Shadows of a sailor forming, down in Carlisle he loved a lady many years ago. Here beside him stands a man, a soldier by the looks of him, who came through many fights but lost at love. And both of them are very happy because it is time for the second problem of this season’s Wright Challenge puzzle contest! Every fortnight, the mysterious Doctor E supplies another puzzle for you to think about, and at the end of the semester, prizes of $60, $40 and $20 go to the top three finishers, with handsome certificates, suitable for framing, going to all sufficiently high-scoring finishers. Eligible contestants include University of Northern Iowa students, Iowa high school students, and Illinois high school students!

Turning in the correct solution to this week's puzzle by October 14th will earn 2 puzzle points. A correct solution along with the name of a cartoon movie that had a voice actor who was a fugitive that got caught before the movie was finished will get 3 puzzle points!


Doctor E drops sixteen cents out of his doctor-pockets, and they fall onto the ground in a 4 x 4 array. For his own Mysterious Reasons, he decides to flip them so they are all showing tails. To make it harder he decides to add the following rule: A move consists of choosing any penny on the ground. When he flips it, he is also required to flip each penny that is in the same row and same column as the chosen penny. His starting position is shown below - what moves will win the game with the shortest number of moves?

 


The deadline for sending in solutions has expired. But feel free to take some time to work on this one, and click here to see the answer. Alternatively, click here to see the current challenge.


Click here for E. Season, problem 1
Click here for the solution to E. Season, problem 1


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