INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICAL COMPETITION

COMBINATORICS I
HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL - REVIEWER (ANSWER KEY)

1. There are three towns in Wonderland, labeled A, B, and C in the

figure. Three roads connect A and B, and two roads connect B
and C. How many different routes can one take from A to C?
Assume that you are only allowed to travel in the direction of the
arrows: from left to right.
Solution:
“List and count all possible routes” and “Multiply 3 by 2.”
The first idea is easy to verify: we list all possible routes on the board, and indeed there are six.
Next, we produce an explanation of why the product of 3 and 2 is a correct solution. Here it is: for any
road taken from A to B, we will always have two ways to proceed to C. Thus, every route from A to B
serves as a starting point for two different A-to-C routes. As a result, the number of routes one could take
to get from A to C is twice as many as the number of routes from A to B.

2. A new town, D, was built in Wonderland, and 4 roads

were opened leading from C to D. How many different
routes can one take from A to D? Again, assume that you
are allowed to travel only from left to right.
Answer:
There are four times as many routes from A to D as from A to C. (3 × 2 × 4)

3. A new town (Z) was founded in Wonderland, and several

more roads were built. The new map is shown below.
How many different routes can one take from A to D
now? (The rule is the same: one can only travel in the
direction of the arrows.)
Answer:
(26) There are 24 ways to get to D through B and C, plus 2 ways to get to D through Z.

4. There are three different teacups and two different teaspoons available in the Wonderland Tea Shop. In
how many ways can we assemble a set that contains a teacup and a teaspoon?
Answer:
You can select a teacup in three different ways. For every teacup, you can select a spoon in two ways.
This simple reasoning leads to the answer 3 × 2 = 6.

5. There are three different teacups, two different teaspoons, and four varieties of tea in the Wonderland Tea
Shop. In how many ways can we assemble a gift set that consists of a cup, a teaspoon and a package of
tea?
Answer:
The answer is 3 × 2 × 4 = 24.

6. Bella has a big bag of black marbles and a big bag of white marbles. How many different black and white
patterns can she make by placing four of these marbles in a row? (A pattern is a sequence of colors. If we
denote a white marble by “W” and a black marble by “B,” then, for example, WWWW, BWBW, and
WBBW would be different patterns.)
Solution:
We start by listing one-marble patterns, advance to two marbles, and then move on to three marbles.
Every time, we write down all possible combinations: B and W for one marble; BB, BW, WB, WW for
two; BBB, BBW, BWB, BWW, WBB, WBW, WWB, WWW for three. When we finally progress to four
marbles, the number of patterns doubles with every new marble.
We continue the discussion by exploring two ways to visualize.
-The visualization through towns-and-roads is easy to draw. Here it is: a row of five towns, with each pair
of neighbors connected by two roads. Two marbles of different colors are placed on each pair of roads:
 W W W W

B B B B
Each different route from A to E corresponds to a different four-marble pattern. For example, on the
highlighted (darker-colored) route you would get the W-W-B-W sequence of marbles. Therefore, the
number of patterns is the same as the number of routes from A to E, which is 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 16.
-A tree diagram is easy to figure out, but difficult to draw. If has a root and four levels of nodes; at every
node, the tree branches out in two directions.

7. For his summer camp, Mike packed two pairs of shoes, two pairs of shorts, and six T-shirts. In how many
ways can he choose an outfit for a day at the camp? (Mike’s outfit consists of a pair of shorts, a T-shirt,
and a pair of identical shoes).

8. For her summer camp, Alice packed four pairs of shoes, two skirts, five blouses, and three dresses. In how
many ways can she choose an outfit for a day at the camp? (Alice’s outfit consists either of a skirt, a
blouse and a pair of identical shoes or of a dress and a pair of identical shoes.)

9. Bella and her mom are buying a birthday gift for Max at a toy store. The store has 3 types of knight
figurines, 3 types of horses, 2 types of pirate figurines, and 1 type of toy boat. Bella is allowed to choose
either a knight and a horse, or a pirate and a boat. In how many ways can Bella choose Max’s gift?

10. Marie is at the ice-cream café. The café offers 4 types of milkshakes, 10 varieties of ice cream, and 3 types
of waffle cones. Marie can buy either a shake or an ice cream in a cone. In how many different ways can
she choose her treat?

11. Marcus has a bag of green marbles, a bag of red marbles, and a bag of blue marbles. In how many
different patterns can he place two of these marbles in a row? Three marbles? Four marbles?

12. Little Bear fell down from the honey tree. His friend Porcupine, an aspiring movie director, filmed his fall.
Now Porcupine plans to add sound effects to his movie. Whenever Little Bear hits a tree branch,
Porcupine plans to add an exclamation: either “Oooh!” or “Aaah!” or “Uuuh!”
(a) How many different soundtracks can Porcupine create if during his fall Little Bear collides with 2
branches?
(b) How about 3 branches? 4 branches? 5 branches?
Solution:
For every single hit, Porcupine has three options to choose a sound. Therefore, for 2 hits the total number
of combinations is 3 × 3 = 9, for 3 hits it is 3 × 3 × 3 = 27, and for 4 hits it is 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 = 81.

13. Four towns in Elbonia are connected by roads as shown in the figure. B
How many different routes can one take from A to C? (Assume that C
A
for this trip you are only allowed to travel in the direction of the
arrows.)
D
Solution:
We can take either an upper route to C (one passing through B), or a lower route to C (one passing
through D). The number of different upper routes is 3 × 3, and the number of different lower routes is 2 ×
2. Therefore, the answer is 9 + 4 = 13.

14. The alphabet of the planet Xork has four letters only: A, B, C and D. The planet is divided into two
kingdoms: Talkers and Chatterers.
(a) In the kingdom of Chatterers, a first name can be any three-letter word (that is, letter combination)
composed of the letters A, B, and C. How many different first names do they have in this kingdom?
(b) In the same kingdom, a last name can be any four-letter word composed of letters A, B, C and D, so
long as it ends in D. How many different last names do they have in this kingdom?
(c) In the kingdom of Talkers, a first name can be any word of up to three letters composed of letters A,
B and C. How many different first names do they have in this kingdom?
(d) In the same kingdom, a last name can be any four-letter word composed of letters A, B, C and D, so
long as it has only one D in it, and this D is either the first or the last letter. How many different last
names do they have in this kingdom?
Solution:
(a) The total numbers of possible three-letter words is 3 × 3 × 3 = 27. (The matching towns-and-roads
problem consists of four towns in a row, with each pair of neighbors connected by three roads. The
three roads correspond to three letters: A, B, and C.)
(b) The number of four-letter words that end in D is exactly the same as the number of three-letter
words. Since for the last name we are allowed to use four letters (A, B, C, and D), the answer is 4 ×
4 × 4 = 64. (The matching towns-and-roads problem consists of five towns in a row: the first three
pairs of neighbors are connected by four roads each (letters A, B, C, and D), and the last pair are
connected by one road (letter D).)
(c) The number of one-letter first names is 3. The number of two-letter first names is 3 × 3 = 9, and the
number of three-letter first names is 27. Therefore, the total number of first names is 27 + 9 + 3 = 39.
(d) Let’s first count the number of four-letter last names having a D at the beginning and nowhere else.
This number is the same as the number of three-letter last names composed of letters A, B, and C
only. Why? If we take any three-letter last name of this kind and place the letter D in front of it, then
we’ll get precisely the last name that we are looking for. Thus, the number of such names is 3 × 3 ×
3 = 27.
In the similar way, the number of four-digit last names having a D at the end and nowhere else is the
same as the number of the three-letter last names composed of letters A, B, and C only. This number
is again 27. Therefore, the total number of last names is equal to 27 + 27 = 54.

15. Prince Ivan is on a quest to free Princess Masha, who has be imprisoned in the castle. The castle door has
a simple digital lock with ten buttons, numbered 0 to 9. The door is guarded by a hungry dragon, Pashka,
who likes hot dogs. The door lock can be opened by typing a secret 4-digit code, and Pashka can be
distracted by hot dogs. It takes 1 second for Prince Ivan to try out a single 4-digit combination, and it takes
20 seconds for Pashka to gulp down a single hot dog. After Ivan opens the lock, it will take him one
minute to fetch Masha and fly off on his magic carpet.
(a) How many hot dogs should Ivan pack for the quest if he wants to fly out of the castle alive and with
Masha? (Ivan should have enough hot dogs to keep Pashka at bay even in the worst case: when the
secret code will be the last possible combination that he tries.)
(b) Suppose that Ivan knows in advance that the secret 4-digit code is composed of odd digits only. How
many hot dogs will he need now?
(c) Suppose that Ivan knows in advance that the secret 4-digit code is composed of odd digits only and
has exactly one digit 5 in it. How many hot dogs will he need in this case?
Solution:
After the lock is opened, 3 hot dogs are required to keep the dragon busy while Ivan and Masha are getting
ready for the take-off. To find out now many hot dogs are required to distract Pashka while Ivan is
working the lock, let’s imagine the worst possible scenario: Ivan guesses the secret number on the last try.
(a) The total number of possible 4-digit codes is equal to the total numbers of integers from 0 to 9999:
ten thousand numbers in total. Therefore, Ivan has to have enough hot dogs to distract Pashka for
10000 seconds. The dragon eats one hot dog every 20 seconds, so 10000/20 = 500 hot dogs are
required. Thus, Ivan should pack 500 + 3 = 503 hot dogs.
(b) There are 5 odd digits: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. Therefore, there exist 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 625 4-digit numbers
composed from these digits only. (The explanation of this fact goes along the lines of the problem
(a).) Thus, in the worst-case scenario, Ivan should be able to distract Pashka for 625 seconds. As a
1
result, the prince should take with him 625/20 + 3 = 31 hot dogs. If we assume round up to a
4
whole number, we get the second correct answer: 32 hot dogs.
(c) The digit 5 can be located either in the first position, or in the second position, or in the third
position, or in the fourth position. Let’s calculate the number of codes corresponding to each of these
options separately.
Let’s count the number of 4-digit codes composed form 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 having a 5 in the first
position and nowhere else. This number is equal to the number of 3-digit codes composed from
digits 1, 3, 7, and 9. Why? If we take any three-digit code of this kind and place a 5 in front, we’ll
get precisely the code that we are looking for. Thus, the number of such codes is 4 × 4 × 4 = 64.
Let’s count the number of 4-digit codes composed from 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 with a 5 in the second
position and nowhere else. This number is again equal to the number of three-digit codes composed
from 1, 3, 7 and 9. Why? If we take any three-digit code of this kind and insert a 5 between the first
and the second digits, we’ll get precisely the code that we are looking for. Thus, there are 4 × 4 × 4 =
64 such codes.
Similarly, there exist 64 codes with a 5 in the third position and nowhere else, and 64 codes with a 5
in the last position and nowhere where. The total number of relevant codes is 64 + 64 + 64 + 64 =
256. As a result, the prince should take with him 256/20 + 3 = 12.8 + 3 = 15.8 hot dogs.
16. A long time ago on the Island of Knights and Liars there lived three friends, all mighty warriors. Their
names were Ronald, Donald and Archibald. Two of them were liars, and one was a knight. The friends
kept their affiliations secret. One of their great deeds was a battle with a terrible dragon that was
terrorizing the kingdom. Not much is known about this battle except that the dragon was killed by a
knight. In a recently discovered old letter, Ronald states that Archibald had killed the dragon. Can you tell
us who actually killed the dragon?
Solution:
If we assume that Ronald was a knight, it follows that Archibald killed the dragon. We know that the
dragon killer was a knight, so Archibald must be a knight. However, we also know that only one of the
three friends was a knight. This contradiction shows that our assumption is incorrect: Ronald was not a
knight, he was a liar.
Since Ronald lied, Archibald did not kill the dragon. Therefore, Archibald was not a knight either. It
follows that Donald was the knight that killed the dragon.

17. Aladdin has two jarsa 3-gallon one and a 5-gallon one. He wants to borrow 4 gallons of olive oil from
his neighbor Hassan, who has an 8-gallon jar full of oil. Unfortunately, the neighbors do not have a
measuring cup. Help Aladdin measure out the required amount of oil using nothing but his two empty jars
and Hassan’s jar with oil.
Solution:
Let’s fill up the 5-gallon jar from the 8-gallon jar. Now, the 8-gallon jar contains 3 gallons of oil, and 5-
gallons jar contains 5 gallons.
Next, fill up the 3-gallons jar from the 5-gallon jar. Now, the 3-gallon jar contains 3 gallons, and the 5-
gallon jar contains 2 gallons. Pour the content of the 3-gallon jar into the 8-gallon jar, and the content of
the 5-gallon jar into the 3-gallon jar. Now, the 8-gallon jar contains 6 gallons, the 5-gallons jar is empty,
and the 3-gallon jar has 2 gallons of oil.
Follow up by filling the 5-gallon jar from the 8-gallon jar. Now, the 5-gallons jar has 5 gallons, and the 3-
gallon jar has 2 gallons of oil.
Fill up the 3-gallon jar from the 5-gallon jar. After this operation, the 5-gallon jar has 4 gallons of oil.
These operations can be illustrated as follows: 5 3 8
0 0 8
5 0 3
2 3 3
2 0 6
0 2 6
5 2 1
4 3 1

18. Cut each shape below into two equal parts (same size and shape). You are allowed to cut along the grid
lines and along the diagonals of the small squares only.
(a) (b) (c)

Solution:
(a) (b) (c)

19. Twenty numbers are placed around the circle in such a way that any number is the arithmetic mean of its
two neighbors. Prove that all these numbers are equal.
Solution:
Let’s concentrate on the largest number and its two neighbors. (If there are several numbers like this,
select one of them.) First, since the number is the largest, it has to be at least as big as each of its
neighbors. Second, since this largest number is the mean of the neighbors, it should have a value that is
strictly in between them: not greater than the largest of the neighbors and not smaller than the smallest.
These two conditions can be true at the same time only if the largest number is equal to each of its
neighbors.
Therefore, the largest number ands its two neighbors are equal. In the similar way, each of these neighbors
is equal to its neighbors. Working our way around the circle number by number, we get that all the
numbers are equal.
20. A robot drew a painting consisting of a 4 × 4 white square with the top-left corner cell painted black. You
can command the robot to select a row or a column of your choice and repaint every single square in this
row (column) into the opposite color.
Can you create a sequence of commands that turns the entire 4 × 4 square black? Either exhibit such a
sequence or prove that it does not exist.
Solution:
Let’s prove that the number of black cells always remains odd.
First, let’s observe that in the original painting the number of black cells is odd (it is equal to 1).
Next, let’s demonstrate that whenever a row or a column is repainted, the parity of the number of black
cells does not change. First, assume that a row (column) contains four black cells: they all become white
when repainted. Thus, the number of black cells goes down by 4. Next, assume that a row (column)
contains three white cells and one black. Then these three cells become black, and onewhite. Thus, the
total number of black cells goes down by 2. Next, assume that a row (column) contains two white cells
and two black cells. Then, after this row (column) is repainted, the total number of black cells does not
change. If a row (column) contains only one white cell, the total number of black cells goes up by 2.
Finally, if the row (column) is all white, the number of black cells goes up by 4.
Since the number of black cells can only increase or decrease by 2 and 4, its parity never changes.
Therefore, whatever we do, the number of black cells remains odd. The number 16 is even; therefore, it is
not possible to paint all 16 cells black.

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