Re: US Chain Letters

On Thu, 3 Jul 2025 16:10:48 -0400, leflynn wrote:

For the full 59 pair problem, it needs a computer.
That said, it is interesting to me that there are 9984=256*3*13
different variations but they all use the same 30 choices.
E.g., FMMPPWWVVIIAASSDDCCTTNNCCOOHHIINNMMNNVVAAKKSSCCAALLAARRIIDDE

Yes, curious.

Given a fixed starting point, it will be possible to derive the number of
possible routes from the number of branches at each node along the way.
It's going to get complicated, but it'll be standard theory for some
branch of mathematics.

1st step, 2 choices:

FM, MN
FM, MP

2nd step, 3 choices:

FM, MN, NC
FM, MN, NV
FM, MP, PW

3rd step, 6 choices:

FM, MN, NC, CA
FM, MN, NC, CO
FM, MN, NC, CT
FM, MN, NV, VA
FM, MN, NV, VI
FM, MP, PW, WV

3rd step, 15 choices:

FM, MN, NC, CA, AK
FM, MN, NC, CA, AL
FM, MN, NC, CA, AR
FM, MN, NC, CA, AS
FM, MN, NC, CO, OH
FM, MN, NC, CT, TN
FM, MN, NV, VA, AK
FM, MN, NV, VA, AL
FM, MN, NV, VA, AR
FM, MN, NV, VA, AS
FM, MN, NV, VI, IA
FM, MN, NV, VI, ID
FM, MN, NV, VI, IN
FM, MP, PW, WV, VA
FM, MP, PW, WV, VI

--
David Entwistle