SMO common mistakes on SASMO and olympiad papers
Avoid SMO common mistakes: incomplete cases, unjustified leaps, figure assumptions, arithmetic slips and time sinks.
Fixing SMO common mistakes means naming structural gaps, not blaming “carelessness.”
Six frequent SMO and SASMO patterns
- Incomplete cases. List and tick every branch.
- Unjustified leaps. Each step needs a reason you could explain aloud.
- Trusting a sketch. Rebuild from given lengths and angles.
- Ignoring a constraint. Re-read the stem before selecting.
- Arithmetic after a correct idea. Estimate and recompute once.
- Time sinks. Apply the practised move-on rule.
Correction loop
Write the missing justification, solve a fresh parallel item without notes, then queue the family again after a delay.
Prevent repeat SMO mistakes
After logging a pattern, sit a short timed set on the same family. Olympiad gains stick when you can reconstruct the method closed-book on unseen items.