Spent the first few minutes overcomplicating it.
Clarify that the word must be contiguous along a single straight line, then iterate over each cell and each of the 8 directions, checking if the word can be formed. Use early termination and boundary checks to keep the solution efficient.
Pro tip: Mention that you can prune directions early by checking the first and last characters of the word against the grid boundaries, and discuss how this approach scales for multiple word queries.
Confirm that the word must be contiguous, can go in any of the 8 directions, and that cells cannot be reused. Ask about grid size, character set, and whether multiple queries are expected.
List the 8 direction vectors (dx, dy) and write a helper to check if a cell is within bounds. This avoids repeated boundary logic.
For each cell that matches the first character of the word, try each direction. For each direction, walk step by step and compare characters until the word is exhausted or a mismatch occurs.
Before walking, check if the word can fit in that direction from the starting cell (e.g., ensure enough remaining cells). Also, if the word length is 1, handle it separately.
State time complexity O(N*M*8*L) where L is word length, and space O(1). Discuss edge cases: empty grid, word longer than grid dimensions, single-character word, and repeated characters.
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