A very well known family of mathematicians has three children called [i]Antonia, Bernhard[/i] and [i]Christian[/i]. Each evening one of the children has to do the dishes. One day, their dad decided to construct of plan that says which child has to do the dishes at which day for the following $55$ days. Let $x$ be the number of possible such plans in which Antonia has to do the dishes on three consecutive days at least once. Furthermore, let $y$ be the number of such plans in which there are three consecutive days in which Antonia does the dishes on the first, Bernhard on the second and Christian on the third day. Determine, whether $x$ and $y$ are different and if so, then decide which of those is larger.

Let $n > 1$ be a positive integer. A 2-dimensional grid, infinite in all directions, is given. Each 1 by 1 square in a given $n$ by $n$ square has a counter on it. A [i]move[/i] consists of taking $n$ adjacent counters in a row or column and sliding them each by one space along that row or column. A [i]returning sequence[/i] is a finite sequence of moves such that all counters again fill the original $n$ by $n$ square at the end of the sequence. [list] [*] Assume that all counters are distinguishable except two, which are indistinguishable from each other. Prove that any distinguishable arrangement of counters in the $n$ by $n$ square can be reached by a returning sequence. [*] Assume all counters are distinguishable. Prove that there is no returning sequence that switches two counters and returns the rest to their original positions.[/list] [i]Mitchell Lee and Benjamin Gunby.[/i]

There are 10 people standing equally spaced around a circle. Each person knows exactly 3 of the other 9 people: the 2 people standing next to her or him, as well as the person directly across the circle. How many ways are there for the 10 people to split up into 5 pairs so that the members of each pair know each other? $\textbf{(A) } 11 \qquad \textbf{(B) } 12 \qquad \textbf{(C) } 13 \qquad \textbf{(D) } 14 \qquad \textbf{(E) } 15$

$(MON 1)$ Find the number of five-digit numbers with the following properties: there are two pairs of digits such that digits from each pair are equal and are next to each other, digits from different pairs are different, and the remaining digit (which does not belong to any of the pairs) is different from the other digits.

Let $p$ be a permutation of the set $S_n = \{1, 2, \dots, n\}$. An element $j \in S_n$ is called a fixed point of $p$ if $p(j) = j$. Let $f_n$ be the number of permutations having no fixed points, and $g_n$ be the number with exactly one fixed point. Show that $|f_n - g_n| = 1$.

Let $N$ be the number of ways to draw 22 straight edges between 10 labeled points, of which no three are collinear, such that no triangle with vertices among these 10 points is created, and there is at most one edge between any two labeled points. Compute $\dfrac{N}{9!}$.

What is the maximal number of regions a circle can be divided in by segments joining $n$ points on the boundary of the circle ? [i]Posted already on the board I think...[/i]

A fair die is rolled four times. The probability that each of the final three rolls is at least as large as the roll preceding it may be expressed in the form $m/n,$ where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m+n.$

Given $100$ coplanar points, no three collinear, prove that at most $70\%$ of the triangles formed by the points have all angles acute.

Find the largest positive integer $N$ so that the number of integers in the set $\{1,2,\dots,N\}$ which are divisible by 3 is equal to the number of integers which are divisible by 5 or 7 (or both).

Let $k$, $\ell $ and $m$ be positive integers. Let $ABCDEF$ be a hexagon that has a center of symmetry whose angles are all $120^\circ$ and let its sidelengths be $AB=k$, $BC=\ell$ and $CD=m$. Let $f(k,\ell,m)$ denote the number of ways we can partition hexagon $ABCDEF$ into rhombi with unit sides and an angle of $120^\circ$. Prove that by fixing $\ell$ and $m$, there exists polynomial $g_{\ell,m}$ such that $f(k,\ell,m)=g_{\ell,m}(k)$ for every positive integer $k$, and find the degree of $g_{\ell,m}$ in terms of $\ell$ and $m$. [i]Submitted by Zoltán Gyenes, Budapest[/i]

Consider a $m\times n$ rectangular board consisting of $mn$ unit squares. Two of its unit squares are called [i]adjacent[/i] if they have a common edge, and a [i]path[/i] is a sequence of unit squares in which any two consecutive squares are adjacent. Two parths are called [i]non-intersecting[/i] if they don't share any common squares. Each unit square of the rectangular board can be colored black or white. We speak of a [i]coloring[/i] of the board if all its $mn$ unit squares are colored. Let $N$ be the number of colorings of the board such that there exists at least one black path from the left edge of the board to its right edge. Let $M$ be the number of colorings of the board for which there exist at least two non-intersecting black paths from the left edge of the board to its right edge. Prove that $N^{2}\geq M\cdot 2^{mn}$.

The set $ G$ is defined by the points $ (x,y)$ with integer coordinates, $ 3\le|x|\le7$, $ 3\le|y|\le7$. How many squares of side at least $ 6$ have their four vertices in $ G$? [asy]defaultpen(black+0.75bp+fontsize(8pt)); size(5cm); path p = scale(.15)*unitcircle; draw((-8,0)--(8.5,0),Arrow(HookHead,1mm)); draw((0,-8)--(0,8.5),Arrow(HookHead,1mm)); int i,j; for (i=-7;i<8;++i) { for (j=-7;j<8;++j) { if (((-7 <= i) && (i <= -3)) || ((3 <= i) && (i<= 7))) { if (((-7 <= j) && (j <= -3)) || ((3 <= j) && (j<= 7))) { fill(shift(i,j)*p,black); }}}} draw((-7,-.2)--(-7,.2),black+0.5bp); draw((-3,-.2)--(-3,.2),black+0.5bp); draw((3,-.2)--(3,.2),black+0.5bp); draw((7,-.2)--(7,.2),black+0.5bp); draw((-.2,-7)--(.2,-7),black+0.5bp); draw((-.2,-3)--(.2,-3),black+0.5bp); draw((-.2,3)--(.2,3),black+0.5bp); draw((-.2,7)--(.2,7),black+0.5bp); label("$-7$",(-7,0),S); label("$-3$",(-3,0),S); label("$3$",(3,0),S); label("$7$",(7,0),S); label("$-7$",(0,-7),W); label("$-3$",(0,-3),W); label("$3$",(0,3),W); label("$7$",(0,7),W);[/asy]$ \textbf{(A)}\ 125\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 150\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 175\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 200\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 225$

How many ways to fill the board $ 4\times 4$ by nonnegative integers, such that sum of the numbers of each row and each column is 3?

$(MON 1)$ Find the number of five-digit numbers with the following properties: there are two pairs of digits such that digits from each pair are equal and are next to each other, digits from different pairs are different, and the remaining digit (which does not belong to any of the pairs) is different from the other digits.

For any two nonnegative integers $n$ and $k$ satisfying $n\geq k$, we define the number $c(n,k)$ as follows: - $c\left(n,0\right)=c\left(n,n\right)=1$ for all $n\geq 0$; - $c\left(n+1,k\right)=2^{k}c\left(n,k\right)+c\left(n,k-1\right)$ for $n\geq k\geq 1$. Prove that $c\left(n,k\right)=c\left(n,n-k\right)$ for all $n\geq k\geq 0$.

Joy has $30$ thin rods, one each of every integer length from $1$ cm through $30$ cm. She places the rods with lengths $3$ cm, $7$ cm, and $15$ cm on a table. She then wants to choose a fourth rod that she can put with these three to form a quadrilateral with positive area. How many of the remaining rods can she choose as the fourth rod? $\textbf{(A) }16\qquad\textbf{(B) }17\qquad\textbf{(C) }18\qquad\textbf{(D) }19\qquad\textbf{(E) }20$

2500 chess kings have to be placed on a $100 \times 100$ chessboard so that [b](i)[/b] no king can capture any other one (i.e. no two kings are placed in two squares sharing a common vertex); [b](ii)[/b] each row and each column contains exactly 25 kings. Find the number of such arrangements. (Two arrangements differing by rotation or symmetry are supposed to be different.) [i]Proposed by Sergei Berlov, Russia[/i]

A group of $16$ people will be partitioned into $4$ indistinguishable $4$-person committees. Each committee will have one chairperson and one secretary. The number of different ways to make these assignments can be written as $3^{r}M$, where $r$ and $M$ are positive integers and $M$ is not divisible by $3$. What is $r$? $ \textbf{(A) }5 \qquad \textbf{(B) }6 \qquad \textbf{(C) }7 \qquad \textbf{(D) }8 \qquad \textbf{(E) }9 \qquad $

A $10 \times 12$ paper rectangle is folded along the grid lines several times, forming a thick $1 \times 1$ square. How many pieces of paper can one possibly get by cutting this square along the segment connecting (a) the midpoints of a pair of opposite sides; [i](2 points)[/i] (b) the midpoints of a pair of adjacent sides? [i](4 points)[/i]

Let $ p$ be an odd prime number. How many $ p$-element subsets $ A$ of $ \{1,2,\dots,2p\}$ are there, the sum of whose elements is divisible by $ p$?

For a natural number $n$ denote by Map $( n )$ the set of all functions $f : \{ 1 , 2 , 3 , \cdots , n \} \rightarrow \{ 1 , 2 , 3 , \cdots , n \} . $ For $ f , g \in $ Map$( n ) , f \circ g $ denotes the function in Map $( n )$ that sends $x \rightarrow f ( g ( x ) ) . $ \\ \\ $(a)$ Let $ f \in$ Map $( n ) . $ If for all $x \in \{ 1 , 2 , 3 , \cdots , n \} f ( x ) \neq x , $ show that $ f \circ f \neq f $ \\$(b)$ Count the number of functions $ f \in$ Map $( n )$ such that $ f \circ f = f $

How many [b]distinguishable[/b] rearrangements of the letters in CONTEST have both the vowels first? (For instance, OETCNST is a one such arrangements but OTETSNC is not.) $ \textbf{(A)}\ 60\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 120\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 240\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 720\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 2520$

At a gathering of $30$ people, there are $20$ people who all know each other and $10$ people who know no one. People who know each other hug, and people who do not know each other shake hands. How many handshakes occur? $\textbf{(A)}\ 240\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 245\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 290\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 480\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 490$

Starting at $(0, 0)$, Richard takes $2n+1$ steps, with each step being one unit either East, North, West, or South. For each step, the direction is chosen uniformly at random from the four possibilities. Determine the probability that Richard ends at $(1, 0)$.