Elisa has $2023$ treasure chests, all of which are unlocked and empty at first. Each day, Elisa adds a new gem to one of the unlocked chests of her choice, and afterwards, a fairy acts according to the following rules: [list=disc] [*]if more than one chests are unlocked, it locks one of them, or [*]if there is only one unlocked chest, it unlocks all the chests. [/list] Given that this process goes on forever, prove that there is a constant $C$ with the following property: Elisa can ensure that the difference between the numbers of gems in any two chests never exceeds $C$, regardless of how the fairy chooses the chests to unlock.

On a chess board ($8*8$) there are written the numbers $1$ to $64$: on the first line, from left to right, there are the numbers $1, 2, 3, ... , 8$; on the second line, from left to right, there are the numbers $9, 10, 11, ... , 16$;etc. The $\"+\"$ and $\"-\"$ signs are put to each number such that, in each line and in each column, there are $4$ $\"+\"$ signs and $4$ $\"-\"$ signs. Then, the $64$ numbers are added. Find all the possible values of this sum.

The $n$-element set of real numbers is given, where $n \geq 6$. Prove that there exist at least $n-1$ two-element subsets of this set, in which the arithmetic mean of elements is not less than the arithmetic mean of elements in the whole set.

Ten distinct numbers are chosen at random from the set $\{1, 2, 3, ... , 37\}$. Show that one can select four distinct numbers out of those ten so that the sum of two of them is equal to the sum of the other two.

Every point on a line is painted either red or blue. Prove that there always exist three points $A,B,C$ that are painted the same color and are such that the point $B$ is the midpoint of the segment $AC$.

Ella lays out $16$ coins heads up in a $4\times 4$ grid as shown. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/3/3/a728be9c51b27f442109cc8613ef50d61182a0.png[/img] On a move, Ella can flip all the coins in any row, column, or diagonal (including small diagonals such as $H_1$ & $H_4$). If rotations are considered distinct, how many distinct grids of coins can she create in a finite number of moves?

The numbers from 1 to 100 are written in an unknown order. One may ask about any 50 numbers and find out their relative order. What is the fewest questions needed to find the order of all 100 numbers? [i]S. Tokarev[/i]

A rectangle of size $ m \times n$ has been filled completely by trominoes (a tromino is an L-shape consisting of 3 unit squares). There are four ways to place a tromino 1st way: let the "corner" of the L be on top left 2nd way: let the "corner" of the L be on top right 3rd way: let the "corner" of the L be on bottom left 4th way: let the "corner" of the L be on bottom right Prove that the difference between the number of trominoes placed in the 1st and the 4th way is divisible by $ 3$.

For two positive integers $a$ and $b$, Ivica and Marica play the following game: Given two piles of $a$ and $b$ cookies, on each turn a player takes $2n$ cookies from one of the piles, of which he eats $n$ and puts $n$ of them on the other pile. Number $n$ is arbitrary in every move. Players take turns alternatively, with Ivica going first. The player who cannot make a move, loses. Assuming both players play perfectly, determine all pairs of numbers $(a, b)$ for which Marica has a winning strategy. Proposed by Petar Orlić

Find the sum of the solutions to $\dfrac{1}{1+\dfrac{1}{|x-25|}}=\frac{49}{50}$.

The numbers $1,2,...,n$ ($n \ge 5$) are written on the circle in the clockwise order. Per move it is allowed to exchange any couple of consecutive numbers $a, b$ to the couple $\frac{a+b}{2}, \frac{a+b}{2}$. Is it possible to make all numbers equal using these operations?

There is a safe that can be opened by entering a secret code consisting of $n$ digits, each of them is $0$ or $1$. Initially, $n$ zeros were entered, and the safe is closed (so, all zeros is not the secret code). In one attempt, you can enter an arbitrary sequence of $n$ digits, each of them is $0$ or $1$. If the entered sequence matches the secret code, the safe will open. If the entered sequence matches the secret code in more positions than the previously entered sequence, you will hear a click. In any other cases the safe will remain locked and there will be no click. Find the smallest number of attempts that is sufficient to open the safe in all cases.

Consider the collection of different squares which may be formed by sets of four points chosen from the $12$ labelled points in the diagram on the right. For each possible area such a square may have, determine the number of squares which have this area. Make sure to explain why your list is complete. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/b/a/faf00c2faa7b949ab2894942f8bd99505543e8.png[/img]

Some cells of a $2n\times2n$ board are marked so that each cell has an even number of neighboring (i.e. sharing a side) marked cells. Find the number of such markings.

At a certain pizzeria, there are five different toppings available and a pizza can be ordered with any (possibly empty) subset of them on it. In how many ways can one order an unordered pair of pizzas such that at most one topping appears on both pizzas and at least one topping appears on neither?

There are $14$ players participating at a chess tournament, each playing one game with every other player. After the end of the tournament, the players were ranked in descending order based on their points. The sum of the points of the first three players is equal with the sum of the points of the last nine players. What is the highest possible number of draws in the tournament.(For a victory the player gets $1$ point, for a loss $0$ points, in a draw both players get $0,5$ points.)

A square-shaped pizza with side length $30$ cm is cut into pieces (not necessarily rectangular). All cuts are parallel to the sides, and the total length of the cuts is $240$ cm. Show that there is a piece whose area is at least $36$ cm$^2$

Given a polygon with $n$ sides, we assign the numbers $0,1,...,n-1$ to the vertices, and to each side is assigned the sum of the numbers assigned to its ends. The figure shows an example for $n = 5$. Notice that the numbers assigned to the sides are still in arithmetic progression. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/c/0/975969e29a7953dcb3e440884461169557f9a7.png[/img] $\bullet$ Make the respective assignment for a $9$-sided polygon, and generalize for odd $n$. $\bullet$ Prove that this is not possible if $n$ is even.

A natural number is written in each cell of an $8 \times 8$ board. It turned out that for any tiling of the board with dominoes, the sum of numbers in the cells of each domino is different. Can it happen that the largest number on the board is no greater than $32$? [i](N. Chernyatyev)[/i] (Translated from [url=http://sasja.shap.homedns.org/Turniry/TG/index.html]here.[/url])

There are $n$ people, and given that any $2$ of them have contacted with each other at most once. In any group of $n-2$ of them, any one person of the group has contacted with other people in this group for $3^k$ times, where $k$ is a non-negative integer. Determine all the possible value of $n.$

Call the [i]improvement [/i] of a positive number its replacement by a power of two. (i.e. one of the numbers $1, 2, 4, 8, ...$), for which it increases, but not more than than $3$ times. Given $2^{100}$ positive numbers with a sum of $2^{100}$. Prove that you can erase some of them, and [i]improve [/i] each of the other numbers so that the sum the resulting numbers were again $2^{100}$.

For a positive integer $n$, $n$ vertices which have $10000$ written on them exist on a plane. For $3$ vertices that are collinear and are written positive numbers on them, denote procedure $P$ as subtracting $1$ from the outer vertices and adding $2023$ to the inner vertical. Show that procedure $P$ cannot be repeated infinitely.

You are given a $5\times 6$ checkerboard with squares alternately shaded black and white. The bottom- left square is white. Each square has side length $1$ unit. You can normally travel on this board at a speed of $2$ units per second, but while you travel through the interior (not the boundary) of a black square, you are slowed down to $1$ unit per second. What is the shortest time it takes to travel from the bottom-left corner to the top-right corner of the board?

Let $n$ be a natural number greater than 2. $l$ is a line on a plane. There are $n$ distinct points $P_1$, $P_2$, …, $P_n$ on $l$. Let the product of distances between $P_i$ and the other $n-1$ points be $d_i$ ($i = 1, 2,$ …, $n$). There exists a point $Q$, which does not lie on $l$, on the plane. Let the distance from $Q$ to $P_i$ be $C_i$ ($i = 1, 2,$ …, $n$). Find $S_n = \sum_{i = 1}^{n} (-1)^{n-i} \frac{c_i^2}{d_i}$.

[b]p1.[/b] The serpent of fire and the serpent of ice play a game. Since the serpent of ice loves the lucky number $6$, he will roll a fair $6$-sided die with faces numbered $1$ through $6$. The serpent of fire will pay him $\log_{10} x$, where $x$ is the number he rolls. The serpent of ice rolls the die $6$ times. His expected total amount of winnings across the $6$ rounds is $k$. Find $10^k$. [b]p2.[/b] Let $a = \log_3 5$, $b = \log_3 4$, $c = - \log_3 20$, evaluate $\frac{a^2+b^2}{a^2+b^2+ab} +\frac{b^2+c^2}{b^2+c^2+bc} +\frac{c^2+a^2}{c^2+a^2+ca}$. [b]p3.[/b] Let $\vartriangle ABC$ be an isosceles obtuse triangle with $AB = AC$ and circumcenter $O$. The circle with diameter $AO$ meets $BC$ at points $X, Y$ , where X is closer to $B$. Suppose $XB = Y C = 4$, $XY = 6$, and the area of $\vartriangle ABC$ is $m\sqrt{n}$ for positive integers $m$ and $n$, where $n$ does not contain any square factors. Find $m + n$. [b]p4.[/b] Alice is not sure what to have for dinner, so she uses a fair $6$-sided die to decide. She keeps rolling, and if she gets all the even numbers (i.e. getting all of $2, 4, 6$) before getting any odd number, she will reward herself with McDonald’s. Find the probability that Alice could have McDonald’s for dinner. [b]p5.[/b] How many distinct ways are there to split $50$ apples, $50$ oranges, $50$ bananas into two boxes, such that the products of the number of apples, oranges, and bananas in each box are nonzero and equal? [b]p6.[/b] Sujay and Rishabh are taking turns marking lattice points within a square board in the Cartesian plane with opposite vertices $(1, 1)$,$(n, n)$ for some constant $n$. Sujay loses when the two-point pattern $P$ below shows up:[img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/1/9/d1fe285294d4146afc0c7a2180b15586b04643.png[/img] That is, Sujay loses when there exists a pair of points $(x, y)$ and $(x + 2, y + 1)$. He and Rishabh stop marking points when the pattern $P$ appears on the board. If Rishabh goes first, let $S$ be the set of all integers $3 \le n \le 100$ such that Rishabh has a strategy to always trick Sujay into being the one who creates $P$. Find the sum of all elements of $S$. [b]p7.[/b] Let $a$ be the shortest distance between the origin $(0, 0)$ and the graph of $y^3 = x(6y -x^2)-8$. Find $\lfloor a^2 \rfloor $. ($\lfloor x\rfloor $ is the largest integer not exceeding $x$) [b]p8.[/b] Find all real solutions to the following equation: $$2\sqrt2x^2 + x -\sqrt{1 - x^2 } -\sqrt2 = 0.$$ [b]p9.[/b] Given the expression $S = (x^4 - x)(x^2 - x^3)$ for $x = \cos \frac{2\pi}{5 }+ i\sin \frac{2\pi}{5 }$, find the value of $S^2$ . [b]p10.[/b] In a $32$ team single-elimination rock-paper-scissors tournament, the teams are numbered from $1$ to $32$. Each team is guaranteed (through incredible rock-paper-scissors skill) to win any match against a team with a higher number than it, and therefore will lose to any team with a lower number. Each round, teams who have not lost yet are randomly paired with other teams, and the losers of each match are eliminated. After the $5$ rounds of the tournament, the team that won all $5$ rounds is ranked $1$st, the team that lost the 5th round is ranked $2$nd, and the two teams that lost the $4$th round play each other for $3$rd and $4$th place. What is the probability that the teams numbered $1, 2, 3$, and $4$ are ranked $1$st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively? If the probability is $\frac{m}{n}$ for relatively prime integers $m$ and $n$, find $m$. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].