}
filterPosition = i;
filterValue = x;
filterPhrase = "";
for(int e = 0; e<i; e++) {
filterPhrase += "-";
}
filterPhrase += ""+((char)(x+97));
lowestError = error;
}
}
}
//Append new character information as well:
while(filterPhrase.length() <= (facts.totalLength+2)) {
filterPhrase += "-";
}
if(filterCharacterIsKnown && facts.charPtr < 26) {
//Append new character to discover
for(int i = 0; i<facts.charBounds[lookup[facts.charPtr]];i++) {
filterPhrase += (char)(lookup[facts.charPtr] + 97);
}
}
//Guess with just that character:
int[] result = guess(filterPhrase, pw, true);
//Filter the 50%
List<String> inFilter = new ArrayList<String>();
for(String phrase:matchingPhrases) {
if(phrase.charAt(filterPosition) == (filterValue+97)) {
inFilter.add(phrase);
}
}
if(result[1]>0) {
//If we have a match, retain all:
matchingPhrases.retainAll(inFilter);
} else {
//No match, filter all
matchingPhrases.removeAll(inFilter);
}
if(filterCharacterIsKnown && facts.charPtr < 26) {
//Finally filter according to the discovered character:
facts.updateCharBounds((result[0]+result[1]) - 1);
List<String> toKeep = new ArrayList<String>();
for(String phrase:matchingPhrases) {
if(facts.matches(phrase)) {
toKeep.add(phrase);
}
}
matchingPhrases = toKeep;
}
}
// Finally we have some phrases left, try them!
for(String phrase:matchingPhrases) {
if(facts.matches(phrase)) {
int[] result = guess(phrase, pw, true);
System.out.println(phrase+" "+Arrays.toString(result));
if(result[0]==-1) {
return;
}
// No match, update facts:
facts.storeInvalid(phrase, result);
}
}
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unable to solve!?");
}
private int[] sortByLength(int length1, int length2, int length3) {
//God this code is ugly, can't be bothered to fix
int[] index;
if(length3 > length2 && length2 > length1) {
index = new int[] {2, 1, 0};
} else if(length3 > length1 && length1 > length2) {
index = new int[] {2, 0, 1};
} else if(length2 > length3 && length3 > length1) {
index = new int[] {1, 2, 0};
} else if(length2 > length1 && length1 > length3) {
index = new int[] {1, 0, 2};
} else if(length2 > length3) {
index = new int[]{0, 1, 2};
} else {
index = new int[]{0, 2, 1};
}
return index;
}
private void findSpaces(int center, Facts facts, String pw) {
String testPhrase = "";
//Place spaces for analysis:
for(int i = 0; i<center; i++) {testPhrase+=" ";}while(testPhrase.length()<(facts.totalLength+2)) {testPhrase+="-";}
//Append extra characters for added information early on:
for(int i = 0; i<facts.charBounds[lookup[facts.charPtr]];i++) {
testPhrase += (char)(lookup[facts.charPtr]+97);
}
//Update space lower and upper bounds:
int[] answer = guess(testPhrase, pw, true);
if(answer[1] == 0) {
facts.spaceBounds[0] = Math.max(facts.spaceBounds[0], center+1);
facts.spaceBounds[2] = Math.max(facts.spaceBounds[2], center+3);
} else if(answer[1] == 1) {
facts.spaceBounds[1] = Math.min(facts.spaceBounds[1], center);
facts.spaceBounds[2] = Math.max(facts.spaceBounds[2], center+1);
} else {
facts.spaceBounds[3] = Math.min(facts.spaceBounds[3], center);
facts.spaceBounds[1] = Math.min(facts.spaceBounds[1], center-2);
}
int correctAmountChars = (answer[0] + answer[1]) - 2;
facts.updateCharBounds(correctAmountChars);
//System.out.println(Arrays.toString(facts.spaceBounds));
if(facts.spaceBounds[0]==facts.spaceBounds[1]) {
if(facts.spaceBounds[2]==facts.spaceBounds[3]) return;
findSpaces(facts.spaceBounds[2] + ((facts.spaceBounds[3]-facts.spaceBounds[2])/3), facts, pw);
} else {
findSpaces((facts.spaceBounds[0]+facts.spaceBounds[1])/2, facts, pw);
}
}
private class Facts {
private static final String INITIAL_GUESS = "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbccccccccccccccccccddddddddddddddddddffffffffffffffffffgggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiijjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkllllllllllllllllllmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooppppppppppppppppppqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrssssssssssssssssssttttttttttttttttttuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz";
private final int totalLength;
private final int[] spaceBounds;
// Pre-filled with maximum bounds obtained from dictionary:
private final int[] charBounds = new int[] {12, 9, 9, 9, 15, 9, 12, 9, 18, 6, 9, 12, 9, 12, 12, 9, 3, 12, 15, 9, 12, 6, 6, 3, 9, 6};
private final int[] oddEvenUsed = new int[] {-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1};
private final int[] oddEvenPairScore = new int[26];
private int charPtr;
public Facts(int[] initialResult) {
totalLength = initialResult[0] + initialResult[1];
spaceBounds = new int[] {2, Math.min(totalLength - 2, 22), 4, Math.min(totalLength + 1, 43)};
//Eliminate firsts
charBounds[lookup[0]] = initialResult[1];
//Adjust:
for(int i = 1; i<charBounds.length; i++) {
charBounds[lookup[i]] = Math.min(charBounds[lookup[i]], totalLength-initialResult[1]);
}
charPtr = 1;
}
private List<String> previousGuesses = new ArrayList<String>();
private List<int[]> previousResults = new ArrayList<int[]>();
public void storeInvalid(String phrase, int[] result) {
previousGuesses.add(phrase);
previousResults.add(result);
}
public boolean doneDiscovery() {
if(charPtr<12) { //Always do at least N guesses (speeds up and slightly improves score)
return false;
}
return true;
}
public void updateCharBounds(int correctAmountChars) {
// Update the bounds we know for a certain character:
int knownCharBounds = 0;
charBounds[lookup[charPtr]] = correctAmountChars;
for(int i = 0; i <= charPtr;i++) {
knownCharBounds += charBounds[lookup[i]];
}
// Also update the ones we haven't checked yet, we might know something about them now:
for(int i = charPtr+1; i<charBounds.length; i++) {
charBounds[lookup[i]] = Math.min(charBounds[lookup[i]], totalLength-knownCharBounds);
}
charPtr++;
while(charPtr < 26 && charBounds[lookup[charPtr]]==0) {
charPtr++;
}
}
public boolean partialMatches(String phrase) {
//Try to match a partial phrase, we can't be too picky because we don't know what else is next
int[] cUsed = new int[26];
for(int i = 0; i<phrase.length(); i++) {
cUsed[phrase.charAt(i)-97]++;
}
for(int i = 0; i<cUsed.length; i++) {
//Only eliminate the phrases that definitely have wrong characters:
if(cUsed[lookup[i]] > charBounds[lookup[i]]) {
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
public boolean matches(String phrase) {
// Try to match a complete phrase, we can now use all information:
int[] cUsed = new int[26];
for(int i = 0; i<phrase.length(); i++) {
if(phrase.charAt(i)!=' ') {
cUsed[phrase.charAt(i)-97]++;
}
}
for(int i = 0; i<cUsed.length; i++) {
if(i < charPtr) {
if(cUsed[lookup[i]] != charBounds[lookup[i]]) {
return false;
}
} else {
if(cUsed[lookup[i]] > charBounds[lookup[i]]) {
return false;
}
}
}
//Check against what we know for odd/even
for(int pair = 0; pair < 26;pair++) {
String input = "";
for(int i = 0; i<26;i++) {
if(oddEvenUsed[i] == pair) {
input += (char)(lookup[i]+97);
}
}
if(input.length() == 1) {
input += "-";
}
String testPhrase = "";
for(int i = 0; i<=(totalLength+1)/2 ; i++) {
testPhrase += input;
}
int[] result = guess(testPhrase, phrase, false);
if(result[1] != oddEvenPairScore[pair]) {
return false;
}
}
//Check again previous guesses:
for(int i = 0; i<previousGuesses.size();i++) {
// If the input phrase is the correct phrase it should score the same against previous tries:
int[] result = guess(previousGuesses.get(i), phrase, false);
int[] expectedResult = previousResults.get(i);
if(!Arrays.equals(expectedResult, result)) {
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
}
private List<String> createPassPhrases() throws Exception {
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(new File("pass.txt")));
List<String> phrases = new ArrayList<String>();
String input;
while((input = reader.readLine()) != null) {
phrases.add(input);
}
return phrases;
}
private Map<Integer, List<String>> createDictionary() throws Exception {
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(new File("words.txt")));
Map<Integer, List<String>> wordMap = new HashMap<Integer, List<String>>();
String input;
while((input = reader.readLine()) != null) {
List<String> words = wordMap.get(input.length());
if(words == null) {
words = new ArrayList<String>();
}
words.add(input);
wordMap.put(input.length(), words);
}
return wordMap;
}
}
1
Title from http://xkcd.com/936/
– NinjaBearMonkey – 2014-08-27T16:28:58.977Can I put characters other than a..z and space in the string to submit? – Ray – 2014-08-27T17:13:31.917
@Ray I can't think of a reason why not at the moment, but I'm not sure what it gains you. Go for it, I'm curious. – Geobits – 2014-08-27T17:19:23.530
@Geobits I'm working on a time efficient solution but it will cost more steps than your O(n^3) looping one. – Ray – 2014-08-27T17:29:25.747
3Can humans submit themselves? I'll start: "worth a shot' – AndoDaan – 2014-08-27T17:29:37.997
2@AndoDaan For the first phrase?
9 0
. This might take a while :P – Geobits – 2014-08-27T17:33:11.627I'm happy just earning a participation badge, thanks. Great question btw. – AndoDaan – 2014-08-27T17:42:00.413
In your example, you shouldn't have "r", right? – justhalf – 2014-08-28T09:02:50.597
@justhalf Thanks, not sure how that got in there. – Geobits – 2014-08-28T12:41:06.953
Are we allowed to find the length of the selected word and use that to crack the puzzle? – Beta Decay – 2014-08-29T07:33:20.127
Related/similar: http://codegolf.stackexchange.com/questions/26858/guess-the-word-aka-lingo
– None – 2014-08-29T07:53:01.487Can the guess be any length? – Moop – 2014-08-29T16:57:41.067
@Moop Yes. A zero-length guess isn't much good, but it can be longer than necessary. – Geobits – 2014-08-29T16:59:50.143
Do we know the size of the passphrase? I assume we read in the passphrase file and iterate over the strings, but I assume we cannot check its size? – Moop – 2014-08-29T17:33:11.643
@Moop Correct, you can't check the size. However, you can figure it out with one guess if the guess is crafted the right way. – Geobits – 2014-08-29T17:34:53.870
@Geobits Yeah, I got that, just trying to see if i need to do it or not :) – Moop – 2014-08-29T17:35:40.573
Just see the bounty. Actually if you change the value
M
to 10 in my program, it will score 23359 with 40 minutes. That's a score/time tradeoff, set it to lower value and you get better score but spend more time. – Ray – 2014-08-29T18:24:41.303@Ray Well, the primary winning criteria is score, so you may want to run a few different values and post your best results. Time doesn't count unless there's a tie, which seems unlikely. Either way, I can't change the bounty message, and lowest score when it expires wins. – Geobits – 2014-08-29T18:32:52.397
I have a plan to combine all good bits from different answers to a single program, as a community wiki. It's hopeful to score under 20k. – Ray – 2014-08-29T19:57:22.340
So happy, I just broke the <14/crack barrier with a maximum of 17 guesses! – Roy van Rijn – 2014-08-31T20:51:19.330
It seems we are going into crazy-land now with programs mining all the data and running for a day+. I'm now also running a program that should be around 10/11-ish guesses per phrase, but takes hours and hours and hours. :-) It might have been wise to put a maximum runtime on the contest, a bit too late now. – Roy van Rijn – 2014-09-03T16:24:34.877
Well it seems the best way guess-wise is to run the whole phrase at once, but that's resource intensive. I was even running out of memory on my machine at one point for some of the collections. Probably would have been good to make it a win based on running time for those who are even close in guesses instead of only exact. – ltab – 2014-09-05T06:06:04.343
I got to just under 11 guesses per phrase with a runtime of about 50 minutes. The fastest I have seen (and I am sure it could get faster) is about 6.2 seconds with 18 guesses. Great question though - lots of interesting learnings! – Sanjay Jain – 2014-09-05T15:55:04.627
Assuming the program can deduce the phrase by elimination (for instance ruling out the last of 2 possibilities with a guess that is not the actual password), is it mandatory to call the checker one last time so that it sees the password at least once? – None – 2014-09-06T04:39:02.047
@kuroineko Yes, a full "winning" phrase must be submitted/counted for each. – Geobits – 2014-09-06T05:12:10.063