Phase 1: Watch water rise and feel the bottleneck constraint

The Wall: You Can Only Swim When It's Deep Enough

Each cell holds a number — the time at which water rises to flood it. You can only enter a cell when T ≥ cell value. Start at (0,0), reach (2,2). The question: what is the minimum T that makes a connected path possible?

Advance time and watch which cells become swimmable. Try to find the moment a path from start to end first exists.

FIG. 1 — WATER RISING OVER THE GRID
— advance T to see which cells become swimmable —