MathDB
Recovering a number from the most common digit

Source: 2023 Israel National Olympiad P7

December 16, 2022
number theoryDigitsguessing game

Problem Statement

Ana and Banana are playing a game. Initially, Ana secretly picks a number 1A1061\leq A\leq 10^6. In each subsequent turn of the game, Banana may pick a positive integer BB, and Ana will reveal to him the most common digit in the product ABA\cdot B (written in decimal notation). In the case when at least two digits are tied for being the most common, Ana will reveal all of them to Banana. For example, if AB=2022A\cdot B=2022, Ana will tell Banana that the digit 22 is the most common, while if AB=5783783A\cdot B=5783783, Ana will reveal that 3,73, 7 and 88 are the most common. Banana's goal is to determine with certainty the number AA after some number of turns. Does he have a winning strategy?