Whistle's blog

How to prepare a div2 round in couple of hours
By Whistle, history, 8 years ago, In English

BTW guys, it's a fun blog and no offense for problem setters and I really appreciate their efforts

well, first of all you have to know that you have to find 5 problems
now you can follow the hard way and invent interesting problems by your own or you can follow my tips
for Div2 A:
it's so easy just put a list of strings and assign a value for each of them and put a random question like find the sum of values of the strings that contain "Bombi-bombi" , "Dombi-dombi" or "Tombi-tombi" as a substring
no matter what the question is but try to make the problem required to copy things from the statement as much as it possible, so users can't solve it under 2 minutes

for Div2 B:
problem of leap years are very suitable for this level
put any random question of leap years so users should spend time reading about it in Wikipedia
and don't forget to make the pretest weak, so participants can waste their time on hacking and then only few number of users will solve all the problems(that's gonna make your round looks hard)

for Div2 C:
pick a random problem from any online judge and make a slight change on it
it's gonna be easy for you since this kind of problems are easy to change and easy to understand
so if the original problem ask for the minimum value make it for the maximum value or maybe you can make it for both of them (clever huh ? )

for Div2 D/E:
don't be afraid, even if you're a Newbie and you can't even understand the solution of that problems
it's alright buddy but you have to be careful
because all you have to do is to pick a problem from an online judge which hide submissions of solved problems
change the statement (not the idea or what is required) and you can use the solution and the code of one of the users
for more efficiency try to pick it not that famous, so users can't find it that easily

Finally:
no matter if you used the first way or the second, remember CF will pay you and will accept your problems magnanimously and you will get upvotes on your announcement
Note it's a very important step : after the round say sorry for CF community and tell them that you didn't notice that they're copied problems

  • Vote: I like it
  • +106
  • Vote: I do not like it

Comments Comments (34)
| Write comment?
»
8 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +9 Vote: I do not like it

Oh yeah, more interesting contests that you can cheat on, right? (for those who don't know, this guy was caught on a cheater report)

→ Reply
  • »
    »
    8 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -69 Vote: I do not like it

    really dude ?
    until when you "unrated users" are gonna appear in my blogs and comments and tell me that I've cheated ?
    should I walk in the "walk of shame" so you may forgive my sins ?

    → Reply
    • »
      »
      »
      8 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

      it's your blogs that gets you that

      instead of being glad mike didn't ban you or erase your rating, you are calling out the problem sets...i don't even get you

      if you had any respect for the community or yourself...you would have lost all your cheated rating..but instead you keep attacking problem setters who have contributed to the community and cf much more than you..cheater

      → Reply
      • »
        »
        »
        »
        8 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it +20 Vote: I do not like it

        Yes, he cheated... He got a warning and if he ever cheats again he will be banned.
        Does that mean he can't do anything on Codeforces now? He can't say his opinion because he once made a mistake?

        → Reply
»
8 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -33 Vote: I do not like it

I know I will get many downvotes, but I'm risking:

gepardo

→ Reply
  • »
    »
    8 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +16 Vote: I do not like it

    WHY-O-WHY torment someone? :). Though, I believe he will take it in right manner. Since, I personally being a beginner, loved the problems (though div2A was just copy-paste (or Not? ( the first letter was enough)). (Didn't downvoted :) )

    → Reply
    • »
      »
      »
      8 years ago, # ^ |
      ← Rev. 6   Vote: I like it +2 Vote: I do not like it

      I just tagged him for reading this blog.

      I also think this blog is too harsh on problem setters, in this time there are many and many big judges on internet so finding new problem is so hard.

      → Reply
      • »
        »
        »
        »
        8 years ago, # ^ |
        ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

        Yeah, I am applauding you for that, there is no sarcasm intended mate. :)

        By the way, your rating curve is inspirational. Congrats.

        Edit : -In the meantime, you did 5 edits, is there something different in last 4 edits? :)

        → Reply
        • »
          »
          »
          »
          »
          8 years ago, # ^ |
          ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

          Thanks, also you participated good today, good luck :)

          My internet is so bad, so when I press "Save" or "Post" button it won't work. Then I'm pressing many times and this happens :D

          → Reply
  • »
    »
    8 years ago, # ^ |
    ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +82 Vote: I do not like it

    I read this blog. I liked it and I think that it can help problemsetters to avoid the cases when the problem is not original and think more before giving a problem to the contest. As for me, it's totally my fault and I'll try not to make this mistake again. But you cannot avoid this because you can't know all the problems given in all contest.

    By the way, I don't understand your idea under Div. 2 A and Div. 2 B. Why leap years? There were just two or three problems about them. Div. 2 A must be very simple and I don't think that copy-pasting makes it worse.

    How to prepare a div2 round in couple of hours

    Preparing a Div. 2 round in Polygon takes about a week. Or you will take the tests from some online judge also? :)

    → Reply
»
8 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +7 Vote: I do not like it

Don't be harsh on problem setters, they are expected to make questions from something they had done earlier. And since, number of resources (popular ones) are limited, the ideas may collide. Atleast, it's not the case that a simple google search is giving the exact same problems :) .

These type of things happen in my school contests, still people love to contest in CP competitions. Maybe, this is a omen that you have learnt well enough :) (if you were able to recall that problem) or you need to learn more (like me, i am a newbie. Still, i am giving CP 10 hours everyday). The problem you are probably angry about (the one from SPOJ), i had done earlier, but was not able to recall, so maybe credits to the one who was able to remember (or better "not forget") too :). Regards.

→ Reply
»
8 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +9 Vote: I do not like it

You know that before the round is accepted it goes through the coordinator and he decides whether the round is good or no. So you shouldn't judge the problem setters. Also there is nobody who has solved every problem so it aometimes happens that a problem you have seen before appears again.

→ Reply
  • »
    »
    8 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -31 Vote: I do not like it

    Ok, I understand that
    but I thinks problem setters and coordinator should try to google the problem before putting it in the round
    I mean like problem E in the today's round, only googling "swap inversions spoj" will give you the exact same problem

    → Reply
    • »
      »
      »
      8 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

      And who would know that googling "the russian nuclear launch codes" may give you access to Polygon system. Right.

      Don't sound absurd, you seem to be a logical person.

      Regards.

      → Reply
    • »
      »
      »
      8 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

      It's easier to say what exactly can be googled when you already know where the same/similar problem exists.

      → Reply
      • »
        »
        »
        »
        8 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it +10 Vote: I do not like it

        That is true in many cases, but some problems are really easy to google (like problem E today)

        → Reply
        • »
          »
          »
          »
          »
          8 years ago, # ^ |
          ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

          What did you type in search bar?. I had solved the problem before, even then couldn't recall its name. Your answer, in this case, may be fruitful.

          → Reply
          • »
            »
            »
            »
            »
            »
            8 years ago, # ^ |
              Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

            "inversions and queries codeforces" :D

            → Reply
            • »
              »
              »
              »
              »
              »
              »
              8 years ago, # ^ |
                Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

              :O. My god>>>. You, sir, are a master. (or Candidate "master") :D

              → Reply
            • »
              »
              »
              »
              »
              »
              »
              8 years ago, # ^ |
                Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

              Hah. I didn't think to type something like this.

              And I must admit that this div1E doesn't look like an original problem. Even if not googlable, I wouldn't use it in the div1 contest for sure. In div2 — well, maybe.

              → Reply
»
8 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

It's hard to invent a good div2a problem. First of all, it should be suitable for beginners, not really interesting for purples. Still, I agree that copying strings from the statement isn't awesome.

for Div2 B: problem of leap years are very suitable for this level
put any random question of leap years so users should spend time reading about it in Wikipedia

Why are they not suitable? I don't claim that it's the best kind of problems, but there is nothing wrong with them. The statement should provide the short definition/description so there is no need to read Wikipedia.

And regarding your complaints about CDE being taken from the online judges — have you seen more than once or twice in your life that someone took a problem from the Internet on purpose? I haven't.

It does happen that a setter invents something and it turns out to already exist. It's often hard to find it on the Internet, and this is why a "known" problem is being used in the contest. You can think about the solution for that — if all CF problems have tests, solutions and validators stored, then maybe it's possible to create a tool that will at least check if the same problem was created before (i.e. answers for small tests are the same). I don't think that you will achieve anything by complaining only (except for getting upvotes, what you also mentioned in the blog).

→ Reply
»
8 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -58 Vote: I do not like it

Auto comment: topic has been updated by Whistle (previous revision, new revision, compare).

→ Reply
  • »
    »
    8 years ago, # ^ |
    ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +10 Vote: I do not like it

    Make it Bold, since bigger names are in play now. Don't risk the downvotes. :)

    → Reply
  • »
    »
    8 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +35 Vote: I do not like it

    BTW guys, it's a fun blog and no offense for problem setters and I really appreciate their efforts

    You appreciate their effort so much that you make fun of bad rounds. Nice.

    → Reply
    • »
      »
      »
      8 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +6 Vote: I do not like it

      Nailed it. :)

      → Reply
    • »
      »
      »
      8 years ago, # ^ |
      ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it -27 Vote: I do not like it

      I appreciate their effort because I believe that "most of them" didn't do it on purpose and by making fun of bad rounds I'm literally making fun of bad rounds not of problems setters
      how should we deal with bad rounds ?
      applaud them and tell them good work and it's ok that we have wasted our time on copied problems ?
      that's didn't happen once or twice, it's actually happen almost in every round

      → Reply
      • »
        »
        »
        »
        8 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it +29 Vote: I do not like it

        If someone spent tens of hours to prepare a round, how can they feel when someone makes fun of it?

        how should we deal with bad rounds?

        Write in comments what you liked and what you didn't like. An author will read it and hopefully their next contest will be better.

        that's didn't happen once or twice, it's actually happen almost in every round

        Can you show me 2 cases from last 10 rounds? Please note that I wrote "on purpose".

        → Reply
»
8 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -21 Vote: I do not like it

real and bad story of CF!!!!

→ Reply
»
8 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +34 Vote: I do not like it

So sad just reading this! They work so hard to prepare a contest for us and then there are guys like you who never stop complaining.

P.S. You know about punctuation marks right?

→ Reply
  • »
    »
    8 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -27 Vote: I do not like it

    guys like me complain hoping to get better rounds in the future not to insult problem setters.
    I know how much it takes to prepare a problem on Polygon (it took me about two days to prepare only one problem) and as I mentioned above I appreciate their hard work
    hope we can enjoy better contests in the future

    → Reply
»
8 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +62 Vote: I do not like it

Latest Codeforces's Trend, Write About something you Hate Then Paste Just Joking, No Offensive

→ Reply
»
8 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +59 Vote: I do not like it

you will get upvotes on your announcement — it's definitely the best part of making your rounds. Getting upvotes matters so much, it's the most important thing in our life.

CF will pay you and will accept your problems magnanimously — it's definitely worth to waste 20-30 hours of your time(even for copied problems preparation time won't change that much, you still need to prepare checkers, validators, generators and tests) to get 150$(100$ for failed contest) and UPVOTES . People are making rounds only for money and upvotes, that's for sure.

Can you make briliiant contest for us please? You will earn 150$(or 100$) and UPVOTES (the most important, amazing and beautiful part). Be an example for us instead of complaining all the time. I will participate in it for sure. Hope to see amazing contest.

→ Reply
  • »
    »
    8 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

    I like your Profile image. :D . Was it intended and was changed recently?

    → Reply
»
8 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +4 Vote: I do not like it

I've seen shorter editorials than this blog post :p

→ Reply