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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FUN.2026.13

The Berlin Safe House Puzzle: Spycraft via Interval Graphs

Authors: Gennaro Cordasco, Luisa Gargano, and Adele Anna Rescigno

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 366, 13th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN 2026)

Abstract

We propose a gamified application of the {Identifying Code} problem on {Interval Graphs}, framed as a high-stakes Cold War counter-intelligence operation. We present a polynomial-time algorithm to assign "Listening Devices" (bugs) to "Safe Houses" (intervals) so that every safe house is uniquely identifiable by its bug signature. While the problem is NP-hard on several graph classes, including chordal and bipartite graphs, the interval-graph structure allows us to compute a 2-approximate solution efficiently.

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Gennaro Cordasco, Luisa Gargano, and Adele Anna Rescigno. The Berlin Safe House Puzzle: Spycraft via Interval Graphs. In 13th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 366, pp. 13:1-13:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{cordasco_et_al:LIPIcs.FUN.2026.13,
  author =	{Cordasco, Gennaro and Gargano, Luisa and Rescigno, Adele Anna},
  title =	{{The Berlin Safe House Puzzle: Spycraft via Interval Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{13th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN 2026)},
  pages =	{13:1--13:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-417-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{366},
  editor =	{Iacono, John},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FUN.2026.13},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-257325},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FUN.2026.13},
  annote =	{Keywords: Interval Graphs, Watching-System, Approximate Algorithms}
}

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The Berlin Safe House Puzzle: Spycraft via Interval Graphs

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