I love immutability because you can just compare a term against its previous version without managing the copy yourself:

case Map.drop(grid, Map.keys(accessibles(grid))) do
  ^grid -> grid
  new_grid -> loop_remove(new_grid)
end

In context:

defmodule AdventOfCode.Solutions.Y25.Day04 do
  alias AoC.Input

  def parse(input, _part) do
    lines = Input.stream!(input, trim: true)

    for {row, y} <- Enum.with_index(lines),
        {"@", x} <- Enum.with_index(String.graphemes(row)),
        reduce: %{},
        do: (grid -> Map.put(grid, {x, y}, true))
  end

  def part_one(grid) do
    map_size(accessibles(grid))
  end

  def part_two(grid) do
    clear_grid = loop_remove(grid)
    map_size(grid) - map_size(clear_grid)
  end

  defp loop_remove(grid) do
    case Map.drop(grid, Map.keys(accessibles(grid))) do
      ^grid -> grid
      new_grid -> loop_remove(new_grid)
    end
  end

  defp accessibles(grid) do
    Map.filter(grid, &less_than_four_neighbors?(&1, grid))
  end

  defp less_than_four_neighbors?({{x, y}, _}, grid) do
    for(nx <- (x - 1)..(x + 1), ny <- (y - 1)..(y + 1), {nx, ny} != {x, y}, do: {nx, ny})
    |> Enum.count(&Map.has_key?(grid, &1))
    |> Kernel.<(4)
  end
end

This one was pretty straightforward. Using MapSet (and MapSet operations) and the “for” construct, which is more concise than reduce. No optimization at all

defmodule AdventOfCode.Solution.Year2025.Day04 do
  import Enum, only: [flat_map: 2, with_index: 1, sum: 1, filter: 2, count: 1]

  def parse(input) do
    # Create a MapSet of the {row,col} of the rolls
    with_index(String.split(input, "\n", trim: true))
    |> flat_map(fn {line, row} ->
      for {c, col} <- with_index(to_charlist(line)), c == ?@, do: {row, col}
    end)
    |> MapSet.new()
  end

  def vec_sum({a, b}, {c, d}), do: {a + c, b + d}

  @around for r <- -1..1, c <- -1..1, {r, c} != {0, 0}, do: {r, c}
  def liftable(roll, rolls) do
    sum(for delta <- @around, vec_sum(roll, delta) in rolls, do: 1) < 4
  end

  def part1(input) do
    rolls = parse(input)
    rolls |> filter(&liftable(&1, rolls)) |> count()
  end

  def remove_all(rolls, counter \\ 0) do
    # Identify the removable rolls
    removable = for roll <- rolls, liftable(roll, rolls), into: MapSet.new(), do: roll
    # If nothing to remove, we're done, else remove the removable rolls and increment the counter
    if MapSet.size(removable) == 0,
      do: counter,
      else: remove_all(MapSet.difference(rolls, removable), counter + MapSet.size(removable))
  end

  def part2(input), do: input |> parse() |> remove_all()
end

I did my best to never construct a matrix, binaries rock. Also, Stream.iterate(&calc/1) is a lovely approach to code reuse.

  defmodule Day4 do
    @input "day4_1.input" |> File.read!() |> String.trim()

    defp read_input(input) do
      input
      |> String.split(["\s", "\n"], trim: true)
      |> then(fn [h | t] ->
        stub = "." |> List.duplicate(byte_size(h)) |> Enum.join()
        [stub, h | t] ++ [stub]
      end)
      |> Enum.map(&("." <> &1 <> "."))
    end

    def calc({input, acc} \\ {@input, 0}) do
      input
      |> read_input()
      |> Enum.chunk_every(3, 1, :discard)
      |> Enum.reduce({0, []}, fn [h, l, t], {count, res} ->
        res = ["" | res]

        Enum.reduce(1..(byte_size(l) - 2), {count, res}, fn idx, {count, [hres | tres]} ->
          with <<_::binary-size(idx - 1), r1::binary-size(3), _::binary>> <- h,
               <<_::binary-size(idx - 1), r21::binary-size(1), r22::binary-size(1),
                 r23::binary-size(1), _::binary>> <- l,
               <<_::binary-size(idx - 1), r3::binary-size(3), _::binary>> <- t,
               false <- r22 == "@" and String.count(r1 <> r21 <> r23 <> r3, "@") < 4,
               do: {count, [r22 <> hres | tres]},
               else: (_ -> {count + 1, ["x" <> hres | tres]})
        end)
      end)
      |> then(fn {count, data} -> {Enum.join(data, "\n"), acc + count} end)
    end

    def calc_2(input \\ @input) do
      {input, 0}
      |> Stream.iterate(&calc/1)
      |> Enum.reduce_while({0, -1}, fn
        {_, prev}, {acc, prev} -> {:halt, acc}
        {_, count}, {acc, _} -> {:cont, {count, acc}}
      end)
    end
  end