# D&D.Sci (Easy Mode): On The Construction Of Impossible Structures

*This is a D&D.Sci scenario: a puzzle where players are given a dataset to analyze and an objective to pursue using information from that dataset.*

Duke Arado’s obsession with physics-defying architecture has caused him to run into a small problem. His problem is *not* – he affirms – that his interest has in any way waned: the menagerie of fantastical buildings which dot his territories attest to this, and he treasures each new time-bending tower or non-Euclidean mansion as much as the first. *Nor *– he assuages – is it that he’s having trouble finding talent: while it’s true that no individual has ever managed to design more than one impossible structure, it’s *also* true that he scarcely goes a week without some architect arriving at his door, haunted by alien visions, begging for the resources to bring them into reality. And finally – he attests – his problem is *definitely not* that “his mad fixation on lunatic constructions is driving him to the brink of financial ruin”, as the townsfolk keep saying: he’ll have you know he’s recently brought an accountant in to look over his expenditures, and he’s confirmed he has the funds to keep pursuing this hobby long into his old age.

Rather, his problem is *the local zoning board*. Concerned citizens have come together to force him to limit new creations near populated areas, claiming they “disrupt the neighbourhood character” and “conjure eldritch music to lure our children away while we sleep”. While in previous years he was free to – and did – support any qualified architect who showed up with sufficiently strange blueprints, the Duke is now forced to be selective: at present, he has fourteen applicants waiting on his word, and only four viable building sites. He finds this particularly galling, since about half the time when an architect finishes their work, the resulting building ends up *not* distorting the fabric of spacetime, and instead *just kind of looking weird*. It’s entirely possible that if he picks at random, he’ll end up with no new impossible structures *at all* this month, which – he asserts – would utterly break his heart.

This is where you come in. Using his [records](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/H-B-P/d-and-d-sci-impossible-structures/main/data.csv) from previous years, he wants you to evaluate [his current crop of architects’ plans](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/H-B-P/d-and-d-sci-impossible-structures/main/architect_proposals.txt) and pick out the four most likely to successfully defy the laws of Nature. (If there are any ties, he’d like you to resolve them in favour of whichever option is cheapest; however, his primary concern remains the instantiation of as much impossibility as possible.)

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I’ll post an explanation of how I generated the dataset, and the resulting optimal strategy, sometime on Monday 20th May. I’m giving you three days, but the task shouldn’t take more than an hour; use Excel, R, Python, the malevolent mutterings of men dressed as birds, or whatever other tools you think are appropriate[^depulx0potk]. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about the scenario.

If you want to investigate collaboratively and/or call your choices in advance, feel free to do so in the comments; however, please use [spoiler blocks](https://www.lesswrong.com/tag/guide-to-the-lesswrong-editor#Spoiler_blocks) or [rot13](https://rot13.com/) when sharing inferences/strategies/decisions, so people intending to fly solo can look for clarifications without being spoiled.

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*Note: This challenge was originally commissioned by a mysterious sponsor who - after concluding their own use of it - graciously permitted me to make it public domain on the condition that I never explain who paid for it or why. In the unlikely event that you think you've seen this one somewhere before, I humbly request that you not publicly discuss this fact.*

[^depulx0potk]: Though, to be honest, using anything more advanced than spreadsheets for this one would probably be overkill.