I would have expected to find such a presentation presenting a problem which actually requires a search of an intractably-large space ... and, since this one clearly doesn’t

It does for a golfer. :-) The search is required to improve the previous shortest known Python solution by replacing the shortest known magic formula:

10**(205558%ord(r)%7)%9995
[download]

with a new one in this form:

hash(r+"magicstrng")%1001
[download]

which is one stroke shorter. This is explained in more detail in the introductory "Lookup Table vs Magic Formula" section of The 10**21 Problem (Part I).

But it would be a lot more interesting if the most-efficient algorithm for solving the actual representative-problem were what is presented “in the least number of keystrokes.”

The shortest algorithms for solving the Roman to Decimal conversion problem have already been presented in:

• The golf course looks great, my swing feels good, I like my chances (Part I)
• Rosetta PGA-TRAM