OEEE
XOOX
EXEX
XEOE
Exactly one letter needs to be exchanged into one of the other two. But where and which one?
I intended this to be part of Monthly Topic Challenge. This is sort of a hint.
OEEE
XOOX
EXEX
XEOE
Exactly one letter needs to be exchanged into one of the other two. But where and which one?
I intended this to be part of Monthly Topic Challenge. This is sort of a hint.
I think it's
The 2nd E in the 3rd row, it needs to be an O
How come:
The whole grid looks like Tic-tac-toe on a 4x4 grid. Given there are 5 Xs and 4 Os, it should be O's turn to play. Playing in the 2nd empty (E) square in the 3rd row guarantees a win for the player with the Os, completing both a vertical 3 in a row and a diagonal one. $$ \begin{array}{cccc} \mathsf{\text{O}} & & & \\\mathsf{\text{X}}& \mathsf{\text{O}} & \mathsf{\text{O}} & \mathsf{\text{X}} \\ & \mathsf{\text{X}} & \color{lime}{\mathsf{\text{O}}} & \mathsf{\text{X}} \\ \mathsf{\text{X}}& & \mathsf{\text{O}} & \end{array}$$
Not sure if this is the intention, but
X is present in rows
2,3,4
and columns1,2,4
O is present in rows1,2,4
and columns1,2,3
E is present in rows1,3,4
and columns1,2,3,4
So
If the constraint is
present in 3 rows/columns
, the only way is to change the E in column 1 (all other columns have 2 Es). Can only be changed toX
to not break constraint for O.
E
perhaps representing "empty"
$\endgroup$
Commented
Aug 2, 2022 at 11:35
Is it
the 2nd E in the 4th row needs to be an O.
Reasoning:
Tic-tac-toe comes to mind. There are 5 X's, but just 4 O's, so it seems we need to change one of the E's to an O, but which one?
The X's form 3 rows of 2, where 2 of those rows are connected at one point. Therefore we must place the O so that that setup holds true for O's also. That means the O must replace one of the E's on the bottom row.
To decide which one, we notice the number of columns and rows taken up by X is 3, so in order to match that, the O must replace the E in the 2nd column.