This is inspired by Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival. <a href="https://jrmf.org/" rel="nofollow">https://jrmf.org/</a>
I love the concept. I was left wanting more because larger puzzles are apparently not more difficult, they just seem to have a lot of solutions. But can we make them more difficult? Just in case anyone else wants more of a challenge... I hand-wrote a 10x10 that should be harder to crack:<p><pre><code> 1 2 1 2 2 3 1 1 2 2
3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
2 1 2 2 3 2 1 1 3 1
2 1 3 3 1 3 3 1 3 1
3 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
2 3 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 3
3 3 3 3 1 3 3 1 3 2
1 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
2 1 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 F
</code></pre>
Unless I made a mistake, the simplest solution is not easy to find. Obviously I was thinking about an algorithm to create harder "Jumping Julia" puzzles. Definitely doable, but for now I'll leave it at that!
Knowing that a typical maze will have branching paths at the beginning, but necessarily one good path at the end, I find it easier to start from the goal and work my way backward.
Just for amusement, tried:<p><a href="https://jumpingjuliamaze.onrender.com/?width=7&height=3" rel="nofollow">https://jumpingjuliamaze.onrender.com/?width=7&height=3</a><p>and ended up with a 3 wide 7 high table... but with a projected Goal square at 7 wide 3 high?
This is great. Simple to get, not too simple to solve. One I will share with my kids, plus now introduced to Julia Robinson festival. Thanks for sharing.