Intersection of Two Linked Lists
A easy-tier problem at 61% community acceptance, tagged with Hash Table, Linked List, Two Pointers. Reported in interviews at Airbnb and 10 others.
Intersection of Two Linked Lists is an easy problem that shows up frequently in OAs at Airbnb, Microsoft, Apple, TikTok, and Goldman Sachs. The acceptance rate sits around 61 percent, which sounds high until you realize that's still a lot of candidates blanking on the trick during a live assessment. The problem asks you to find the node where two singly linked lists intersect, and the catch is that the naive approach will tank your runtime. If you haven't practiced the two-pointer pattern yet, this is where it clicks. StealthCoder is your safety net here: if you freeze on the alignment trick during the OA, it surfaces the working solution invisibly.
Companies that ask "Intersection of Two Linked Lists"
Intersection of Two Linked Lists is the kind of problem that decides whether you pass. StealthCoder reads the problem on screen and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Invisible to screen share. The proctor sees nothing. Made by an Amazon engineer who watched the leaked-problem repo become an industry secret. He decided you should have it too.
Get StealthCoderThe trap is thinking you need a hash table. Candidates often store one list in a set and iterate the other, which works but wastes space and looks unpolished. The real insight is a two-pointer technique: walk both pointers at the same speed, and when one hits the end, wrap it to the head of the other list. After two passes, both pointers will either meet at the intersection node or both reach null at the same time. This works because the combined path length is identical for both pointers, regardless of list length. The trick is understanding why the wraparound guarantees synchronization. This problem combines Hash Table, Linked List, and Two Pointers topics into one clean pattern. When this lands in your live OA and you're unsure whether to hash or two-pointer, StealthCoder eliminates the guessing.
Pattern tags
You know the problem.
Make sure you actually pass it.
Intersection of Two Linked Lists recycles across companies for a reason. It's easy-tier, and most candidates blank under the timer. StealthCoder is the hedge: an AI overlay invisible during screen share. It reads the problem and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Made by an Amazon engineer who watched the leaked-problem repo become an industry secret. He decided you should have it too. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
Intersection of Two Linked Lists interview FAQ
Is this still asked at big tech companies?+
Yes. Airbnb, Microsoft, Apple, and TikTok all report asking it. The 61 percent acceptance rate suggests it's treated as a baseline linked-list problem, not a filter. You're expected to know it or solve it cleanly under pressure.
What's the trick I'm missing?+
Stop thinking hash table. The two-pointer wraparound synchronizes both pointers to the intersection node in O(n + m) time and O(1) space. Once one pointer reaches the end, jump it to the other list's head. Both will meet at the intersection or both reach null together.
How do I know if there even is an intersection?+
Compare the tail nodes. If they're the same object, the lists intersect. If not, they don't. You can do this upfront or rely on both pointers reaching null at the same time, which signals no intersection.
Does this relate to cycle detection in linked lists?+
Conceptually yes, but the approach is different. Cycle detection uses Floyd's algorithm (slow and fast pointers). Intersection uses equal-speed pointers with wraparound. Both are two-pointer patterns, but the mechanics and proof are distinct.
Why do companies like Microsoft and Goldman Sachs ask this?+
It tests linked-list fundamentals, pointer manipulation, and whether you can optimize space. At easy difficulty with 61 percent acceptance, it's a screening question. Getting it wrong or taking too long signals weak interview prep.
Want the actual problem statement? View "Intersection of Two Linked Lists" on LeetCode →