MathLabs

Problem 3

Twenty-one girls and twenty-one boys took part in a mathematical contest. Each contestant solved at most six problems. For each girl and each boy, at least one problem was solved by both of them. Prove that there was a problem solved by at least three girls and at least three boys.
Step 5 of 5: Contradict the count
In plain words

Every cell belongs to one of the two classes.

441>210+210441>210+210
Detailed analysis

Every labelled cell has a problem with at most two girls or at most two boys, so 441≤NG+NB≤420441\le N_G+N_B\le420, a contradiction. Thus some problem has at least three girls and at least three boys.