Cryptarithmetic Problem

Cryptarithmetic Problem is a type of constraint satisfaction problem where the game is about digits and its unique replacement either with alphabets or other symbols. In cryptarithmetic problem, the digits (0-9) get substituted by some possible alphabets or symbols. The task in cryptarithmetic problem is to substitute each digit with an alphabet to get the result arithmetically correct.

We can perform all the arithmetic operations on a given cryptarithmetic problem.

The rules or constraints on a cryptarithmetic problem are as follows:

There should be a unique digit to be replaced with a unique alphabet.
The result should satisfy the predefined arithmetic rules, i.e., 2+2 =4, nothing else.
Digits should be from 0-9 only.
There should be only one carry forward, while performing the addition operation on a problem.
The problem can be solved from both sides, i.e., lefthand side (L.H.S), or righthand side (R.H.S)

Let’s understand the cryptarithmetic problem as well its constraints better with the help of an example:

Given a cryptarithmetic problem, i.e., S E N D + M O R E = M O N E Y

In this example, add both terms S E N D and M O R E to bring M O N E Y as a result.

Follow the below steps to understand the given problem by breaking it into its subparts:

Starting from the left hand side (L.H.S) , the terms are S and M. Assign a digit which could give a satisfactory result. Let’s assign S->9 and M->1.

Hence, we get a satisfactory result by adding up the terms and got an assignment for O as O->0 as well.

Now, move ahead to the next terms E and O to get N as its output.

move ahead to the next terms E and O to get N

Adding E and O, which means 5+0=0, which is not possible because according to cryptarithmetic constraints, we cannot assign the same digit to two letters. So, we need to think more and assign some other value.