Five students A, B, C, D, E were placed 1 to 5 in a contest with no ties. One prediction was that the result would be the order A, B, C, D, E. But no student finished in the position predicted and to two students predicted to finish consecutively did so. For example, the outcome for C and D was not 1, 2 (respectively), or 2, 3, or 3, 4 or 4, 5. Another prediction was the order D, A, E, C, B. Exactly two students finished in the places predicted and two disjoint pairs predicted to finish consecutively did so. Determine the outcome.
Solution
Start from the second prediction. The disjoint pairs can only be: DA, EC; DC, CB; or AE, CB. The additional requirement of just two correct places means that the only possibilities (in the light of the information about the second prediction) are: DABEC, DACBE, EDACB, AEDCB. The first is ruled out because AB are consecutive. The second is ruled out because C is in the correct place. The fourth is ruled out because A is in the correct place. This leaves EDACB, which is indeed a solution.
Solutions are also available in: Samuel L Greitzer, International Mathematical Olympiads 1959-1977, MAA 1978, and in István Reiman, International Mathematical Olympiad 1959-1999, ISBN 189-8855-48-X.
© John Scholes
jscholes@kalva.demon.co.uk
21 Sep 1998
Last corrected/updated 24 Sep 2003