Sherlock Scramble Solver

A Python script designed to automatically solve the Sherlock Scramble word grids by finding hidden words instantly.

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$ cat tech_stack.txt

Python Algorithms Automation

ls screenshots/

⚠ Challenges Faced

• Designing an efficient search algorithm to parse 2D grids in all 8 directions
• Formatting grid inputs so the script can easily ingest the raw game data

💡 Lessons Learned

• Writing algorithmic solvers is an excellent way to understand the underlying mechanics of a game
• Simple Python scripts can effectively 'cheat' logic-based web games if server-side validation is lacking

cat detailed_explanation.md

Project Overview

The Sherlock Scramble Solver is a straightforward but powerful Python script I built to “cheat” the Sherlock Scramble game.

While the original game was a massive hit developed by the A Levels Computer Club (with core dev by my friend Sushant Pangeni), I found it incredibly fun to approach the game from a hacker’s perspective. Instead of playing the game normally, I wrote software that could beat the system instantly.

How It Works

The solver requires two main inputs:

The Grid: The raw letter grid extracted from the game.
The Words: The list of hidden words you need to find.

The Algorithm

The script takes the 2D array of characters and performs a multi-directional search (horizontal, vertical, and diagonal) to locate the target words.

To use the tool, you simply need to get the grid into the right format. By inspecting the game’s source or DOM, you can extract the letters and format them into a Python list of strings (or a 2D array). You also provide the list of words to find.

# Example Grid Input Format
grid = [
    "S H E R L O C K",
    "A C P B X Y Z A",
    "M R O A S D F G",
    "P B N M Q W E R"
]

words_to_find = ["SHERLOCK", "SCRAMBLE"]

Once the script runs, it scans every coordinate on the grid. If the first letter of a target word matches, it recursively checks all 8 adjacent directions to see if the rest of the word follows.

The Outcome

Running the script instantly spits out the exact starting coordinates and directions for every word on the board, allowing you to solve the puzzles in record time. It was a fun, quick dive into algorithmic grid searching and a cheeky way to top the leaderboards of our own college game!