> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://ondrej-kvasnovsky-2.gitbook.io/algorithms/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://ondrej-kvasnovsky-2.gitbook.io/algorithms/data-structures/trie/word-squares.md).

# Word Squares

Given a set of words**(without duplicates)**, find all[word squares](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_square)you can build from them.

A sequence of words forms a valid word square if thekthrow and column read the exact same string, where 0 ≤k< max(numRows, numColumns).

For example, the word sequence`["ball","area","lead","lady"]`forms a word square because each word reads the same both horizontally and vertically.

```
b a l l
a r e a
l e a d
l a d y
```

**Note:**

1. There are at least 1 and at most 1000 words.
2. All words will have the exact same length.
3. Word length is at least 1 and at most 5.
4. Each word contains only lowercase English alphabet`a-z`.

**Example 1:**

```
Input:
["area","lead","wall","lady","ball"]

Output:
[
  [ "wall",
    "area",
    "lead",
    "lady"
  ],
  [ "ball",
    "area",
    "lead",
    "lady"
  ]
]

Explanation:
The output consists of two word squares. The order of output does not matter (just the order of words in each word square matters).
```

**Example 2:**

```
Input:
["abat","baba","atan","atal"]

Output:
[
  [ "baba",
    "abat",
    "baba",
    "atan"
  ],
  [ "baba",
    "abat",
    "baba",
    "atal"
  ]
]

Explanation:
The output consists of two word squares. The order of output does not matter (just the order of words in each word square matters).
```

## Solution

A good approach is to check the validity of the word square while we build it. Example:`["area","lead","wall","lady","ball"]`\
We know that the sequence contains 4 words because the length of each word is 4. Every word can be the first word of the sequence, let's take`"wall"`for example. Which word could be the second word? Must be a word start with`"a"`(therefore`"area"`), because it has to match the second letter of word`"wall"`. Which word could be the third word? Must be a word start with`"le"`(therefore`"lead"`), because it has to match the third letter of word`"wall"`and the third letter of word`"area"`.\
What about the last word? Must be a word start with`"lad"`(therefore`"lady"`). For the same reason above.

The picture below shows how the prefix are matched while building the sequence.

![0\_1476809138708\_wordsquare.png](https://leetcode.com/uploads/files/1476809120456-wordsquare.png)

In order for this to work, we need to fast retrieve all the words with a given**prefix**. There could be 2 ways doing this:

1. Using a hashtable, key is **prefix**, value is a list of words with that prefix.
2. Trie, we store a list of words with the **prefix** on each trie node.

The implemented below uses Trie.

```
public class Solution {
    class TrieNode {
        List<String> startWith;
        TrieNode[] children;

        TrieNode() {
            startWith = new ArrayList<>();
            children = new TrieNode[26];
        }
    }

    class Trie {
        TrieNode root;

        Trie(String[] words) {
            root = new TrieNode();
            for (String w : words) {
                TrieNode cur = root;
                for (char ch : w.toCharArray()) {
                    int idx = ch - 'a';
                    if (cur.children[idx] == null)
                        cur.children[idx] = new TrieNode();
                    cur.children[idx].startWith.add(w);
                    cur = cur.children[idx];
                }
            }
        }

        List<String> findByPrefix(String prefix) {
            List<String> ans = new ArrayList<>();
            TrieNode cur = root;
            for (char ch : prefix.toCharArray()) {
                int idx = ch - 'a';
                if (cur.children[idx] == null)
                    return ans;

                cur = cur.children[idx];
            }
            ans.addAll(cur.startWith);
            return ans;
        }
    }

    public List<List<String>> wordSquares(String[] words) {
        List<List<String>> ans = new ArrayList<>();
        if (words == null || words.length == 0)
            return ans;
        int len = words[0].length();
        Trie trie = new Trie(words);
        List<String> ansBuilder = new ArrayList<>();
        for (String w : words) {
            ansBuilder.add(w);
            search(len, trie, ans, ansBuilder);
            ansBuilder.remove(ansBuilder.size() - 1);
        }

        return ans;
    }

    private void search(int len, Trie tr, List<List<String>> ans,
            List<String> ansBuilder) {
        if (ansBuilder.size() == len) {
            ans.add(new ArrayList<>(ansBuilder));
            return;
        }

        int idx = ansBuilder.size();
        StringBuilder prefixBuilder = new StringBuilder();
        for (String s : ansBuilder)
            prefixBuilder.append(s.charAt(idx));
        List<String> startWith = tr.findByPrefix(prefixBuilder.toString());
        for (String sw : startWith) {
            ansBuilder.add(sw);
            search(len, tr, ans, ansBuilder);
            ansBuilder.remove(ansBuilder.size() - 1);
        }
    }
}
```


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