Problem 2825. pay it forward

Created by Alfonso Nieto-Castanon

Solve Later

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Choose a number (integer between 0 and 65535)You will pass this problem if you are the second person to choose that same numberGood luck!How it worksYour function should simply return the number you have chosen. Your solution will always get a score equal to the number you choose (independently of whether the solution passes the test or fails). Your solution will pass the test iff:1. there is one (and only one) other solution that has obtained the same score as yoursand 2. this previous solution had been created by a different Cody player (it was not crafted by yourself)Typically this previous solution (from someone else) would be a failed submission (and that is perfectly fine), since at that time it would have been the first solution submitted to get that score. See the testsuite for details.NotesTypically you will need to cooperate with other Cody players, or depend on their kindness, to be able to solve this problem.If you prefer to go the 'solo' route any number of hacking solutions would also work (but they are not the intended focus of this particular problem)

Choose a number (integer between 0 and 65535)

You will pass this problem if you are the *second* person to choose that same number

Good luck!

*How it works*

Your function should simply return the number you have chosen. Your solution will always get a score equal to the number you choose (independently of whether the solution passes the test or fails). Your solution will pass the test iff:

1. there is one (and only one) other solution that has obtained the same score as yours

and 2. this previous solution had been created by a different Cody player (it was not crafted by yourself)

Typically this previous solution (from someone else) would be a failed submission (and that is perfectly fine), since at that time it would have been the first solution submitted to get that score. See the testsuite for details.

*Notes*

Typically you will need to cooperate with other Cody players, or depend on their kindness, to be able to solve this problem.

If you prefer to go the 'solo' route any number of hacking solutions would also work (but they are not the intended focus of this particular problem)

Solve

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310 Solutions
34 Solvers

Last Solution submitted on Oct 25, 2022

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Alfonso Nieto-Castanon on 11 Jan 2015

If you are the first player to attempt this problem, I left number 42 open for you. Cheers!

Mattias on 11 Jan 2015

Very creative problem! Took me a while to understand the test code and then realized I had the golden opportunity. And "paid it forward" too

James on 12 Jan 2015

Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.

Alfonso Nieto-Castanon on 19 Jun 2015

Sorry for the discontinuity. This problem is working again (changes in Cody were interfering with our old way of assigning not-size-based scores to solutions). Let me know if you still run into any issues.

Alfonso Nieto-Castanon on 19 Jun 2015

note: as a side effect of the glitch solutions submitted between May and June 2015 had been incorrectly scored so please disregard those

Rafael S.T. Vieira on 27 Sep 2020

It is possible to solve this problem without relying on the kindness of strangers or hacking. Just think...

Alfonso Nieto-Castanon on 27 Sep 2020

@Rafael: thanks for you comment, and I guess you are right and kindness is in the eye of the beholder, but for example I see your solution using y=10 relying on Jonathan's kindness (as he submitted that 10 before you did), and similarly I see your failed -but kind!- y=50382 solution hopefully helping some other player solve this problem in the future, effectively paying that kindness forward (thanks!). That said, perhaps Jonathan, or you, were not really trying to be kind to others with their failed solution attempts and were instead just trying out some random solutions, but hey, I like my interpretation better :)

Rafael S.T. Vieira on 29 Sep 2020

Everyone is entitled to an opinion, Alfonso :), but I went with Benford's Law and code analysis.

Nikolaos Nikolaou on 22 Oct 2020

and i went with Alfonsos kind lengthy comment :)

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Problem 2825. pay it forward

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Problem 2825. pay it forward

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