Hello Codeforces Community and Coordinators,

I am writing to formally appeal the Skipped (Rules Violation) status on my submissions for Educational Codeforces Round 194 (Contest 2260) for problems A, B, and C. I am confident that this flag is an accidental false positive. I wrote all my code completely independently from scratch, and I did not share or leak my code.

1. Submission Details: * Handle: Kishan * Problems Flagged: A, B, and C * Submission IDs: [389892583,389912363,389906185] 2. Algorithmic Approach & Logic Breakdown:

• 2260A — Monocarp's Contest: My solution scans the array to count the total number of easy problems (zeros). Since the rule requires both the first and last elements to be easy, if zeros < 2, it is impossible to satisfy, and I print -1. Otherwise, I simply check if a[0] == 1 and a[n - 1] == 1 to increment my operation counter ops up to a maximum of 2.
• 2260B — Monocarp and Projects: I observed that the equation involves y - x (stored as d). Instead of a slow linear simulation, my code tracks cur up to k. It calculates the scaling factor q = 1 + d/emp and aggregates operations in blocks (steps_possible) where q remains constant. When q == 1, the remaining iterations are handled in $$$O(1)$$$ time. For intermediate blocks, I use the arithmetic progression sum formula steps * (first_term + last_term) / 2 to optimize the transition.
• 2260C — Maximize XOR, Minimize Operations: The core mathematical observation is that since we decrement $$$x$$$ and increment $$$y$$$, their sum remains invariant (sum = x + y). To maximize the XOR sum while minimizing operations, we need to make best_x as close to $$$x$$$ as possible while picking set bits from the constant sum. I loop from bit 29 down to 0, greedily setting the $$$i$$$-th bit if it is set in sum and doesn't exceed $$$x$$$. Finally, best_y is calculated as sum - best_x, and the minimum operations required are precisely x - best_x.

3. Boilerplate Similarity (Fast I/O Template): The primary reason my submissions may look structurally similar to others is that I recently learned a standard C++ Fast I/O macro block from a competitive programming tutorial on YouTube. I included this optimization block (ios_base::sync_with_stdio(false); cin.tie(NULL);) along with structured function wrappers like solve_test() to ensure they pass safely within the time limit. Because the solution logic for these initial problems is highly direct and mathematical, the combination of a copied public template with short, standard loops likely triggered an automatic coincidence flag.

4. Local Environment & Privacy: I want to emphasize that I wrote, compiled, and tested all solutions entirely locally inside my local VS Code IDE. I did not utilize any public online compilers or pastebins (such as Ideone or Pastebin) at any point during or after the round.

I kindly request the round coordinators to perform a manual check on my submission codes. I am fully prepared to respond to any text queries here or via DM to verify my ownership and thought process.

Thank you for your time and for maintaining a fair community platform.

Best regards, Kishan