#963 - Removing Trits
NOTE: This problem is related to Problem 882. It is recommended to solve that problem before doing this one.
Two players are playing a game. When the game starts, each player holds a paper with two positive integers written on it.
They make moves in turn. At a player's turn, the player can do one of the following:
- pick a number on the player's own paper and change it by removing a \(0\) from its ternary expansionbase-\(3\) expansion;
- pick a number on the opponent's paper and change it by removing a \(1\) from its ternary expansion;
- pick a number on either paper and change it by removing a \(2\) from its ternary expansion.
The player that is unable to make a move loses.
Leading zeros are not allowed in any ternary expansion; in particular nobody can make a move on the number \(0\).
An initial setting is called fair if whichever player moves first will lose the game if both play optimally.
For example, if initially the integers on the paper of the first player are \(1, 5\) and those on the paper of the second player are \(2, 4\), then this is a fair initial setting, which we can denote as \((1, 5 \mid 2, 4)\).
Note that the order of the two integers on a paper does not matter, but the order of the two papers matter.
Thus \((5, 1 \mid 4, 2)\) is considered the same as \((1, 5 \mid 2, 4)\), while \((2, 4 \mid 1, 5)\) is a different initial setting.
Let \(F(N)\) be the number of fair initial settings where each initial number does not exceed \(N\).
For example, \(F(5) = 21\).
Find \(F(10^5)\).
Problem text © Project Euler, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Original: projecteuler.net/problem=963. Published Sunday, 5th October 2025, 11:00 am. Solved by 74 members at time of mirroring.
Why this is useful
Optimization. The transferable skill is replacing infeasible enumeration with a mathematical reduction - the core move in calibration and large-scale computation (Phases 10, 13).
We classify relevance honestly - not every Euler problem is a trading application.
Prerequisites
Lessons that prepare you:
19.14 Computational Complexity, Feasibility Estimation, and Proving Algorithms Correct · 19.7 Dynamic Programming: Memoization and Tabulation
Recommended stepping-stone problems: #331 · #391 · #953
Concepts: game-theory brute-force-reduction
Learning mode
Pick how much scaffolding you want. Your choice is remembered per problem.
Understand the problem
- What exactly is the input to problem 963? Is it a bound (10^5), a supplied dataset, or a definition you must generate from?
- What is the required output - restate it precisely: a single exact integer.
- Which objects exactly are in scope, and which are excluded by the wording (strict vs non-strict inequality, 'distinct', 'proper', 'below' vs 'up to')?
- What do the arguments of F(N), F(5) mean, and what is the value's type (count, sum, probability)?
- What are the edge cases: the smallest legal object, zero/one, ties, and the boundary at exactly 10^5?
- Why is brute force hard HERE specifically? Estimate the number of candidates implied by 10^5 and the cost of testing one.
- Which game-theory fact would, if true, collapse the search - and can you state it as a testable claim before you look for a proof?
Predict & plan (before you code)
- Predict the strategy: in one sentence, what will your solution do? (The classification says game-theory - do you agree, and why?)
- Predict the complexity of your intended method in terms of N = 10^5, and the wall-clock time you expect. Write both down now.
- Predict the key data structure: what is stored, keyed by what, and how large will it get at full scale?
- Predict the failure mode: what is most likely to break - an off-by-one on the bound, a definition misread, precision, or memory?
- Predict the output of the small case from rung 3 BEFORE running it (the statement says: "For example, if initially the integers on the paper of the first player are 1, 5 and those on the paper of the second player are 2, 4, then this is a fair initial setting, which we can denote as (1, 5 2, 4).") - then run it. A surprise here is worth more than an hour of debugging later.
Scratchpad
Mathematical notes, formulas, pseudocode, hypotheses, complexity notes. Saved automatically with your progress.
Python workbench
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Check your answer
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Progressive hints
Optimization
You have a correct answer. That is the start of the learning, not the end.
- Reduce the time complexity. What is the bottleneck, and what mathematical fact removes it?
- Reduce memory. Can you stream, or keep only the last k states?
- Replace brute force with a closed form, a sieve, a recurrence, or a symmetry argument.
- Prove the optimized version computes the same thing.
- Compare two implementations and time them.
Explain it
Which step of your solution were you least confident about, and what evidence would settle it?
What did you try first, and what specifically made you abandon it - a proof, a timing, or a wrong small-case answer?
Where did the game-theory structure do the real work? Name the single observation that collapsed the search space.
Could you have reached the game-theory idea faster? Which words in the statement were pointing at it, and did you notice them?
What was the bug that cost you the most time, and what CLASS of bug was it (off-by-one, definition misread, precision, state under-specified)?
How would your solution change if the bound 10^5 were multiplied by 1000? Does it survive, or does it need a different idea?
What is the honest complexity of what you wrote (not what you intended), and where is the remaining slack?
Which problem you have already solved is this most similar to, and what is the shared skeleton - is it really 'game-theory' underneath?
State the transferable technique in one sentence, without mentioning this problem's story at all.
Self-assess (mastery is not a correct number)
You reach Mastered only when you have solved it, rated yourself at least Solid across the dimensions, and written a real explanation.
Confidence
Low confidence schedules this problem for spaced review, even if you solved it.
Mastery check
- Variation: change the bound (or a rule) in the statement. Does your method still work? What breaks first?
- Constraints: if the limit were 10× larger, which step fails, and what would you replace it with?
- Related problem: #331 · #391 · #953
- Transfer: where else does this technique appear? Name a lesson and a real computational setting.
- Spaced re-attempt: come back after the review interval and re-solve it with no hints.