ace5's blog

By ace5, history, 2 years ago, translation, In English

Hello, Codeforces!

I and ooaa are excited to invite you to participate in Codeforces Round 922 (Div. 2), which will take place on Jan/30/2024 17:35 (Moscow time).

This round will be rated for participants, whose rating is below 2100. Participants with higher rating can participate unofficially.

You will be given 7-8 problems and 2 hours to solve them. We recommend you to read all the problems. 1 or more interactive problems may occur in the round, so we suggest to read this post.

We would like to thank:

We wish you good luck and high rating!

UPD. Score distribution: $$$500 - 1000 - 1250 - 2000 - 2500 - 3000 - 3250$$$.

UPD2. Congratulations to the winners!

Div. 2

  1. alice_ssoi

  2. JaredGoff

  3. ppltn

  4. sunc_mgu_govno

  5. 1926_yes

Div. 1+2

  1. arvindf232

  2. SSerxhs

  3. alice_ssoi

  4. natofp

  5. JaredGoff

Congratulations to the first solves as well!

UPD3. Editorial.

  • Vote: I like it
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  • Vote: I do not like it

| Write comment?
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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +114 Vote: I do not like it

As a tester, it's the first time I tested an actual Codeforces round!

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +43 Vote: I do not like it

As a tester,the problemset is incredible!Hope you enjoy it :)

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +19 Vote: I do not like it

As a tester, it’s my first round that I tested, good luck to everyone!

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2 years ago, hide # |
Rev. 2  
Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

As a tester, it is very good round! Good luck!

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +10 Vote: I do not like it

Lets goooo , its time i become pupil

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +19 Vote: I do not like it

I loved testing the round, problems are of high quality. Good luck!

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it -30 Vote: I do not like it

5-6 or 7-8 tasks

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2 years ago, hide # |
Rev. 3  
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Score Distribution?? Edit : Very Balanced Score Distribution according to toughness..

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

Hoping to stay cyan

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it -8 Vote: I do not like it

As a tester, I hope you enjoy the round as much as I did.

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it -8 Vote: I do not like it

As not tester, idk

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2 years ago, hide # |
Rev. 2  
Vote: I like it +4 Vote: I do not like it

2 hours and 7 tasks :O

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Vote: I like it -8 Vote: I do not like it

How to reach expert ?

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53 points to master. Hope to be a master tonight!

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +6 Vote: I do not like it

As a tester, good luck to everyone! It's the first time i tested a round.

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

Score distribution?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it -6 Vote: I do not like it

Hopefully I move to green this time! Excited for this round! Btw which rating should I be to become a problem setter / tester?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +13 Vote: I do not like it

What will be the score distribution?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +9 Vote: I do not like it

waiting for that tree based div 2 D since forever

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +21 Vote: I do not like it

Knowing Anton, I will be very surprised to see a segment tree in any of his problems

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

Lost 50 pt in previous div2. Hope to recover

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +13 Vote: I do not like it

are the round writers siblings?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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All the best guys! Hoping to reach 1300 today.

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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ace5 will the score distribution be announced?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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hope to become CM in this contest. Now only 72 rating.

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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As a participant, I hope I can get non negative delta again.

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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Hope not to drop down to pupil, spec is fine

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GLHF

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they write to read about interactive problems but dont give any, hope to see one today (ofc i wont be able to solve it)

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +16 Vote: I do not like it

Is D that easy? 1000+ solves and I am not able to figure out from where to begin? :(

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Rev. 6  
Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

I have no idea how to start thinking about D!

Binary search? NO

Two Pointers? NO

DP? NO

Gready? NO

Graphs? NO

Range queries? NO

Math? NO

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
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    What is going through your head??? Why are you discussing problems before the end of the contest???

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
    Vote: I like it +27 Vote: I do not like it

    The funniest thing is that D is actually binary search with dp (not sure about the intended solution, but I've solved it this way)

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      2 years ago, hide # ^ |
       
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      I also solved it that way.

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      2 years ago, hide # ^ |
      Rev. 2  
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      Binary search on answer?

      If so how to check if If the cost can be less than or equal to x? I was stuck at this point

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        2 years ago, hide # ^ |
         
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        DP, DP[i] is the minimum sum of blocked elements such that you covered all elements from 1 to i, i used segment tree to query minimums.

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          2 years ago, hide # ^ |
          Rev. 2  
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          You can also just use a set instead of a segment tree. Since you only want the min value of dp in some range $$$[j, i]$$$ where $$$j$$$ is non-decreasing as $$$i$$$ increases, just keep the values in the relevant sliding window in the set and check for the minimum value.

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            2 years ago, hide # ^ |
             
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            I saw your code and I am not getting why you wrote that additional Prefix_sum[n+1]=Prefix_sum[n]

            can you explain why that steps is crucial

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        2 years ago, hide # ^ |
         
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        Binary search the max sum of the segments. The best answer happens when the max of all segments is close to the sum of blocked elements.

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        2 years ago, hide # ^ |
         
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        Let's suppose we want to check, is it possible to make $$$cost \le x$$$.
        We must erase some elements such that all remaining subarrays have $$$sum \lt = x$$$, and the sum of erased elements must be $$$\le x$$$.
        So, we calculate $$$dp[i]$$$ = minimal sum of erased elements such that there is no range with $$$sum \gt x$$$ in $$$a[0..i]$$$. Then, $$$cost \le x \leftrightarrow dp[n - 1] \le x$$$.

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          2 years ago, hide # ^ |
           
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          can you also explain how you are finding the value of dp[i]?

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            2 years ago, hide # ^ |
            Rev. 2  
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            My solution is a bit complicated (i believe there is a simpler one), but here it is:

            First, if $$$x \lt max(a)$$$, there is no solution.

            Let's define $$$dp[i][0]$$$ same as $$$dp[i]$$$ above, but with additional constraint: $$$a[i]$$$ is erased. $$$dp[i][1]$$$ is essentialy the opposite: $$$a[i]$$$ is not erased.

            Base cases are: $$$dp[0][0] = a[0], dp[0][1] = 0$$$.
            We calculate $$$dp[i][0]$$$ just as $$$min(dp[i - 1][0], dp[i - 1][1]) + a[i]$$$, since when we erase $$$a[i]$$$, we don't care about the range which ends before, we just know that it's sum $$$\le x$$$.

            Finding $$$dp[i][1]$$$ is another task. We have the following relation:
            $$$ dp[i][1] = min_{j} dp[j][0]$$$, where $$$j \lt i$$$ and $$$\sum_{k=j+1}^{i} a_i \le x$$$, since if we don't erase $$$a[i]$$$, it must be the end of a certain range (e.g. the entire range $$$[j + 1..i]$$$, because it's sum is less or equal than $$$x$$$).

            The least suitable $$$j$$$ can be maintained during dp calculation with two pointers, and the desired value is just segment minimum of $$$dp[j][0]$$$, which can be found with segment tree (or minimum queue). The complexity of calculating such dp is clearly $$$O(n)$$$ or $$$O(n \log n)$$$, depending on data structure you use.

            Code: 244130581

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              2 years ago, hide # ^ |
               
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              Got it. THanks for the explanation.

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                2 years ago, hide # ^ |
                Rev. 2  
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                why in transition state of dp[i][1] no contribution of dp[j][1]?

                and i did not understand why a[i] must be end of certain range , plz explain this also

                as if a[i] is end element of some segment , then a[i+1] must be blocked element , how we assume this

                are_you_tilted

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                  2 years ago, hide # ^ |
                  Rev. 2  
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                  When we calculate $$$dp[i]$$$, we consider only the prefix of $$$a$$$, which ends in $$$a[i]$$$. That's why in $$$dp[i][1]$$$ there's always a range which ends in $$$a[i]$$$ (because it's the last element so far, and it is not erased).

                  Why don't we use $$$dp[j][1]$$$? Consider any $$$j$$$ such that $$$\sum_{k=j+1}^{i} a[i]$$$ <= $$$x$$$. If we make transition from $$$dp[j][1]$$$, we continue a range which ends in $$$j$$$ now. But we actually don't know where this range starts, and we don't know, will it's sum be still less or equal than $$$x$$$ after continuing in up to the $$$i$$$.

                  For better understanding, consider the array $$$d$$$ built on a certain sequence of operations, where $$$d[i] = 0$$$ if we erased $$$i$$$th element, and $$$1$$$ otherwise.
                  For example, $$$d = [0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1]$$$. In terms of $$$d$$$, when we calculate $$$dp[i][1]$$$, we want to choose the start index of a consequtive segment of ones, end of which will be in $$$i$$$. That is, our current transition looks like "choose a zero $$$j$$$, then fill $$$d[j + 1..i]$$$ with ones — once we've created a range of ones, we don't extend it to the right. Maybe now it is more clear, why it suffices.

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
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    The first three are actually YES. (And maybe 6th too, depending on your implementation)

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +2 Vote: I do not like it

Thanks a lot for this round! Problems are really interesting, especially E with it's idea of solution(just asking questions as in quicksort?).

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
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    Can you explain your solution?

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      2 years ago, hide # ^ |
       
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      Let's understand comparing an element $$$a[i]$$$ to all others for ~$$$3n$$$ questions. first we will ask about this element $$$a[i]$$$ until $$$X$$$ is equal to a[i]. (this will happen since $$$X$$$ goes sideways each time to the number it is being compared to). Now we have $$$X = a[i]$$$. Now to compare $$$a[i]$$$ and $$$a[j]$$$ we just need to ask the question about $$$a[j]$$$ first. This is how we know the answer.($$$a[i] \gt a[j]$$$ or vice versa). And now ask about $$$a[i]$$$ again (to make $$$X$$$ equal to $$$a[i]$$$ again). We have learned how to compare this element with all the others. But this is the same as quick sorting!!! We are comparing an element and sorting all the smaller ones and all the bigger ones. the number of queries $$$~O(n log n)$$$ which hopefully will pass.

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
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    I had thought of a solution, where LIS + LDS of a permutation has certain minimum lower bound. I had tried to implement with that logic, but timed-out.

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +6 Vote: I do not like it

Is D really this easy? or am I just dumb? 1k+ already solved. It's a recursion problem I know that but somehow not able to form the code ughhhhhhhh :D

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Ternary search in D?

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Guys why my this code is wrong for codeforces question 3 xor distance one

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

#define ll long long

void solve()
{
    ll a, b, r;
    cin >> a >> b >> r;
    if (r == 0)
    {
        cout << abs(a - b) << endl;
        return;
    }

    vector<int> a1(64, 0), b1(64, 0);
    int greater = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i <=63; i++)
    {
        if ((a & (1LL << i)))
        {
            a1[i]++;
            greater = i;
        }
        if ((b & (1LL << i)))
        {
            b1[i]++;
            greater = i;
        }
    }

    ll min1 = LLONG_MAX;
    for (int i = 0; i <=greater+1; i++)
    {
        for (int j = 0; j <=greater+1; j++)
        {
            ll k = (1LL << i) + (1LL << j);
            ll o = (1LL << i);
            ll p = (1LL << j);
           

            if (k > r)
                break;
            min1 = min(min1, abs((a ^ k) - (b ^ k)));
            min1 = min(min1, abs((a ^ o) - (b ^ o)));
            min1 = min(min1, abs((a ^ p) - (b ^ p)));
            
        }
    }
    if (min1 == LLONG_MAX)
        min1 = 1;
    cout << min1 << endl;
}

int main()
{
    ios::sync_with_stdio(false);
    cin.tie(0);

    ll t;
    cin >> t;
    while (t--)
        solve();

    return 0;
}
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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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Do we use divide and conquer on E?

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
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    I used divide and conquer in E that reminds of quick sort algorithm.

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    Yep. I did something like quick sort.

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    Yes, use a recursive function to solve for a set of indices $$$S$$$ and at each stage you pick a random indice $$$i$$$ from $$$S$$$ and make $$$x$$$ equal to the value $$$p_i$$$.

    Then remove $$$i$$$ from $$$S$$$ and split $$$S$$$ two sets : indices with values $$$ \lt p_i$$$ and values $$$ \gt p_i$$$, solve for both these sets recursively.

    This takes $$$O(n \log{n})$$$ queries.

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      2 years ago, hide # ^ |
      Rev. 2  
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      So we just splitting the set of indecies on two partitions on each step, with "pivot" index value remaining their parent. Then we just restore the answer from a tree. Overall, it shoudn't take more than $$$2nlog(n)$$$ requests. Is this your approach?

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Oh god, I'm so lucky. I freakin stared at monitor looking for overflow errors in D, but couldn't find anything, since locally everything works ok. Decided to go ooga-booga mode and wrote #define int long long, and it freakin passed. After it passed I realized the error. No -Wconversion moment, shame on me

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
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    I write every contest with #define int long long.

    Never got MLE/TLE because of that.

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This is a cool contest with a cool problemset ☝☝☝☝

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How C?

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Rev. 2  
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is C brute force?

from topbit(r) to 0, if we can flip current bit then copy it and compute abs(a^r — b^r) to determine bit should be flipped or not.

had 10 WA pretest2 still no clue

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Man, I was struggling with C :( TLE or MLE was troubling me? Can anyone give the solution?

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
    Rev. 8  
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    basic steps to solve C problem
    1 -> find maximum(mx) and minimum(mn) among a and b.
    2 -> ignore common bits because they didn't affect the answer.
    3 -> ignore the first missmatch bit of mx(1) and mn(0)
    4 -> traverse from MSB -> LSB whenever this condition reached that bit of mx is set and bit of mn is unset try to transfer this bit form mx to mn(if possible).

    lets take an example
    7 4 3
    7 -> 1 1 1
    4 -> 1 0 0
    ind-> 2 1 0
    mx = 7,mn = 4
    2nd bit -> ignore because both are same
    1st bit -> first time occur 1 in mx 0 in mn
    0th bit -> try to transfer this bit from mx to mn.

    how to transfer ?
    if (curr bit is set in mx and unset in mn) and we set this bit in x, then after xor with x, curr bit of mx will be unset and curr bit of mn will be set.
    so check whenever this(curr bit is set in mx and unset in mn) condition reach and after setting this bit in x if x <= r then set this bit otherwise ignore this and move on next bit.

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      2 years ago, hide # ^ |
      Rev. 2  
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      Bro can you please help me out with this. I've done the exact same thing as you described but I'm getting WA. Submission

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        2 years ago, hide # ^ |
        Rev. 2  
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        your code is giving WA on testcase 7 4 3. I think you are not applying the third step

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          2 years ago, hide # ^ |
           
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          what was your intuition behind step 3

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            2 years ago, hide # ^ |
            Rev. 2  
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            Think about the above example:-
            7 4 3
            7 -> 1 1 1
            4 -> 1 0 0
            if we don't ignore the second the bit then we have enoung r to shift second and third bit from mx to mn and after shifting both bit diff will remain 3 which is wrong.

            simply we want like this:-

            mx -> 10000000
            mn -> 01111111
            which minmizes the gap between them.

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Spent 1h+ on C because wrote 1<<i instead of 1ll<<i =(

The problems are really interesting!

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B is similar to ARC149B, and I think they probably have somthing in common.

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Today i solved 3 problems, and enjoy this contest, Thankyou

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Can someone please explain, how to solve D?

how to manage the states, within the constraints

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    Rev. 3  
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    use binary search to find the answer. For an answer $$$x$$$, the maximum sum of the segments should below or equal $$$x$$$, and the minimum sum of the blocked elements, too. you can find the sum by an $$$O(n^2)$$$ dp, then optimize it with monotonic queue to $$$O(n)$$$, then you solve this problem in $$$O(n\log V)$$$.

    sry, my english is not very good. if ur chinese, you can look look this solution.

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Oh bad I spent 1:10 and almost 100 lines of code C Why are solutions from my room so short...

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Was the intended solution for F sth like: sort the sons for each node by greatest depth of node in its subtree, then do dfs in that order and maybe get the profit of jumping from each node on the trampoline when you traverse the tree in dfs order, and take the best profits? I did that without having an actual proof or something and got WA on test 27, but maybe I was missing something.

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Please stop create monkey-problems like B

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Can someone please tell me what's wrong in this submission for C? Spent over an hour but I couldn't find anything :( Submission

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Rev. 2  
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Thanks to preparing the contest! I enjoeyed A,B,C, and G That's how I solved G

Spoiler
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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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I'm just curious. To solve G, I have worked out the cases when n is even. But when n is odd, I have completely no idea.

I wonder if we randomly choose numbers from {-3,-2,-1,1,2,3}, is is possible to "random" out a possible permutation?

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
    Rev. 2  
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    For even, yes.

    For odd, I've proved that it is possible as {-4, -3, -2, -1, 1, 2, 3, 4}, but I'm not sure if it is possible as {-3, -2, -1, 1, 2, 3}.

    If you don't mind, please refer to my solution. https://mirror.codeforces.com/blog/entry/125215? ad#comment-1111742 and I think this main idea can lead you to solve or dissolve the problem.

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      My solution 244154502 doesn't choose numbers randomly, but they do end up being in the set $$$\{-3,-2,-1,1,2,3\}$$$ for $$$n$$$ not divisible by 4 (in particular, for odd $$$n$$$). You probably can get all numbers in the said set with a slightly different base case.

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did 1<<i instead of 1ll << i :(

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i hate bitmask problems a little bit

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Rev. 7  
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My solution for problem D

We will binary search on the answer. Let's call the currrent value we are dealing with is X Let's call dp[i] : Consider position 1 to i, if we take element i, what will be the sum of blocked elements. So :

dp[i] = min(dp[j] + a[i]) and sum from j + 1 to i — 1 must be <= X. We can find the range of j by binary search and get the minimum value by segment tree simutanously. The function check on binary search return true if there is exist an indice i such that : sum(i + 1, n) <= X && dp[i] <= x Hope it make sense

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C is stolen from codechef just expanded the constraints https://www.codechef.com/problems/XORDIF

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +7 Vote: I do not like it

Did someone prove that in B we are getting the best number of inversions by just sorting one of the permutations? That is not that intuitive for me...

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
    Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

    Consider index $$$i, j$$$ If $$$a_i \lt a_j$$$ and $$$b_i \lt b_j$$$ or $$$a_i \gt a_j$$$ and $$$b_i \gt b_j$$$ , then eliminating inversion in $$$a$$$ eliminates inversion in $$$b$$$.

    If $$$a_i \lt a_j$$$ and $$$b_i \gt b_j$$$ then in any configuration you must have 1 inversion due to this pair, thus sorting will eliminate all the inversions pairs of type 1 and 1 inversion is anyway there in type 2 for any configuration

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
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    Consider two indices, $$$i$$$ and $$$j$$$ and $$$i \lt j$$$.

    If the order is different in the arrays:

    • $$$a_i \lt a_j$$$ and $$$b_i \gt b_j$$$, or
    • $$$a_i \gt a_j$$$ and $$$b_i \lt b_j$$$

    this means if it becomes $$$i \gt j$$$ in the answer array, the sum of inversions will not change, because if the inversion disappears in a, it reappears in b and vice versa.

    However, if both of the arrays contain inversion with indices $$$i$$$ and $$$j$$$, meaning

    • $$$a_i \gt a_j$$$ and $$$b_i \gt b_j$$$

    Then if the indices $$$i$$$ and $$$j$$$ become somehow $$$i \gt j$$$ in the final array, sum of inversions will decrease by 2.

    If:

    • $$$a_i \lt a_j$$$ and $$$b_i \lt b_j$$$

    then their order should be preserved, in other words $$$i \lt j$$$ should hold after reordering.

    so we want to swap preserve all $$$ai \lt aj$$$ and remove as much $$$ai \gt aj$$$ as we can. because the array $$$b$$$ doesn't contribute anything (look at the cases). so the operation that accomplishes this is sorting.

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
    Vote: I like it +16 Vote: I do not like it

    you can use bubble sort to understand. Consider what happens when you swap 2 consecutive numbers

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
    Vote: I like it +14 Vote: I do not like it

    Consider optimal answer by score (number ov inversions in $$$a$$$ + number of inversions in $$$b$$$). If there are more than one optimal answers consider one with lexicographically smallest array $$$a$$$.

    $$$Claim:$$$ array $$$a$$$ will be sorted in such an answer.

    $$$Proof$$$ $$$by$$$ $$$contradiction:$$$ assume it's not. Then there is an index $$$i$$$ such that $$$a_i \gt a_{i+1}$$$. Let's make operation with $$$i$$$ and $$$i+1$$$, i.e $$$swap(a_i, a_{i+1})$$$ and $$$swap(b_i, b_{i+1})$$$. Number of inversions in array $$$a$$$ decreased by one after a swap, and number of inversions in array $$$b$$$ increased by no more than one, since $$$b_i, b_{i+1}$$$ is the only pair of elements whose relative order was changed in $$$b$$$. Therefore number of inversions in $$$a$$$ + $$$b$$$ $$$\bf{not}$$$ $$$\bf{increased}$$$ after a swap, but array $$$a$$$ became lexicographically smaller. But we chose array $$$a$$$ as lexicographically smallest $$$\to$$$ contradiction, array $$$a$$$ is sorted in optimal answer.

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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Can someone explain the statement of problem B, please?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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Is there a non-random solution for E?

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
    Rev. 2  
    Vote: I like it +32 Vote: I do not like it

    Yes — you can do parallel binary search to find all values in worst case $$$O(n \log n)$$$ queries. My code (244112756) is very messy and might FST; I have a proven, more efficient version that I haven't yet submitted and I'll clean up the code. I'll probably post a comment on the editorial about my solution with a proof of the number of queries.

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
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    Firstly you can request X=1 (I think by 2n queries)

    Secondly supporse you have $$$k$$$ indices of consecutive numbers $$$L \ldots R$$$ ($$$R-L+1=k$$$). Find position of $$$m=(L+R)/2$$$ (likely it can be done by $$$O(R-L)$$$ queries). Then split indices to two groups and solve recursively.

    Start call from $$$L=1$$$, $$$R=n$$$, indices = $$$1 \ldots n$$$.

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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Where is the Editorial?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

Is Carrot extension not working?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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How to solve E?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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My B solution uses just bubble sort, but I get TLE anyways. Could someone give me some hint?

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
    Vote: I like it +11 Vote: I do not like it

    Bubble sort is O(n^2) which is too slow for the bounds which are 10^5. You need a faster sorting algorithm. If you can use the built-in sort for your language that should be fine.

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
    Vote: I like it +10 Vote: I do not like it

    Just make a pair array where first element is a[i] and second is b[i] and sort this according to first element. the proof of correctness you can do by yourself.

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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I spent a lot of time on B. I think it's too difficult for people without prior knowledge like me. I don’t know how to prove the correctness of my ideas. ;(

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +22 Vote: I do not like it

My E solution got TLE for java. Had to use chat gpt to convert to c++. Time constraints too tight?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +10 Vote: I do not like it

Is there a proof for randomised solution for E?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

I think E is too tight. I got TLE. However, someone got AC using same idea (maybe just a different select point). too sad~.

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
    Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

    Looking at the output for the failed test, it seems that it was actually a WA due to exceeding the query limit, but since the program failed to handle the WA input and exit, it was judged a TLE.

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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Next contest coming in 3 weeks? Why is it taking so long? or am I missing something.

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Can someone explain me why this is TLE ?Code

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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Top5 are always smurfs :)

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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Is there no hacking phase?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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rating updates ?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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"Submissions have been scheduled for rejudge on the next testset." This notification came after the system tests were over. What does this mean?

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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Can anyone explain the intuition behind why, for problem C, you need to avoid swapping the bits between a and b until the first time the bits differ?

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
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    Because you don't accomplish anything by adding that bit in x. Example: a = 1, b = 1, a⊕0 — b⊕0 = a⊕1 — b⊕1.

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      2 years ago, hide # ^ |
       
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      @blaze Right, but I'm trying to figure out why this is the case. For the case of 9 and 6, for example, you can notice setting X to 1001 rather than 0001 (or just 1) ends up making it so that, if a > b before this, a < b afterward. I think this is the key insight, but I'm trying to figure out why this is only the case until the first bit differs.

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        2 years ago, hide # ^ |
         
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        Don't look at the numbers a and b as "numbers", separate them bit by bit and look at them that way. You can assume that a > b because $$$|a \oplus x - b \oplus x| = |b \oplus x - a \oplus x|$$$. You don't want to toggle unnecessary bits in x so that it can be <= r. During subtraction of $$$a \oplus x - b \oplus x$$$ notice that the bits that are the same don't affect the result, xoring them with something won't make those bits different.

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          2 years ago, hide # ^ |
           
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          Thanks for the reply but I don't think we are talking about the same thing. I understand the bits that are the same between a and b should not have anything xor'd with them. But in correct solution, you skip not only the positions where a and b have the same bit, but also the first position where a and b's bits differ, even if that position has a 1 bit for a and a 0 bit for b. That is the part I am confused on.

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            2 years ago, hide # ^ |
             
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            we skip first bit because if we swap the MSB, we would have to add that bit to our cost, i.e., r, instead we let it be as it is. best explained with an example:

            suppose these are two numbers in binary:

            110011 001010

            now, in this case we would avoid swapping the first bit because it alone costs 2^5, which would be higher than any cost we would incur to swap subsequent bits however we like. suppose r = 100000 (in binary) in this case.

            then, if had we swapped the first bit, we could not swap any further bit and new numbers would be 010011 and 101010

            notice the third bit from the left would have been better in first number but we don't have any r left but, if we did not swap the first bit, we could do anything later on in this case because r is sufficient.

            if any doubt ask me.

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              2 years ago, hide # ^ |
               
              Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

              Thanks for your help! I understand if you swap the MSB it comprises the whole cost, but I'm having trouble understanding why this means we shouldn't use it. After all, it makes the biggest change in the numbers, and thus brings them closer together, right?

              However, here the correct X to use is 010001. If instead we used 100000, which is what you get if you don't skip the MSB, you end up subtracting too much from the bigger number and adding too much to the smaller number, which results in not getting an optimal solution.

              What I am trying to understand is, why is this only a problem for the MSB? Why do we always avoid swapping only for the MSB, but we can always do the swaps for any other bit?

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                2 years ago, hide # ^ |
                 
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                Because Suppose n has msb, now the later bits, we are trying to push to m to make n-m as smaller as possible. As m increases and n-m decreases.

                we are greedily avoiding first msb in case a solution existed in which we could switch the first msb then later on we would get the best answer, suppose like this 2 numbers 1111, 0000 and r is 1000 in this case we can switch msb to get best answer but its clearly possible avoid msb and switch rest bits in lesser cost.

                Did i answer your question? If not, i dont think i understand your doubt

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            2 years ago, hide # ^ |
            Rev. 3  
            Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

            approach is like this ->> (without loss of generality, assume n>m) avoid swapping first bit, and later on try to get significant bits to m. since, n>m, first bit will be in n and getting bits to m would make n-m smaller and smaller.

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

This contest be like:

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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2 years ago, hide # |
Rev. 2  
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My Solution for problem D https://mirror.codeforces.com/contest/1918/submission/244169954

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

// shortcuts
#define M 1000000007
#define ll long long
#define lld long double
#define vi vector<int>
#define vll vector<ll>
#define mx 1e18
#define mn INT_MIN

// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ll find_min(vector<ll> &segment , ll q_left , ll q_right , ll left , ll right , ll segPos)
{
    if(q_left <= left && right <= q_right) return segment[segPos];
    if(q_left > right || left > q_right) return mx;

    ll ans = mx;
    ll mid = (left + right) / 2;
    ans = min(ans , find_min(segment, q_left, q_right , left , mid , 2*segPos+1));
    ans = min(ans , find_min(segment, q_left, q_right , mid+1 ,right , 2*segPos+2));
    return ans;
}

void update(vector<ll> &segment , ll left , ll right , ll segPos , ll idx , ll val)
{
    if(left == right) 
    {
        segment[segPos] = val;
        return;
    }

    ll mid = (left + right) / 2;
    if(idx <= mid) update(segment , left , mid , 2*segPos+1 , idx , val);
    else update(segment , mid+1 , right , 2*segPos+2 , idx , val);
    segment[segPos] = min(segment[2*segPos+1] , segment[2*segPos+2]);
}

ll ok(vector<ll> &vt , vector<ll> &prefix , ll n , ll mid)
{
    vector<ll> dp(n+1 , 0);
    vector<ll> segment(4*n+10 , mx);
    update(segment , 0 , n , 0 , 0 , 0);
    for(ll i = 1;i<=n;i++)
    {
        ll low = 1 , high = i , left = i;
        while(low <= high)
        {
            ll idx = (low + high)/2;
            if(prefix[i]-prefix[idx-1]-vt[i] <= mid)
            {
                left = idx;
                high = idx-1;
            }
            else low = idx+1;
        }

        dp[i] = vt[i]+find_min(segment , left-1 , i , 0 , n , 0);
        update(segment , 0 , n , 0 , i , dp[i]);
    }

    // cout << mid << endl;
    // for(ll i = 0;i<=n;i++) cout << dp[i] << " "; cout << endl;

    for(ll i = 1;i<=n;i++)
    {
        if(dp[i] <= mid && prefix[n]-prefix[i] <= mid) return true;
    }
    return false;
}
void ok()
{
    ll n;
    cin >> n;
    vector<ll> vt(n+1);
    vector<ll> prefix(n+1);
    for(ll i = 1; i <= n; i++) cin >> vt[i];
    for(ll i = 1; i <= n; i++) prefix[i] = prefix[i-1] + vt[i];

    // 1. apply binary search on minimum cost of an array. 
    // 2. use prefix sum to calculate the sum of element in a range.
    // 3. For each iteration of binary search make a dp table, let says currently we are checking for value mid.
    // 4. Now dp[i] = minimum sum of all blocked element from subarray [1...i], when ith element is blocked 
    // 5. Transition dp[i] = min(vt[i] + dp[j]) for all j such that sum(vt[j+1] + ... + vt[i]) <= mid. Use Binary search to find such value of j.
    // 6. Use segment tree to find min(vt[i] + dp[j])

    ll low = 0 , high = prefix[n] , ans = prefix[n];
    while(low <= high)
    {
        ll mid = (low+high) / 2;
        if(ok(vt , prefix , n , mid))
        {
            ans = mid;
            high = mid-1;
        }
        else low = mid+1;
    }
    cout << ans << endl;
}

int main()
{
    // Shubham Kumar Jha
    ios_base::sync_with_stdio(false);
    cin.tie(NULL);

#ifndef ONLINE_JUDGE
    freopen("zinput.txt", "r", stdin);
    freopen("zoutput.txt", "w", stdout);
#endif

    ll t = 1;
    cin >> t;
    for(ll i = 1;i<=t;i++)
    {
        ok();
    }
    return 0;
}
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2 years ago, hide # |
Rev. 2  
Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

Thank you for fast Editorial

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it +72 Vote: I do not like it

great problemset, definitely one of the best div2's of last months!

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
Vote: I like it -12 Vote: I do not like it

D problem (Blocking Elements) Video Editorial : https://youtu.be/ZfqWLxBG-Ow?si=WxQOHwg_hdelqH4C

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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everything went as planned, I will farm next div 4

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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i had solved 1 problem and it is accepted but why my rating get minused?

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    2 years ago, hide # ^ |
     
    Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

    Based on your current rating, you are expected to have a better rank now to get a positive delta. i.e. Solve B to climb up in the rank-list.

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2 years ago, hide # |
 
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I like this round, especially the strong input/output examples. Good round.

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Hey! This was indeed a very educational type of round, thanks to the contest problem-setters. I just managed to curate some well-elaborated problem discussion sessions covering problems A to D https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxHsiA8Ewxn24IVOuNjADlvah8d_eIXuW&si=IbM9faXnzHYP7uSH They should be helpful for beginners and many Div2 participants, especially problem D. Excited to see the community grow together!

PS: Didn't get time till now to work on the problems E to G, but would be glad to have discussions on them on any forum!