Google 2026 New Grad OA: Residue-Track Tokens and One Shared Digit

Role: Software Engineer, New Grad
Result: Advanced to a coding and behavioral interview
Report time: November 2025
Application: Referral

The candidate applied with a referral about one month earlier, received the OA, completed it immediately, and received the virtual-interview update the following day.

Question 1: three-step token movement

A string contains tokens T, coins C, and empty cells .. Each token moves exactly three positions to the right. A move is blocked when the landing cell already contains a token; landing on a coin collects it.

The candidate clarified with an example that a token at s[0] may move to s[3] when s[3] != 'T', leaving . behind and collecting a coin when s[3] == 'C'.

Practice: Maximum Coins With Moving Tokens

Question 2: largest group sharing one digit

Given integers from 10 through 99, select the largest group where every number contains the same shared digit.

The candidate explicitly corrected a commenter who suggested transitive Union-Find grouping: the entire selected group must share one common digit, so counting membership for digits 0 through 9 is sufficient. A number such as 22 contributes once to digit 2.

Practice: Maximum Elements With a Common Digit

The candidate mentioned that the platform displayed a line count, making them regret writing many comments, but did not claim that line count affected scoring.