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Problem 336

Combinatorics Difficulty 2.5 Multiple choice CEMC Pascal · Canada · 2025

Three students took a 3-question quiz. Their teacher recorded their answers in a chart:

Question #1
Question #2
Question #3

Student A
1515
3636
2424

Student B
2020
3838
2424

Student C
1515
5454
2424

Each student answered exactly 22
questions correctly. What is the sum of the correct answers to the 33 questions?

Pick one

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Official solution

Each student answered exactly 22 questions correctly, meaning that each
student answered exactly 1 question incorrectly.

Suppose that the correct answer to Question #3 is not 2424, and so each student answered Question
#3 incorrectly.

In this case, each student must have answered Question #2 correctly
(since each answered exactly 11
question incorrectly). However, each student answered Question #2
differently, and so each student cannot have answered Question #2
correctly. This tells us that the correct answer to Question #3 is 2424, and each student answered this
question correctly.

Next, suppose that the correct answer to Question #1 is not 1515. In this case, Students A and C did
not answer Question #1 correctly, and so they both must have answered
Question #2 correctly (since each answered exactly 1 question
incorrectly). However, Students A and C have different answers for
Question #2 and thus both cannot have answered Question #2 correctly.
This tells us that the correct answer to Question #1 is 1515, and so Student B answered Question #1
incorrectly.

Finally, since Student B answered Question #1 incorrectly, then they
must have answered Question #2 correctly, and so the correct answer to
Question #2 is 3838.

The sum of the correct answers to the 33 questions is 15+38+24=7715+38+24=77.

Question #1
Question #2
Question #3

Student A
    15 ~~~~15~\checkmark
3636
    24 ~~~~24~\checkmark

Student B
2020
    38 ~~~~38~\checkmark
    24 ~~~~24~\checkmark

Student C
    15 ~~~~15~\checkmark
5454
    24 ~~~~24~\checkmark

Source: CEMC, University of Waterloo, licensed CC-BY-NC-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty, ordering) added by this project.