diff --git a/2024/src/day21.clj b/2024/src/day21.clj
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a3a086e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2024/src/day21.clj
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+(ns day21
+  (:require
+   [clojure.math :as math]
+   [clojure.string :as str]
+   [core :as c :refer :all]
+   [input-manager :as i]
+   [clojure.math.combinatorics :as combo]))
+
+(def input (i/get-input 2024 21))
+
+(def pad-1-data [[nil \0 \A]
+                 [\1 \2 \3]
+                 [\4 \5 \6]
+                 [\7 \8 \9]])
+(def pad-locs (-> pad-1-data map-to-coords (dissoc nil)))
+(def pad-locs-by-coords (-> pad-1-data map-by-coords (dissoc [0 0])))
+
+(def pad-2-data [[\< \v \>]
+                 [nil \^ \A]])
+(def pad-locs-2 (-> pad-2-data map-to-coords (dissoc nil)))
+(def pad-locs-2-by-coords (-> pad-2-data map-by-coords (dissoc [1 0])))
+
+(def start (pad-locs \A))
+(def start-2 (pad-locs-2 \A))
+
+(defn manhattan-distance [[row1 col1] [row2 col2]]
+  (+ (abs (- row1 row2))
+     (abs (- col1 col2))))
+
+(defn char->step-fn [c]
+  (fn [[row col]]
+    ({\> [row (inc col)]
+      \< [row (dec col)]
+      \^ [(inc row) col]
+      \v [(dec row) col]} c)))
+
+(defn progressive-steps [[row col :as pos] [target-row target-col] grid]
+  (->> [(when (> target-row row)
+          \^)
+        (when (< target-row row)
+          \v)
+        (when (> target-col col)
+          \>)
+        (when (< target-col col)
+          \<)]
+       (filter identity)
+       (filter #(grid ((char->step-fn %) pos)))))
+
+(defn shortest-walks
+  "returns list of all minimal length list keypresses (arrow chars)"
+  [start-pos target-pos grid]
+  (loop [n 0
+         walks #{[start-pos []]}]
+    (or (and (or (->> walks
+                      (map first)
+                      (filter #(= % target-pos))
+                      not-empty)
+                 (empty? walks))
+             (->> walks
+                  (map second)
+                  (map #(conj % \A))))
+        (->> walks
+             (mapcat (fn [[loc keystrokes]]
+                       (let [steps (progressive-steps loc target-pos grid)]
+                         (->> steps
+                              (map #(vector ((char->step-fn %) loc)
+                                            (conj keystrokes %)))))))
+             set
+             (recur (inc n))))))
+
+(defn generate-robot-subwalks [start-pos walk]
+  (->> walk
+       (map pad-locs-2)
+       ((juxt identity rest))
+       (apply map vector)
+       (#(conj % [start-pos (pad-locs-2 (first walk))]))
+       (map #(shortest-walks (first %) (second %) pad-locs-2-by-coords))))
+
+(defn generate-all-subwalk-options [depth code]
+  (loop [n 1
+         acc (->> code
+                  (reduce (fn [{:keys [pos w]}
+                               el]
+                            (let [pos' (pad-locs el)
+                                  walks (shortest-walks pos pos' pad-locs-by-coords)]
+                              {:pos pos'
+                               :w (conj w walks)}))
+                          {:pos start
+                           :w []})
+                  :w)]
+    (if (= n depth)
+      acc
+      (recur (inc n)
+             (n-map (* n 2) #(generate-robot-subwalks (pad-locs-2 \A) %) acc)))))
+
+(defn get-count-from-subwalks [depth all-walks]
+  (loop [n (dec depth)
+         acc (n-map (* depth 2) count all-walks)]
+    (if (neg? n)
+      acc
+      (recur (dec n)
+             (->> acc
+                  (n-map (inc (* n 2))
+                         (partial apply min))
+                  (n-map (* n 2)
+                         (partial reduce +)))))))
+
+(defn get-ans-for-code [depth code]
+  (let [c (->> (generate-all-subwalk-options depth code)
+               (get-count-from-subwalks depth))
+        n (parse-long (->> code
+                           drop-last
+                           str/join))]
+    (* c n)))
+
+;; part 1
+(->> input
+     (map (partial get-ans-for-code 3))
+     (reduce +)
+     println)