Puzzling Asked on June 21, 2021
So I had an idea for a number-based door puzzle for a TTRPG campaign that could readjust itself every time a wrong guess is made. Here’s the basic premise:
Given two numbers, find two more numbers in such a way that:
It seems fully deterministic to me, so let me give you an example:
Given are two numbers (1, 4). The difference is 3.
2 is out because its difference from 1 is part of the series, and in itself would be the difference from 4. 3 is out because of its difference from 2 and 4 being the same, and that difference would be 1, which is additionally part of the series. 5 is not valid either, but 6 is. 7 is not valid due to its difference to 6 being part of the series, and 8 is invalid because of the difference between (6, 8) and (4, 6). 9-6=4-1, and 10-6=4. 11-6=5, 11-1=10, 11-4=7, but 11-6=6-1. 12-6=6, but 13 works: the correct sequence is (1, 4, 6, 13).
It seems simple enough for a door puzzle, and given the above set of rules, it seems absolutely deterministic. I was considering to give the following (more vague) clue to its solution:
No siblings differ alike, nor match they their differences, and none grow taller than they must.
I need it to sound like a mystical/fantasy riddle, but still be concise and accurate and its description of the puzzle. If anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate the help.
I suppose I have four questions for this community:
And some more example solutions for your convenience:
Here are some experimental results.
The "heuristic algorithm", namely choosing smallest numbers one after the other, does not always produce the smallest possible sum.
Examples:
$[1, 9]$: heuristic: $[1, 9, 3, 13]$; optimal: $[1, 9, 4, 11]$;
$[3, 5]$: heuristic: $[3, 5, 9, 16]$; optimal: $[3, 5, 11, 12]$;
and many more.
The example of $[3, 5, 11, 12]$ probably has the largest sum of two added numbers, being $11 + 12 = 23$.
The second largest is $[1, 5, 7, 15]$, being $7 + 15 = 22$.
I checked these for all starting values $leq 50$. One can probably prove that above $50$ there must exist small numbers that fulfill the task (in many cases, the smallest pair $[1, 3]$ works).
Correct answer by WhatsUp on June 21, 2021
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