I might suggest that there's some irony in suggesting that one use Ruby to write an algorithm that's going to basically be 100% compute bound . . . seems like this contest is a classic example of exactly the sort of problem where you do, in fact, care about raw language performance.
Well, the example they give includes the words Ruby, DHH, active, record, rspec, mongrel, jruby, and rubinius as the potential dictionary, and they close the post with "The Ruby community is nothing if not persistent, creative and intelligent — so show us what you’ve got!" So I'm kind of assuming the contest is aimed at the Ruby community.
