Topic:  The final squares
=========================
A note on the Finals.  As I worked on this problem, it became increasingly
evident that some approaches could tune their algorithms to particular
squares ... thus achieving good scores on (say) the system test square, but
doing poorly (or even not finishing) other squares.  In order to avoid
favoring any single entry, I conducted the finals based on the results
derived from the runs against FIVE different squares ... all of which are
derived from "familiar" strings of letters from which I removed the repeaters.




THEQU		FOXY - The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
ICKBR			The old familiar typing drill - almost readable!
OWNFX
JMPSV
LADG+


NOWIS		AID - Now is the time for all good men to come to the
THEMF			aid of their country.  More from history, and
RALGD			since the W and O were used early, this also
CUBJK			translates to " ... all good women ... "!  Of
PQVX+			course, the unfound letters were added at the end.


QWERT		TYPO - This one shouldn't be too hard to figure out.
UIOPA			No "Y" allowed, so I couldn't call it QUERTY.
SDFGH
JKLXC
VBNM+


THISA		FAQ - This is the list of frequently asked questions ... and
LOFRE			so forth - it's simply the FAQ you see in the
QUNKD			weekly status mailing every week!
WPGMV
BCXJ+


WARNI		WARN - This is the warning notice you see when you log in
GOTCE			to AT&T UNIX boxes ... I added a K and a Q at the
HSMDL			end since these were not in the original!
UFBPJ
VXKQ+


===========================================================================
I spent a little time trying to come up with a square with five english
words in it (reading horizontally) ... it proved to be too much!

With only five vowels to work with (Y is not in the letter set), each word
had to have only a single vowel ... in order to use the Q, I couldn't afford
to use TWO vowels, the only word I came up with (initially) was:

		" QOPH "  ... the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and
				familiar to most Scrabble players who get
				stuck with no "U" ....

With that as a starting point, I had to find a five letter word with an "X"
in it, only a single vowel (AEI or U), and no double letters, and no (QPH).
There was ONE that I found ...

		" STRIX " ... a genus of owls

NOW, my space is even FURTHER reduced ... I tackled the J next and looked
for words with a single vowel (now AE or U) and only unused letters.
Again ... I found only ONE ...

		" FJELD " ... a barren plateau of the Scandanvian upland

But my search had ended ... With only ten letters remaining:

		-->    A B C G K M N U V W    <---

I couldn't come up with TWO five-letter english words that used them all.
Disappointment.
But such is how I derive my small pleasures in life, the search was enjoyable!
=Fred

=========== Postscript .... If anyone wants to play some more in this mire,
 here are some other "Q" words that might start you down the solution path:

QUNG  are people of the Omatako river in southern Africa (proper noun)
QURSH was in my wordlist, but not my dictionary!!!
QUTB  is an Islamic Saint who has attained the highest degree of sanctity
SHOQ  is another in my wordlist but not my dictionary ... oh well ...

To the best of my knowlege, these are all the four and five letter words that
have only a single vowel in them (along with the Q of course).

I'll circulate any solution, but you'll have to supply the five definitions!
(even if you make them up!)

=Fred