3. Twenty-one girls and twenty-one boys took part in a mathematical competition.

It
turned out that each contestant solved at most six problems,
and for each pair of a
girl and a boy, there was at least one problem that was solved by both the girl and
the boy. Show that there is a problem that was solved by at least three girls and
at
least three boys.

one solution:
We need to show that there was a problem solved by at least three girls and at
least three boys.
Remember that each contestant solved a maximum of 6 problems, with 1 problem being
solved by at least one girl and at least one boy.

A table could help represent the scenario, and help us demonstrate what is
required.

We can arrange in a table the boys in columns (1 through 21) and girls in rows (1
through 21). Now we can say that for every problem (because at least one boy and
one girl solved it) there are more possibilities than the possible combinations of
boys and girls, which is 21 * 21 = 441. This is the number of cells in this table,
and each cell can represent a problem solved by at least one boy and one girl.
Because it is not important which problem was solved at the intersection of a boy
(column) and a girl (row) we can represent these cells in a certain way.
Assume that for each problem (a cell) we can give it a value of 2 if it was solved
by at least one girl, and give it a value of 1 otherwise, alternately:
cell values:
- problem solved by girl, cell = 2
- problem solved by a boy, cell = 1
Of the 21 rows and 21 columns there are at least half (441/2 = 221) that have
assigned a value of 2, and at least half a value of 1 (because the problem states
"1 problem being solved by at least one girl and at least one boy")
Therefore, one column has at least 221 / 21 = 11 values of 2, and some column has
at least 11 values of 1. Furthermore, we count at least 11 / 2 = 6 problems solved
by girls but then it means that 12 boys solved a probkem solved by a girl.

What we need to demonstrate is to show that there is a problem that was solved by
at least three girls and at least three boys.

If we assume the contrary (which means there is NO problem solved by more than 3
girls and more than 3 boys) and try to count the groups of a problem