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Very nice find on the patent, emhart. Thanks! It looks like the patent is the same as my `greedy_lock`, except that at each tumbler "the entire word list is scanned"; this is worse than scanning just the words that make it through the previous tumblers. Also, I was a noob at lock terminology; I should replace "dial" with "tumbler".

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Thanks. I hadn't yet arrived at the greedy lock portion when I posted the above, but I finished the article soon after and absolutely loved it. The other thing worth noting is that while it sounds like there was some regional bias toward Fred Buns at your store, they should have different combinations of dials/letters on some of their locks. Also, also, some should be reconfigurable, which leads me to the challenge:

Optimal combination of dials in the circumstance that the dials can be rearranged.

& Don't sweat dial/tumbler, dial is more specific anyway, tumbler is the generic word.

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