Hello, Codeforces!

In the awesome new MaraTON Challenge 1, which lasted 21 days, I noticed some very suspicious activity. It caught my attention, and I wanted to share my observations.

What Happened?

Day 20:

A new account (Handle: onyeo) made its first submission. This account:
- Is a friend of one user,
- Used the "magic tool" to mark itself as Legendary Grandmaster, and
- Registered three weeks ago [Contest also started 3 weeks ago].

After submitting two compilation errors, they suddenly submitted a brilliant solution within 10 minutes, landing them 15th place!

Mmm... fine, maybe they were working offline and didn’t want to test progress on real cases. Suspicious, but plausible.

24 hours later:

Another account (Handle: aliqi) who:
- Is a friend of one user,
- Used the magic tool to mark itself as Legendary Grandmaster, and
- Registered three months ago (to join a Div. 3 contest).

After they made a few weak submissions, they dropped another brilliant solution—landing 16th, right below the previous account.

At this point, I thought this was Weird and maybe I'd write a clarification to the judges.

Two Hours Later:

As I was preparing my clarification, guess what? Yes! another account (Handle: frag_) appeared!
- Registered three weeks ago

They submitted a memory-limit solution and followed up with a brilliant solution that landed between the previous accounts.

Now the standings were: onyeo (15th), frag_ (16th), and aliqi (17th).

30 Minutes Later (Two Hours Before the Contest Ends):

Another account (Handle: kvtan) joined the party!
- A friend of one user,
- Used the magic tool to mark itself as Grandmaster, and
- Registered three weeks ago.

After submitting a couple of weak solutions, they landed next to the previous accounts. Then they followed with other submissions climbing to 13th!

After that, there was around 1 hour left to the end of the hackathon and they all stayed on top-20.

My Interpretation

It seems that one or two original users (already holding high ranks) submitted weaker solutions using fake/inactive accounts to secure extra prizes. All solutions showed similar time and memory usage, except for frag_. I’m unsure whether it belongs to the same cheater, a different cheater, or is innocent, as their approach slightly differed.

Also, the '(friend of 1 user)' detail is likely a master account that added all the other accounts as friends, to be able to track them in the 'friends standings'.

Final Thoughts

I’ve had an amazing experience in this challenge and am satisfied with my rank. But I hate to see cheaters taking prizes or spots away from deserving participants.

I already sent a clarification during the contest to the judges, but I'm not sure if they received it or not, this is why I'm writing this. I kindly ask the judges and MikeMirzayanov to investigate this and skip/ban any cheaters.

I also ask you to tell me — does this look suspicious to you, or has the Sherlock Holmes rewatch taken over my brain? :D

Thanks for reading!

Hello Codeforces community!

I'd like to discuss an issue from Codeforces Round 882 (Div. 2) that caught my attention. The problem name, "The Man who became a God".

Codeforces has been an incredible platform for enhancing our skills and engaging in healthy competition. However, the problem name gave me pause. As a Muslim, it directly contradicts and disrespects my core beliefs. Moreover, it may also offend individuals of different faiths. Furthermore, I discovered that some of my friends chose not to participate in the contest upon noticing the problem name (unfortunately, I only noticed it after the contest had ended).

This incident highlights the impact that such names create divisions and discourage people from engaging in the Codeforces community. It is important to remember that Codeforces is a global community with participants from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs. As a platform that aims to bring programmers together, it is crucial that we keep an environment where everyone feels respected and valued.

I strongly encourage the Codeforces administration to think about how problem names can affect people, and to create guidelines that promote respect for diverse beliefs.

Thanks for reading! Keep coding and stay awesome!