The initial configuration of the puzzle above places the numbers in increasing order from left to right. Every configuration gets a score. For the initial configuration, the number one block touches 2 squares on its left and 1 square on its right, giving it a score of 1(2 + 1) = 3. The number two block touches 4 squares of its neighboring blocks so its score is 2(4) = 8: Continuing this for every number and summing up every block's score, we get the following as the total score for the configuration:
Challenge: What arrangement produces the largest possible score? the smallest?