Let $a, b, c, d$ be a permutation of the numbers $1, 9, 8,4$ and let $n = (10a + b)^{10c+d}$. Find the probability that $1984!$ is divisible by $n.$

Joe and Penny play a game. Initially there are $5000$ stones in a pile, and the two players remove stones from the pile by making a sequence of moves. On the $k$-th move, any number of stones between $1$ and $k$ inclusive may be removed. Joe makes the odd-numbered moves and Penny makes the even-numbered moves. The player who removes the very last stone is the winner. Who wins if both players play perfectly?

Given a positive integer $n$. An inversion of a permutation is the amount of pairs $(i,j)$ such that $i<j$ and the $i$-th number is smaller than $j$-th number in the permutation. Prove that for every positive integer $k \leq n$ there exist exactly $\frac{n!}{k}$ permutations in which the inversion is divisible by $k$.

Each of the $9$ cells in a $3\times 3$ grid is colored either blue or white with equal probability. The expected value of the area of the largest square of blue cells contained within the grid is $\tfrac{m}{n},$ where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m+n.$

Each square of a $7 \times 8$ board is painted black or white, in such a way that each $3 \times 3$ subboard has at least two black squares that are neighboring. What is the least number of black squares that can be on the entire board? Clarification: Two squares are [i]neighbors [/i] if they have a common side.

[b]p1.[/b] Two players play the following game. On the lowest left square of an $8 \times 8$ chessboard there is a rook (castle). The first player is allowed to move the rook up or to the right by an arbitrary number of squares. The second layer is also allowed to move the rook up or to the right by an arbitrary number of squares. Then the first player is allowed to do this again, and so on. The one who moves the rook to the upper right square wins. Who has a winning strategy? [b]p2.[/b] Find the smallest positive whole number that ends with $17$, is divisible by $17$, and the sum of its digits is $17$. [b]p3.[/b] Three consecutive $2$-digit numbers are written next to each other. It turns out that the resulting $6$-digit number is divisible by $17$. Find all such numbers. [b]p4.[/b] Let $ABCD$ be a convex quadrilateral (a quadrilateral $ABCD$ is called convex if the diagonals $AC$ and $BD$ intersect). Suppose that $\angle CBD = \angle CAB$ and $\angle ACD = \angle BDA$ . Prove that $\angle ABC = \angle ADC$. [b]p5.[/b] A circle of radius $1$ is cut into four equal arcs, which are then arranged to make the shape shown on the picture. What is its area? [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/f/3/49c3fe8b218ab0a5378ecc635b797a912723f9.png[/img] PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

In a set of objects, each has one of two colors and one of two shapes. There is at least one object of each color and at least one object of each shape. Prove that there exist two objects in the set that are different both in color and in shape.

Jose and Maria play the following game: Maria writes $2019$ positive integers different on the blackboard. Jose deletes some of them (possibly none, but not all) and write to the left of each of the remaining numbers a sign $+$or a sign $-$. Then the sum written on the board is calculated. If the result is a multiple of $2019$, Jose wins the game, if not, Maria wins. Determine which of the two has a winning strategy.

[u]Round 5[/u] [b]p13.[/b] The expression $\sqrt2 \times \sqrt[3]{3} \times \sqrt[6]{6}$ can be expressed as a single radical in the form $\sqrt[n]{m}$, where $m$ and $n$ are integers, and $n$ is as small as possible. What is the value of $m + n$? [b]p14.[/b] Bertie Bott also produces Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Pez. Each package contains $6$ peppermint-, $2$ kumquat-, $3$ chili pepper-, and $5$ garlic-flavored candies in a random order. Harold opens a package and slips it into his Dumbledore-shaped Pez dispenser. What is the probability that of the first four candies, at least three are garlic-flavored? [b]p15.[/b] Quadrilateral $ABCD$ with $AB = BC = 1$ and $CD = DA = 2$ is circumscribed around and inscribed in two different circles. What is the area of the region between these circles? [u] Round 6[/u] [b]p16.[/b] Find all values of x that satisfy $\sqrt[3]{x^7} + \sqrt[3]{x^4} = \sqrt[3]{x}$. [b]p17.[/b] An octagon has vertices at $(2, 1)$, $(1, 2)$, $(-1, 2)$, $(-2, 1)$, $(-2, -1)$, $(-1, -2)$, $(1, -2)$, and $(2, -1)$. What is the minimum total area that must be cut off of the octagon so that the remaining figure is a regular octagon? [b]p18.[/b] Ron writes a $4$ digit number with no zeros. He tells Ronny that when he sums up all the two-digit numbers that are made by taking 2 consecutive digits of the number, he gets 99. He also reveals that his number is divisible by 8. What is the smallest possible number Ron could have written? [u]Round 7[/u] [b]p19.[/b] In a certain summer school, 30 kids enjoy geometry, 40 kids enjoy number theory, and 50 kids enjoy algebra. Also, the number of kids who only enjoy geometry is equal to the number of kids who only enjoy number theory and also equal to the number of kids who only enjoy algebra. What is the difference between the maximum and minimum possible numbers of kids who only enjoy geometry and algebra? [b]p20.[/b] A mouse is trying to run from the origin to a piece of cheese, located at $(4, 6)$, by traveling the shortest path possible along the lattice grid. However, on a lattice point within the region $\{0 \le x \le 4, 0 \le y \le 6$, $(x, y) \ne (0, 0),(4, 6)\}$ lies a rock through which the mouse cannot travel. The number of paths from which the mouse can choose depends on where the rock is placed. What is the difference between the maximum possible number of paths and the minimum possible number of paths available to the mouse? [b]p21.[/b] The nine points $(x, y)$ with $x, y \in \{-1, 0, 1\}$ are connected with horizontal and vertical segments to their nearest neighbors. Vikas starts at $(0, 1)$ and must travel to $(1, 0)$, $(0, -1)$, and $(-1, 0)$ in any order before returning to $(0, 1)$. However, he cannot travel to the origin $4$ times. If he wishes to travel the least distance possible throughout his journey, then how many possible paths can he take? [u]Round 8[/u] [b]p22.[/b] Let $g(x) = x^3 - x^2- 5x + 2$. If a, b, and c are the roots of g(x), then find the value of $((a + b)(b + c)(c + a))^3$. [b]p23.[/b] A regular octahedron composed of equilateral triangles of side length $1$ is contained within a larger tetrahedron such that the four faces of the tetrahedron coincide with four of the octahedron’s faces, none of which share an edge. What is the ratio of the volume of the octahedron to the volume of the tetrahedron? [b]p24.[/b] You are the lone soul at the south-west corner of a square within Elysium. Every turn, you have a $\frac13$ chance of remaining at your corner and a $\frac13$ chance of moving to each of the two closest corners. What is the probability that after four turns, you will have visited every corner at least once? PS. You should use hide for answers.Rounds 1-4 are [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c3h3134177p28401527]here [/url] and 9-12 [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c3h3134489p28406583]here[/url]. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

An angle is considered as a point and two rays coming out of it. Find the largest value on $n$ such that it is possible to place $n$ $60$ degree angles on the plane in a way that any pair of these angles have exactly $4$ intersection points.

Let $n\ge 1$ be an integer. In town $X$ there are $n$ girls and $n$ boys, and each girl knows each boy. In town $Y$ there are $n$ girls, $g_1,g_2,\ldots ,g_n$, and $2n-1$ boys, $b_1,b_2,\ldots ,b_{2n-1}$. For $i=1,2,\ldots ,n$, girl $g_i$ knows boys $b_1,b_2,\ldots ,b_{2i-1}$ and no other boys. Let $r$ be an integer with $1\le r\le n$. In each of the towns a party will be held where $r$ girls from that town and $r$ boys from the same town are supposed to dance with each other in $r$ dancing pairs. However, every girl only wants to dance with a boy she knows. Denote by $X(r)$ the number of ways in which we can choose $r$ dancing pairs from town $X$, and by $Y(r)$ the number of ways in which we can choose $r$ dancing pairs from town $Y$. Prove that $X(r)=Y(r)$ for $r=1,2,\ldots ,n$.

There are $76$ cards with different numbers written on them. These cards are laid out on the table in a circle, number down. Try to find some three cards in a row such that the number written on the middle of these three cards is greater than on each of the two neighboring ones. You can turn over no more than $10$ cards in succession. How should one proceed to be sure to find three cardboard boxes for which the specified condition is met?

Consider a grid of all lattice points $(m, n)$ with $m, n$ between $1$ and $125$. There exists a “path” between two lattice points $(m_1, n_1)$ and $(m_2, n_2)$ on the grid if $m_1n_1 = m_2n_2$ or if $m_1/n_1 = m_2/n_2$. For how many lattice points $(m, n)$ on the grid is there a sequence of paths that goes from $(1, 1)$ to $(m, n$)?

[b]p1.[/b] The English alphabet consists of $21$ consonants and $5$ vowels. (We count $y$ as a consonant.) (a) Suppose that all the letters are listed in an arbitrary order. Prove that there must be $4$ consecutive consonants. (b) Give a list to show that there need not be $5$ consecutive consonants. (c) Suppose that all the letters are arranged in a circle. Prove that there must be $5$ consecutive consonants. [b]p2.[/b] From the set $\{1,2,3,... , n\}$, $k$ distinct integers are selected at random and arranged in numerical order (lowest to highest). Let $P(i, r, k, n)$ denote the probability that integer $i$ is in position $r$. For example, observe that $P(1, 2, k, n) = 0$. (a) Compute $P(2, 1,6,10)$. (b) Find a general formula for $P(i, r, k, n)$. [b]p3.[/b] (a) Write down a fourth degree polynomial $P(x)$ such that $P(1) = P(-1)$ but $P(2) \ne P(-2)$ (b) Write down a fifth degree polynomial $Q(x)$ such that $Q(1) = Q(-1)$ and $Q(2) = Q(-2)$ but $Q(3) \ne Q(-3)$. (c) Prove that, if a sixth degree polynomial $R(x)$ satisfies $R(1) = R(-1)$, $R(2) = R(-2)$, and $R(3) = R(-3)$, then $R(x) = R(-x)$ for all $x$. [b]p4.[/b] Given five distinct real numbers, one can compute the sums of any two, any three, any four, and all five numbers and then count the number $N$ of distinct values among these sums. (a) Give an example of five numbers yielding the smallest possible value of $N$. What is this value? (b) Give an example of five numbers yielding the largest possible value of $N$. What is this value? (c) Prove that the values of $N$ you obtained in (a) and (b) are the smallest and largest possible ones. [b]p5.[/b] Let $A_1A_2A_3$ be a triangle which is not a right triangle. Prove that there exist circles $C_1$, $C_2$, and $C_3$ such that $C_2$ is tangent to $C_3$ at $A_1$, $C_3$ is tangent to $C_1$ at $A_2$, and $C_1$ is tangent to $C_2$ at $A_3$. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Each entry in an $n\times n$ table is either $+$ or $-$. At each step, one can choose a row or a column and reverse all signs in it. From the initial position, it is possible to obtain the table in which all signs are $+$. Prove that this can be accomplished in at most $n$ steps.

$2017$ engineers attend a conference. Any two engineers if they converse, converse with each other in either Chinese or English. No two engineers converse with each other more than once. It is known that within any four engineers, there was an even number of conversations and furthermore within this even number of conversations: i) At least one conversation is in Chinese. ii) Either no conversations are in English or the number of English conversations is at least that of Chinese conversations. Show that there exists $673$ engineers such that any two of them conversed with each other in Chinese.

Let $G$ be a simple undirected graph with vertices $v_1,v_2,...,v_n$. We denote the number of acyclic orientations of $G$ with $f(G)$. [b]a)[/b] Prove that $f(G)\le f(G-v_1)+f(G-v_2)+...+f(G-v_n)$. [b]b)[/b] Let $e$ be an edge of the graph $G$. Denote by $G'$ the graph obtained by omiting $e$ and making it's two endpoints as one vertex. Prove that $f(G)=f(G-e)+f(G')$. [b]c)[/b] Prove that for each $\alpha >1$, there exists a graph $G$ and an edge $e$ of it such that $\frac{f(G)}{f(G-e)}<\alpha$. [i]Proposed by Morteza Saghafian[/i]

Nine light bulbs are equally spaced around a circle. When the power is turned on, each of the nine light bulbs turns blue or red, where the color of each bulb is determined randomly and independently of the colors of the other bulbs. Each time the power is turned on, the probability that the color of each bulb will be the same as at least one of the two adjacent bulbs on the circle is $\frac{m}{n}$ , where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m + n$.

[u]Round 1 [/u] [b]p1. [/b]Twelve people, some are knights and some are knaves, are sitting around a table. Knaves always lie and knights always tell the truth. At some point they start up a conversation. The first person says, “There are no knights around this table.” The second says, “There is at most one knight at this table.” The third – “There are at most two knights at the table.” And so on until the 12th says, “There are at most eleven knights at the table.” How many knights are at the table? Justify your answer. [b]p2.[/b] Show that in the sequence $10017$, $100117$, $1001117$, $...$ all numbers are divisible by $53$. [b]p3.[/b] Harry and Draco have three wands: a bamboo wand, a willow wand, and a cherry wand, all of the same length. They must perform a spell wherein they take turns picking a wand and breaking it into three parts – first Harry, then Draco, then Harry again. But in order for the spell to work, Harry has to make sure it is possible to form three triangles out of the pieces of the wands, where each triangle has a piece from each wand. How should he break the wands to ensure the success of the spell? [b]p4.[/b] A $2\times 2\times 2$ cube has $4$ equal squares on each face. The squares that share a side are called neighbors (thus, each square has $4$ neighbors – see picture). Is it possible to write an integer in each square in such a way that the sum of each number with its $4$ neighbors is equal to $13$? If yes, show how. If no, explain why not. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/8/4/0f7457f40be40398dee806d125ba26780f9d3a.png[/img] [b]p5.[/b] Two girls are playing a game. The first player writes the letters $A$ or $B$ in a row, left to right, adding one letter on her turn. The second player switches any two letters after each move by the first player (the letters do not have to be adjacent), or does nothing, which also counts as a move. The game is over when each player has made $2011$ moves. Can the second player plan her moves so that the resulting letters form a palindrome? (A palindrome is a sequence that reads the same forward and backwards, e.g. $AABABAA$.) [u]Round 2 [/u] [b]p6.[/b] A red square is placed on a table. $2010$ white squares, each the same size as the red square, are then placed on the table in such a way that the red square is fully covered and the sides of every white square are parallel to the sides of the red square. Is it always possible to remove one of the white squares so the red square remains completely covered? [b]p7.[/b] A computer starts with a given positive integer to which it randomly adds either $54$ or $77$ every second and prints the resulting sum after each addition. For example, if the computer is given the number $1$, then a possible output could be: $1$, $55$, $109$, $186$, $…$ Show that after finitely many seconds the computer will print a number whose last two digits are the same. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Given a chess-board $99\times 99$ with a set $F$ of fields marked on it (the set is different in three tasks). There is a beetle sitting on every field of the set $F$. Suddenly all the beetles have raised into the air and flied to another fields of the same set. The beetles from the neighbouring fields have landed either on the same field or on the neighbouring ones (may be far from their starting point). (We consider the fields to be neighbouring if they have at least one common vertex.) Consider a statement: [i]"There is a beetle, that either stayed on the same field or moved to the neighbouring one".[/i] Is it always valid if the figure $F$ is: a) A central cross, i.e. the union of the $50$-th row and the $50$-th column? b) A window frame, i.e. the union of the $1$-st, $50$-th and $99$-th rows and the $1$-st, $50$-th and $99$-th columns? c) All the chess-board?

$100$ numbers $1$, $1/2$, $1/3$, $...$, $1/100$ are written on the blackboard. One may delete two arbitrary numbers $a$ and $b$ among them and replace them by the number $a + b + ab$. After $99$ such operations only one number is left. What is this final number? (D. Fomin, Leningrad)

$S$ is a board containing all unit squares in the $xy$ plane whose vertices have integer coordinates and which lie entirely inside the circle $x^2 + y^2 = 1998^2$. In each square of $S$ is written $+1$. An allowed move is to change the sign of every square in $S$ in a given row, column or diagonal. Can we end up with exactly one $-1$ and $+1$ on the rest squares by a sequence of allowed moves?

Chandler the Octopus is at a tentacle party! At this party, there is $1$ creature with $2$ tentacles, $2$ creatures with $3$ tentacles, $3$ creatures with $4$ tentacles, all the way up to $14$ creatures with $15$ tentacles. Each tentacle is distinguishable from all other tentacles. For some $2\le m < n \le 15$, a creature with m tentacles “meets” a creature with n tentacles; “meeting” another creature consists of shaking exactly 1 tentacle with each other. Find the number of ways there are to pick distinct $m < n$ between $2$ and $15$, inclusive, and then to pick a creature with $m$ tentacles to “meet” a selected creature with $n$ tentacles. [i]Proposed by Armaan Tipirneni, Richard Chen, and Denise the Octopus[/i]

Consider all binary sequences of length $n$. In a sequence that allows the interchange of positions of an arbitrary set of $k$ adjacent numbers, ($k < n$), two sequences are said to be [i]equivalent [/i] if they can be transformed from one sequence to another by a finite number of transitions as above. Find the number of sequences that are not equivalent.

a) $100$ numbers (some positive, some negative) are written in a row. All of the following three types of numbers are underlined: 1) every positive number, 2) every number whose sum with the number following it is positive, 3) every number whose sum with the two numbers following it is positive. Can the sum of all underlined numbers be (i) negative? (ii) equal to zero? b) $n$ numbers (some positive and some negative) are written in a row. Each positive number and each number whose sum with several of the numbers following it is positive is underlined. Prove that the sum of all underlined numbers is positive.