Monthly Archives: December 2014

The Travelling Santa Problem

Why is the annual Father Christmas world tour ‘NP-Complete’?  What is ‘NP-Complete’ anyway?  In fact, what’s ‘NP’ even?  And why can only Santa do it?  And what’s a ‘Decision Elf’?  And just how awesome is Rudolph’s nose?  What’s ‘Inspirational Magic’?  This and so much more you didn’t know about the annual Christmas Eve ritual …

We all know the problem well enough …  Father Christmas has to travel around the world, visiting all the good girls and boys, in a single night, and return to where he started at the North Pole. Sounds like a tall order!  Can it be done?

Santa

Continue reading