DRW coding interview
questions, leaked.
9 problems reported across recent DRW interviews. Top patterns: array, greedy, graph. The list below is what most reported candidates actually saw, plus the honest play if you can't grind all of it.
DRW's coding interview leans hard on arrays and greedy logic. Out of 9 problems tracked, 4 are array problems and 3 demand greedy thinking. Most are medium difficulty, which means you need clean pattern recognition, not just brute force. You'll see graph and tree traversal too, but arrays come first. If you blank on a greedy or array problem mid-assessment, StealthCoder runs invisibly during screen share and surfaces a working solution in seconds. Spend your prep time on arrays and greedy, then lock in DFS/BFS.
Top problems at DRW
| # | Problem | Diff | Frequency | Pass % | Patterns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Maximize Score After Pair Deletions | MEDIUM | 100.0 | 61% | Array · Greedy |
| 02 | Subsequence of Size K With the Largest Even Sum | MEDIUM | 100.0 | 36% | Array · Greedy · Sorting |
| 03 | Counting Elements | EASY | 100.0 | 60% | Array · Hash Table |
| 04 | Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | EASY | 79.6 | 55% | Array · Dynamic Programming |
| 05 | Remove Duplicate Letters | MEDIUM | 73.2 | 51% | String · Stack · Greedy |
| 06 | Minimum Fuel Cost to Report to the Capital | MEDIUM | 64.2 | 64% | Tree · Depth-First Search · Breadth-First Search |
| 07 | Reorder Routes to Make All Paths Lead to the City Zero | MEDIUM | 64.2 | 65% | Depth-First Search · Breadth-First Search · Graph |
| 08 | Maximal Network Rank | MEDIUM | 64.2 | 65% | Graph |
| 09 | Robot Room Cleaner | HARD | 64.2 | 78% | Backtracking · Interactive |
Frequencies derived from public community-tagged interview reports. Click a row to view on LeetCode.
You have a week, maybe less. You can't out-grind the list above. StealthCoder runs invisibly during the actual DRW OA. The proctor cannot see it. Screen share cannot detect it. Built by a senior engineer who knows the OA is theater. This is the script.
Get StealthCoder- array4 · 44%
- greedy3 · 33%
- graph3 · 33%
- depth first search2 · 22%
- breadth first search2 · 22%
- dynamic programming1 · 11%
- string1 · 11%
- stack1 · 11%
- monotonic stack1 · 11%
- tree1 · 11%
The problem set splits into two clear zones. First zone: arrays with greedy overlays (Maximize Score After Pair Deletions, Subsequence of Size K With the Largest Even Sum, Counting Elements). These test whether you can spot the optimal choice at each step rather than explore all paths. Second zone: graph and tree problems (Minimum Fuel Cost to Report to the Capital, Reorder Routes to Make All Paths Lead to the City Zero, Maximal Network Rank, Robot Room Cleaner). DFS and BFS both appear twice, so you need both traversal styles. Only one hard problem shows up, so don't expect brutal complexity. The medium difficulty band is where the real work happens. StealthCoder is your hedge for whichever greedy decision tree you didn't have time to fully drill during live problem-solving.
Companies with similar patterns
If you prepped for DRW, these companies recycle ~60% of the same topics.
You've seen the list.
Now make sure you pass DRW.
Memorizing every problem above in a week is a fantasy. StealthCoder is the hedge: an AI overlay that's invisible during screen share. It reads the problem on screen and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Built by a senior engineer who knows the OA is theater. This is the script. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
DRW interview FAQ
Should I study greedy or arrays first for DRW?+
Arrays first. 4 of the 9 problems are array-based, and greedy often appears on top of array logic anyway. Master Counting Elements and Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock, then layer greedy optimization onto Maximize Score After Pair Deletions.
How much graph work do I need?+
Solid but not dominant. 3 problems touch graph, but they're mostly medium difficulty. Learn DFS and BFS both (each appears twice), then run through Minimum Fuel Cost to Report to the Capital and Reorder Routes. Don't over-prepare here.
Is there anything harder than medium I should worry about?+
Only one hard problem: Robot Room Cleaner. It's interactive and involves backtracking, which is rare in the set. Solve it once to feel confident, but don't spend days on it. Most of your time should hit the 6 medium problems.
What's the greedy section really testing?+
Pattern spotting under time pressure. Subsequence of Size K With the Largest Even Sum and Maximize Score After Pair Deletions both require you to see the right local choice. Practice these two until the strategy feels automatic, not like a lucky guess.
Do I need a full tree data structure deep dive?+
No. Only one pure tree problem appears (Minimum Fuel Cost to Report to the Capital), and it's framed as a graph problem. Get comfortable with DFS traversal on trees, then move on. You're not building AVL trees or doing tree rotations here.