matt w wrote:
Isn't there an Infocom title with a puzzle that's randomized, which prevents undo and has a famously fiendish way of making sure you don't try to brute-force the solution? But I don't remember what it is (and don't tell me how it works!).
Oh, yes. If it's the one I'm thinking about, it's a puzzle in Spellbreaker which is really one of those guess-the-odd-one-out-by-their-weight-with-only-X-weighs puzzles (I've always hated them). I will spare you the details, as you asked, but save/restore/undo and brute-forcing will only ensure you never complete the game.
There's also Avon. Lot's of instances with randomized puzzles - and if you save the game AFTER you receive a clue and BEFORE actually using the clue to solve the puzzle, the game becomes unwinnable. Very nasty, that, especially since in at least one puzzle it's not at all clear that you were just GIVEN a clue.