The biggest total requires the optimal path for the stated constraints, those being the path must yield that biggest total. They aren't asking for a good enoug

The biggest total requires the optimal path for the stated constraints, those being the path must yield that biggest total. They aren't asking for a good enough path, but for the best possible path, the one that gives the biggest total. That's the optimal path for this problem. Probably a brute force search is the way to go, I certainly can't think of any way to thin this problem out without doing research, especially given the requirement that the optimal (maximum value) solution is required. 99 levels below the top, each time a binary decision, there's 2^99 = 6.34 * 10^29 paths only, won't take too long relative to the life of the universe since 2^99 nanoseconds is only 20 trillion years. That's the answer, might have a little problem with the sun burning out before the computation completes, but by that time you should be able to relocate using a warp drive. Good luck on the interview. edit: Ah I just figured out the pruning algorithm that will solve it. And that's the answer too, I just gave it to you in the previous sentence if you read carefully. Obvious once you think of it, not until then. I doubt many people would figure it out without a hint. And with a hint only clever ones could get it. As a screening to send in resumes? Pretty useless. If you do get a response who's to say they didn't ask for hints on a message board or pay someone to solve it on rentacoder.