Hi everyone,↵
↵
Unpopular opinion: below roughly 1700, Codeforces is mostly a pattern-recognition contest, not a problem-solving contest.↵
↵
Look at what actually shows up in Div. 2 A to D:↵
↵
Prefix sums, two pointers, binary search on the answer↵
“Sort it and greedy”↵
Parity, gcd, and constructive tricks you either know or don’t↵
DP states that are variations of problems you’ve seen before↵
↵
People who’ve seen 500 problems solve them fast. People who haven’t get stuck, no matter how smart they are. That makes the rating at this level partly a measure of how much you’ve grinded, not how well you think.↵
↵
The counterargument (and I half believe it): patterns are skill. Recognizing which tool fits is exactly what good problem solvers do, and the same people climb to 2000+ anyway.↵
↵
So where do you stand?↵
↵
A) Early rating is mostly memorized patterns ↵
↵
B) It’s real thinking, and grinding just builds that skill↵
↵
C) It’s a mix, and the balance changes as you climb↵
↵
Reply with your letter, your current rating, and one problem that convinced you. I’m especially curious whether people above 2000 think the answer flips at higher levels.
↵
Unpopular opinion: below roughly 1700, Codeforces is mostly a pattern-recognition contest, not a problem-solving contest.↵
↵
Look at what actually shows up in Div. 2 A to D:↵
↵
Prefix sums, two pointers, binary search on the answer↵
“Sort it and greedy”↵
Parity, gcd, and constructive tricks you either know or don’t↵
DP states that are variations of problems you’ve seen before↵
↵
People who’ve seen 500 problems solve them fast. People who haven’t get stuck, no matter how smart they are. That makes the rating at this level partly a measure of how much you’ve grinded, not how well you think.↵
↵
The counterargument (and I half believe it): patterns are skill. Recognizing which tool fits is exactly what good problem solvers do, and the same people climb to 2000+ anyway.↵
↵
So where do you stand?↵
↵
A) Early rating is mostly memorized patterns ↵
↵
B) It’s real thinking, and grinding just builds that skill↵
↵
C) It’s a mix, and the balance changes as you climb↵
↵
Reply with your letter, your current rating, and one problem that convinced you. I’m especially curious whether people above 2000 think the answer flips at higher levels.
