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Author: E.V. Bakaev

From the beginning of the academic year, Andrew wrote down his marks for mathematics. When he received another evaluation (2, 3, 4 or 5), he called it unexpected, if before that time this mark was met less often than each of the other possible marks. (For example, if he had received the following marks: 3, 4, 2, 5, 5, 5, 2, 3, 4, 3 from the beginning of the year, the first five and the second four would have been unexpected). For the whole academic year, Andrew received 40 marks - 10 fives, fours, threes and twos (it is not known in which order). Is it possible to say exactly how many marks were unexpected?

Author: E.V. Bakaev

After a hockey match Anthony said that he scored 3 goals, and Ilya only one. Ilya said that he scored 4 goals, and Serge scored 5 goals. Serge said that he scored 6 goals, and Anthony only two. Could it be that the three of them scored 10 goals, if it is known that each of them once told the truth, and once lied?

Find all of the solutions of the puzzle: \(ARKA + RKA + KA + A = 2014\). (Different letters correspond to different numbers, and the same letters correspond to the same numbers.)

There are scales and 100 coins, among which several (more than 0 but less than 99) are fake. All of the counterfeit coins weigh the same and all of the real ones also weigh the same, while the counterfeit coin is lighter than the real one. You can do weighings on the scales by paying with one of the coins (whether real or fake) before weighing. Prove that it is possible with a guarantee to find a real coin.

Author: I.S. Rubanov

On the table, there are 7 cards with numbers from 0 to 6. Two take turns in taking one card. The winner is the one is the first person who can, from his cards, make up a natural number that is divisible by 17. Who will win in a regular game the person who goes first or second?

At a round table, 2015 people are sitting down, each of them is either a knight or a liar. Knights always tell the truth, liars always lie. They were given one card each, and on each card a number is written; all the numbers on the cards are different. Looking at the cards of their neighbours, each of those sitting at the table said: “My number is greater than that of each of my two neighbors.” After that, \(k\) of the sitting people said: “My number is less than that of each of my two neighbors.” At what maximum \(k\) could this occur?

A pack of 36 cards was placed in front of a psychic face down. He calls the suit of the top card, after which the card is opened, shown to him and put aside. After this, the psychic calls out the suit of the next card, etc. The task of the psychic is to guess the suit as many times as possible. However, the card backs are in fact asymmetrical, and the psychic can see in which of the two positions the top card lies. The deck is prepared by a bribed employee. The clerk knows the order of the cards in the deck, and although he cannot change it, he can prompt the psychic by having the card backs arranged in a way according to a specific arrangement. Can the psychic, with the help of such a clue, ensure the guessing of the suit of

a) more than half of the cards;

b) no less than 20 cards?

Every day, James bakes a square cake size \(3\times3\). Jack immediately cuts out for himself four square pieces of size \(1\times1\) with sides parallel to the sides of the cake (not necessarily along the \(3\times3\) grid lines). After that, Sarah cuts out from the rest of the cake a square piece with sides, also parallel to the sides of the cake. What is the largest piece of cake that Sarah can count on, regardless of Jack’s actions?

Hannah and Emma have three coins. On different sides of one coin there are scissors and paper, on the sides of another coin – a rock and scissors, on the sides of the third – paper and a rock. Scissors defeat paper, paper defeats rock and rock wins against scissors. First, Hannah chooses a coin, then Emma, then they throw their coins and see who wins (if the same image appears on both, then it’s a draw). They do this many times. Is it possible for Emma to choose a coin so that the probability of her winning is higher than that of Hannah?