Si Young Oh (5 problems, 230 minutes)

Q: Thoughts on winning?

A: I'm glad I could win for the first time even though that was only by small time penalty. This winning almost make sure that I'll be on the top team :)

Q: You chose to do B before C, while many did them in the other order. Does this still seem to be a good choice in retrospect?

A: After solving A, I read B and looked easy. So, I thought instead of spending time reading C, solving B makes sense. Also, since I was expecting that the number of easy problems will be about two, concluded that C will be harder than B. I think that was not that bad choice since I could figure it out how to solve B in a reasonable time.

Q: You were the first one to solve problem F, although it still took you 69 minutes. What do you think makes it a difficult task?

A: As you extend the sequence, you can find the pattern pretty easily but since there are many variables changing in the same time, it is hard to write down what the pattern is. You just know that there is a pattern which works for big N. So, writing down the pattern in the specific form was hard for F.

Q: What do you think of the overall problem set?

A: It was pretty good. It would have been better if C and D were a little harder or E is a littler easier. I was almost sure that there would be no one who solves E since I saw the similar problem before with K = 3. So, I could stop the contest after making sure that no one can beat me with 5 problems. Also, since the gap between the first four problems and F was pretty big, the time penalty for the first four problems played big role for people who solved only four problems that I don't really like since one mistake can make a significant difference.

Q: What has your practice routine been like?

A: I was spending a lot of time practicing past two years and when I was in high school. I solved almost all the medium problems of topcoder srm of the last two years and solved more than 400 problems only in PKU online judge when I was in high school. For last two years, I practiced whenever I could. I cannot spend much time this semester but 5~6 year experience doesn't go away that easily.

Q: Please describe your Starcraft skills.

A: Worse than most Koreans. Better than most Americans.

Q: Anything to add?

A: Nope.