1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 14 15 x
where the only legal operation is to exchange 'x' with one of the tiles with which it shares an edge. As an example, the following sequence of moves solves a slightly scrambled puzzle:
1 2 3
4 1 2 3 4 1 2
3 4 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
5 6 7 8 5 6 7
8 5 6 7 8
9 x 10 12 9 10 x
12 9 10 11 12 9 10 11 12
13 14 11 15 13 14 11 15 13
14 x 15 13 14 15 x
r->
d-> r->
The letters in the previous row indicate which neighbor of the 'x' tile is swapped with the 'x' tile at each step; legal values are 'r','l','u' and 'd', for right, left, up, and down, respectively.
Not all puzzles can be solved; in 1870, a man named Sam Loyd was famous for
distributing an unsolvable version of the puzzle, and
frustrating many
people. In fact, all you have to do to make a regular puzzle into an
unsolvable one is to swap two tiles (not counting the missing 'x' tile, of
course).
In this problem, you will write a program for solving the less well-known
8-puzzle, composed of tiles on a three by three
arrangement.
Only the shortest solutions are acceptable.
1 2 3
x 4 6
7 5 8
is described by this list:
1 2 3 x 4 6 7 5 8