A well-known puzzle asks for a partition of a cross into four parts which are to be reassembled into a square. One solution is exhibited on the picture. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/9/1/3b8990baf5e37270c640e280c479b788d989ba.png[/img] Show that there are infinitely many solutions. (Some solutions split the cross into four equal parts!)

Let $N$ be a positive integer, and consider an $N \times N$ grid. A [i]right-down path[/i] is a sequence of grid cells such that each cell is either one cell to the right of or one cell below the previous cell in the sequence. A [i]right-up path[/i] is a sequence of grid cells such that each cell is either one cell to the right of or one cell above the previous cell in the sequence. Prove that the cells of the $N \times N$ grid cannot be partitioned into less than $N$ right-down or right-up paths. For example, the following partition of the $5 \times 5$ grid uses $5$ paths. [asy] size(4cm); draw((5,-1)--(0,-1)--(0,-2)--(5,-2)--(5,-3)--(0,-3)--(0,-4)--(5,-4),gray+linewidth(0.5)+miterjoin); draw((1,-5)--(1,0)--(2,0)--(2,-5)--(3,-5)--(3,0)--(4,0)--(4,-5),gray+linewidth(0.5)+miterjoin); draw((0,0)--(5,0)--(5,-5)--(0,-5)--cycle,black+linewidth(2.5)+miterjoin); draw((0,-1)--(3,-1)--(3,-2)--(1,-2)--(1,-4)--(4,-4)--(4,-3)--(2,-3)--(2,-2),black+linewidth(2.5)+miterjoin); draw((3,0)--(3,-1),black+linewidth(2.5)+miterjoin); draw((1,-4)--(1,-5),black+linewidth(2.5)+miterjoin); draw((4,-3)--(4,-1)--(5,-1),black+linewidth(2.5)+miterjoin); [/asy] [i]Proposed by Zixiang Zhou, Canada[/i]

Consider the set $A = \{1, 2, ..., n\}$, where $n \in N, n \ge 6$. Show that $A$ is the union of three pairwise disjoint sets, with the same cardinality and the same sum of their elements, if and only if $n$ is a multiple of $3$.

Anton has an isosceles right triangle, which he wants to cut into $9$ triangular parts in the way shown in the picture. What is the largest number of the resulting $9$ parts that can be equilateral triangles? A more formal description of partitioning. Let triangle $ABC$ be given. We choose two points on its sides so that they go in the order $AC_1C_2BA_1A_2CB_1B_2$, and no two coincide. In addition, the segments $C_1A_2$, $A_1B_2$ and $B_1C_2$ must intersect at one point. Then the partition is given by segments $C_1A_2$, $A_1B_2$, $B_1C_2$, $A_1C_2$, $B_1A_2$ and $C_1B_2$. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/0/5/5dd914b987983216342e23460954d46755d351.png[/img]

Show that there exists an integer $N$ such that for all $n \ge N$ a square can be partitioned into $n$ smaller squares.

$k > 1$ is fixed. Show that for $n$ sufficiently large for every partition of $\{1,2,\dots,n\}$ into $k$ disjoint subsets we can find $a \neq b$ such that $a$ and $b$ are in the same subset and $a+1$ and $b+1$ are in the same subset. What is the smallest $n$ for which this is true?

Let $ A_0 \equal{} (a_1,\dots,a_n)$ be a finite sequence of real numbers. For each $ k\geq 0$, from the sequence $ A_k \equal{} (x_1,\dots,x_k)$ we construct a new sequence $ A_{k \plus{} 1}$ in the following way. 1. We choose a partition $ \{1,\dots,n\} \equal{} I\cup J$, where $ I$ and $ J$ are two disjoint sets, such that the expression \[ \left|\sum_{i\in I}x_i \minus{} \sum_{j\in J}x_j\right| \] attains the smallest value. (We allow $ I$ or $ J$ to be empty; in this case the corresponding sum is 0.) If there are several such partitions, one is chosen arbitrarily. 2. We set $ A_{k \plus{} 1} \equal{} (y_1,\dots,y_n)$ where $ y_i \equal{} x_i \plus{} 1$ if $ i\in I$, and $ y_i \equal{} x_i \minus{} 1$ if $ i\in J$. Prove that for some $ k$, the sequence $ A_k$ contains an element $ x$ such that $ |x|\geq\frac n2$. [i]Author: Omid Hatami, Iran[/i]

We call an even positive integer $n$ [i]nice[/i] if the set $\{1, 2, \dots, n\}$ can be partitioned into $\frac{n}{2}$ two-element subsets, such that the sum of the elements in each subset is a power of $3$. For example, $6$ is nice, because the set $\{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6\}$ can be partitioned into subsets $\{1, 2\}$, $\{3, 6\}$, $\{4, 5\}$. Find the number of nice positive integers which are smaller than $3^{2022}$.