This sounds like a simple enough problem that one could work out a provably optimal algorithm in less time than it takes to get even a non-optimal ML solution w

This sounds like a simple enough problem that one could work out a provably optimal algorithm in less time than it takes to get even a non-optimal ML solution working. But both approaches would be an interesting exercise in their respective domain! Come to think of it, it might even be an interesting toy problem for a SAT solver! Overkill in the same way as an ML approach, of course.