diff --git a/day19/main.exs b/day19/main.exs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c981099
--- /dev/null
+++ b/day19/main.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+defmodule Day19 do
+  def run do
+    {patterns, designs} = parse_file("data.txt")
+
+    {possibles, _c} =
+      Enum.reduce(designs, {[], %{}}, fn d, {list, cache} ->
+        {total, c} = possible_designs(d, patterns, cache)
+        {[total | list], c}
+      end)
+
+    part1 = Enum.filter(possibles, fn el -> el != 0 end) |> length
+    dbg(part1)
+
+    part2 = Enum.sum(possibles)
+    dbg(part2)
+  end
+
+  # if the design is empty list, we got to the end successfully
+  defp possible_designs([], _, cache), do: {1, cache}
+
+  defp possible_designs(design, patterns, cache) do
+    # look in the cache for this design
+    if Map.has_key?(cache, design) do
+      # if it's there, just return it
+      {Map.get(cache, design), cache}
+    else
+      # find all the patterns that match the beginning of the design
+      matching_patterns = Enum.filter(patterns, &List.starts_with?(design, &1))
+
+      {new_total, new_cache} =
+        if length(matching_patterns) == 0 do
+          # if there are none, we've failed
+          {0, cache}
+        else
+          # recurse on rest of the list
+          Enum.reduce(matching_patterns, {0, cache}, fn pattern, {total, new_cache} ->
+            rest = Enum.drop(design, length(pattern))
+            {t, c} = possible_designs(rest, patterns, new_cache)
+            {t + total, c}
+          end)
+        end
+
+      # add this new total to the cache & return it
+      new_cache2 = Map.put(new_cache, design, new_total)
+      {new_total, new_cache2}
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp parse_file(file) do
+    [top, bottom] = File.read!(file) |> String.trim() |> String.split("\n\n")
+    patterns = String.split(top, ", ") |> Enum.map(&String.graphemes/1)
+    designs = String.split(bottom, "\n") |> Enum.map(&String.graphemes/1)
+    {patterns, designs}
+  end
+end
+
+Day19.run()