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Practice Zuma Game

Read the task, work through the examples, and check your approach against the constraints. Use the original LeetCode task for coding and submissions.

Hard#488
LeetCode Problem

Zuma Game

StringDynamic ProgrammingStackBreadth-First SearchMemoization

Problem Statement

The string board is a row of balls colored R, Y, B, G, or W, and hand contains the balls available to insert. On each turn, take one ball from hand and insert it anywhere in the row, including either end. Remove any consecutive group of at least three balls of the same color. If a removal forms another such group, keep removing groups until none remain. The goal is to empty the board. Return the fewest insertions needed using the available hand, or -1 if it is impossible.

Source: Zuma Game on LeetCode. Use the original task for its coding environment and submissions.

Examples

# Example 1

Input
board = "WRRBBW", hand = "RB"
Output
-1

# Example 2

Input
board = "WWRRBBWW", hand = "WRBRW"
Output
2

# Example 3

Input
board = "G", hand = "GGGGG"
Output
2

Constraints

1 <= board.length <= 16
1 <= hand.length <= 5
board and hand consist of the characters 'R', 'Y', 'B', 'G', and 'W'.
The initial row of balls on the board will not have any groups of three or more consecutive balls of the same color.

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