It turns out we are able to clear Diamonds (this is an exercise for the reader). Note that only one Ace is currently exposed and this gives us some decent flexibility. Perhaps my strategy of refusing to complete a suit for fear of exposing three new Aces has paid off. We can then clear Spades. With three empty columns and two suits cleared, things are looking up!
And the lucky last card is a …
drumroll … drldrldrldrldrldrldrldrldrldrldr …
Ten of Diamonds!!!!!!
Winning this game is left as an exercise for the reader 😊
In summary: this game started well and if we were to assume random shuffling, then I would estimate our chances of winning are heavy odds-on. But given this was a “master” level hand (the middle-level difficulty of Four Suit spider), I anticipated there would be difficulties in the middlegame and I was “not disappointed”. But I got through in the end. I hope you enjoyed this game as much as I did.
Ninja Monkey did not enjoy this game however. The poor thing only managed to win 1 game in 50 even with its improved random move algorithm.
Edifying Thoughts of a Spider Solitaire Addict 