MathDB
farmers and a crown

Source: 45th International Tournament of Towns, Junior O-Level P3, Fall 2023

December 16, 2023
combinatorics

Problem Statement

3. Eight farmers have a checkered 8×88 \times 8 field. There is a fence along the boundary of the field. The entire field is completely covered with berries (there is a berry in every point of the field, except the points of the fence). The farmers divided the field along the grid lines in 8 plots of equal area (every plot is a polygon), however they did not demarcate their boundaries. Each farmer takes care of berries only inside his own plot (not on its boundaries). A farmer will notice a loss only if at least two berries disappeared inside his plot. There is a crow which knows all of the above, except the location of boundaries of plots. Can the crow carry off 9 berries from the field so that for sure no farmer will notice this? Tatiana Kazitsyna