You are correct, I fail to find a valid path due to erroneous short circuiting. I, as well as others, have already provided
with a working solution. This is more just a knowledge thing for me. Even if I were to "fix" the solution I don't believe it would be any quicker as a general solution. Moving to a BFS brings its own baggage (memory can become a problem). Oh well, at least I know one way that doesn't work :-)