Should e.g. heuristic/hidden constraint problems be in algorithmic contests?

Revision en3, by yoshi_avx, 2026-02-23 06:04:09

It comes to my mind that while some problems have obviously wrong solutions, they're still accepted in an algorithmic contest. E.g. https://mirror.codeforces.com/blog/entry/147991, or (possibly) https://qoj.ac/contest/1901/problem/8614, https://dmoj.ca/problem/coci16c4p4. Would this be regarded as an error, or actually acceptable? (Output only, or partial scoring problems are excluded from this).

A common "excuse" is to generate weak tests to deliberately make the intended etc. solutions pass.

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  Rev. Lang. By When Δ Comment
en3 English yoshi_avx 2026-02-23 06:04:09 1
en2 English yoshi_avx 2026-02-23 06:02:19 1 Tiny change: 'd etc. soliutions pas' -> 'd etc. solutions pas'
en1 English yoshi_avx 2026-02-23 06:01:54 572 Initial revision (published)