Make 1s using a bunch of 1s

score = 82 71 69 (34 ‘1’s + 23 ‘+’s + 12 parenthesis pairs)

$$\begin{multline*} 11111111111 = 1 + (1 + 1) \cdot {} \\ (1 + 1 + 1 + (1 + 1)^{(1 + 1)^{1 + 1 + 1}}(1 + ((1 + 1)(1 + 1 + 1))^{1 + 1 + 1})) \cdot {} \\ (1 + (1 + (1 + 1 + 1)^{1 + 1})^{1 + (1 + 1)^{1 + 1}}) \end{multline*}$$

Try it online!

Search program in Rust

This finds optimal solutions for up to about 8 digit numbers. Don’t try it on anything larger—it will eat all your memory.

I constructed the above solution by manually writing \$11111111111 = 1 + 111110 \cdot 100001\$ and searching for optimal solutions to \$111110\$ and \$100001\$.

use std::env;

#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
enum Op {
    One,
    Add(u32, u32),
    Mul(u32, u32),
    Pow(u32, u32),
}

fn show(ops: &[Option<Op>], z: u32, prec: u32) {
    match ops[z as usize].as_ref().unwrap() {
        Op::One => print!("1"),
        Op::Add(x, y) => {
            if prec > 0 {
                print!("(");
            }
            show(ops, *x, 0);
            print!(" + ");
            show(ops, *y, 0);
            if prec > 0 {
                print!(")");
            }
        }
        Op::Mul(x, y) => {
            if prec > 1 {
                print!("(");
            }
            show(ops, *x, 1);
            show(ops, *y, 1);
            if prec > 1 {
                print!(")");
            }
        }
        Op::Pow(x, y) => {
            if prec > 2 {
                print!("(");
            }
            show(ops, *x, 3);
            print!("^{{");
            show(ops, *y, 0);
            print!("}}");
            if prec > 2 {
                print!(")");
            }
        }
    }
}

fn main() {
    for target in env::args().skip(1).map(|arg| arg.parse().unwrap()) {
        let mut ops: Vec<Option<Op>> = vec![None; target as usize + 1];
        let mut vs: Vec<Vec<u32>> = vec![];
        while !ops[target as usize].is_some() {
            let mut v: Vec<u32> = vec![];
            let mut visit = |x, op| {
                if let Some(x) = x {
                    if x <= target {
                        if ops[x as usize].is_none() {
                            ops[x as usize] = Some(op);
                            v.push(x);
                        }
                    }
                }
            };
            let level = vs.len();
            let score = level / 2;
            match level % 2 {
                0 => {
                    if score == 1 {
                        visit(Some(1), Op::One);
                    }
                    for i in 1..score.saturating_sub(1) {
                        let j = score - 1 - i;
                        for u in &vs[i * 2..i * 2 + 2] {
                            for v in &vs[j * 2..j * 2 + 2] {
                                for &x in u {
                                    for &y in v {
                                        visit(x.checked_pow(y), Op::Pow(x, y));
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                    for i in 1..score {
                        let j = score - i;
                        for u in &vs[i * 2 - 1..i * 2 + 1] {
                            for v in &vs[j * 2 - 2..j * 2 + 1] {
                                for &x in u {
                                    for &y in v {
                                        visit(x.checked_mul(y), Op::Mul(x, y));
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
                1 => {
                    for i in 1..score.saturating_sub(1) {
                        let j = score - 1 - i;
                        for u in &vs[i * 2..i * 2 + 2] {
                            for v in &vs[j * 2..j * 2 + 2] {
                                for &x in u {
                                    for &y in v {
                                        visit(x.checked_add(y), Op::Add(x, y));
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
                _ => unreachable!(),
            }
            vs.push(v);
        }
        print!("{} = ", target);
        show(&ops, target, 0);
        println!();
    }
}

Try it online!

By hand -  118 112 111  82

$$(1+(1+1)^{(1+1)^{1+1}}(1+(1+1)(1+(1+(1+1)^{1+1})^{1+1})^{1+1}))(1+(1+1+(1+1+1)^{1+1})(1+1+(((1+1)(1+1+1))^{1+1})^{1+1+1}))$$

Try it at Wolfram Alpha

This was found by working my way down from \$11111111111\$ looking for close divisibility considering factors which are close in construction to powers and is:

$$(((8(9^4)+(3(9^2))+8)((16+1)^2)+8)81+2)9+2$$

There are \$16\$ parentheses pairs, \$40\$ ones, and \$26\$ additions.

---

Previous @111

$$((1+1)(1+1+1)^{1+1})^{(1+1)^{1+1+1}}+((1+1)(1+1+1)^{1+1}(1+1+1+1+1)^{1+1})^{1+1+1}+((1+1+1)^{1+1+1})^{1+1+1}+((1+1)(1+1+1)^{1+1})^{1+1+1}+(1+1)((1+1+1)^{1+1}+1)$$

Try it at Wolfram Alpha

This is $$18^8+450^3+(3^3)^3+18^3+20$$ Where:
\$18 = 2\times 9 = (1+1)(1+1+1)^{1+1}\$
\$8 = 2^3 = (1+1)^{1+1+1}\$
\$450 = 18\times 25 = (1+1)(1+1+1)^{1+1}(1+1+1+1+1)^{1+1}\$ \$20 = 2\times (9+1) = (1+1)((1+1+1)^{1+1}+1)\$

69 operations

$$1+(1+((1+1+1)^{1+1}+1)^{1+1+1+1+1})(1+1)\\ \cdot(1+1+1+(1+((1+1+1)(1+1))^{1+1+1})(1+1)^{(1+1)^{1+1+1}})$$

Try it online!

Verifier thanks to @AndersKaseorg

34 1s, 24 +s, 11 ()s.

Decomposition, by layers:

• 11111111111 = 100001 * 111110 + 1
• 100001 = 10^5+1
• 111110 = 55555*2
• 55555 = 3 + 217*256
• 217 = 6^3+1
• 256 = 2^2^3

I wrote a program to brute-force this, but I'm still working on the program.