Problem:
Score : 400 points

Problem Statement

You are given N integers; the i-th of them is A_i.
Find the maximum possible sum of the absolute differences between the adjacent elements after arranging these integers in a row in any order you like.

Constraints

2 \leq N \leq 10^5

1 \leq A_i \leq 10^9

All values in input are integers.

Input

Input is given from Standard Input in the following format:

N
A_1
:
A_N

Output

Print the maximum possible sum of the absolute differences between the adjacent elements after arranging the given integers in a row in any order you like.

Sample Input 1

5
6
8
1
2
3

Sample Output 1

21

When the integers are arranged as 3,8,1,6,2, the sum of the absolute differences between the adjacent elements is |3 - 8| + |8 - 1| + |1 - 6| + |6 - 2| = 21. This is the maximum possible sum.

Sample Input 2

6
3
1
4
1
5
9

Sample Output 2

25

Sample Input 3

3
5
5
1

Sample Output 3

8

Solution in C# (Mono 4.6.2.0) (judge verdict: Time Limit Exceeded)

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var N = sc.ReadInt();
        var A = sc.ReadLongArray(N);
        Array.Sort(A);
        var l = 0;
        var r = N - 1;
        var list = new LinkedList<long>();
        for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
        {
            long max = 0;
            for (int j = 0; j < 2; j++)
            {
                for (int k = 0; k < 2; k++)
                {
                    var now = j == 0 ? A[l] : A[r];
                    long val = 0;
                    if (list.Count > 0) val = Math.Abs(now - (k == 0 ? list.First() : list.Last()));
                    max = Math.Max(max, val);
                }
            }
            var done = false;
            for (int j = 0; j < 2; j++)
            {
                for (int k = 0; k < 2; k++)
                {
                    var now = j == 0 ? A[l] : A[r];
                    long val = 0;
                    if (list.Count > 0) val = Math.Abs(now - (k == 0 ? list.First() : list.Last()));
                    if (val == max)
                    {
                        if (k == 0) list.AddFirst(now);
                        else list.AddLast(now);
                        if (j == 0) l++;
                        else r--;
                        done = true;
                        break;
                    }
                }
                if (done) break;
            }
        }

        long ans = 0;
        var a = list.ToArray();
        for (int i = 0; i < N - 1; i++)
        {
            ans += Math.Abs(a[i] - a[i + 1]);
        }
        Console.WriteLine(ans);
    }
    static Scanner sc = new Scanner();
}

class Scanner
{
    string[] S = new string[0];
    int Index = 0;
    char[] Separators = new char[] { ' ' };

    public string Next()
    {
        if (this.Index < this.S.Length) return this.S[this.Index++];
        var line = "";
        while (line == "") line = Console.ReadLine();
        this.S = line.Split(this.Separators, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
        if (this.S.Length == 0) return this.Next();
        this.Index = 0;
        return this.S[this.Index++];
    }
    public string ReadStr()
    {
        return this.Next();
    }
    public char ReadChar()
    {
        return this.Next()[0];
    }
    public int ReadInt()
    {
        return int.Parse(this.Next());
    }
    public uint ReadUInt()
    {
        return uint.Parse(this.Next());
    }
    public long ReadLong()
    {
        return long.Parse(this.Next());
    }
    public double ReadDouble()
    {
        return double.Parse(this.Next());
    }
    public Tuple<int, int> ReadTup(int add = 0)
    {
        return Tuple.Create(this.ReadInt() + add, this.ReadInt() + add);
    }
    public Tuple<long, long> ReadTupLong(int add = 0)
    {
        return Tuple.Create(this.ReadLong() + add, this.ReadLong() + add);
    }
    public Tuple<int, int, int> ReadTup3(int add = 0)
    {
        return Tuple.Create(this.ReadInt() + add, this.ReadInt() + add, this.ReadInt() + add);
    }
    public Tuple<int, int, int, int> ReadTup4(int add = 0)
    {
        return Tuple.Create(this.ReadInt() + add, this.ReadInt() + add, this.ReadInt() + add, this.ReadInt() + add);
    }
    public int[] ReadIntArray(int n)
    {
        var array = new int[n];
        for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
        {
            array[i] = this.ReadInt();
        }
        return array;
    }
    public long[] ReadLongArray(int n)
    {
        var array = new long[n];
        for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
        {
            array[i] = this.ReadLong();
        }
        return array;
    }
    public double[] ReadDoubleArray(int n)
    {
        var array = new double[n];
        for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
        {
            array[i] = this.ReadDouble();
        }
        return array;
    }
    public char[] ReadCharArray(int n)
    {
        var array = new char[n];
        for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
        {
            array[i] = this.ReadChar();
        }
        return array;
    }
    public string[] ReadStrArray(int n)
    {
        var array = new string[n];
        for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
        {
            array[i] = this.ReadStr();
        }
        return array;
    }
    public Tuple<long, long>[] ReadTupLongArray(int n, int add = 0)
    {
        var array = new Tuple<long, long>[n];
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
        {
            array[i] = this.ReadTupLong(add);
        }
        return array;
    }
    public Tuple<int, int>[] ReadTupArray(int n, int add = 0)
    {
        var array = new Tuple<int, int>[n];
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
        {
            array[i] = this.ReadTup(add);
        }
        return array;
    }
    public Tuple<int, int, int>[] ReadTup3Array(int n, int add = 0)
    {
        var array = new Tuple<int, int, int>[n];
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
        {
            array[i] = this.ReadTup3(add);
        }
        return array;
    }
    public Tuple<int, int, int, int>[] ReadTup4Array(int n, int add = 0)
    {
        var array = new Tuple<int, int, int, int>[n];
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
        {
            array[i] = this.ReadTup4(add);
        }
        return array;
    }
}