Bait

Eric Shen

December 2019

1 Introduction

This handout talks about bait problems, which are basically problems where the solution may seem super
short and nice, but when doing the problem you’ll likely be lead down the wrong path (hence the name
”bait). These kinds of problems appear a lot in the AMCs, although usually the bait isn’t that strong (as
in you won’t lose that much time for doing it the ”incorrect way”). With bait problems, some strategies
include:

1. Look at the big picture. A lot of the time with bait problems people tend to look really ”locally” to see
what they can do to resolve some sub-problem of the problem. Instead, sometimes it might be useful
to consider what the question is asking, and how you can use all the information to get the answer.

(a) This happens pretty often with systems of equations. Sometimes, if there aren’t enough equations,
either add them all up together or use inequalities.

2. Don’t skip to conclusions to quickly. In particular, don’t skip to the high-tech, big-name theorems
immediately (i.e. stewart). Sometimes the question isn’t nearly as hard as you think it is.

3. Don’t doubt yourself too much if some information isn’t used. Sometimes there are red herrings; don’t
think yourself wrong because you didn’t use some piece of information.

4. Think SIMPLE. Usually the answers to these bait problems use a really simple idea, but because we
think too locally / skip to conclusions, we don’t see it.

5. Usually you can recognize bait by looking at weird, probably irrelevant, big numbers.

A lot of the above may feel a bit confusing to read right now, so I’ll proceed with a few examples.

2 Examples
1. Let p1 , p2 , . . . be the set of all odd primes in increasing order (so p1 = 3 and so on). Prove that for all
positive integers n,
pn + pn+1
2
is composite.

1
Eric Shen Bait December 2019

2. (AMC 12 2007) Triangles ABC and ADE have areas 2007 and 7002, respectively, with B = (0, 0),
C = (223, 0), D = (680, 380), and E = (689, 389). What is the sum of all possible x-coordinates of A?
(A) 282 (B) 300 (C) 600 (D) 900 (E) 1200

3. (UTS) bob is typing u’s and w’s. In total, he will type 2019 letters, and all letters will be arranged
in a row. We define an “uwu” to be a sequence of 3 letters - two u’s and one w, such that the w is
positioned in between the two u’s in the row. For example, the string “uwuwu” has 4 “uwu”s:

uwuwu
uwuwu
uwuwu
uwuwu

Let the weeb index of a string of 2019 letters be the amount of “uwu”s in the string. Compute the
maximum weeb index bob can attain from such a string.

3 Problems

Try to get at least 50 points.

1. (3) There are two distinct, non-intersecting ellipses (a.k.a symmetric ovals) A and B. We place 6
distinct points on each of the ellipses. Find the maximum possible number of points out of these 12
that can be concyclic (on the same circle).

2. (3) In convex quadrilateral ABCD, AB = 5, BC = 17, CD = 5, DA = 9, and BD is an integer. What

is BD?

3. (3) Let S(n) equal the sum of the digits of positive integer n. For example, S(1507) = 13. For a
particular positive integer n, S(n) = 1274. Which of the following could be the value of S(n + 1)?
(A) 1 (B) 3 (C) 12 (D) 1239 (E) 1265

4. (4) The polynomial f (x) = x4 + ax3 + bx2 + cx + d has real coefficients, and f (2i) = f (2 + i) = 0.
What is a + b + c + d?
(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 4 (D) 9 (E) 16

5. (4) Consider polynomials P (x) of degree at most 3, each of whose coefficients is an element of
{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}. How many such polynomials satisfy P (−1) = −9?
(A) 110 (B) 143 (C) 165 (D) 220 (E) 286

6. (4) A permutation (a1 , a2 , a3 , a4 , a5 ) of (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) is heavy-tailed if a1 + a2 < a4 + a5 . What is the

number of heavy-tailed permutations?
(A) 36 (B) 40 (C) 44 (D) 48 (E) 52

7. (6) A binary operation ♦ has the properties that a ♦ (b ♦ c) = (a ♦ b) · c and that a ♦ a = 1 for all
nonzero real numbers a, b, and c. (Here · represents multiplication). The solution to the equation
2016 ♦ (6 ♦ x) = 100 can be written as pq , where p and q are relatively prime positive integers. What
is p + q?
(A) 109 (B) 201 (C) 301 (D) 3049 (E) 33, 601
Eric Shen Bait December 2019

8. (4) Find the number of 7-tuples of positive integers (a, b, c, d, e, f, g) that satisfy the following systems
of equations:

abc = 70,
cde = 71,
ef g = 72.

9. (6) For every m ≥ 2, let Q(m) be the least positive integer with the following property: For every
n ≥ Q(m), there is always a perfect cube k 3 in the range n < k 3 ≤ m · n. Find the remainder when
2017
X
Q(m)
m=2

is divided by 1000.

10. (9) Katie has a fair 2019-sided die with sides labeled 1, 2, . . . 2019. After each roll, she replaces her
n-sided die with an (n + 1)-sided die having the n sides of her previous die and an additional side with
the number she just rolled. What is the probability that Katie’s 2019th roll is a 2019?

11. (9) Let 4ABC satisfy AB = 17, AC = 70 3 and BC = 19. Let I be the incenter of 4ABC and E be
the excenter of 4ABC opposite A. (Note: this means that the circle tangent to ray AB beyond B,
ray AC beyond C, and side BC is centered at E.) Suppose the circle with diameter IE intersects AB
beyond B at D. If BD = ab where a, b are coprime positive integers, find a + b.

12. (6) Suppose that 0◦ < A < 90◦ and 0◦ < B < 90◦ and

√
4 + tan2 A 5 + tan2 B = 320 tan A tan B

Determine all possible values of cos A sin B.

13. (9) Let a, b, c be positive real numbers such that a ≤ b ≤ c ≤ 2a. Find the maximum possible value of

b c a
+ +
a b c

14. (9) Prove for all real numbers x, y,

(x2 + 1)(y 2 + 1) + 4(x − 1)(y − 1) ≥ 0.

15. (9) In triangle ABC, AB = 125, AC = 117, and BC = 120. The angle bisector of angle A intersects
BC at point L, and the angle bisector of angle B intersects AC at point K. Let M and N be the feet
of the perpendiculars from C to BK and AL, respectively. Find M N .