S3U

Math / Solitaire / Grade 4 / mq4s2

Solitaire: Notice a Repeated Pass

Follow the waste order and distinguish a legal action from a useful new choice.

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When stock is empty, turn the whole waste over without shuffling. Draw One exposes the earliest remaining waste card first. If you move no cards and change nothing else, another full pass offers the same cards in the same order.

Worked example

Waste contains 4 of clubs underneath 6 of diamonds. Recycle it. The next draw exposes 4 of clubs; another draw covers it with 6 of diamonds. With neither card moved, you reach the same visible arrangement again.

Stock is empty. Waste has four of clubs underneath six of diamonds, its top card. One column ends in five of spades. After recycling, four of clubs is drawn before six of diamonds if neither moves away.
A close-up, not a solvability test. A repeated pass changes nothing if you move no cards and change no other piles.

A Legal Action Is Not a Winning Plan

The pictured column ends in black 5 of spades. Black 4 of clubs cannot go onto it: the colors match. Red 6 of diamonds cannot go onto it either: the rank goes up, not down. Recycling is still a legal action. That does not prove it helps. Inspect the other columns and foundations before making a claim about the whole deal. S3U also permits a foundation top card to return to a legal column.

Question 1 After recycling the pictured waste, which card is drawn first?
Question 2 Why cannot 4 of clubs go onto the pictured 5 of spades?
Question 3 If no cards move elsewhere, how many draws after recycling restore this two-card waste?
Question 4 Does this close-up prove the entire deal has no useful move?
Question 5 In S3U, may a foundation top 2 of clubs return onto an exposed red 3 of diamonds?