Contest

Problem Set
12429
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 Number Sense
12429

Name

Place ID Sticker Grade

Inside This Box
School

1. 34 + 34 + 44 = . 21. 25 × 42 ÷ 30 = .
2. The hundreds digit of 28340 is . 22. 312 = .

3. 263 + 543 = . 23. 41 + 37 + 33 + 29 + 25 + 21 = .

5 2
4. 24 + 39 + 46 + 31 = . 24. The greater of 18 and 7 is (fraction).
25. 924 ÷ 22 = .
5. 803 − 246 = .
1
26. If 1 cup is equal to pints, then 8 pints is equal
6. The remainder of 195 ÷ 4 is . 2
to cups.
7. 8 + 6 × 8 = . 27. 63 × 25 = .
8. The quotient of 85 ÷ 5 is . 28. 2
− 1
+ 1
= (fraction).
3 4 12
9. 18 × 40 = . 29. The GCD of 24 and 56 is .
10. (estimate) 2982 − 1431 + 483 = . 30. (estimate) 11 × 38 × 48 = .
11. 72 × 11 = . 31. 53 × 57 = .
√
12. 172 = . 32. 784 = .

13. 836 − 472 − 263 = . 33. The area of a square with perimeter 76 is .

14. 38 × 35 = . 34. The number of multiples of 11 between 24 and

189 is .
15. 16 + 32 + 64 = .
35. 952 = .
16. 21 × 6 × 5 = .
36. 67 × 99 = .
17. CDXLIX in Arabic numerals is . 37. 80% of 85 is .
18. 36 × 44 = . 38. The LCM of 24 and 56 is .
19. The remainder of 346 ÷ 9 is . 39. 9000 seconds is hours (decimal).
√
20. (estimate) 249 × 601 = . 40. (estimate) 688435 = .

Number Sense 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 41. 119 × 104 = . 61. The sum of the interior angles in a regular
hexagon is ◦.
42. 27 × 87 = .
62. Five fair coins are tossed. The probability ex-
43. The perimeter of a right triangle with legs of actly two show tails is
length 10 and 24 is . (fraction).
44. 542 − 292 = . 63. If w = 42, then w2 + 6w + 9 = .
45. The number of prime numbers between 30 and 64. 13 × 35 × 8 × 3 = .
50 is . 65. 11 81 × 5 18 = (mixed number).
46. The remainder of 7432 ÷ 11 is . 66. 0.369 = (fraction).
47. 53 × 25 = . 67. 352 + 542 = .

48. The number of terms in the arithmetic sequence 68. The

√ perimeter of a regular hexagon with area
23, 32, 41, . . . , 122 is . 96 3 is .
69. The number 91 in base 6 is 6.
49. 7 × 18 + 11 × 14 = .
70. (estimate) 2.84 × 3.24 = .
50. (estimate) 9 × 428571 = .
71. If 3x+1 = 36, then 9x−1 = .
51. The median of the list 13, 8, 18, 12, 4, 7 is . 72. The surface area of a 3 × 5 × 5 right rectangular
52. 41 23 % of 108 is . prism is .
√ 73. The number of positive whole-number divisors
53. 14884 = .
of 196 is .
54. 333 × 24 = . 7
74. 64 6 = .
55. The sum of the terms in the arithmetic sequence 75. 3552 = .
13, 18, 23, . . . , 78 is .
76. The eighth term in the geometric sequence
56. 57 × 625 = . 72, 36, 18, . . . is (fraction).
2
57. 18 11 %= (fraction). 77. The number of proper subsets of {F, I, N, A, L, S}
is .
58. 489 in base 3 is √ √
3. 78. 72 × 162 = .
59. 83 × 98 = . 79. 988 × 992 = .
√
60. (estimate) 273 × 667 = . 80. (estimate) 24 × 26 × 31 × 39 = .

Inside This Box

Place ID Sticker

Number Sense 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 Sprint Round
12429

Name

Place ID Sticker Grade

Inside This Box
School

1. A B C D E 11. A B C D E 21. A B C D E

2. A B C D E 12. A B C D E 22. A B C D E

3. A B C D E 13. A B C D E 23. A B C D E

4. A B C D E 14. A B C D E 24. A B C D E

5. A B C D E 15. A B C D E 25. A B C D E

6. A B C D E 16. A B C D E 26. A B C D E

7. A B C D E 17. A B C D E 27. A B C D E

8. A B C D E 18. A B C D E 28. A B C D E

9. A B C D E 19. A B C D E 29. A B C D E

10. A B C D E 20. A B C D E 30. A B C D E

Sprint Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 1. What is 6 − 5 − 4 − 3 − 2 − 1?

(A) −11 (B) −3 (C) 3 (D) −9 (E) 9

2. Ardeel takes his favorite number, doubles it, adds 7 to his result, and then divides that sum by 5. Given
that he ends up with the number 13, what is his favorite number?

(A) 119 (B) 116 (C) 31 (D) 29 (E) 51

3. In how many ways can the letters in the word MATH be arranged?

(A) 24 (B) 22 (C) 256 (D) 16 (E) 36

4. In the picture below, four 1 × 1 squares are joined to make a 2 × 2 square. What is the area of the
shaded triangle?

3 1 5
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 2 (E) 2

5. What is 9 + 19 + 29 + 39 + 49 + 59?

(A) 204 (B) 199 (C) 210 (D) 198 (E) 200

6. Juan wakes up at 7:30 AM every day. He brushes his teeth, eats breakfast, and packs his backpack
before the bus picks him up at 8:18 AM. Given that Juan takes 4 minutes to brush his teeth and 8
minutes to pack his backpack, at most how many minutes does it take him to eat breakfast?

(A) 34 (B) 36 (C) 38 (D) 28 (E) 32

Sprint Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 7. Paul randomly picks one of the 26 letters in the English alphabet. Peter then writes 6 of the letters in
the English alphabet on a fair six-sided die, and he writes the other 20 letters in the alphabet on a fair
20-sided die. After that, he randomly picks one of the two dice and rolls it. What is the probability that
the letter that Peter rolls is the same as the one that Paul has chosen?

3 1 1 1 2
(A) 52 (B) 12 (C) 26 (D) 13 (E) 13

8. Aric draws an equilateral triangle with area 24. He inscribes a circle inside that triangle and then
inscribes another equilateral triangle inside the circle, as shown below. What is the area of the smaller
equilateral triangle?

20
(A) 4 (B) 3 (C) 6 (D) 5 (E) 8

9. What is the sum of the multiples of 6 between 1 and 600, inclusive?

(A) 30300 (B) 180300 (C) 10101 (D) 66666 (E) 6000

10. Miles is bored, so he decides to write all of the arrangements of MILES, the letters in his name, on a
piece of paper. Given that he writes these arrangements in alphabetical order, how many of them will
he have written by the time he finishes writing the arrangement SLIME?

(A) 108 (B) 112 (C) 106 (D) 114 (E) 110

11. How many 3-digit numbers are multiples of 7 or 11 but not both?

(A) 208 (B) 187 (C) 177 (D) 188 (E) 199

Sprint Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 12. Denise and Denephew are standing at the points (0, 0) and (3, 4) in the xy-plane, in that order. Denise
needs to get to Denephew by only walking in whole-unit steps in the positive-x or positive-y directions.
However, she cannot pass through the point (2, 2) because there is a sinkhole there. How many paths
can Denise take to Denephew?

(A) 15 (B) 17 (C) 35 (D) 14 (E) 22

13. A positive whole number is 1716 less than its cube. What is this number?

(A) 14 (B) 24 (C) 12 (D) 9 (E) 13

14. A rectangular prism with whole-number side lengths has a volume of 30. What is the least possible
value of its surface area?

(A) 31 (B) 60 (C) 30 (D) 62 (E) 100

15. David leaves Fredricksburg at 2:00 PM and drives to Marfa at a constant rate, arriving at 4:15 PM the
same day. Emma-Lee leaves Fredricksburg at 3:00 PM and drives to Marfa at a constant rate along
the same route, arriving at 3:45 PM on the same day. At what time does Emma-Lee pass David?

(A) 3:00 PM (B) 3:20 PM (C) 3:25 PM (D) 3:40 PM (E) 3:30 PM

16. In a faraway land, dragons can only be blue, black, or red, but they can have any eye color. Further-
more, no red dragon has green eyes, and all dragons with blue eyes are black. Which of the following
statements must be true?
1. No green-eyed dragons are red.
2. All black dragons have blue eyes.
3. At least some dragons with green eyes are blue.
4. None of the above statements must be true.

(A) Statement 3
(B) All but statement 4
(C) Statements 1 and 3
(D) Statement 1
(E) Statement 4

Sprint Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 17. For what positive number a do the ratios 68 : a and a : 153 have the same value?

(A) 92 (B) 344 (C) 100 (D) 31 (E) 102

18. Alice has a wooden cube with a whole-number edge length. She paints the entire outside of the cube
purple and then cuts it into 1 × 1 × 1 unit cubes, with no wood left over. She notices that 343 of the
unit cubes have no paint on them at all. How many of the unit cubes have at least one of their faces
painted?

(A) 196 (B) 386 (C) 314 (D) 288 (E) 343

19. A point is randomly chosen from the interior of a regular hexagon. What is the probability that it is
closer to the center of the hexagon than to any of the hexagon’s vertices?

1 1 1 2 1
(A) 3 (B) 2 (C) 6 (D) 3 (E) 4

20. The number 2022 is 20 more than a multiple of 22. What is the smallest positive whole number with at
least 5 digits satisfying the property that it is 20 more than a multiple of 22 and only contains the digits
0 and 2?

(A) 200020 (B) 22020 (C) 200000 (D) 20000 (E) 220020

21. Given that a and b are positive whole numbers such that a2 + ab + 6a + 2b = b2 + ab + 6b + 1 − 2a,
what is ab?

(A) 12 (B) 24 (C) 60 (D) 10 (E) 15

22. Anna arrives at a cafe at a random time between noon and 6 PM and waits inside for exactly 1 hour.
Beth arrives at the same cafe at a random time between noon and 5 PM on the same day and also
waits inside for exactly 1 hour. What is the probability that Anna and Beth will both be in the cafe at
some point?

2 1 1 2 19
(A) 5 (B) 3 (C) 5 (D) 11 (E) 60

Sprint Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 23. How many whole numbers between 1 and 100, inclusive, contain an even number of 1s in their base-2
representation?

(A) 24 (B) 49 (C) 25 (D) 51 (E) 50

24. Which of the nets below can be folded into a regular octahedron?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

(A) Net 4 (B) Net 3 (C) Net 2 (D) Net 5 (E) Net 1

25. A yes/no survey currently has some whole number of respondents, and everyone who takes the survey
is required to answer either “yes” or “no.” Initially, exactly 51 percent of the respondents had answered
“yes.” However, after 200 additional respondents who had not yet taken the survey answer “no,” exactly
51 percent of the respondents will have answered “no.” How many total people, including the last 200
who answer “no,” take the survey?

(A) 10000 (B) 5200 (C) 10200 (D) 9800 (E) 5100

Sprint Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 23 −22 43 −42 63 −62 83 −82 103 −102
26. What is 33 −32
· 53 −52
· 73 −72
· 93 −92
· 113 −112
?

256 256 4 23
(A) 7623 (B) 693 (C) 5 (D) 1 (E) 128

27. What is the sum of the cubes of the 3 distinct solutions to the equation x3 − 8x + 3 = 0?

(A) 8 (B) −9 (C) −3 (D) 1 (E) 0

28. Three points are drawn in a line, with a distance of 3 between any two consecutive points. Then three
circles with radius 3 are drawn, each with a different one of the three points as its center. What is the
area inside the circle centered at the middle point but outside both of the other circles?

√ √ √
(A) 9 3 − 3π (B) 3π − 2 3 (C) 6 3 − 2π (D) 9π − 9 (E) 3π

29. Scarlett colors each vertex of a regular octagon either red or purple. They then rotate the octagon 45◦
at a time 8 times before the octagon returns to its original position. During this process, Scarlett notices
that no two of the eight rotations had the same coloring. Given that rotations are considered distinct,
in how many ways could Scarlett have colored the octagon?

(A) 240 (B) 24 (C) 412 (D) 32 (E) 256

30. Let n be a positive whole number with the following properties.

• When n is added to the next-smallest positive whole number, the result is a multiple of 7.
• When n is added to the two next-largest positive whole numbers, the result is a multiple of 9.
What is the sum of all possible remainders when n is divided by 63?

(A) 93 (B) 66 (C) 83 (D) 31 (E) 107

Sprint Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 Target Round
12429

Name

Place ID Sticker Grade

Inside This Box
School

Problems 1 & 2

1. Six identical regular hexagons are joined in a ring such that each hexagon 1.
shares exactly one side with two other hexagons. How many total sides are
on the inside or outside of the resulting figure?

2. How many distinct prime factors does 30! have? 2.

Target Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 Target Round
12429

Name

Place ID Sticker Grade

Inside This Box
School

Problems 3 & 4

3. Given that a+b+c = 10, b+c+d = 12, a+c+d = 15, and a+b+d = 11, 3.
what is a + b + c + d?

4. Amy has 4 skirts, 3 shirts, and 5 hats. She must make an outfit that has 1 4.
skirt, 1 shirt, and up to 1 hat. How many different outfits can Amy make?

Target Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 Target Round
12429

Name

Place ID Sticker Grade

Inside This Box
School

Problems 5 & 6

5. Gerald chooses a factor of 540 at random. Given that this factor is a multiple 5.
of 3, what is the probability that it is a multiple of 9? Express your answer
as a common fraction.

6. Oliver has 6 red stones and 4 green stones. He places the all of his stones 6.
in a row in some random order. George then randomly chooses one of the
stones. What is the probability that the stone he chooses is immediately
next to exactly 1 red stone? Express your answer as a common fraction.

Target Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 Target Round
12429

Name

Place ID Sticker Grade

Inside This Box
School

Problems 7 & 8

7. The solutions to the equation x3 − 13x2 + ax − 48 = 0 are all positive whole 7.

numbers. What is a?

8. Triangle ABC has side lengths AB = 20 and BC = 22. Suppose that point 8.
−→
D lies on the extension of ray AC such that AD = 2022. Given that the area
of △BDA is N more than the area of △ABC, what is the smallest integer
N
greater than the largest possible value of 10000 ?

Target Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 Team Round
12429

School or Team Name

Name

Name

Name

Place ID Sticker Place ID Sticker

Inside This Box Inside This Box

Place ID Sticker Place ID Sticker

Inside This Box Inside This Box

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Team Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 1. James and John each have a cake in the shape of a regular right octagonal prism. The side length of
the base of James’s cake is 2, and the side length of the base of John’s cake is 6. Given that the cakes
have the same height, how many times the volume of James’s cake is the volume of John’s cake?

2. What is the smallest composite number that is relatively prime to every positive whole number not
exceeding 10?

3. Bob and Stuart each square their favorite positive number and write their results on the same chalk-
board. Then Claire multiplies Bob’s and Stuart’s favorite numbers and writes their product on that same
chalkboard twice. Given that the sum of all of the numbers written on the chalkboard is 81, what is the
sum of Bob’s favorite number and Stuart’s favorite number?

4. Brigid has five six-sided dice that each have faces numbered from 1 to 6, inclusive. Three of the dice
are fair, but the other two are unfair. Brigid chooses a die at random and rolls it. If Brigid rolls a 6,
then the probability that the die was unfair is 49 . Given that the two unfair dice are identical, what is the
probability that Brigid rolls a 6 when rolling an unfair die?

5. Given that all of their vertices must be points in the grid, how many rectangles can be formed using
the 3 × 4 unit grid below?

6. Given that x4 + 6x2 + 3 = 4x3 + 4x + 83 for some positive number x, what is x2 ?

7. Scarlett has 10 identical cookies to allocate to their classmates Alice, Bob, Charles, Danny, Eric, and
Francis. Alice must receive more cookies than Bob, and Bob must receive at least 2 cookies. In
addition, Charles must receive an even number of cookies, and Francis must receive a prime number
of cookies. Finally, if Charles receives any cookies, then Eric must receive twice as many cookies as
Charles. Given that Scarlett does not split any cookies, in how many ways can they distribute the 10
cookies?

8. How many positive whole numbers less than 100 do not end in 7 and are neither perfect squares nor
primes?

Team Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 9. Ollie has 14 black hats and 2 red hats. He randomly picks one hat without replacement to put on each
of his cats. The probability that all of the hats that he picks are black is 38 . How many cats does Ollie
have?

10. Triangle ABC with AB = 21 is rotated about side AB to form the three-dimensional solid shown below.
Given that the volume of the solid is 448π, what is the area of triangle ABC?
A

Team Round 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 Answers
12429

Sprint Round Target Round Team Round

1. D 11. B 21. A 1. 24 1. 9
2. D 12. B 22. E 2. 10 2. 121
3. A 13. C 23. B 3. 16 3. 9
1
4. B 14. D 24. C 4. 72 4. 5
2
5. A 15. E 25. E 5. 3 5. 20
6. B 16. D 26. A 41 6. 16
6. 75
7. C 17. E 27. B 7. 46 7. 21
8. C 18. B 28. A 8. 3 8. 61
9. A 19. A 29. A 9. 6
10. B 20. B 30. A 10. 84

Number Sense
1. 112 21. 35 41. 12376 61. 720
5
2. 3 22. 961 42. 2349 62. 16
3. 806 23. 186 43. 60 63. 2025
2
4. 140 24. 7 44. 2075 64. 10920
1
5. 557 25. 42 45. 5 65. 57 64
6. 3 26. 16 46. 7 41
66. 111
7. 56 27. 1575 47. 4000 67. 4141
1
8. 17 28. 2 48. 12 68. 48
9. 720 29. 8 49. 280 69. 231
10. [1933, 2135] 30. [19061, 21067] 50. [3664283, 4049995] 70. [6123, 6767]
11. 792 31. 3021 51. 10 71. 16
12. 289 32. 28 52. 45 72. 110
13. 101 33. 361 53. 122 73. 9
14. 1330 34. 15 54. 7992 74. 128
15. 112 35. 9025 55. 637 75. 126025
9
16. 630 36. 6633 56. 35625 76. 16
2
17. 449 37. 68 57. 11 77. 63
18. 1584 38. 168 58. 1122 78. 108
19. 4 39. 2.5 59. 8134 79. 980096
20. [142167, 157131] 40. [789, 871] 60. [172987, 191195] 80. [826, 911]

Answers 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 Solutions
12429

Sprint Round Solutions

1. The given expression can be rewritten as 6 − (5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1), which has a value of 6 − 15 = −9 .

2. Before Ardeel divides by 5, he had the number 13 × 5 = 65. Continuing to work backwards, he had the
number 65 − 7 = 58 before adding 7. Finally, undoing a multiplication by 2 yields his favorite number,
which is 58 ÷ 2 = 29 .

3. For any rearrangement, there are 4 choices for the first letter, 3 choices for the second letter, 2 choices
for the third letter, and 1 choice for the last letter. Therefore, the number of ways to rearrange the letters
in the word MATH is 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24 .

4. The area of the unshaded triangles in the upper left and bottom right regions of the large square have
areas of 2×1 1×1 1
2 = 1, and the unshaded triangle in the top right region has area 2 = 2 . The whole
3
square has area 2 × 2 = 4, so the area of the shaded triangle is 4 − 1 − 1 − 12 = .
2

5. The given expression can be rewritten as (10 − 1) + (20 − 1) + (30 − 1) + (40 − 1) + (50 − 1) + (60 − 1) =
10 × (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6) − 6 × 1, which evaluates to 210 − 6 = 204 .

6. There are 48 minutes between 7:30 AM and 8:18 AM, so Juan takes a total of no more than 48 minutes
to complete the three given activities. Then the number of minutes that he spends eating breakfast
cannot exceed 48 − 4 − 8 = 36 .

1
7. For any letter that Peter rolls, there is a 26 chance that Paul also chose that letter, so the desired
1
probability is .
26

Solutions 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 8. If the smaller triangle is rotated 180 degrees about the center of the circle, then its vertices will fall on
the sides of the larger triangle, as shown below. Note that the larger equilateral triangle will then be
divided into 4 congruent equilateral triangles. Then all four triangles have the same area, so the area
of the smaller equilateral triangle is 14 that of the larger triangle, or 24
4 = 6 .

9. The multiples of 6 that needed to be added up are those from 6 to 600, inclusive, so the desired sum
is 6 + 12 + 18 + · · · + 600. This can be rewritten as 6 × (1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + 100), which evaluates to
6 × 101×100
2 = 30300 .

10. This problem can be solved using complementary counting, which means that the number of arrange-
ments after SLIME can be counted and subtracted from the total number of arrangements. Rearranging
the letters of MILES in alphabetical order yields EILMS. There are a total of 5! = 120 arrangements,
and the only arrangements that come after SLIME alphabetically must start with the letters SL or SM.
The only arrangements that come after SLIME that start with SL are SLMEI and SLMIE, and all 3! = 6
of the arrangements starting with SM come after SLIME, so the number of arrangements that Miles
writes after SLIME is 2 + 6 = 8. Thus, the number of arrangements that Miles will have written by the
time that he writes SLIME is 120 − 8 = 112 .

11. The smallest and largest three-digit multiples of 7 are 7 × 15 = 105 and 7 × 142 = 998, in that order.
Similarly, the smallest and largest three-digit multiples of 11 are 11 × 10 = 110 and 11 × 90 = 990, in
that order. Numbers that a multiples of 7 and 11 are all multiples of lcm(7, 11) = 77, and the smallest
and largest three-digit multiples of 77 are 77·2 = 154 to 77·12 = 924. These will need to be subtracted
out twice so that they are not counted as either multiples of 7 or multiples of 11, so the number of 3-digit
numbers that are multiples of 7 or 11 but not both is (142 − 15 + 1) + (90 − 10 + 1) − 2 × (12 − 2 + 1),
or 128 + 81 − 2 × 11 = 187 .

12. Denise needs to take(7)steps to get from (0, 0) to (3, 4). If her path were not restricted, then she would
be able to do this in 73 = 35 ways. However, the number of paths through the point (2, 2) must be
subtracted. This can be calculated by multiplying the number (4) of(3ways
) to get from (0, 0) to (2, 2) and
the number of ways to get from (2, 2) to (3, 4), which yields 2 · 1 = 18 invalid paths. Therefore, the
number of paths that Denise can take to Denephew is 35 − 18 = 17 .

13. Let the number be x. Thus, the problem can be expressed as x3 − x = 1716, which factors to
x(x2 − 1) = 1716 and then x(x − 1)(x + 1) = 1716. The desired number is the middle number in a
group of three consecutive positive whole numbers. Note that 1716 = 11 · 12 · 13, so x = 12 .

Alternatively, note that the expression x3 − x is close to x3 for values of x that are not very
small. The closest perfect cube to 1716 is 123 = 1728, and testing x = 12 does yield x3 − x = 1712.

Solutions 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 14. To minimize the surface area, the side lengths of the prism should be as close together as possible.
The three whole numbers multiplying to 30 that are the closest together are 30 = 2×3×5, so the prism
in question has edge lengths of 2, 3, and 5. Then the desired surface area is 2×(2·3+3·5+5·2) = 62 .

15. Let t be the number of minutes that have passed since 2 PM, and let d be the distance from Fredricks-
t
burg to Marfa. David takes 135 minutes to drive this distance, so his location at time t is 135 d. Emma-
Lee only takes 45 minutes to drive the same distance, but she starts 60 minutes later, so her posi-
tion at time t is t−60
45 d. When she passes David, they have the same position at the same time, so
t
135 d = t−60
45 d. Cross-multiplying yields t = 3 × (t − 60), which solves to t = 90. The time at which
Emma-Lee passes David is therefore 90 minutes after 2 PM, or 3:30 PM .

16. Since no red dragon has green eyes, there cannot be a green-eyed red dragon, so statement 1 is true.
In addition, all dragons with blue eyes are black, but not every black dragon must have blue eyes, so
statement 2 is not necessarily true. Statement 3 is also not necessarily true because all green-eyed
dragons could be black. Finally, since statement 1 is true, statement 4 is not, so the only statement
that must be true is Statement 1 .

17. The problem can be written as the equation 68 a = 153 , which cross-multiplies to yield a = 68 · 153.
a 2

Note that 68 = 17 · 4 and 153 = 17 · 9, so a = 17 · 2 · 3 . Taking the square root of both sides yields
2 2 2 2

a = 17 · 2 · 3, which multiplies to 102 .

18. The unit cubes with no paint on them are the ones√from the interior of the original cube. In fact, they
collectively form a smaller cube with edge length 3 343 = 7. Adding one unit in both directions then
yields the edge length of the original cube to be 7 + 2 = 9. Thus, Alice’s original cube was cut into
93 = 729 unit cubes, and the number of unit cubes with at least one face painted is 729 − 343 = 386 .

19. A regular hexagon can be divided into 6 equilateral triangles, as shown below. The points closer to the
center of the hexagon than to any of its vertices are on the inside of the perpendicular bisectors, shown
as dashed lines, of the segments connecting the center to each vertex. Each perpendicular bisector
divides two equilateral triangles in half, so they each have twice the length of the altitude of one of the
equilateral triangles. Now consider any one of the equilateral triangles. In this triangle, draw the third
altitude, which is bolded in the diagram below. The three altitudes of an equilateral triangle divide it into
6 identical pieces, exactly two of which contain points that are closer to the center of the hexagon than
1
to any vertex. This applies to all six of the equilateral triangles, so the desired probability is 62 = .
3

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 20. The smallest 5-digit whole number consisting of only 0s and 2s is 20000, which is 2 more than a
multiple of 22. To ensure that the number keeps that property, it is only possible to add each of 2, 20,
200, or 2000 to 20000 no more than once without creating a six-digit number. Note that 2 and 200 are
both 2 more than a multiple of 22 and that 20 and 2000 are both 20 more than a multiple of 22. Thus,
the only five-digit number consisting only of 0s and 2s that has a remainder of 20 when divided by 22
is 20000 + 2000 + 20 = 22020 .

21. The given equation can be rearranged to a2 + ab + 6a − ab − b2 − 6b + 2a + 2b = 1. The left-hand

side of the equation can almost be factored as (a − b + 2)(a + b + 6), but it is missing a constant
term of 12. Adding 12 to both sides yields a2 + ab + 8a − ab − b2 − 4b + 12 = 13, which factors to
(a − b + 2)(a + b + 6) = 13. Since a and b are positive whole numbers, a − b + 2 and a + b + 6
must also be positive whole numbers. The only factor pair of 13 is 13 = 1 · 13, so a + b + 6 = 13 and
a − b + 2 = 1 because a + b + 6 > a − b + 2. The second equation solves to a = b − 1, and substituting
this into the first equation yields b − 1 + b + 6 = 13, so b = 4 and a = 3, and the desired product has
a value of ab = 3 · 4 = 12 .

22. This problem can be solved using geometric probability. The probability that Anna and Beth are both in
the cafe at some time can be represented by the shaded area in the rectangle below. In this rectangle,
the horizontal position represents the time at which Anna arrives at the cafe, and the vertical position
represents the time at which Beth arrives at the cafe. The shaded area represents the set of arrival
times that allow Anna and Beth to be in the cafe at the same time. Letting the rectangle have dimensions
of 5 × 6, with each unit representing an hour of time, the areas of the regions that do not represent
Anna and Beth being in the cafe at the same time are 4·4 5·5 25
2 = 8 and 2 = 2 . The area of the entire
rectangle is 5 · 6 = 30, and the area of the shaded region is 30 − 8 − 2 = 2 , so the desired probability
25 19

19
2 ÷ 30 = 60 .
is 19

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 23. The base-2 representation of 100 is is 11001002 . This has 7 digits, so the desired whole numbers have
0, 2, 4, or 6 1s in their base-2 representation.
• If a number has no 1s in its base-2 representation, then it is 02 = 010 , which is not between 1 and
100.
• If a number has two 1s in its base-2 representation, then any two of the seven binary place values
between 0 6
(7)2 and 2 , inclusive, can be 1s without exceeding a decimal value of 100, so this case
yields 2 = 21 numbers.
• If such a number has four 1s in its binary representation and it has leading binary digits of 11,
then it must be 11000112 = 9910 . If it instead
(5 ) starts with 10, then the remaining three 1s can be
placed without restriction, which yields 3 = 10 more numbers. Finally, any placement of four 1s
in
(6)a binary number of 6 or fewer digits will not result in a number greater than 10010 , so there are
4 = 15 more numbers. This case therefore gives a total of 1 + 10 + 15 = 26 numbers.
• If there are six 1s in a number’s base-2 representation, then it is at least 1111112 = 6310 . The
next-smallest numbers, in order, are 10111112 = 9510 and 11011112 = 11110 , so there are only
2 numbers in this case not more than 100.
Thus, the number of positive whole numbers less than 101 with an even number of 1s in their binary
representation is 2 + 26 + 21 + 0 = 49 .

24. A regular octahedron has 8 faces in the shape of equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each
vertex. Net 3 has a square face, and net 5 only has 6 faces, so neither of them can fold into a regular
octahedron. In addition, net 4 has vertices at which 5 faces meet, so it also cannot make an octahedron.
Finally, net 1 cannot make an octahedron because it is impossible for all of its vertices to have four faces
meeting at them, and the net can at best make an octahedron shape, but with one face missing and two
faces coinciding with each other. Thus, the only net that can be folded to create a regular octahedron
is Net 2 .

51
25. Let the initial number of survey respondents be n. Then there are 100 n respondents who have answered
49
“yes” and 100 n respondents who have answered “no.” After 200 more respondents answer “no,” the total
number of respondents becomes n+200, 49 percent of whom are “yes” respondents. Since the number
51 49
of respondents who answer “yes” does not change, this yields the equation 100 n = 100 (n + 200), so
n = 4900. Thus, the total number of respondents after the 200 additional “no” responses is n + 200 =
5100 .

26. Note that for any value of n, the expression n3 − n2 can be factored as n2 · (n − 1). Then the desired
product above can be rewritten as 232 ·1 · 4 ·3 · 6 ·5 · 8 ·7 · 10 ·9 . Cancelling shared terms reduces this to
2 2 2 2 2
·2 52 ·4 72 ·6 92 ·8 112 ·10
256
2
3 · 4
5 · 6
7 · 8
9 · 10
112
, which simplifies to .
7623

27. Let the three solutions to the given equation be a, b, and c. Then by definition, a3 − 8a + 3 = 0,
b3 − 8b + 3 = 0, and c3 − 8c + 3 = 0. Adding the three equations together yields a3 + b3 + c3 − 8 ·
(a + b + c) + 9 = 0, so a3 + b3 + c3 = −9 + 8 · (a + b + c). By Vieta’s formulas, the sum of the roots to
this equation is the negatve ratio of the x2 coefficient to the x3 coefficient, or 0, so a + b + c = 0. Thus,
the sum of the subes of the three solutions to the equation x3 − 8x + 3 = 0 is a3 + b3 + c3 = −9 .

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 28. The desired area is the combined area of two 60◦ sectors of a circle of radius 3 but with the combined
area of four segments that are inside both one of these sectors and one of the other two circles removed,
as shown below. The area of each segment is the difference between the √ area of a 60◦ sector of a
circle of radius 3 and an equilateral triangle with side length 3, or 61 · π · 32 − 43 · 32 . Thus, the desired
√ √
area is 2 · ( 16 · π · 32 ) − 4 · ( 16 · π · 32 − 43 · 32 ) = 9 3 − 3π .

29. Note that two rotations have identical colorings if and only if they are identical when rotated by some
multiple of 45 degrees four times. Note that rotating the octagon four times by an angle equal to 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 multiples of 45 degrees results in a configuration that is 180 degrees rotated from
the original coloring. Furthermore, note that rotating the octagon by 8 multiples of 45 degrees 4 times
results in the original coloring itself. If the octagon is colored identically when rotated by 4 · 45 = 180
degrees, then in consecutive order, its first four vertices and second four vertices must have the same
coloring. There are 24 = 16 ways to color four vertices, and the total number of unrestricted colorings
is 28 = 256, so the number of ways in which Scarlett can color the octagon to yield 8 distinct rotations
is 256 − 16 = 240 .

30. The given conditions show that n+(n+1) = 2n+1 is a multiple of 7 and that n+(n−1)+(n−2) = 3n−3
is a multiple of 9. If 2n + 1 is divisible by 7, then 2n must leave a remainder of 7 − 1 = 6 when divided
by 7, so n must leave a remainder of 3 when divided by 7. Similarly, 3n − 3 must be divisible by 9, so 3n
must leave a remainder of 3 when divided by 9. This means that n must be one more than a multiple
of 3, so the remainder when n is divided by 9 can be 1, 4, or 7. Note that 7 and 9 are relatively prime,
so by the Chinese Remainder Theorem, each unique combination of remainders with respect to 7 and
9 will yield a unique remainder when dividing by lcm(7, 9) = 63. The remainders when dividing by 63
that correspond to a remainder of 3 when dividing by 7 and remainders of 1, 4, and 7 when dividing by
9 are 10, 31, and 52, in that order, so the desired sum is 10 + 31 + 52 = 93 .

Solutions 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

Target Round Solutions

1. Hexagons have 6 sides each, so six hexagons have a total of 6 × 6 = 36 sides. However, two sides of
each hexagon are shared with other hexagons and become part of the interior of the resulting figure,
so they are no longer sides of the resulting figure. Thus, the total number of sides of the resulting figure
is 36 − 6 × 2 = 24 .

2. Any prime factor of 30! must be a prime number less than 30, and all prime numbers less than 30
are factors of 30!. The primes less than 30 are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, and 29, so the number of
distinct prime factors of 30! is 10 .

3. Adding all four given equations together yields 3a + 3b + 3c + 3d = 48, and dividing both sides by 3
shows that a + b + c + d = 16 .

4. Amy has 4 choices for her skirt and 3 choices for her shirt. In addition, she can either wear one of her
5 hats or wear no hat at all, so she has 6 choices for what to do with her hats. Thus, the total number
of outfits that Amy can make is 4 · 3 · 6 = 72 .

5. The prime factorization of 540 is 22 · 33 · 5, so any factor of 540 contains 0, 1, 2, or 3 factors of 3 with
equal probability. Since Gerald’s factor is a multiple of 3, it must contain 1, 2, or 3 factors of 3, and for
this factor to be a multiple of 9, it must contain at least 2 factors of 3. Since the number of factors of 3
2
each occur with equal probability, the desired probability is .
3

6. The stone that George chooses is at an end of the row of stones or somewhere in the middle of the row.
6
If he chooses a stone at an end of the row, then there is a 10 probability that the only stone next to it is
red. On the other hand, if he chooses one of the middle stones, then the probability that both stones
4
next to it are green is 10 · 39 = 12
90 , and the probability that both stones next to it are red is 10 · 9 = 90 .
6 5 30

Thus, the probability that exactly one of the stones next to a middle stone is red is 1 − 90 12
− 30 48
90 = 90 .
2 8
Finally, George chooses an end stone with probability 10 and a middle stone stone with probability 10 ,
41
so the desired probability is 102
· 10
6 8
+ 10 · 48
90 = 75 .

7. Let the solutions to the given equation be p, q, and r. Then (x − p)(x − q)(x − r) = x3 − 13x2 + ax − 48,
and expanding the left-hand side of the equation yields x3 − (p + q + r)x2 + (pq + pr + qr)x − pqr =
x3 − 13x2 + ax − 48. Matching coefficients between these two polynomials yields −(p + q + r) = −13,
pq + pr + qr = a, and −pqr = −48. Thus, the three solutions to the given equation multiply to 48 and
sum to 13. The only unordered triple of whole-number factors of 48 that sums to 13 is (2, 3, 8), so p,
q, and r, are 2, 3, and 8 in some order, and the value of a is 2 · 3 + 3 · 8 + 8 · 2 = 46 .

Note that the properties of coefficients shown above are more commonly known as Vieta’s formulas.
We strongly encourage that students learn these formulas when they reach an appropriate point in
their math journey.

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 8. Let AC = x. Then CD = 2022 − x. Triangle ABC has perimeter 42 + x and semiperimeter 21 + 2x , so
√ √ √
by Heron’s Formula, it has area (21 + 2x )(21 − 2x )(1 + 2x )(−1 + 2x ) = 14 x2 − 4 · 1764 − x2 . Note
√ √
that N is equal to the area of △ACD, so by area ratios, N is equal to 2022−x · 41 x2 − 4 · 1764 − x2 =
√ √ x
x2 − 4 · 1764 − x2 . Then observe that (x −4)(1764−x
2 2)
2022−x
= −x2 + 1768 − 7056 . By the AM-GM
4x √ √ x2 x2
inequality, x + x2 ≥ 2· 7056, so N ≤ 4 · 1768 − 168, which simplifies to N ≤ 100(2022−x) <
2 7056 2022−x
√ √
4·8 ·
30000. Finally, note that setting AC = 8 yields N = 2022−8
√
(82 − 4) · 1764 − 82 , which simplifies to
N = 1007 16102000 . Since N > 1007·319
16 > 20000, the maximum value of N is between 20000 and 30000,
N
so the smallest integer exceeding the maximum value of 10000 is 3 .

Solutions 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

Team Round Solutions

1. The volume of a right prism is the area of the base multiplied by the height. John’s cake has a base
side length that is 6 ÷ 2 = 3 times the base side length of James’s cake, so its base has 32 = 9 times
the area of the base of James’s cake. Since the heights of the cakes are the same, they do not affect
the ratio of the volumes, so the ratio of the the volume of John’s cake to the volume of James’s cake is
9.

2. Such a number must only be divisible by prime numbers greater than 10, and it cannot itself be prime.
The smallest prime greater than 10 is 11, and to make a composite number, this prime factor is squared
to yield 112 = 121 .

3. Let Bob’s favorite number be b, and let Stuart’s favorite number be s. Then Bob writes b2 on the
chalkboard, and Stuart writes s2 . Claire writes s · b on the chalkboard twice, so the sum of all of
numbers on the chalkboard is b2 +s2 +sb+sb = b2 +s2 +2sb, or (s+b)2 . Finally, since (s+b)2 = 81,
the sum of the two favorite numbers is either b + s = 9 or b + s = −9. Both numbers are positive, so
the desired sum is 9 .

4. Let the probability of rolling a 6 on an unfair die be p. Then the probability of Brigid choosing a weighted
die and rolling a 6 is 25 · p, and the probability of her choosing a fair die and rolling a 6 is 53 · 16 . The
2
·p
probability that the rolled die was unfair when Brigid rolls a 6 is 94 , so 2
5
·p+ ·
3 1 = 94 . This simplifies to
5 5 6
4p
4p+1 = 49 , and cross-multiplying yields 36p = 16p + 4, so p = 51 . Thus, the probability of rolling a 6 on
1
one of the unfair dice is .
5

5. This grid can also be thought of as a 2 × 3 grid of unit squares, so it has 3 horizontal gridlines and
4 vertical gridlines. To make a rectangle whose sides are horizontal and ( ) vertical, it(is) necessary to
choose two horizontal and two vertical gridlines, which can be done in 32 = 3 and 42 = 6 ways, in
that order. Thus,
√ this yields 3 · 6 = 18 possible rectangles. However, there are also two squares with
side length 2 whose sides are at 45-degree angles to the horizontal and vertical gridlines, as shown
below, so the total number of rectangles that can be formed using the points in this grid is 18+2 = 20 .

Solutions 12429 ©2024 mathleague.org

 6. The given equation can be rewritten as x4 − 4x3 + 6x2 − 4x + 1 = 81. Factoring the left-hand side of
the equation then yields (x − 1)4 = 81, so x − 1 = 3 or x − 1 = −3. However, x must be positive, so
x − 1 = 3 and x = 4, which yields x2 = 16 .

7. Bob receives a minimum of 2 cookies, so Alice receives a minimum of 3 cookies. The smallest prime
number is 2, so Francis gets a minimum of 2 cookies. This accounts for at least 7 of the 10 cookies.
If Charles receives more than 0 cookies, then he must receive at least 2, which would give Eric at
least 4 cookies. This would exceed 10 total cookies, so Charles must receive 0 cookies. There are no
further constraints on how many cookies Danny or Eric receive. The number of ways that Scarlett can
distribute the cookies can be counted based on the number of cookies that Alice receives.
• If Alice gets 3 cookies, then Francis can get 2, 3, or 5 cookies. If Francis gets 2 cookies, then
there are 4 ways for Danny and Eric to allocate the 10−3−2−2 = 3 remaining cookies. Similarly,
if Francis gets 3 cookies, then Danny and Eric have 3 ways to distribute the 2 remaining cookies,
and if Francis receives 5 cookies, then Danny and Eric have 1 way to distribute the 0 remaining
cookies. This case yields a total of 4 + 3 + 1 = 8 possibilities.
• If Alice receives 4 cookies, then Bob can receive 2 or 3 cookies. If Bob and Francis both receive
2 cookies, then Danny and Eric have 3 ways to distribute the 2 remaining cookies. If one of them
receives 2 cookies while the other receives 3, then there are 2 ways for the remaining cookie
to be allocated to Danny or Eric. Finally, if both Bob and Francis receive 3 cookies, then there
is only one possibility since Danny and Eric both receive 0 cookies. This case yields a total of
3 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 8 possibilities.
• If Alice receives 5 cookies, then Bob can still only receive 2 or 3 cookies. If Bob and Francis both
receive 2 cookies, then there are two ways to allocate the remaining cookie, but if either of them
gets 3 cookies, then there are no cookies remaining, so there is only one possibility. Bob and
Francis cannot both receive more than 2 cookies, so this case yields 2 + 1 + 1 = 4 possibilities.
• Finally, if Alice receives 6 cookies, then there are no cookies left for Danny and Eric, so this case
yields 1 case.
The total number of ways in which Scarlett can allocate their cookies is therefore 8 + 8 + 4 + 1 = 21 .

8. There are 9 positive perfect squares less than 100, none of which are prime or end in 7. In addition,
there are 25 prime numbers and 10 numbers ending in 7 that are less than 100. Note that the numbers
7, 17, 37, 47, 67, and 97 both end in 7 and are prime, so it is necessary to add them back to avoid
overcounting. Thus, the number of positive whole numbers less than 100 that do not end in 7 and are
neither perfect squares nor prime is 99 − 9 − 25 − 10 + 6 = 61 .

(16) ( )
9. Suppose that Ollie has c cats. Then there are c ways for him to choose hats for his cats and 14 c ways
14 14!
( )
for all of the hats to be black. Thus, the probability that all of the hats are black is 16c = (14−c)!c!
16! , which
(c) (16−c)!c!

can be simplified to 14!(16−c)!c!

16!(14−c)!c! =
(16−c)(15−c)
16·15 . This probability is given to be 38 , so (16−c)(15−c)
16·15 = 38 .
Cross-multiplying then yields (16−c)(15−c) = 90. Note that 15−c and 16−c are consecutive positive
whole numbers, and the two consecutive numbers that multiply to 90 are 9 and 10, so 16 − c = 10 and
15 − c = 9. Therefore, the number of cats that Ollie has is 16 − 10 = 6 .

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 10. Let the height of triangle ABC to side AB be r, and let the altitude from C meet side AB at point D. Now
let AD be a and BD be b, and note that a + b = 21 since AB = 21. The given solid is composed of two
right circular cones, one with height a and radius r and the other with height b and radius r. The sum
of the volumes of the cones is therefore 13 a · πr2 + 13 b · πr2 = 13 πr2 · (a + b). Subsituting a + b = 21 into
this expression yields a total volume of 13 · 21 · π · r2 = 7π · r2 , which equals 448π. Then r2 = 448 7 = 64,
so r = 8, and the area of △ABC is 2 · 8 · 21 = 84 .
1

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