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1877. Minimize Maximum Pair Sum in Array

Difficulty Topics

Description

The pair sum of a pair (a,b) is equal to a + b. The maximum pair sum is the largest pair sum in a list of pairs.

  • For example, if we have pairs (1,5), (2,3), and (4,4), the maximum pair sum would be max(1+5, 2+3, 4+4) = max(6, 5, 8) = 8.

Given an array nums of even length n, pair up the elements of nums into n / 2 pairs such that:

  • Each element of nums is in exactly one pair, and
  • The maximum pair sum is minimized.

Return the minimized maximum pair sum after optimally pairing up the elements.

 

Example 1:

Input: nums = [3,5,2,3]
Output: 7
Explanation: The elements can be paired up into pairs (3,3) and (5,2).
The maximum pair sum is max(3+3, 5+2) = max(6, 7) = 7.

Example 2:

Input: nums = [3,5,4,2,4,6]
Output: 8
Explanation: The elements can be paired up into pairs (3,5), (4,4), and (6,2).
The maximum pair sum is max(3+5, 4+4, 6+2) = max(8, 8, 8) = 8.

 

Constraints:

  • n == nums.length
  • 2 <= n <= 105
  • n is even.
  • 1 <= nums[i] <= 105

Solution

minimize-maximum-pair-sum-in-array.py
class Solution:
    def minPairSum(self, nums: List[int]) -> int:
        n = len(nums)
        nums.sort()
        res = []

        for i in range(n // 2):
            res.append(nums[i] + nums[n - i - 1])

        return max(res)