The Runtime Theory
mediumLeetCode#greedy#frequency-counting

Hand of Straights

Determine whether all cards can form consecutive groups of a fixed size.

The Runtime Theory Team25 min read
Solve it

Solving happens on the judge — come back and mark it done

Sample cases

inhand=[1,2,3,6,2,3,4,7,8], groupSize=3

outtrue

inhand=[1,2,3,4,5], groupSize=4

outfalse

inhand=[1,2,3], groupSize=1

outtrue

Determine whether all cards can form consecutive groups of a fixed size.

A good solution should

  • State the invariant or decision rule that makes the approach correct.
  • Explain time and space costs in terms of input size and required output.
  • Handle empty, minimal, duplicate, and boundary-shaped inputs.

Reasoning prompt

Check divisibility, then start groups at the smallest remaining value and decrement frequencies.

Use the linked judge for the canonical challenge. The examples above are compact TRT checks; create additional tests around the boundary most likely to break your invariant.

More practice in this topic

One dispatch a week

The trace behind each problem, the tradeoff that explains it, and one technical dispatch per week — no noise.

One technical dispatch per week. No noise.

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