This is my actual account. So yeah this problem is way beyond my level. I tried reading the editorial, but couldn't understand anything. So I would love if somebody could explain it in a way that even I can understand. Problem Link.
The reason I'm trying this problem is to understand at what level red players are playing at.
Regardless, Thankyou for taking time to read this post.
"The reason I'm trying this problem is to understand at what level red players are playing at."— Interesting! I have wondered about these questions in the past, too! You can think of the same in so many different contexts. For example, take the most challenging Question 6 from the International Math Olympiad, Read the solution, see what it takes to understand it, and what it takes to come up with it yourself. Or look at Chess Grandmasters doing some crazy calculations in the air and wonder: How does someone do that?To answer your question, I think it might be helpful to look at streams of some extremely strong Problem Solvers solving really Hard Problems on YouTube; and see how much you are able to follow. If you are able to understand some things, it doesn't necessarily imply that they are easy to come up with! But if you think about how to come up with it yourself, and do your own meta-analysis, note it down, re-visit it, you might improve at Problem-Solving!
The best problem solvers just know how to think about really hard problems and attack them better than the average person. But the skill difference is just surprisingly hard for me to capture/feel/understand/visualize/internalize properly! I don't understand what exactly the difference is between a 3200-rated LGM and a 3979-rated tourist. We all understand that one is stronger than the other. The ratings quantify the order of relative strength. But beyond the numbers, subjectively, I understand absolutely nothing about the skill difference. I just know that both of them are so much better than me. And I find it useless to even think about the Hardest IMO problems or 3500 Rated Codeforces Problems in general. Unfortunately, in my opinion, you can only fully understand what it takes to be a strong Competitive programmer by having something close to what it takes already...
Hm, Interesting answer!!. You are also way above my level, What is it like to be an expert? Does it mean that in real-life or on codeforces you are able to think of solutions of mathematical problems almost instantly? Well for problem <= 1400 rating?
What are the some advantages you had since having expert level of problem solving?
Anyway thanks for answering my previous query.
Hmm, good question! Irrespective of where you are, there will always be problems that are [trivial/easy/just-hard-enough/a-little-too-hard/impossibly-difficult] for you! As you rise up through the ranks, the problems that were once harder become easy for you. That's pretty much what improving at something really is :). When you become good at Problem-Solving, you just become good at finding ways to think about a problem. You might want to look at this blog from nor.
To answer your question on the advantages of becoming good at Problem Solving? If you think that problem-solving is fun for you, wanting to get better at it is very natural. If you think that it is a useful skill at your work or school, the same thing applies. The advantage to becoming good at anything is how much one finds it meaningful to their life!
Or if your question is: "How much is improving at CP(codeforces specifically) transferrable to meaningful skills outside CP?" That's something that I need to think about for a good while before answering! You can ask for it as a separate blog if you want, to get more perspectives! I do think improving at CP is closely related to improving at Generalized Problem Solving. But there are other aspects to getting good at CP too. Like pattern matching, specific algorithms and so on, which may not be as useful outside of CP. You can think of it this way, people who are really good at some Physical sport already can easily and more quickly pick up new sports than the average person :)