What is the minimum length of a non-extendable lace? (Q1591729)

A finite sequence of distinct non-overlapping congruent circles in the plane is called a lace if any two consecutive circles touch; a lace is called a loop if the first and last circle in the sequence also touch. The authors discuss various problems, conjectures, and results on the minimum length (number of circles) of non-extendable laces or loops; that is laces or loops, respectively, which are not properly contained in another lace or loop. For example, the authors conjecture that the minimum length of a non-extendable lace or loop is at least 21, and prove that it is at least 15 for non-extendable loops or ``weakly non-extendable'' laces.