SUITCASE Consolation Awards As always ... there are consolation awards. Some folks actually try and win these things - perhaps YOU will find your entry wins one of these in the next POTM!
The coveted "BEST NAME" award to JustAnotherPettyProblem from Madhu Kurup
When I first saw the entry name, my reaction was "Sure,
we'll see!" but then I read the explanation in the code:
> B4 you assume that I'm insulting the problem (Re: EntryName) -
> I'd just like to share with you that in Malayalam (palindrome!),
> my native language (Southern India), "petty" or "petti" is the
> native word for SUITCASE. ;-))).
(I think it was the triple smiley face that clinched it!)
The "OUCH" award goes to previous POTM winner Gunnar Andersson
Gunnar's entry, LostLuggage, was the ONLY entry to find the
"best" solutions to all four solvable problems. One would
think that Gunnar would have easily won his second POTM
in a row, but LostLuggage went on to "SOLVE" the fifth
problem ... for which there was "NO SOLUTION". Ah well.
The "MORE IS BETTER" award to Madhu Kurup ...
Madhu took full advantage of the rule that allows multiple
entries as long as they are different email addresses by
submitting four entries. he might have been better off
using aliases given that all of them finished with pretty
much the same socre!
The "ALZHEIMER'S" award to Douglas Jones and Janis Sermulins for
PuffNStuff and PackIt ...
Even with 350Mb of virtual memory, these entries managed
to outstrip my machine and merrily ask for more. Endlessly
cycling looking for resources caused a reboot or two and
a new rule limiting wall-clock-time for the next POTM!
The "THANKS" award goes to Brian Roberts for his help on the final problems
Figuring out how to stress the entries isn't always easy.
Brian sent along several ideas that I used to create some
of the final problems. I appreciate the help! (An aside:
Heavy_Suitcase - Brian's entry - solved three of the four
problems that had solutions ... so his ideas were good
enough to fool himself!)