In this paper we introduce a two phase hyper-heuristic search method for solving the Eternity II puzzle. Eternity II is a challenging money prized edge matching puzzle. Solving the puzzle has been shown to be NP-complete [2]. Hyper-heuristics [1] are a recent trend in heuristic algorithms. They tend to be more general methods than meta-heuristics for solving optimization problems. Hyper-heurist...

In this paper we consider the enumeration of all solutions of a 2D edge-matching puzzle. We show that a judicious modeling of the problem, combined with the use of appropriate data structures allows obtaining an effective filtering algorithm with complexity O(1) at each node a of tree search. Our experiments show the relevancy of the proposed power/complexity tradeoff, compared to the results o...

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity”