Problem p00774 (C++) — buggy submission, verdict: Time Limit Exceeded

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int x[2000][5], H;

int solve() {
  int score = 0;
  for (int i = 0; i < 500; i++) {
    for (int j = 0; j < H; j++) {
      if (x[j][0] == x[j][1] && x[j][1] == x[j][2] && x[j][2] == x[j][3] &&
          x[j][3] == x[j][4] && x[j][0] >= 1) {
        score += x[j][0] * 5;
        x[j][0] = 0;
        x[j][1] = 0;
        x[j][2] = 0;
        x[j][3] = 0;
        x[j][4] = 0;
      }
    }
    for (int j = 0; j < H; j++) {
      for (int k = 0; k < 2; k++) {
        if (x[j][k + 0] == x[j][k + 1] && x[j][k + 1] == x[j][k + 2] &&
            x[j][k + 2] == x[j][k + 3] && x[j][k + 0] >= 1) {
          score += x[j][k + 0] * 4;
          x[j][k + 0] = 0;
          x[j][k + 1] = 0;
          x[j][k + 2] = 0;
          x[j][k + 3] = 0;
        }
      }
    }
    for (int j = 0; j < H; j++) {
      for (int k = 0; k < 3; k++) {
        if (x[j][k + 0] == x[j][k + 1] && x[j][k + 1] == x[j][k + 2] &&
            x[j][k + 0] >= 1) {
          score += x[j][k + 0] * 3;
          x[j][k + 0] = 0;
          x[j][k + 1] = 0;
          x[j][k + 2] = 0;
        }
      }
    }
    for (int j = 0; j < 500; j++) {
      for (int j = 1; j < H; j++) {
        for (int k = 0; k < 5; k++) {
          if (x[j][k] == 0) {
            x[j][k] = x[j - 1][k];
            x[j - 1][k] = 0;
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
  return score;
}

int main() {
  while (true) {
    cin >> H;
    if (H == 0) {
      break;
    }
    for (int i = 0; i < H; i++) {
      for (int j = 0; j < 5; j++) {
        cin >> x[i][j];
      }
    }
    cout << solve() << endl;
  }
  return 0;
}

Error: TLE

Fixed submission:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int x[2000][5], H;

int solve() {
  int score = 0;
  for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
    for (int j = 0; j < H; j++) {
      if (x[j][0] == x[j][1] && x[j][1] == x[j][2] && x[j][2] == x[j][3] &&
          x[j][3] == x[j][4] && x[j][0] >= 1) {
        score += x[j][0] * 5;
        x[j][0] = 0;
        x[j][1] = 0;
        x[j][2] = 0;
        x[j][3] = 0;
        x[j][4] = 0;
      }
    }
    for (int j = 0; j < H; j++) {
      for (int k = 0; k < 2; k++) {
        if (x[j][k + 0] == x[j][k + 1] && x[j][k + 1] == x[j][k + 2] &&
            x[j][k + 2] == x[j][k + 3] && x[j][k + 0] >= 1) {
          score += x[j][k + 0] * 4;
          x[j][k + 0] = 0;
          x[j][k + 1] = 0;
          x[j][k + 2] = 0;
          x[j][k + 3] = 0;
        }
      }
    }
    for (int j = 0; j < H; j++) {
      for (int k = 0; k < 3; k++) {
        if (x[j][k + 0] == x[j][k + 1] && x[j][k + 1] == x[j][k + 2] &&
            x[j][k + 0] >= 1) {
          score += x[j][k + 0] * 3;
          x[j][k + 0] = 0;
          x[j][k + 1] = 0;
          x[j][k + 2] = 0;
        }
      }
    }
    for (int j = 0; j < 500; j++) {
      for (int j = 1; j < H; j++) {
        for (int k = 0; k < 5; k++) {
          if (x[j][k] == 0) {
            x[j][k] = x[j - 1][k];
            x[j - 1][k] = 0;
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
  return score;
}

int main() {
  while (true) {
    cin >> H;
    if (H == 0) {
      break;
    }
    for (int i = 0; i < H; i++) {
      for (int j = 0; j < 5; j++) {
        cin >> x[i][j];
      }
    }
    cout << solve() << endl;
  }
  return 0;
}