Seven Alleys, deal #12

About this deal

This is one of the harder deals of Seven Alleys: only 31% of the quick simulated games won it, and the solver had to search for a while before finding the way.

The seven alleys show 4 of Cups, 3 of Batons, 2 of Batons, Ace of Coins, 2 of Cups, Re of Cups and 2 of Coins on top; 21 cards start face down below them and 12 wait in the stock.

One Ace is free at once and can go straight home.

The deepest Ace, the Ace of Swords, is covered by 6 cards in column 7.

One Re can be seen from the start – a ready base for an empty alley.

No two cards are in building order yet.

The solver's winning line has 53 moves.

Deal facts

Difficulty

Hard

Solver's winning line

53 moves, 12 of them stock turns

Quick simulated games won

62 of 200 (31%)

Cards in the layout

28

Face-down cards

21

Cards in the stock

12

Aces visible at the start

1

Cards already in order

0

Where the Aces are

• Ace of Coins: column 4, free at the start
• Ace of Cups: column 7, 2 cards on top
• Ace of Batons: column 5, 4 cards on top
• Ace of Swords: column 7, 6 cards on top

How to approach it

• Uncover the face-down cards in the longest alleys first; that is where the buried Aces wait.
• Keep an alley clearable for a Re – it turns the longest column into a run you can move as a whole.
• This is a hard deal: use undo to test an idea, and the hint button if you are completely stuck.

A winning start

These are the first moves of the solver's winning line. Open them only if you want a nudge.