diff --git a/day12/alt.py b/day12/alt.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5615e7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/day12/alt.py
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+import string
+
+import sys, os; sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "../lib"))
+import astar
+
+elevation = {c:i for i, c in enumerate(string.ascii_lowercase)}
+elevation['E'] = elevation['z']
+elevation['S'] = elevation['a']
+
+data = open("input").read().splitlines(False)
+#print(*data, sep="\n")
+
+extra = []
+for y, row in enumerate(data):
+    for x, c in enumerate(row):
+        if c == 'S':
+            start = (x,y)
+        elif c == 'E':
+            goal = (x,y)
+        elif c == 'a':
+            # for part 2
+            extra.append((x,y))
+
+def get(x, y):
+    return elevation[data[y][x]]
+
+def solve(part):
+    def neighbors(src):
+        x,y = src
+        here = get(x,y)
+        n = []
+        def push(x,y):
+            if 0 <= y < len(data):
+                if 0 <= x < len(data[y]):
+                    if get(x,y) <= here+1:
+                        n.append((1, (x,y)))
+        push(x-1, y)
+        push(x+1,y)
+        push(x, y-1)
+        push(x, y+1)
+        return n
+
+    def heuristic(n):
+        return abs(goal[0] - n[0]) + abs(goal[1] - n[1])
+
+    s = [start]
+    if part == 2:
+        s += extra
+
+    print(part, "=", astar.search(s, goal, neighbors, heuristic))
+
+solve(1)
+solve(2)
diff --git a/lib/astar.py b/lib/astar.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..55d3634
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/astar.py
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+from heapq import heappush, heappop
+
+def search(start, goal, neighbors, heuristic=None):
+    if heuristic == None:
+        def heuristic(x):
+            return 0
+    # TODO: callable goal
+    if not isinstance(start, list):
+        start = [start]
+    i = 0 # tiebreaker
+    q = []
+    for s in start:
+        i += 1
+        heappush(q, (heuristic(s), i, s, None))
+    done = {}
+    while q:
+        z, _, this, prev = heappop(q)
+        if this in done:
+            continue
+        cost_so_far = z - heuristic(this)
+        #print(this,z, cost_so_far)
+
+        done[this] = (cost_so_far, prev)
+
+        if this == goal:
+            print("astar: visited", len(done), "nodes")
+            # reconsruct the path
+            n = this
+            path = []
+            while n is not None:
+                path.append(n)
+                _, n = done[n]
+            path.reverse()
+            return cost_so_far, this, path
+
+        for c, n in neighbors(this):
+            if n not in done:
+                # calculate the "reduced cost"
+                c = cost_so_far + c + heuristic(n)
+                i += 1
+                heappush(q, (c, i, n, this))
+
+    return float('inf'), None
+
+def test():
+    data = [
+        "aabqponm",
+        "abcryxxl",
+        "accszzxk",
+        "acctuvwj",
+        "abdefghi",
+    ]
+    #data = [
+    #    "aabbaaba",
+    #    "abcbaaba",
+    #    "accabcbb",
+    #    "accbbbba",
+    #    "abbbabab",
+    #]
+    start = (0,0)
+    goal = (5,2)
+
+    def get(x,y):
+        return ord(data[y][x])
+
+    def neighbors(src):
+        x,y = src
+        here = get(x,y)
+        n = []
+        def push(x,y):
+            if 0 <= y < len(data):
+                if 0 <= x < len(data[y]):
+                    if get(x,y) <= here+1:
+                        n.append((1, (x,y)))
+        push(x-1, y)
+        push(x+1,y)
+        push(x, y-1)
+        push(x, y+1)
+        return n
+
+    def heuristic(n):
+        return abs(goal[0] - n[0]) + abs(goal[1] - n[1])
+
+    c, _, path = search(start, goal, neighbors, heuristic)
+    print(*data, sep="\n")
+    print(*path, sep="\n")
+    assert c == 31, c
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    test()