Maximize Total Height of Unique Towers: Greedy Solution

TL;DR: Sort maximum heights in descending order. Give the tallest remaining tower the largest allowed height that is strictly below the previous assignment: min(current maximum, previous height minus one). If the value becomes nonpositive, no valid assignment exists. This greedy choice preserves the most room for every later tower; sorting dominates the runtime at O(n log n).

What should you understand before preparing?

Sort maximum heights in descending order. Give the tallest remaining tower the largest allowed height that is strictly below the previous assignment: min(current maximum, previous height minus one). If the value becomes nonpositive, no valid assignment exists. This greedy choice preserves the most room for every later tower; sorting dominates the runtime at O(n log n).

Start by confirming the format with the recruiter and reading the current job description. Build answers from your own work, decisions, and results instead of guessing what a company always asks.

Which areas deserve the most practice?

For every example, state the context briefly, name your responsibility, explain the tradeoff, describe your action, and close with the result and lesson. Separate your contribution from the team’s work. Sort maximum heights in descending order. Give the tallest remaining tower the largest allowed height that is strictly below the previous assignment: min(current maximum, previous height minus one). If the value becomes nonpositive, no valid assignment exists. This greedy choice preserves the most room for every later tower; sorting dominates the runtime at O(n log n).

• What should I prepare first?
• How many examples should I prepare?
• Should I memorize answers?
• How should I review a mock interview?

How should you structure a strong answer?

For every example, state the context briefly, name your responsibility, explain the tradeoff, describe your action, and close with the result and lesson. Separate your contribution from the team’s work.

What does a focused practice plan look like?

Create a seven-day loop: map the role, collect six examples, practice concise openings, rehearse follow-ups, complete one timed mock, repair weak evidence, and review lightly before the interview.

Use these related guides: leetcode-interview-assistant, coding-interview-assistant, and leetcode-blind-75.

What follow-up questions should you expect?

Expect requests to defend assumptions, compare alternatives, identify failure modes, and explain what you would measure. Answer the actual follow-up before adding context. For technical work, state constraints and test cases; for behavioral work, show the decision path and what changed because of your action.

How do you adapt this guide to your experience level?

Entry-level candidates can use projects, internships, coursework, and volunteer work when they clearly name the scope. Experienced candidates should choose examples with broader ownership and more difficult tradeoffs. Senior candidates should also explain how they aligned people, reduced risk, and created repeatable systems without overstating authority.

Which mistakes should you avoid?

Avoid invented metrics, confidential details, memorized monologues, and unsupported claims about a company’s process. If you do not know something, explain how you would clarify and investigate it.

How can AI support responsible preparation?

YesToTheOffer can ground preparation and permitted real-time support in your resume, job description, and private notes, assist with coding, and preserve a transcript for review. Always follow the employer’s rules.

Frequently asked questions

Turn preparation into clear evidence

Sort maximum heights in descending order. Give the tallest remaining tower the largest allowed height that is strictly below the previous assignment: min(current maximum, previous height minus one). If the value becomes nonpositive, no valid assignment exists. This greedy choice preserves the most room for every later tower; sorting dominates the runtime at O(n log n). Create a seven-day loop: map the role, collect six examples, practice concise openings, rehearse follow-ups, complete one timed mock, repair weak evidence, and review lightly before the interview.