Dennis E. Shasha 
Puzzles for Programmers and Pros [PDF ebook] 

Acknowledgments v
Introduction xi
Part I: Mind Games 1
We can’t all be winners. 3
Sweet Tooth 4
Byzantine Bettors 6
A Touch of Luck 8
Information Gain 10
Reach for the Sky! 12
Pork Politics 14
Social Games 15
Escape Management 19
Flu Math 21
Imagination rules… 23
Whipping Ice 24
Optimal Jargon 29
Using Your Marbles 31
Flipping Colors 33
Scheduling Tradition 34
Fractal Biology 35
As Easy as Pie 37
Getting on the right side of luck 41
Lucky Roulette 42
Legal Logic 44
The Box Chip Game 47
Feedback Dividends 49
What are you thinking? 53
Number Clues 54
Mind Games 56
Refuse and Reveal 59
A Biting Maze 61
Mad Mix 63
Doing more with less 65
Dig That! 66
Preferential Romance 68
No Change for the Holidays 71
Quiet in the Depths 73
Solutions 74
Solution to Sweet Tooth 74
Solution to Byzantine Bettors 74
Solution to A Touch of Luck 76
Solution to Information Gain 78
Solution to Reach for the Sky! 78
Solution to Pork Politics 79
Solution to Social Games 80
Solution to Escape Management 81
Solution to Flu Math 83
Solution to Whipping Ice 84
Solution to Optimal Jargon 86
Solution to Using Your Marbles 88
Solution to Flipping Colors 89
Solution to Scheduling Tradition 90
Solution to Fractal Biology 91
Solution to As Easy as Pie 94
Solution to Lucky Roulette 96
Solution to Legal Logic 96
Solution to The Box Chip Game 97
Solution to Feedback Dividends 102
Solution to Number Clues 103
Solution to Mind Games 104
Solution to Refuse and Reveal 108
Solution to A Biting Maze 110
Solution to Mad Mix 112
Solution to Dig That! 113
Solution to Preferential Romance 116
Solution to No Change for the Holidays 117
Solution to Quiet in the Depths 118
Part II: The Secret of the Puzzle 121
Order the Ages 126
Urban Planning 128
Solution to Urban Planning 129
Finding a Schedule That Works 131
Solution to Finding a Schedule That Works 132
Picturing the Treasure 133
Solution to Picturing the Treasure 135
Sudoku 138
Solution to Sudoku 146
Number Encoding 147
Solution to Number Encoding 149
Selective Greed 150
Solution to Selective Greed 155
Sweet Packs 156
Solution to Sweet Packs 158
Revisiting a Traveling Salesman 159
Solution to Revisiting a Traveling Salesman 163
Overloaded Scheduling and Freezing Crystals 164
Solution to Overloaded Scheduling and Freezing Crystals 170
Wordsnakes 171
Solution to Wordsnakes 173
Maximal Friends 174
Solution to Maximal Friends 176
Winning at the Slots 177
Solution to Winning at the Slots 179
Understanding Dice 181
Solution to Understanding Dice 183
Bait and Switch 184
Solution to Bait and Switch 186
Part III: Faithful Foes 189
Index 221

Dr. Dennis Shasha is a professor of Mathematical Sciences in the Department of Computer Science at NYU. Along with research and teaching in biological computing, pattern recognition, database tuning , cryptographic file systems, and the like, Dennis is well-known for his mathematical puzzle column for Dr. Dobbs whose readers are very sharp and his Puzzling Adventures Column for the Scientific American. His puzzle writing has given birth to fictional books about a mathematical detective named Dr. Ecco. Dr. Shasha has also co-authored numerous highly technical books. Dennis speaks often at conferences and is a tireless self-promoter in the world of 'mensa-like’ puzzles.