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    Please send your puzzle answer and resume to eng_careers@itasoftware.com. We prefer that you solve one of the problems below to give us an idea of your problem-solving ability and coding style. Unless otherwise specified, you may use any language you like. In your email, along with your source code, please include your program's final answer; a brief (1-2 paragraph) description of your approach and any trade-offs you made (say, for generality, speed, or ease of implementation); and instructions on how to test your program. No pseudo-code please!    
        
  For other challenging puzzles and information about careers and available positions,
please visit www.itasoftware.com/careers.
   
        
 

Note: Puzzle answers will be reviewed only for individuals submitting job applications.

   



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  Sling Blade Runner
"How long a chain of overlapping movie titles, like "Live and Let Die Another Day of the Dead Poet's Society", can you find?"

Use the following listing of movie titles: MOVIES.LST. Multi-word overlaps, as in "License to Kill a Mockingbird," are allowed. The same title may not be used more than once in a solution. Heuristic solutions that may not always produce the greatest number of titles will be accepted: seek a reasonable tradeoff of efficiency and optimality.
 

Data provided by MovieLens at the University of Minnesota.



  Word Numbers
 "If the integers from 1 to 999,999,999 are written as words, sorted alphabetically, and concatenated, what is the 51 billionth letter?" 


To be precise: if the integers from 1 to 999,999,999 are expressed in words (omitting spaces, 'and', and punctuation[1]), and sorted alphabetically so that the first six integers are

  • eight
  • eighteen
  • eighteenmillion
  • eighteenmillioneight
  • eighteenmillioneighteen
  • eighteenmillioneighteenthousand
and the last is
  • twothousandtwohundredtwo
then reading top to bottom, left to right, the 28th letter completes the spelling of the integer "eighteenmillion".

 

The 51 billionth letter also completes the spelling of an integer. Which one, and what is the sum of all the integers to that point?

[1] For example, 911,610,034 is written "ninehundredelevenmillionsixhundredtenthousandthirtyfour"; 500,000,000 is written "fivehundredmillion"; 1,709 is written "onethousandsevenhundrednine".


 
 
 Palindromic Pangram

"What is the shortest sequence of words that is both a pangram and a palindrome?"

A palindrome is a sequence of words like "lid off a daffodil" or "shallot ayatollahs" that uses the same letters reading backwards as forwards. The words need not form a meaningful or grammatical sentence.

A palindromic pangram is a multi-word palindrome that includes all 26 letters of the alphabet. Find the shortest sequence of words that is both a pangram and a palindrome. Use this dictionary: WORD.LST (1.66MB).

 

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