Nancy by Olivia Jaimes for January 21, 2024

Winners never cheat and cheaters never win.

I feel tic tac toe on an infinite grid is broken, but Sunday’s no day to do the analysis.

No doubt Sluggo will give Nancy’s move a frosty reception.

When I was a child (60+ years ago), we went on a school trip to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. There was an exhibit that amazed me. A computer that played tic-tac-toe. The thing was the size of a large suitcase. Technology has advanced a bit since then.

Very clever. If Nancy has only one defensive move to make and her opponent has TWO ways to win, then upset the apple cart so your opponent can’t remember where all the game pieces had been before!

Over 50 years ago, when I was in high school, they had a couple of HP desktop programmable calculator. A friend explained the rudiments of programming. I had a schematic for a tic-tac-toe playing machine which included a flowchart. I implemented the flowchart in the calculator, including a “cheat” switch ~ if I pressed it at the start of game and then played the “right” moves, the computer lost. The other kids were pretty impressed and no-one ever figured out how I could win and they couldn’t. :)

Nancy just started the car…………… Friiiiiiiitz?

Too obscure for an old man. I refuse to give this a “like.”

Who doesn’t pick the center square first?

Took me a minute to see how she did it.

The Kobayashi Maru tactic

Clever. :)

Sluggo waits a few minutes more, then asks “What game?”

Did anyone else point out that"X" goes first, so there’s no way that “O” would have more squares than “X”?