Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / KöMaL problem A /118 of 136

KöMaL problem A, 2020

Combinatorics Difficulty 8.0 Shortlist Find the answer Hungary

A polyomino is a figure which consists of unit squares joined together by their sides. (A polyomino may contain holes.) Let n≥3n \ge 3 be a positive integer. Consider a grid of unit square cells which extends to infinity in all directions. Find, in terms of nn, the greatest positive integer CC which satisfies the following condition: For every colouring of the cells of the grid in nn colours, there is some polyomino within the grid which contains at most n−1n - 1 colours and whose area is at least CC.

We don't reproduce this publisher's solutions. Their own solution is here — work the problem first.
Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: KöMaL, licensed Rights held by KöMaL and the MATFUND Foundation. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project. Solutions are the publisher's, linked not copied.