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Holzer and Holzer (Discrete Applied Mathematics 144(3):345--358, 2004) proved that the Tantrix(TM) rotation puzzle problem is NP-complete. They also showed that for infinite rotation puzzles, this problem becomes undecidable. We study the…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2008-06-09 Dorothea Baumeister , Joerg Rothe

Pencil puzzles are puzzles that can be solved by writing down solutions on a paper, using only logical reasoning. In this paper, we utilize the "T-metacell" framework developed by Tang and the MIT Hardness Group to prove the NP-completeness…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2026-01-15 Nattapol Kiatchaipipat , Suthee Ruangwises

All roads lead to Rome is the core idea of the puzzle game Roma. It is played on an $n \times n$ grid consisting of quadratic cells. Those cells are grouped into boxes of at most four neighboring cells and are either filled, or to be…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2022-07-20 Kevin Goergen , Henning Fernau , Esther Oest , Petra Wolf

The Parks Puzzle is a paper-and-pencil puzzle game that is classically played on a square grid with different colored regions (the parks). The player needs to place a certain number of "trees" in each row, column, and park such that none…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2024-11-05 Igor Minevich , Gabe Cunningham , Aditya Karan , Joshua V. Gyllinsky

When can $t$ terminal pairs in an $m \times n$ grid be connected by $t$ vertex-disjoint paths that cover all vertices of the grid? We prove that this problem is NP-complete. Our hardness result can be compared to two previous NP-hardness…

For Latin squares the units (rows and columns) have fixed sum. The same holds for rows, columns, and blocks in Sudokus. Summing the elements of a unit yields a linear equation, and the set of all such equations forms a system of linear…

General Mathematics · Mathematics 2025-09-16 Ralf Pöppel

We explore the capabilities of physical computing with Oscillatory Neural Networks (ONN) to solve combinatorial optimization problems. To solve Sudokus with ONNs, we define a novel mapping strategy that utilizes the unique characteristics…

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks · Physics 2025-12-09 Bram F. Haverkort , Federico Sbravati , Stefan Porfir , Aida Todri-Sanial

This paper covers a variety of mathematical folk puzzles, including geometric (Tangrams, dissection puzzles), logic, algebraic, probability (Monty Hall Problem, Birthday Paradox), and combinatorial challenges (Eight Queens Puzzle, Tower of…

Theoretical Economics · Economics 2025-10-29 Duaa Abdullah , Jasem Hamoud

We prove that path puzzles with complete row and column information--or equivalently, 2D orthogonal discrete tomography with Hamiltonicity constraint--are strongly NP-complete, ASP-complete, and #P-complete. Along the way, we newly…

Computational Geometry · Computer Science 2019-02-12 Jeffrey Bosboom , Erik D. Demaine , Martin L. Demaine , Adam Hesterberg , Roderick Kimball , Justin Kopinsky

Existing reasoning benchmarks for large language models (LLMs) frequently fail to capture authentic creativity, often rewarding memorization of previously observed patterns. We address this shortcoming with Sudoku-Bench, a curated benchmark…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2025-05-23 Jeffrey Seely , Yuki Imajuku , Tianyu Zhao , Edoardo Cetin , Llion Jones

Edge-matching problems, also called edge matching puzzles, are abstractions of placement problems with neighborhood conditions. Pieces with colored edges have to be placed on a board such that adjacent edges have the same color. The problem…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2017-03-29 Martin Ebbesen , Paul Fischer , Carsten Witt

We present plingo, an extension of the ASP system clingo with various probabilistic reasoning modes. Plingo is centered upon LP^MLN, a probabilistic extension of ASP based on a weight scheme from Markov Logic. This choice is motivated by…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2024-10-23 Susana Hahn , Tomi Janhunen , Roland Kaminski , Javier Romero , Nicolas Rühling , Torsten Schaub

We investigate the complexity of a puzzle that turns out to be NL-complete.

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2015-07-13 Holger Petersen

We show that the following problem is EXP-complete: given a rational v and a two player, zero-sum Boolean game G determine whether the value of G is at least v. The proof is via a translation of the proof of the same result for Boolean…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2014-03-31 Egor Ianovski

Bloxorz is an online puzzle game where players move a 1 by 1 by 2 block by tilting it on a subset of the two dimensional grid. Bloxorz features switches that open and close trapdoors. The puzzle is to move the block from its initial…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2014-11-24 Tom C. van der Zanden , Hans L. Bodlaender

In a polyomino set (1,2)-achievement game the maker and the breaker alternately mark one and two previously unmarked cells respectively. The maker's goal is to mark a set of cells congruent to one of a given set of polyominoes. The breaker…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2015-03-17 Edgar Fisher , Nandor Sieben

The Sudoku puzzle has achieved worldwide popularity recently, and attracted great attention of the computational intelligence community. Sudoku is always considered as Satisfiability Problem or Constraint Satisfaction Problem. In this…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2009-03-11 Zhe Chen

The Persistent Perfect phylogeny, also known as Dollo-1, has been introduced as a generalization of the well-known perfect phylogenetic model for binary characters to deal with the potential loss of characters. The problem of deciding the…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2025-07-25 Paola Bonizzoni , Gianluca Della Vedova , Mauricio Soto Gomez , Gabriella Trucco

We study tilings of regions in the square lattice with L-shaped trominoes. Deciding the existence of a tiling with L-trominoes for an arbitrary region in general is NP-complete, nonetheless, we identify restrictions to the problem where it…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2020-03-25 Javier T. Akagi , Carlos F. Gaona , Fabricio Mendoza , Manjil P. Saikia , Marcos Villagra

Despite their proficiency in various language tasks, Large Language Models (LLMs) struggle with combinatorial problems like Satisfiability, Traveling Salesman Problem, or even basic arithmetic. We address this gap through a novel trial &…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-01-19 Panagiotis Giannoulis , Yorgos Pantis , Christos Tzamos