Another week another TCO 2013 editorial: 1B

The editorial is "ready" (I am legally bound to put ready between quotes).

Check it out at: http://apps.topcoder.com/wiki/display/tc/TCO+2013+Round+1B

It was a fine problem set. It was easier than 1A as expected. But I still managed to make a very lame mistake in the hard problem in my first try (Forgot about the last character in odd strings). I would have scored 245 + 433. This is not counting for the usual nervousness that strikes me during a real match. I am not sure if it would make my scores worse or better. I solved 500 with dynamic programming the first time, it was overkill.

I spent all my clear-brain time this afternoon trying to think of a good argument to prove 250. Everyone seems to know to use that solution. But at least to me it is hard to find out why it works. It is *not* something as simple as pairing min with max minimizes the maximum" , because in an example like: 1,7,7,8, the pairs are 1+8, 7+7, note how the maximum is in the middle this time.

I am also going through tons of stress related to a loved one being sick. So I thought it was better to finish the editorial quick and maybe later when/if I find the proof update the editorial, instead of waiting too much before releasing it (Must focus). Hopefully the editorial is not awful.