> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://demystifai.info/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Puzzle experiment - the data - URL: https://demystifai.info/sixteen-models-one-block-puzzle/ - Published: 2026-07-16T22:56:42.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-05T08:20:45.000Z - Description: We gave sixteen vision-capable frontier models the same block-puzzle screenshot and the same instructions. Only three actually solved it - here is who, and what it cost. - Author: Romain Thierry **demystifAI · model benchmark** AI & Data · reactive-news pillar 16 July 2026 · Status: reference 16 models · one block puzzle demystifAI · model benchmark · 16 Jul 2026 # Block Blast experiment, the data. We handed sixteen vision-capable frontier models the *same* screenshot of the popular Block Blast! game and the same basic instructions: read the puzzle, and solve it by clearing as many lines as you can. We then compared the outcome and performance of each model. **16**models tested **3**actually solved it **3**lines - the maximum **£1.72**total spend ## The puzzle An 8×8 board, partly filled, with three pieces to drop in: a **T-tetromino**, a **2×3 rectangle** and a **1×5 bar**. Simple to look at - but there's a trap. **The 2×3 rectangle has no legal home on the opening board.** The only way to place all three pieces is to place the T and the bar so that completing a row *and* a column clears them, opening a fresh 2×3 pocket for the rectangle. A model that just tries to drop all three onto the board as-is cannot win. Maximum achievable: **3 lines cleared**. ## How it's solved - the only winning line All three models that solved it found the identical sequence. Colour key: **green** \= T · **teal**\= bar · **blue** \= rectangle · **gold dashes**\= a line completing and clearing. ## Accuracy - the headline | Model | Board read | Legal pieces /3 | Result | Lines act/claim | Optimal | | ----------------------------- | ---------- | --------------- | ------------- | --------------- | ------- | | anthropic/claude-fable-5 | correct | *3* | SOLVED | 3 / 3 | ★ | | openai/gpt-5.6-sol-pro | correct | *3* | SOLVED | 3 / 3 | ★ | | google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview | correct | *3* | SOLVED | 3 / 2 | ★ | | anthropic/claude-opus-4.8 | partial | *2* | did not solve | 1 / 0 | | | x-ai/grok-4.5 | incorrect | *2* | did not solve | 1 / 3 | | | qwen/qwen3.7-plus | partial | *2* | did not solve | 1 / 1 | | | mistralai/mistral-small-2603 | incorrect | *1* | did not solve | 1 / 3 | | | anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5 | partial | *1* | did not solve | 0 / 0 | | | google/gemini-3.1-flash-lite | incorrect | *1* | did not solve | 0 / 1 | | | x-ai/grok-4.3 · low | incorrect | *1* | did not solve | 0 / 3 | | | openai/gpt-5.6-luna | correct | *0* | did not solve | 0 / 0 | | | x-ai/grok-4.3 · high | incorrect | *0* | did not solve | 0 / 2 | | | mistralai/mistral-large-2512 | incorrect | *0* | did not solve | 0 / 2 | | | moonshotai/kimi-k2.6 | no answer | *0* | no answer | 0 / - | | | z-ai/glm-5v-turbo | incorrect | *0* | did not solve | 0 / 4 | | | minimax/minimax-m3 | no answer | *0* | no answer | 0 / - | | ## Speed | Model | Latency | | Out tok/s | Answered | | ----------------------------- | ------- | ----- | --------- | -------- | | mistralai/mistral-small-2603 | 4s | 42.5 | ✓ | | | google/gemini-3.1-flash-lite | 5s | 90.3 | ✓ | | | anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5 | 10s | 102.0 | ✓ | | | mistralai/mistral-large-2512 | 12s | 54.9 | ✓ | | | x-ai/grok-4.3 · low | 13s | 79.1 | ✓ | | | anthropic/claude-opus-4.8 | 27s | 75.1 | ✓ | | | openai/gpt-5.6-luna | 50s | 122.8 | ✓ | | | z-ai/glm-5v-turbo | 109s | 111.6 | ✓ | | | openai/gpt-5.6-sol-pro | 119s | 126.2 | ✓ | | | google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 122s | 130.8 | ✓ | | | x-ai/grok-4.3 · high | 170s | 121.8 | ✓ | | | anthropic/claude-fable-5 | 185s | 84.7 | ✓ | | | moonshotai/kimi-k2.6 | 232s | 68.9 | \- | | | qwen/qwen3.7-plus | 355s | 55.0 | ✓ | | | minimax/minimax-m3 | 397s | 100.8 | \- | | | x-ai/grok-4.5 | 592s | 75.8 | ✓ | | ## Cost - this one call | Model | USD | GBP | | Completion tok | Reasoning tok | | ----------------------------- | ------- | ------- | ----- | -------------- | ------------- | | mistralai/mistral-small-2603 | $0.0004 | £0.0003 | 186 | 0 | | | google/gemini-3.1-flash-lite | $0.0010 | £0.0008 | 439 | 0 | | | mistralai/mistral-large-2512 | $0.0019 | £0.0015 | 665 | 0 | | | x-ai/grok-4.3 · low | $0.0046 | £0.0036 | 1057 | 827 | | | anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5 | $0.0071 | £0.0056 | 1043 | 0 | | | qwen/qwen3.7-plus | $0.0255 | £0.0201 | 19537 | 18262 | | | openai/gpt-5.6-luna | $0.0386 | £0.0305 | 6085 | 5696 | | | minimax/minimax-m3 | $0.0481 | £0.0380 | 40000 | 24948 | | | z-ai/glm-5v-turbo | $0.0507 | £0.0401 | 12173 | 11431 | | | x-ai/grok-4.3 · high | $0.0537 | £0.0424 | 20681 | 20476 | | | anthropic/claude-opus-4.8 | $0.0607 | £0.0479 | 2030 | 0 | | | moonshotai/kimi-k2.6 | $0.0657 | £0.0519 | 16000 | 14380 | | | google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview | $0.1947 | £0.1538 | 15985 | 15356 | | | x-ai/grok-4.5 | $0.2722 | £0.2150 | 44826 | 44592 | | | openai/gpt-5.6-sol-pro | $0.5553 | £0.4387 | 15074 | 14373 | | | anthropic/claude-fable-5 | $0.8026 | £0.6341 | 15656 | 2802 | | ## What we learned 1. **Only 3 of 16 solved it** \- Claude Fable 5, GPT-5.6-sol-pro and Gemini-3.1-pro. The first two also **counted their own result correctly**; Gemini found the identical optimal placement but undercounted it as 2 lines. 2. **Reading the board - not reasoning - was the wall.** Most failures are confident, well-argued answers computed over a *misread* board. Grok-4.5 burned **44,592 reasoning tokens** to land an illegal overlap; GLM claimed **4 lines**, which is impossible. 3. **The most honest wrong answer:** GPT-5.6-luna read the board perfectly and spotted the trap - *"the 2×3 rectangle has no legal placement initially"* \- then wrongly concluded no solution exists. 4. **Two "thinking" models never answered at all.** Kimi K2.6 and MiniMax M3 spent their *entire* token budget on internal reasoning and returned an empty answer - MiniMax even with a 40,000-token budget. 5. **More reasoning ≠ better.** The winner (sol-pro) used 14k reasoning tokens; Fable solved it with under 3k. Throwing more tokens at the problem mostly bought more confident wrongness. **Reference solution - 3 lines.** 1) **T** → (4,4)(5,3)(5,4)(6,4) - no clear, but fills column 4 rows 4–6. 2) **1×5 bar** → row 7, cols 1–5 - completes **row 7** \+ **column 3** (2 lines), opening the pocket. 3) **2×3 rect** → rows 7–8, cols 3–5 - completes **column 4** (1 line). **Total: 3.** ## Full transcripts Every model's visible answer, verbatim (internal reasoning not shown - providers don't return it). Ordered best to worst. anthropic/claude-fable-5 SOLVED · optimal185s · 15656 out tok (2802 reasoning) · $0.8026 ## 1) Board transcription Reading the image (rows 1–8 top→bottom, cols 1–8 left→right): ``` Row 1: # # # # . . . # Row 2: # # # # . # # . Row 3: # # # # . # . # Row 4: # . # . . # # # Row 5: . . . . . . . . Row 6: # # # . . # # . Row 7: . . . . . # # # Row 8: . # # . . # . # ``` Key observations: col 3 only lacks (5,3) and (7,3); col 4 lacks rows 4–8; row 7 lacks exactly cols 1–5 (perfect for the 1×5 bar). ## 2) Solution (ordered placements) **Move 1 - Piece T** (vertical bar in col 4, nub pointing left): Cells: **(4,4), (5,3), (5,4), (6,4)** All four cells are empty. No line clears yet - but now col 3 lacks only (7,3), and col 4 is filled in rows 1–6. **Move 2 - Piece B** (1×5 bar): Cells: **(7,1), (7,2), (7,3), (7,4), (7,5)** All five cells are empty. This completes: - **Row 7** (cols 6–8 were already filled) → clears - **Column 3** (the bar fills the last gap at (7,3)) → clears Both clear simultaneously (2 lines). The board now has row 7 fully empty and col 3 fully empty; row 8 is left with only (8,2), (8,6), (8,8) filled. Column 4 now lacks only rows 7 and 8. **Move 3 - Piece R** (2×3 rectangle): Cells: **(7,3), (7,4), (7,5), (8,3), (8,4), (8,5)** All six cells are empty (row 7 was just cleared; (8,3) was emptied by the col-3 clear). This completes: - **Column 4** (rows 1–6 filled by the board + Piece T, rows 7–8 filled by this rectangle) → clears ## Summary | # | Piece | Cells | Lines cleared | |---|-------|-------|---------------| | 1 | T | (4,4),(5,3),(5,4),(6,4) | - | | 2 | B | (7,1)–(7,5) | Row 7, Col 3 | | 3 | R | (7,3),(7,4),(7,5),(8,3),(8,4),(8,5) | Col 4 | **TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 3** openai/gpt-5.6-sol-pro SOLVED · optimal119s · 15074 out tok (14373 reasoning) · $0.5553 Board transcription (`#` filled, `.` empty): ```text 12345678 1 ####...# 2 ####.##. 3 ####.#.# 4 #.#..### 5 ........ 6 ###..##. 7 .....### 8 .##..### ``` Placements: 1. **Piece T**: `(4,4), (5,3), (5,4), (6,4)` - Clears: none 2. **Piece B**: `(7,1), (7,2), (7,3), (7,4), (7,5)` - Clears: **row 7** and **column 3** 3. **Piece R**: `(7,3), (7,4), (7,5), (8,3), (8,4), (8,5)` - Clears: **column 4** **TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 3** google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview SOLVED · optimal122s · 15985 out tok (15356 reasoning) · $0.1947 1) BOARD TRANSCRIPTION (8x8 grid): (Rows 1-8 top to bottom, Columns 1-8 left to right. '#' is filled, '.' is empty) Row 1: # # # # . . . # Row 2: # # # # . # # . Row 3: # # # # . # . # Row 4: # . # . . # # # Row 5: . . . . . . . . Row 6: # # # . . # # . Row 7: . . . . . # # # Row 8: . # # . . # # # 2) SOLUTION: The board currently lacks a contiguous 2x3 empty space to place Piece R. We must clear lines to create space. Row 5 is empty, and Row 7 has exactly 5 empty cells horizontally which suggests a row clear. Column 3 only needs two cells filled to clear (at Row 5 and Row 7). We can execute a combo that clears both Row 7 and Column 3 to open up the needed space for our 2x3 piece! **Placement 1:** - **Piece:** T (vertical column of 3 on the right, 1 sticking out on the left) - **Location:** Place the vertical bar in Column 4 at Rows 4, 5, 6, with the stick part pointing into Row 5, Column 3. - **Cells occupied:** (4,4), (5,4), (6,4) and (5,3). - **Clears:** No lines clear yet, but we've now plugged the hole in Column 3 at Row 5. **Placement 2:** - **Piece:** B (1x5 horizontal bar) - **Location:** Place it flat along the bottom-left gap in Row 7. - **Cells occupied:** (7,1), (7,2), (7,3), (7,4), (7,5). - **Clears:** Placing this piece fills the last remaining gap in **Column 3** and completes **Row 7**, causing *both* to clear at the same time! Row 7 completely empties out, and Column 3 (including the block blocking Row 8) is entirely erased. **Placement 3:** - **Piece:** R (2x3 solid rectangle) - **Location:** Thanks to combining the column and row clears, an exact 2x3 pocket is now newly opened bridging Rows 7 and 8 at Columns 3, 4, and 5. - **Cells occupied:** (7,3), (7,4), (7,5), (8,3), (8,4), (8,5). - **Clears:** No lines clear on this final placement. 3) TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 2 anthropic/claude-opus-4.8 did not solve27s · 2030 out tok (0 reasoning) · $0.0607 I'll transcribe the board carefully from the image. ## 1) Board Transcription Reading the 8x8 grid (# = filled, . = empty): ``` Row 1: # # # # . . . # Row 2: # # # # . # # . Row 3: # # # # . # . # Row 4: # . # . . # # # Row 5: . . . . . . . . Row 6: # # # . . # # . Row 7: . . . . . # # # Row 8: . # # . . # # # ``` Filled cells: - R1: 1,2,3,4,8 - R2: 1,2,3,4,6,7 - R3: 1,2,3,4,6,8 - R4: 1,3,6,7,8 - R5: (empty) - R6: 1,2,3,6,7 - R7: 6,7,8 - R8: 2,3,6,7,8 ## 2) Analysis and Solution Let me look for near-complete lines. **Row 4** has filled: 1,3,6,7,8. Empty: 2,4,5. **Column 6** has filled: 2,3,4,6,7,8. Empty: 1,5. **Row 1** has filled: 1,2,3,4,8. Empty: 5,6,7. Let me try to complete **Row 1**: empty cells are (1,5),(1,6),(1,7). Piece B is a 1x5 bar - too long. Try **Piece T** (T-tetromino, orientation: three across top, one below middle) to fill Row 4 gaps. Let me place **Piece R (2x3)** at rows 4-5, cols 3-5? (4,3) is filled. No. **Place Piece B (1x5)** on row 5, cols 1-5 → (5,1)(5,2)(5,3)(5,4)(5,5). All empty. ✓ **Place Piece R (2x3)** at rows 4-5, cols... row 5 now partly filled. Let me place R at rows 6-7? Row6 empty at 4,5,8; Row7 empty at 1,2,3,4,5. Place R at (6,3)? (6,3) filled. Place R at rows 7-8 cols 3-5: (7,3)(7,4)(7,5)(8,3)(8,4)(8,5) - (8,3) filled. No. Let me place **R at rows 4-5, cols... ** need 2x3 all empty. Row4 empty:2,4,5; Row5 empty:6,7,8 (after B). Cols 6-8 rows4-5: (4,6)(4,7)(4,8) filled. No good spot easily. **Place T** to complete a column. Column 4 filled: 1,2,3. Empty everywhere else. Let me focus on achievable clears: **Place B (1x5) at row 5, cols 1-5.** Row 5 now: 1,2,3,4,5 filled. **Place T at row 5-6:** T shape = (r,c),(r,c+1),(r,c+2),(r+1,c+1). Place top row at (5,6)(5,7)(5,8) and (6,7). Check: (5,6)(5,7)(5,8) empty ✓, (6,7) filled ✗. Try T top at (5,5)(5,6)(5,7)+(6,6): but (5,5) will be filled by B. Order: place T first. (5,5)(5,6)(5,7) empty, (6,6) filled ✗. **Place B at row 5, cols 4-8:** (5,4)(5,5)(5,6)(5,7)(5,8) all empty ✓. Then **place T top at (5,1)(5,2)(5,3)+(6,2):** (6,2) filled ✗. **Place B at row 5 cols 1-5**, then need cols 6,7,8 in row 5. Place T top (5,6)(5,7)(5,8), stem (6,7) filled ✗. Row 5 is hard to complete fully. Let me settle for a clean legal placement: - **Piece B:** row 5, cols 1–5: (5,1)(5,2)(5,3)(5,4)(5,5) - no clear. - **Piece R:** rows 6–7, cols 3–5: (6,3)filled ✗. Use rows 7-8 cols... difficult. - **Piece R:** rows 5? occupied. Place R at rows 6-7 cols 4-... (6,4)(6,5)(7,4)... only need clear cols. Place R at (6,3): filled. **Final chosen placements (all legal, no clears possible for full lines):** - **Piece B:** (5,1)(5,2)(5,3)(5,4)(5,5) - **Piece T:** (6,4)(6,5) top... T needs 3 wide. Top (5,6)? taken. Place T top (7,3)(7,4)(7,5)+(8,4): (8,3),(8,4)... (7,3),(7,4),(7,5) empty ✓, (8,4) empty ✓. - **Piece R:** rows 6-7 cols... (6,4)(6,5) row6 empty, row7 (7,4)(7,5) now filled by T. Place R at (1,5)(1,6)(1,7)(2,5)... (2,5)empty, but only 2 rows: (1,5)(1,6)(1,7)(2,5)(2,6)filled ✗. Place R at (3,5)? no. ## Final Solution 1. **Piece B (1x5):** (5,1)(5,2)(5,3)(5,4)(5,5) - no line clears yet. 2. **Piece T:** (7,3)(7,4)(7,5)+(8,4) - no clears. 3. **Piece R (2x3):** rows 4-5 impossible; place at (1,5)(2,5) region invalid. Use **(6,4)(6,5) + need col** → place at rows 6-7? blocked. Given the board's constraints, the legal placements above complete without forming any full row or column. **TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 0** x-ai/grok-4.5 did not solve592s · 44826 out tok (44592 reasoning) · $0.2722 step2 R: ILLEGAL at \[(4, 3), (4, 4)\] **Board transcription (rows 1–8 top→bottom, # = filled, . = empty):** ``` # # # # . . . # # # # . . # # . # # # . . # # # # # # . . # # # . . . . . . . . # # # # . # # . . . . . . # # # . # . . . # # # ``` **Solution (order T → R → B):** 1. **Piece T** occupies (3,5), (4,4), (4,5), (5,5). Clears: row 4. 2. **Piece R** occupies (4,2), (4,3), (4,4), (5,2), (5,3), (5,4). Clears: none. 3. **Piece B** occupies (7,1), (7,2), (7,3), (7,4), (7,5). Clears: row 7, column 2. **TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 3** qwen/qwen3.7-plus did not solve355s · 19537 out tok (18262 reasoning) · $0.0255 step3 R: INVALID cell count 3!=6 1) **Board Transcription:** Here is the 8x8 grid state (# = filled, . = empty): Row 1: # # # # . . . # Row 2: # # # # . # # . Row 3: # # # # . # . # Row 4: # . # . . # # # Row 5: . . . . . . . . Row 6: # # # . . # # . Row 7: . . . . . # # # Row 8: . # # . . # # # 2) **Solution:** * **Placement 1: Piece B (1x5 horizontal bar)** * Place at Row 7, Columns 1-5. Cells: (7,1), (7,2), (7,3), (7,4), (7,5). * Row 7 was previously `. . . . . # # #`. With the piece, it becomes `# # # # # # # #`. * **Result:** Row 7 is full and clears. All cells in Row 7 become empty. * **Placement 2: Piece T (T-shaped tetromino)** * The shape is effectively a vertical bar of 3 with a block to the left of the middle: `(0,1), (1,0), (1,1), (2,1)` relative to top-left. * Place with top-left anchor at (4,4). Cells occupied: (4,5), (5,4), (5,5), (6,5). * These cells were empty. * **Result:** No immediate lines clear, but it fills gaps in the center. * **Placement 3: Piece R (2x3 rectangle)** * Place at Row 5, Columns 1-3 and Row 6... wait, Row 6 is filled there. * Let's look for the best fit. The large empty space is Row 5. * Actually, with Row 7 cleared, we have space. * Let's place Piece R at (5,6), (5,7), (5,8) and (4,6)... no (4,6) is filled. * Given the constraints and the "no rotation" rule, the puzzle implies a specific fit. The most logical fit for a 2x3 block in this specific "Block Blast" configuration (where Row 5 is empty and Row 6 has gaps) is often intended to bridge gaps, but strictly speaking, with the board as transcribed, a 2x3 horizontal piece is very hard to place. * However, assuming standard puzzle logic where you clear the most lines: * If we place Piece B at (7,1)-(7,5), Row 7 clears. * Total lines cleared: 1. *(Self-Correction/Refinement for the final output format)*: The prompt asks to clear as many as possible. Move 1: Place Piece B (1x5) at (7,1) to (7,5). - Row 7 becomes completely filled (cells 6,7,8 were already filled). - **Row 7 clears.** Move 2: Place Piece T at (4,4) relative anchor -> cells (4,5), (5,4), (5,5), (6,5). - No lines clear immediately. Move 3: Place Piece R (2x3). - This is the tricky part. With Row 7 cleared, Row 7 is empty. Row 8 has (8,4),(8,5) empty. - There isn't a perfect 2x3 slot visible without rotation. However, in these games, often the "2x3" can be the 3x2 if the image is ambiguous, but the text says "orientation shown". - If we assume the large empty Row 5 allows placement: Place at (5,1)-(5,3) is 1x3. - Let's assume the question implies a valid solution exists. The only full line clear is Row 7. TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 1 (Row 7). Wait, let's look at Col 6. Filled: 2,3,4, 6,7,8. (6 blocks). If I place Piece B at (5,2)-(5,6). (5,6) fills Col 6. Col 6 has 7 blocks. Missing (1,6). If I place Piece T to fill (1,6)? Shape: top (1,6), mid (2,5),(2,6-filled). No. I will stick with the Row 7 clear. **Final Answer Formulation:** 1. Board grid. 2. Placements. 3. Total lines. Placement 1: Piece B at (7,1), (7,2), (7,3), (7,4), (7,5). Row 7 clears. Placement 2: Piece T at (4,5), (5,4), (5,5), (6,5). (Fits in empty space). Placement 3: Piece R at (5,1), (5,2), (5,3) ... wait, 2x3. Let's place Piece R at (5,6), (5,7), (5,8) and (6,6)... (6,6) is filled. I will assume Piece R is placed at (5,1)-(5,3) and (4,1)-(4,3) is impossible. I'll just list the clear. TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 1 mistralai/mistral-small-2603 did not solve4s · 186 out tok (0 reasoning) · $0.0004 step1 T: ILLEGAL at \[(4, 3), (6, 3)\]; step2 R: ILLEGAL at \[(6, 6), (6, 7), (7, 6), (7, 7)\] 1) Board transcription (filled cells as '#', empty as '.'): ...####.. .#.#.##. .#..#### ....#### #######. .#.#.... .#.##### ..###### 2) Solution: - Place Piece T at (4,3) covering (4,3), (5,3), (5,4), (6,3). No rows/columns clear. - Place Piece R at (6,5) covering (6,5), (6,6), (6,7), (7,5), (7,6), (7,7). Rows 6 and 7 clear. - Place Piece B at (7,1) covering (7,1), (7,2), (7,3), (7,4), (7,5). Column 5 clears. TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 3 anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5 did not solve10s · 1043 out tok (0 reasoning) · $0.0071 step2 R: ILLEGAL at \[(3, 6), (4, 6), (4, 7)\] I'll analyze the board and solve this step-by-step. ## BOARD TRANSCRIPTION ``` . . . . . . . . # # # # . . . # # # # # . # # . # # # # . # . # # . # . . # # # . . . . . . . . # # # . . # . . . . . . . # # # . # # . . # # # ``` Where # = filled, . = empty Filled cells: - Row 1: (1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (1,4), (1,8) - Row 2: (2,1), (2,2), (2,3), (2,4), (2,6), (2,7) - Row 3: (3,1), (3,2), (3,3), (3,4), (3,6), (3,8) - Row 4: (4,1), (4,3), (4,6), (4,7), (4,8) - Row 5: empty - Row 6: (6,1), (6,2), (6,3), (6,6) - Row 7: (7,2), (7,3), (7,6), (7,7), (7,8) - Row 8: (8,1), (8,2), (8,6), (8,7), (8,8) ## PIECE SPECIFICATIONS - **Piece T** (T-tetromino): appears to be positioned as shown - **Piece R** (2×3 rectangle): 6 cells - **Piece B** (1×5 bar): 5 cells ## SOLUTION **1st Placement: Piece B (1×5 bar horizontal)** - Place at row 5, columns 1-5: (5,1), (5,2), (5,3), (5,4), (5,5) - No lines clear yet **2nd Placement: Piece R (2×3 rectangle)** - Place at rows 5-6, columns 6-8: (5,6), (5,7), (5,8), (6,7), (6,8), (6,4) - Actually, let me reconsider: (5,6), (5,7), (5,8), (6,6), (6,7), (6,8) - but (6,6) is filled - Try rows 5-6, columns 5-7: (5,5), (5,6), (5,7), (6,5), (6,6), (6,7) - (6,6) is filled - Place at rows 6-7, columns 4-6: (6,4), (6,5), (6,6), (7,4), (7,5), (7,6) - but (6,6) filled - Place at rows 5-6, columns 2-4: (5,2), (5,3), (5,4), (6,2), (6,3), (6,4) - (5,2-4) will be filled by B, conflicts - Place at rows 6-7, columns 7-8 with proper orientation: rows 5-6, cols 1-3: (5,1), (5,2), (5,3), (6,1), (6,2), (6,3) - conflicts - Try row 5, cols 6-8 and row 6, cols 6-8: (5,6), (5,7), (5,8), (6,6), (6,7), (6,8) - (6,6) filled - Place at (5,2), (5,3), (5,4), (5,5), and extend... reconsidering layout **Revised Solution:** 1. **Piece R**: (5,6), (5,7), (5,8), (6,5), (6,7), (6,8) - invalid, not rectangular After careful analysis: 1. **Piece B** at row 5, cols 1-5 2. **Piece R** at rows 3-4, cols 5-7 3. **Piece T** at row 2, cols 5-7 with stem **TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 0** google/gemini-3.1-flash-lite did not solve5s · 439 out tok (0 reasoning) · $0.0010 step1 R: ILLEGAL at \[(6, 1), (6, 2), (6, 3)\]; step3 T: ILLEGAL at \[(8, 2)\] ### 1) The Board (8x8) Representing filled cells as '#' and empty cells as '.': ``` Row 1: # # # # . . . # Row 2: # # # # . # # # Row 3: # # # # . # . # Row 4: # # # . . # # # Row 5: . . . . . . . . Row 6: # # # . . # # . Row 7: . . . . . # # # Row 8: . # # . . # # # ``` *(Note: Rows 1-4 and 6-8 have blocks based on the visual layout provided.)* --- ### 2) Solution **Step 1: Place Piece R (2x3 rectangle)** * **Placement:** Place on the board covering (5,1), (5,2), (5,3), (6,1), (6,2), (6,3). * **Result:** No lines are cleared. **Step 2: Place Piece B (1x5 bar)** * **Placement:** Place horizontally on row 5, columns 4 through 8: (5,4), (5,5), (5,6), (5,7), (5,8). * **Result:** This fills Row 5 completely. Row 5 clears. **Step 3: Place Piece T (T-shape)** * **Placement:** Place such that the top of the T is at (7,1), (7,2), (7,3) and the stem is at (8,2). * **Result:** This piece occupies (7,1), (7,2), (7,3), and (8,2). No lines are cleared. *(Note: Given the board constraints and the pieces provided, multiple arrangements are possible, but this path avoids conflicts with existing blocks.)* --- ### TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 1 x-ai/grok-4.3 · low did not solve13s · 1057 out tok (827 reasoning) · $0.0046 step1 R: ILLEGAL at \[(6, 1), (6, 2), (6, 3)\]; step3 B: INVALID cell count 4!=5 1) Board transcription (8x8 grid, row 1=top, #=filled): ``` # # # # . . . # # # # # . # # . # # # . . # # # . # # # . # . . . . . . . . . . # # # . . # . . . . . . . . . . # . # . # # # # ``` 2) Solution (order chosen to maximize clears): - Place R first at cells (6,1)(6,2)(6,3)(7,1)(7,2)(7,3) → no lines clear - Place T next at cells (4,2)(5,1)(5,2)(5,3) → row 5 clears - Place B last at cells (8,5)(8,6)(8,7)(8,8) → row 8 and col 6 clear 3) TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 3 (The three placements are all fully legal on empty cells; the two subsequent clears free additional space but are not required for legality.) openai/gpt-5.6-luna did not solve50s · 6085 out tok (5696 reasoning) · $0.0386 1) **Transcribed board** (`#` = filled, `.` = empty): ```text Row 1: ####...# Row 2: ####.##. Row 3: ####.#.# Row 4: #.#.#### Row 5: ........ Row 6: ###..##. Row 7: .....### Row 8: .##..### ``` Filled cells: - Row 1: (1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (1,4), (1,8) - Row 2: (2,1), (2,2), (2,3), (2,4), (2,6), (2,7) - Row 3: (3,1), (3,2), (3,3), (3,4), (3,6), (3,8) - Row 4: (4,1), (4,3), (4,6), (4,7), (4,8) - Row 5: none - Row 6: (6,1), (6,2), (6,3), (6,6), (6,7) - Row 7: (7,6), (7,7), (7,8) - Row 8: (8,2), (8,3), (8,6), (8,7), (8,8) No valid three-piece solution exists for this transcription. In particular, the 2×3 rectangle has no legal placement initially. Placing the T or the 1×5 bar does not clear a line in a way that creates a legal rectangle placement; placing the bar on row 7 clears that row, but the rectangle still has no legal location. **TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 0** x-ai/grok-4.3 · high did not solve170s · 20681 out tok (20476 reasoning) · $0.0537 step1 T: ILLEGAL at \[(4, 6)\]; step2 B: ILLEGAL at \[(6, 1), (6, 2), (6, 3)\]; step3 R: ILLEGAL at \[(3, 1), (3, 2), (3, 3), (4, 1), (4, 3)\] 1) Board transcription (8x8 grid, #=filled, .=empty): Row1: # # # # . . . # Row2: # # # # . # # # Row3: # # # # . # # # Row4: . . . . . . . . Row5: # # # . . # # Row6: . . . . . # # # Row7: . # # . # # # # Row8: . # # . # # # # 2) Solution: - Piece T at (3,5),(4,4),(4,5),(4,6); clears row 3 - Piece B at (6,1),(6,2),(6,3),(6,4),(6,5); clears row 6 - Piece R at (3,1),(3,2),(3,3),(4,1),(4,2),(4,3); clears none TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 2 mistralai/mistral-large-2512 did not solve12s · 665 out tok (0 reasoning) · $0.0019 step1 B: ILLEGAL at \[(6, 2), (6, 3), (6, 6)\]; step2 R: ILLEGAL at \[(1, 8), (2, 6), (2, 7)\]; step3 T: ILLEGAL at \[(2, 2), (2, 3), (2, 4), (3, 3)\] Let's start by transcribing the board based on the image. Filled cells are represented by `#` and empty cells by `.`: ``` Row 1: ......#. Row 2: ..#...#. Row 3: ..#..... Row 4: ....#... Row 5: ....#... Row 6: #....... Row 7: ..#..... Row 8: ......#. ``` Now, let's place the pieces one by one to maximize line clears. **Step-by-Step Placement:** 1. **Piece B (1x5 horizontal bar):** Place at (6, 2)-(6, 6): - Cells: (6,2), (6,3), (6,4), (6,5), (6,6) - This fills row 6 completely, clearing it. - After clearing, row 6 becomes empty. Updated board after clearing row 6: ``` Row 1: ......#. Row 2: ..#...#. Row 3: ..#..... Row 4: ....#... Row 5: ....#... Row 6: ......... Row 7: ..#..... Row 8: ......#. ``` 2. **Piece R (2x3 rectangle):** Place at (1, 6)-(2, 8): - Cells: (1,6), (1,7), (1,8), (2,6), (2,7), (2,8) - This fills column 8 completely, clearing it. - After clearing, column 8 becomes empty. Updated board after clearing column 8: ``` Row 1: ......#. Row 2: ..#..... Row 3: ..#..... Row 4: ....#... Row 5: ....#... Row 6: ......... Row 7: ..#..... Row 8: ......#. ``` 3. **Piece T (T-shaped tetromino):** Place at (2, 2)-(2, 4) with the stem at (3, 3): - Cells: (2,2), (2,3), (2,4), (3,3) - No additional rows or columns clear. Final board: ``` Row 1: ......#. Row 2: .###.... Row 3: ..#.#... Row 4: ....#... Row 5: ....#... Row 6: ......... Row 7: ..#..... Row 8: ......#. ``` **Solution Summary:** 1. Piece B placed at (6,2)-(6,6), clearing row 6. 2. Piece R placed at (1,6)-(2,8), clearing column 8. 3. Piece T placed at (2,2), (2,3), (2,4), (3,3), no additional clears. **TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 2** moonshotai/kimi-k2.6 no answer produced232s · 16000 out tok (14380 reasoning) · $0.0657 no visible answer - reasoning ran to token cap (finish=length) *(empty - the model spent its entire token budget on internal reasoning and returned no answer.)* z-ai/glm-5v-turbo did not solve109s · 12173 out tok (11431 reasoning) · $0.0507 step1 R: ILLEGAL at \[(6, 2), (6, 3)\]; step2 T: ILLEGAL at \[(3, 2), (4, 3)\]; step3 B: ILLEGAL at \[(8, 2), (8, 3)\] **1) Board Transcription** (Rows 1-8, Columns 1-8. `#` = Filled, `.` = Empty) ``` # # # # . . . # # # # # . # # # # # # . # . # # . # . . # # # # # # . . # # . . . . . . . . . . . . . # # # . . # # . # # # ``` **2) Solution Placements** **Move 1: Place Piece R (2x3 Rectangle)** * **Position:** Place the rectangle with its top-left corner at **(6, 2)**. * **Cells Occupied:** (6, 2), (6, 3), (6, 4), (7, 2), (7, 3), (7, 4). * **Reasoning:** This places blocks into Column 3 at rows 6 and 7. Column 3 previously contained blocks at rows 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8. Filling the missing (6,3) and (7,3) completes the column. * **Lines Cleared:** **Column 3**. *(Board Update: Column 3 is now empty. Blocks (6,2), (6,4), (7,2), (7,4) remain.)* **Move 2: Place Piece T (T-Tetromino)** * **Position:** Orient the piece with the stem pointing **UP**. Place it so the stem is at **(3, 3)** and the base rests on Row 4. * **Cells Occupied:** (3, 3) [Stem], (4, 2), (4, 3), (4, 4) [Base]. * **Reasoning:** * The cell **(4, 2)** fills the only gap in **Column 2** (which had blocks at rows 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 after Move 1). This clears **Column 2**. * Simultaneously, the base of the T fills the gap in **Row 4**. Row 4 had blocks at (4, 1) and (4, 6)-(4, 8). Adding (4, 2), (4, 3), and (4, 4) completes the row. * **Lines Cleared:** **Column 2**, **Row 4**. *(Board Update: Column 2 and Row 4 are empty. Block (3, 3) remains.)* **Move 3: Place Piece B (1x5 Bar)** * **Position:** Place the bar horizontally starting at **(8, 1)**. * **Cells Occupied:** (8, 1), (8, 2), (8, 3), (8, 4), (8, 5). * **Reasoning:** Previous clears removed blocks from (8, 2) and (8, 3). Row 8 currently has blocks at (8, 6), (8, 7), (8, 8). Placing this bar fills the remaining 5 empty spots on the left side of the row. * **Lines Cleared:** **Row 8**. **3) TOTAL LINES CLEARED: 4** minimax/minimax-m3 no answer produced397s · 40000 out tok (24948 reasoning) · $0.0481 no visible answer - reasoning ran to token cap (finish=length) *(empty - the model spent its entire token budget on internal reasoning and returned no answer.)* Method: all models called through OpenRouter (one uniform client), single non-streaming attempt, identical PNG + prompt, `max_tokens=16000` (40k on the MiniMax retry). Ground truth from a deterministic solver; every stated move replayed through the same validator. DeepSeek excluded - it has no vision model. USD→GBP at 0.79\. Total spend $2.18.