Little secrets · 03
The curious case of deal #11982.
Most deal numbers are a way to meet the same puzzle again. This one became a story people kept passing around.
One number. A very long conversation.
The deal that stayed behind.
Michael Keller's FreeCell FAQ at Solitaire Laboratory documents the effort to solve the original set of 32,000 numbered deals. It identifies #11982 as the exceptional unsolvable deal under the standard rules, after sustained human and computer searches.
That is a documented historical result. Repeating the number in our interface does not reproduce the proof, and reproducing its layout does not establish that every rule and move agrees with the historical program.
Why the rules matter.
Four free cells, eight columns, alternating colors. Change the available storage or the building rules and you change the puzzle. A solver's conclusion belongs to a precise starting layout and a precise set of legal moves.
Our prototype lets you explore the deal with undo and hints. It does not declare the position impossible, and a hint is a legal move suggestion rather than a promise of a solution.
A number worth keeping.
Whatever the outcome of one attempt, numbered deals make the conversation possible. Two people can start from the same arrangement, compare decisions, and discuss a puzzle across years and machines.
Documentary source: Michael Keller, FreeCell FAQ, section “The Microsoft 32,000.” Our engine and deal numbering are original-authored implementations; original-binary comparison remains pending.