Sorry for the delay; ruby-talk-ctl suddenly decided to stop working for
me.
This is another depth-first recursive search. Dictionary should be saved
in wordlist.txt. It implements the first bonus, but not the second.
$template =<<EOL
_ _ _ _ # _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # _ _ _ _
_ # _ # _ # _ # _ # _ # _ # _ # _ # _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ # _ # _ # _ # _ _ _ # _ # _ # _ # _
_ _ _ _ # _ # _ # _ # _ # _ _ _ _
_ # _ # # # _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # # # _ # _
_ _ _ _ _ _ # # _ # _ # # _ _ _ _ _ _
_ # _ # # _ # _ _ _ _ _ # _ # # _ # _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # _ # _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ # # _ # _ # _ _ _ _ _ # _ # _ # # _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # _ # _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ # _ # # _ # _ _ _ _ _ # _ # # _ # _
_ _ _ _ _ _ # # _ # _ # # _ _ _ _ _ _
_ # _ # # # _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # # # _ # _
_ _ _ _ # _ # _ # _ # _ # _ _ _ _
_ # _ # _ # _ # _ _ _ # _ # _ # _ # _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ # _ # _ # _ # _ # _ # _ # _ # _ # _
_ _ _ _ # _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # _ _ _ _
EOL
$dict = File.open(“wordlist.txt”){|f|f.read.upcase.split(/\n/)}
class Array
###This version only works for down and left-to-right, but
###for this quiz I don’t care.
###Also not really a line if not at a 0, -45, or -90 degree angle;
again, it doesn’t matter
def each_in_line(y1,x1,y2,x2, &block)
until x1==x2 and y1==y2
block.call *([self[y1][x1],y1,x1][0…block.arity])
x1 += 1 unless x1==x2
y1 += 1 unless y1==y2
end
end
def deep_dup
self.dup.map do |el|
if el.is_a? Array
el.deep_dup
else
el.dup
end
end
end
end
###Assumes crossword is rectangular
###Returns an array of arrays, each containing an array with the start
and end y and x
###of a section of the crossword to be filled
def word_queue(crossword)
queue = []
crossword.each_with_index do |row, y|
#"|" is just a spacer; preserving hashes eases computing x index
words = row.join.gsub(’#’,’|#|’).squeeze(’|’).split(’|’)
words.each_with_index do |word, n|
next if word.length == 1
next unless word.include? ‘_’ #For EC 1
queue <<
[[y,words[0…n].join.length],[y,words[0…n].join.length]]
end
end
crossword[0].each_index do |x|
words = crossword.map{|row|row[x]}.
join.gsub(’#’,’|#|’).squeeze(’|’).split(’|’)
words.each_with_index do |word, n|
next if word.length == 1
next unless word.include? ‘_’ #For EC 1
queue << [[words[0…n].join.length,
x],[words[0…n].join.length,x]]
end
end
queue
end
def crossword_solution(crossword, queue=word_queue(crossword))
return crossword if queue.empty?
word_coords = queue.first
word_space = “”
crossword.each_in_line(*word_coords.flatten) {|c|word_space << c}
regex = Regexp.new("^%s$" % word_space.gsub(’_’,’\w’))
possible_words = $dict.select{|w| w =~ regex}.sort_by{rand}
until possible_words.empty?
crossword_copy = crossword.deep_dup
word_arr = possible_words.shift.split(//)
crossword_copy.each_in_line(*word_coords.flatten) do |el,y,x|
crossword_copy[y][x] = word_arr.shift
end
solved=crossword_solution(crossword_copy,queue-[word_coords])
return solved if solved
end
nil
end
puts crossword_solution($template.chomp.gsub(’ ‘,’’).
gsub("\n\n","\n").split(/\n/).map{|s|s.split(//)}).
map{|r|r.join}.join("\n").tr(’#’,’ ')