Hey everyone!

So I’ve been practicing on Codeforces for a while now, and there’s one thing that keeps happening…

I’ll breeze through a few problems — then suddenly get completely stuck on something rated 800 or 900. I’ll try everything, read the problem 10 times, and still feel like I’m missing something obvious. Then when I see the solution… it’s so simple I feel like facepalming.

Does this happen to anyone else? Is it just part of the process or is there a better way to “train the brain” to spot those trickier ideas faster?

If you’ve ever been stuck on a so-called “easy” problem, drop a comment so I know I’m not alone And if you have any tips for improving problem-reading intuition, I’m all ears!