"Write a Logo one-liner using 15 or fewer words, not counting square brackets and parentheses, to produce the most beautiful, complex, and interesting picture."

The one-line codes work as written in MSWLogo and UCBLogo. MicroWorlds sometimes requires slightly different code, as noted below in the Winners' section, and cannot run code using the command "px" (which reverses the color).

Click here for information on downloading free versions of Logo.

The Grand Prize (the Golden Turtle)


Five Rose or Starfish, by , Italy (and , Australia) - only 8 words!!

Please see the project details for the project background, extra code, and more graphics.

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The "Pure Logo" Prize

Dahlia, by , U.S. (14 words)

repeat 8 [rt 45 repeat 6 [repeat 90 [fd 2 rt 2] rt 90]]

The 6 can be replaced with 1 to 7 for other flowers.
For numbers greater than 7, the patterns repeat.
This will work without modification in absolutely all Logo implementations.

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The "Complexity" Prize

Layers, by Alessio Plebe, Italy (15 words)

for [i 0 420] [seth :i repeat :i [fd 2 rt 1] pu home pd]
dotimes [i 420] [seth :i repeat :i [fd 2 rt 1] pu home pd] (MicroWorlds)

This is slow, but it has very beautiful and complex moire patterns. If your screen is small, let it wrap. The moire effect isn't as strong if you try to shrink it.

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The "Classic Math" Prize

Lissajous variations, by Samuel Kilchenmann, Switzerland (15 words)

repeat 360 [setxy (sin(2 * repcount)) * 150 (sin(3 * repcount)) * 150]
repeat 360 [setxy (sin(89 * repcount)) * 150 (sin(179 * repcount)) * 150]
repeat 360 [setxy (sin(254 * repcount)) * 150 (sin(201 * repcount)) * 150]
repeat 360 [setxy (sin(327 * repcount)) * 150 (sin(66 * repcount)) * 150]

dotimes [i 360] [setpos list (sin(254 * :i)) * 150 (sin(201 * :i)) * 150] (MicroWorlds)

Change the factors to get lots of different designs.

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The "Random" Prize

Pencil Sketch, by Andrzej Baczynski (shortened by Yehuda Katz), 15 words

repeat 5000 [run list item sum 1 random 4 [fd bk rt lt] random 10]

This looks remarkably like a person is sketching with a pencil. It looks even more like a pencil sketch if you use PENREVERSE (PX) mode.

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The "Polygon" Prize

Penta-octagon, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (15 words)

for [l 10 80 5] [repeat 5 [repeat 8 [fd :l rt 45] rt 72]
dotimes [i 15] [repeat 5 [repeat 8 [fd (10 + (:i * 5)) rt 45] rt 72] (MicroWorlds)

Beautiful "telescoping" polygons. Change the numbers to get more designs.
(See the "octa-octagon" below.)

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The "Animation" Prize

Circus (Ring variation 2), by Olga Tuzova, Russia (14 words)

[The object above spins around and around. This screenshot shows one instant of the animation.]

px setpensize [100 100] repeat 1000 [repeat 72 [fd 20 rt 10] rt 90]

This requires PENREVERSE (PX) and a big pen.
This cheerful entry reminds me of circus jugglers and clowns doing cartwheels.

other ring variations

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The "Subtle Effects" Prize

Radar, by Zippi Katz, Israel (11 words)

px repeat 1000000 [fd 40 fd 40 bk 80 rt 1]

This requires PENREVERSE (PX).
It looks like a weather radar. [It is in constant motion.]
The really interesting part is that the effect is entirely destroyed
if you replace "fd 40 fd 40" by "fd 80".

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The "Surprise" Prize

Square Spiral, by Yehuda Katz, Israel (9 words)

px for [x 1 1000000] [fd :x rt 90]

This requires PENREVERSE (PX).

It seems simple, but it has a suprising effect, based on WRAP mode and PX mode. The effect will depend on your screen size. The effect is strikingly bold with a square screen and more complex with a non-square screen. In MSW Logo, you can set the screen size.

Example: c:\\logo\\logo -h 480 -w 640

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Index of Other Contest Entries

slalom scrolls	rose variations	low	growing
hairy star	lissajous	sun	Don Quixote
jaggy star	times	hexagon variations	ellipse
bullring	shell	pentahexagons	polygon variations
random lines	hypercube	pentagon	rotating circle
square spiral variations	scribble	moire	disappearing triangles
sine wave	fan flower	fireworks	smiling fish
radar variations	current	peltonwheel	bird's wings
brownian motion	elliptical spiral	spirals	butterfly
feathers	tree growth rings	gilly flower	fish
spiral	cloudy night	growing scrolls	block
ring variations	simple flower	mountains	octastar spiral
cubism	clock	head	pentastar spiral
Milky Way	self-replicating	eye	designs
inky dots	spinning wheels

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Note: The first four "entries" shown here were among some samples provided by Keith Enevoldsen in announcing the Logo 15-word challenge.

Slalom Scrolls

for [i 0 2000] [fd 5 rt (90 * sin :i)]

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Hairy Star

for [i 0 4700] [fd 10 rt (180 * sin (:i * :i))]

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Jaggy Star

for [i 0 2200] [fd (25 * sin :i) rt (:i * :i)]

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Bullring

for [i 0 1002] [fd 8 seth (360 * (power :i 3) / 1002)]

REFERENCES
"Another Fine Math You've Got Me Into..." by Ian Stewart contains an interesting chapter about curves like these. The "bullring" is from Ian Stewart's book.

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Random Lines, by , U.S. (9 words)

repeat random 1000 [fd random 1000 rt random 360]

(This usually produces Jackson Pollacks, but there is a chance that it will produce a Michelangelo.) Depending on what random numbers the computer chooses, you may get something like one of the three images above.

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Square Spiral variation 1, by Keith Enevoldsen, U.S. (9 words)
saved in early stage

px for[x 1 1000000] [fd :x rt 89.99]

Square Spiral variation 2, by Bill Kerr, Australia (14 words or 8 words)

make "x 1 repeat 150 [fd :x rt 89 make "x :x + 1]
for [x 1 150] [fd :x rt 89]

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Sine Wave, by Shachar Katz, Israel (15 words)

sety 1000 home setx 1000 for [x -180 180] [setxy :x 70 * sin :x]

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Radar variation 1, by Bill Kerr, Australia (12 words)

repeat 3600 [px fd 80 fd 0 bk 80 lt random 360]

Radar variation 2, by Keith Enevoldsen, U.S. (7 words)

px repeat 10000 [fd 200 rt 179]

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Brownian Motion, by Erez Katz, Israel (14 words)

repeat 10000 [fd 3 * (-1 + random 2) rt 90 * random 4]

(Maybe it should be named urban sprawl.)

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Feathers, by , U.S. (13 words)

repeat 12 [repeat random 50 [fd 100 bk 95 rt 2] rt 180]

Feathers variation 1, by Keith Enevoldsen, U.S. (13 words)

repeat 50 [repeat random 100 [fd 300 bk 295 rt 2] rt 180]

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Spiral, by Olga Tuzova, Russia (11 words)

reset for [i 0.01 4 0.05] [repeat 180 [fd :i rt 1]]

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Ring, by Olga Tuzova, Russia (10 words)

px setpensize [20 20] repeat 100000 [fd 2 rt 2]

(Looks like a caterpillar in motion.)

Ring variation 1, by Keith Enevoldsen, U.S. (10 words)

px setpensize [200 200] repeat 36 [fd 20 rt 10]

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Cubism (Ring variation 3), by Yehuda Katz, Israel (15 words)

px for [x 10 200] [setpensize se :x :x repeat 36 [fd 20 rt 15]]

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Milky Way, by Olga Tuzova, Russia (15 words)

setsc [0 0 0] px setpensize [10 10] repeat 100000 [fd 10 rt random 360]

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Inky Dots, by Olga Tuzova, Russia (14 words)

setpensize [10 10] repeat 10000 [pu fd 15 pd fd 0 rt random 360]

Inky Dots variation 1, by Yehuda Katz, Israel (15 words)

px setpensize [10 10] repeat 10000 [pu fd 15 pd fd 0 rt random 360]

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Rose, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (shortened by Yehuda Katz, Israel, 13 words)

for [t 0 180 3] [seth :t fd 200 * sin :t home]

Rose variation 1, by Keith Enevoldsen, U.S. (14 words)

for [t 0 180] [seth :t fd 200 * sin :t*7 home]

Rose variation 2, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (13 words)

repeat 9 [for [i 10 200 10] [fd :i bk :i rt 2]]

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Lissajous, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (15 words)

for [t 0 360] [setxy 200 * sin :t 200 * cos :t * 5]

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Times, by Yehuda Katz, Israel (14 words)

for [i 1 10] [repeat 10 [type form repcount * :i 4 0] pr[]]

(This one uses the text screen.)

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Shell, by Vered Katz, Israel (14 words)

for [scr .2 1.75 .05] [setscrunch 1 :scr repeat 360 [fd :scr rt 1]]

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Hypercube, by Frank Caggiano, U.S. (12 words)

repeat 8 [repeat 4 [rt 90 fd 100] bk 100 lt 45]

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Scribble, by Keith Enevoldsen, U.S. (15 words)

repeat 1000 [fd 3 rt random int 20 * (1 + sin (10 * repcount))]

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Fan Flower, by Keith Enevoldsen, U.S. (12 words)

repeat 12 [repeat 75 [fd 100 bk 100 rt 2] fd 250]

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Current, by George Mills, U.S. (10 words)

repeat 5100 [fd 10 rt arctan (remainder repcount 100) / 100]

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Elliptical Spiral, by George Mills, U.S. (15 words)

reset repeat 3600 [setxy repcount / 10 * sin repcount repcount/20 * cos repcount]

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Tree Growth Rings, by George Mills, U.S. (13 words)

repeat 36000 [setxy (sqrt repcount) * sin repcount (sqrt repcount) * cos repcount]

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Cloudy Night, by George Mills, U.S. (8 words)

repeat 6000 [fd repcount rt remainder repcount 360]

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Simple Flower, by , Australia (13 words)

repeat 11 [for [i 0 359] [fd 1 rt (sin :i / 2)]]

(Why does the line match up exactly after drawing 11 petals?)

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Seconds, by Zippi Katz, Israel (15 words)

px st setpensize [5 5] repeat 1000 [fd 100 wait 40 bk 100 rt 6]

(Clever use of the triangular turtle. The second hand continually moves as it is drawn, erased, and repositioned.)

Face, by Yehuda Katz, Israel (15 words)

pu rt 30 repeat 12 [fd 110 pd label repcount pu bk 110 rt 30]

(Try this: first run Face, then, without clearing the screen, run Seconds.)

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Self-Replicating, by Brian Harvey, U.S. (13 words)

invoke [[x] print (list "invoke :x :x)] [[x] print (list "invoke :x :x)]

(This non-graphics one-liner prints itself.)

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Basic Spinning Wheel variations 1-3, by Greg Simkins' 6th grade class, U.S. (15 words)

define "spin [[ ][repeat 15 [fd 100 bk 100 rt 5]]] repeat 25 [spin fd 100]
define "spin [[ ][repeat 15 [fd 100 bk 95 rt 10]]] repeat 12 [spin fd 100]
pu setpos [-400 0] pd
define "spin [[ ][repeat 25 [fd 100 bk 100 rt 15]]] repeat 24 [spin fd 100]

Basic Spinning Wheel variations 1-3, shortened by Yehuda Katz, Israel (12 words)

repeat 25 [repeat 15 [fd 100 bk 100 rt 5] fd 100]
repeat 12 [repeat 15 [fd 100 bk 95 rt 10] fd 100]
pu setpos [-400 0] pd
repeat 24 [repeat 25 [fd 100 bk 100 rt 15] fd 100]

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Low, by Alessio Plebe, Italy (15 words)

pu setx -100 pd
for [i 0 32] [repeat :i [fd :i rt 358 / :i] bk sqrt :i]

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Sun, by Alessio Plebe, Italy (13 words)

repeat 2000 [pu home seth random 361 fd 40 pd fd random 200]

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Hexagon, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (15 words)

for [i 100 30 -50] [repeat 6 [repeat 6 [fd :i lt 60] lt 60]]

(Quasi-fractal.)

Hexagon variation 1, by Yehuda Katz, Israel (15 words)

for [size 20 80 20] [repeat 6 [repeat 6 [fd :size rt 60] rt 60]]

Hexagon variation 2, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (15 words)

for [i 100 10 -5] [repeat 6 [repeat 6 [fd :i lt 60] lt 60]]

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Pentahexagon, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (shortened by Keith Enevoldsen, U.S.) (10 words)

repeat 5 [repeat 6 [fd 100 lt 72] lt 144]

Pentahexagon variation 1, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (15 words)

for [i 100 10 -5] [repeat 5 [repeat 6 [fd :i lt 72] lt 144]]

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Pentagon, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (15 words)

for [i 100 10 -10] [repeat 5 [repeat 5 [fd :i lt 72] lt 72]]

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Moire, by Yehuda Katz, Israel (9 words)

window repeat 180 [fd 500 bk 500 rt 2]

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Fireworks, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (14 words)

for [i 0 220 0.0001*sin :i] [fd :i bk :i rt 10]

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Peltonwheel, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (14 words)

for [i 0 220 sin :i/1000] [fd :i bk :i rt 51]

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Spirals, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (14 words)

for [i 0 220 sin :i/1000] [fd :i bk :i rt 41]

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Gillyflower, by Alessio Plebe, Italy (15 words)

repeat 450 [make "a 73 * sin repcount fd :a rt 88 * cos :a]

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Growing Scrolls variation 1, by Keith Enevoldsen, U.S. (12 words)

for [i -1 4] [repeat 720 [fd power 2 :i rt repcount]]

Growing Scrolls variation 2, by Keith Enevoldsen, U.S. (14 words)

for [i -1 15] [repeat 720 [fd power 1.2 :i rt repcount] lt 45]

Growing Scrolls variation 3, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (11 words)

for [i 1 14 6] [repeat 720 [fd :i rt repcount]]

Growing Scrolls variation 4, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (13 words)

for [i 1 18 2] [repeat 720 [fd :i rt repcount] lt 45]

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Mountains, by Keith Enevoldsen, U.S. (12 words)

repeat 2000 [setxy (repcount * 2) (ycor - 2 + random 5)]

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Head, by Keith Enevoldsen, U.S. (15 words)

repeat 38 [fd 5 rt 10] setx 55 setx 27 setxy 20 -10 setx 27
repeat 38 [fd 5 rt 10] setx 55 setx 27 setpos [20 -10] setx 27 (MicroWorlds)

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Eye, by , Italy (12 words)

repeat 1800 [fd ln repcount bk 10*sin repcount rt 10]

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Growing, by , Italy (13 words)

repeat 360 [repeat repcount [repeat repcount [fd repcount lt 15] home] lt 1]

(You may want to stop it before it is done.)

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Don Quixote, by , Italy (14 words)

px repeat 360 [repeat repcount [repeat repcount [fd repcount lt 15] home] lt 1]

(Read the book.)

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Ellipse, by , Italy (14 words)

repeat 360 [rt repcount fd 1 lt repcount * 2 fd 0.5 rt repcount]

(The eccentricity is e=0.5. If e=0, you have a circle and if e < 0 or e > 0 you have an ellipse, horizontal or vertical.
See Abelson-Di Sessa: "Turtle geometry".)

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Polygon variations 1-3, by , Italy (14 words)

repeat 4 [repeat 30 [lt 90 fd 4 rt 90 fd 4] rt 90]

repeat 4 [repeat 20 [lt 160 fd 20 rt 160 fd 20] rt 90]

repeat 8 [repeat 20 [lt 170 fd 20 rt 170 fd 20] rt 45]

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Rotating Circle, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (11 words)

px repeat 4000 [repeat 34 [fd 12 rt 10] rt 90]

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Disappearing Triangles, by Olga Tuzova, Russia (14 words)

px repeat 360 [setx 200 * (cos repcount) sety xcor * (cos repcount) home]

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Smiling Fish, by Yehuda Katz, Israel (15 words)

pu setx -157 pd
for [t -315 315] [setxy :t * sin :t :t * cos 2 * :t]

(It looks better like this:
for [t -315 315] [setxy :t * sin :t .5 * :t * cos 2 * :t]
as pictured above, but then it is too many words.)

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Bird's Wings, by Olga Tuzova, Russia (15 words)

repeat 360 [setx 200 * (sin repcount) sety xcor * (cos 2 * repcount) home]

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Butterfly, by Olga Tuzova, Russia (15 words)

repeat 360 [setx 200 * (sin 2 * repcount) sety xcor * (cos repcount) home]

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Fish, by Olga Tuzova, Russia (15 words)

repeat 360 [setx 200 * (cos 2 * repcount) sety xcor * (cos repcount) home]

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Block, by de Walt Smith, U.S. (12 words)

repeat 25726 [setpos se (50 - random 100) (50 - random 100)]

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Octa-star Spiral, by M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (15 words)

for [l 0 120 4] [repeat 8 [fd :l rt 135] fd :l rt 30]

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Penta-star Spiral, 15W, M.H. Elhefni, Egypt (15 words)

for [l 0 95 3] [repeat 5 [fd :l rt 144] fd :l rt 30]

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Designs 1-5, by Alex Mylonas' class, Greece (12 - 14 words)

repeat 36 [fd 60 rt 61 bk 80 lt 41 fd 85 rt 41]
repeat 16 [fd 85 lt 60 fd 107 bk 72 lt 53 fd 74]
repeat 100 [fd 5 + repcount rt 45 fd 10 + repcount rt 60]

repeat 36 [repeat 36 [fd 10 rt 10] fd repcount rt 90 fd repcount]

repeat 18 [repeat 5 [rt 40 fd 100 rt 120] rt 20]

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