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Calculating at Pencil and Paper Scale
Introduction It can be fun to drive a problem all the way into the ground. I don’t always get to do that on paying projects, however sometimes I can do it with hobby projects. In this case I …
A good idea for a solution is noticing that the answer is the greatest common divisor (GCD) of two differences of the puzzle inputs, such as 723217 - 480608 = 242609 and 508811 - 480608 = 28203. Now suppose we don’t allow a 2024 era programmable digital computer, as they did not have them 1924 when the note was published in Strand Magazine. Enter the first number into the input register, add it to the accumulator by turning the crank, and clear the revolution counter.
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