International Regions Mathematics League (IRML)
Relay Rounds
The second or third person's problem usually starts "Let T = TNYWR". TNYWR is an abbreviation for The Number You Will Receive, so the problem "Let T = TNYWR. Compute (5)(T)" is to be read as "Let T be the number you will receive. Compute 5 times T.
It is important to realize that on the relay races there can be no communication forward. Suppose that the second person's question reads: "Let T = TNYWR. Compute the sum of the interior angles of a T-sided polygon." Person #2 knows that he or she will receive an integer greater than or equal to 3. But suppose person #1 passes back 2/3, clearly the wrong answer. Person #2 can't say anything, groan loudly or softly, or crumple up person #1's answer and throw it on the ground. Person #2 must not give any indication that person #1 made a mistake. Person #1 can, of course, continue to work on the problem and if #1 finds a mistake, #1 can pass back a different answer. Not all is lost if 2/3 is passed back. Person #2 may gamble that the first problem asked for the sum of the numerator and denominator and so guess that T = 5.
It is also important to realize that there is no communication backwards except for the answer. For example, when person #1 passes an answer back, #1 cannot write "I'm not sure" or "I'm positive" or "the answer could be one of 3, 5, or 6" on the slip passed back. Just the answer. Numbers such as 6 or 9 can be underlined to prevent confusion, but other than that nothing can be added to the answer. The second person only passes back his or her answer--the third person does not receive the first person's answer as well. Person #1 can redo the problem and if he/she gets the same answer, he/she can pass that back, and that is a legitimate way of indicating to Person #2 that the answer is thought to be correct.
Not all is lost if person #3 doesn't receive an answer. Suppose that the third problem reads: "Let T = TNYWR. Compute the number of numbers in the following sequence that are divisible by 4: 1, 2, 3, . . . , 45T where T is a digit between 0 and 9." In this case the third person can quickly determine that the answer is either 112, 113, or 114 and can guess one of those if all else fails.
Relay Round Examples:
Click here for a some examples of the Relay Round. An analysis of the rounds is provided at very end of the document.