Download putnam2019-b4.mw

@chandrashekhar 

There are no efficient algorithms for this.
How would you simplify by hand the expression

512*b^9 + (2303*a + 2304)*b^8 + (4616*a^2 + 9216*a + 4608)*b^7 + (5348*a^3 + 16128*a^2 + 16128*a + 5376)*b^6
 + (4088*a^4 + 16128*a^3 + 24192*a^2 + 16128*a + 4032)*b^5 + (1946*a^5 + 10080*a^4 + 20160*a^3 + 20160*a^2 
+ 10080*a + 2016)*b^4 + (728*a^6 + 4032*a^5 + 10080*a^4 + 13440*a^3 + 10080*a^2 + 4032*a + 672)*b^3 
+ (116*a^7 + 1008*a^6 + 3024*a^5 + 5040*a^4 + 5040*a^3 + 3024*a^2 + 1008*a + 144)*b^2 
+ (26*a^8 + 144*a^7 + 504*a^6 + 1008*a^5 + 1260*a^4 + 1008*a^3 + 504*a^2 + 144*a + 18)*b + 9*a^8 
+ 36*a^7 + 84*a^6 + 126*a^5 + 126*a^4 + 84*a^3 + 36*a^2 + 9*a + 1

to  (a+2*b+1)^9 - a*(a-b)^8   ?

Download putnam2018.mw

Edit.
Maple can be also very useful in solving the difficult problem B6; it can be reduced to compute the (huge) coefficient of x^1842 in the polynomial

g := (1 + x + x^2 + x^3 + x^4 + x^5 + x^9)^2018;

The computation is very fast:

coeff(g, x, 1842):   evalf(%);
         0.8048091229e1147

The Maple help contains a nice example of a puzzle solver named alphametic,  see  ?Iterator,Permute.
The goal is to determine the distinct digits represented by letters which satisfy a given  equation. The provided solved example is:

        "16540*781 = 12904836 + 12904"
i.e.  m=1, a=6, p=5 etc.

It's worth studying the program (written as a module) because it includes a few useful techniques.
I would suggest the following exercise for a Maple (young) programmer.

1.  When solving the "classical" puzzle  "FORTY+TEN+TEN=SIXTY", instead of the correct answer "29786+850+850=31486",   you will see
"2978Y+850+850=3148Y".
Try to find what's going on and correct the code.

2. The solutions given by alphametic include numbers beginning with a zero.
Execute e.g. .
Modify the code to produce only standard numbers.

I have recently visited the Queen's House at Greenwich  (see wiki),  an  important building in British architectural history (17th century).
I was impressed by the Great Hall Floor, whose central geometric decoration seems to be generated by a Maple program :-)

Here is my code for this. I hope you will like it.

restart;
with(plots): with(plottools):
n:=32: m:=3:#    n:=64: m:=7:

a[0], b[0] := exp(-Pi*I/n), exp(Pi*I/n):
c[0]:=b[0]+(a[0]-b[0])/sqrt(2)*exp(I*Pi/4):  
for k to m+1 do  
  c[k]:=a[k-1]+b[k-1]-c[k-1];
  b[k]:=c[k]*(1+exp(2*Pi*I/n))-b[k-1];
  a[k]:=conjugate(b[k])  od:
b[-1]:=c[0]*(1+exp(2*Pi*I/n))-b[0]:
a[-1]:=conjugate(b[-1]):
c[-1]:=a[-1]+b[-1]-c[0]:
seq( map[inplace](evalf@[Re,Im], w), w=[a,b,c] ):
Q:=polygonplot([seq([a[k],c[k],b[k],c[k+1]],k=0..m-1), [c[m],a[m],b[m]], [a[-1],b[-1],c[0]]]):
display(seq(rotate(Q, 2*k*Pi/n, [0,0]),k=0..n-1), disk([0,0],c[m][1]/3), axes=none, size=[800,800], color=black);