Scorpion, deal #16

Rated formidable, deal #16 is among the hardest deals in this series. It is winnable: the solver's line takes 50 moves.

Notes on this deal

• A King already sits at the head of a column, so that column never needs emptying.
• 2 Kings are face down. Buried Kings can only leave for an empty column; plan for the space they will need.
• 2 same-suit pairs already lie in order among the face-up cards. Keep them together.
• This deal punishes autopilot. A test play of the obvious moves gets just 0 of 52 cards home before it is stuck.
• 6 useful moves are open from the start. Prefer the ones that turn over a card or free an Ace.
• At one point the solver moves a run of 11 cards in one go.

Stuck? The solver's first moves

These are the first moves of the solver's winning line, with automatic moves to the foundations switched on.

#	Card	From	To
1	J♦	column 6	Q♦, column 3
2	Q♠ +2	column 6	K♠, column 4
3	J♣ +3	column 3	Q♣, column 6
4	5♠ +5	column 6	6♠, column 1
5	9♠ +2	column 2	10♠, column 6
6	A♦	column 3	2♦, column 2

Scorpion in a nutshell

Build down in suit; any face-up card moves with everything on it, and only Kings go into empty columns. Finished King-to-Ace runs leave the table. The three stock cards are dealt once.

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