• cnts == "counts"
• comparison: yes, that part.

Note: don't forget the spoiler flag... ;)

manual notification, see above

I also made this mistake in my initial attempt. Once I read it again it became much more clear, "The first player who connects four items of the same color is the winner." I spent 7 hours on my first attempt, over a few days, then a couple more to rework it to check for a winner after each move. Yes I don't think a normal game would have multiple fours but the way I framed it so I wouldn't throw my computer was to remind myself that problems in the real world probably wont come with instructions and most likely will not be solved the right way on my first few attempts. Once I finished it, it did feel great, so anyone reading this keep pushing it'll be worth it.