MathDB
Putnam 1971 A5

Source:

April 6, 2022
college contests

Problem Statement

A game of solitaire is played as follows. After each play, according to the outcome, the player receives either aa or bb points (aa and bb are positive integers with aa greater than bb), and his score accumulates from play to play. It has been noticed that there are thirty-five non-attainable scores and that one of these is 5858. Find aa and bb.