Clicksy

The two hares that Bevvy had helped came hopping over to Clicksy the very next day. They had a new question.

"Bevvy showed us how hard each board is," said the first hare. "My board needed at least forty clicks. My friend's needed at least fifty-five. But we still want to know: which of us played better?"

Clicksy chirped with delight. "That's my favourite question! And now that you have Bevvy's number, it's easy."

He flipped his notepad to a clean page. "First, how many clicks did you each actually use?"

"Forty," said the first hare.

"Sixty," said the second.

"Now," said Clicksy, "take the board's fewest clicks and divide it by the clicks you used. That's your efficiency. It tells you how close you came to perfect, on your own board."

He scratched out the sums with his leg. "First hare: the board needed forty, and you used forty. Forty divided by forty is one. That's a perfect score: every single click did real work."

The first hare beamed.

"Second hare: your board needed fifty-five, and you used sixty. Fifty-five divided by sixty is a little less than one. Very close! Only a few of your clicks were wasted."

The second hare's ears perked up. "Only a few? I thought I did way worse!"

"You did great," chirped Clicksy. "See how this works? Efficiency is fair on any board. A big hard board and a small easy board can be compared, because each one is measured against its own fewest clicks. It doesn't matter that your board was harder. You're only being measured against what your board needed."

"What counts as a wasted click?" asked the first hare.

Clicksy's antennae twitched. "Clicking a square that was already going to open for free. Flagging a mine you didn't need to flag. Opening a square that a single chord could have opened with its neighbours. Every click that didn't move you closer to clearing the board." He tapped his notepad. "Your score can even go above one, if you use a clever move called a chord that opens many squares at once. But that's Chordy's story."