m4th.pro(gramming)

make and play math video games

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On keyboards, use the arrow keys, X (A-button), and Z (B-button).

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Find substrings in order, or out of order

Shuffle the digits 0123456789. You might get

5709134682

Even though the digits have been shuffled, sometimes you can find four digits that are in-order, e.g.,

5709134682

There are other possibilities too: in the case of the permutation 5709134682, the foursome 0134 is also a substring in order.

Other times, you can find four in reverse, e.g., if the permutation were

5827491630

there are no length four substrings which are in order. But note that

5827491630

so 5210 is a length four substring which is in reverse order. In the case of 5827491630, another such foursome is 9630.

The goal

Pay attention to the top row, where the digits 0123456789 have been shuffled. Move the cursor right and left to choose a digit; press a button to select the digit. Your goal is to select four digits which are in order, or in reverse order.

If the presented permutation were 5709134682, you could win by clicking on 0, then 1, then 3, and finally 4 since those are four digits appearing in order within 5709134682. At that point, you will be presented with another puzzle. You can also win by choosing four digits in reverse order.

Is it always possible to win?

In any permutation of the digits 0123456789, you can always find at least four digits which are in order or four digits which are in reverse order. You can prove this by invoking Dilworth’s theorem.