Cruise coding interview
questions, leaked.
6 problems reported across recent Cruise interviews. Top patterns: array, matrix, backtracking. The list below is what most reported candidates actually saw, plus the honest play if you can't grind all of it.
Cruise's interview leans heavy on arrays and matrices. You're looking at 5 medium problems and 1 hard one, which means no warm-ups and very little room for error. The good news: the patterns repeat. Arrays show up in 4 of 6 problems, matrices in 2, and backtracking in 2. If you nail Merge Intervals, Unique Paths II, and Synonymous Sentences, you've covered most of the terrain. If you hit a wall on Unique Paths III mid-assessment, StealthCoder runs invisibly during the live interview and surfaces a working solution in seconds.
Top problems at Cruise
| # | Problem | Diff | Frequency | Pass % | Patterns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Synonymous Sentences | MEDIUM | 100.0 | 57% | Array · Hash Table · String |
| 02 | Merge Intervals | MEDIUM | 74.0 | 49% | Array · Sorting |
| 03 | Unique Paths II | MEDIUM | 74.0 | 43% | Array · Dynamic Programming · Matrix |
| 04 | Unique Paths III | HARD | 74.0 | 82% | Array · Backtracking · Bit Manipulation |
| 05 | Course Schedule | MEDIUM | 65.3 | 49% | Depth-First Search · Breadth-First Search · Graph |
| 06 | LRU Cache | MEDIUM | 65.3 | 45% | Hash Table · Linked List · Design |
Frequencies derived from public community-tagged interview reports. Click a row to view on LeetCode.
You have a week, maybe less. You can't out-grind the list above. StealthCoder runs invisibly during the actual Cruise OA. The proctor cannot see it. Screen share cannot detect it. Built by an engineer at a top-10 tech company who can solve these problems cold but didn't want to trust himself in a 90-minute screen share.
Get StealthCoder- array4 · 67%
- matrix2 · 33%
- backtracking2 · 33%
- hash table2 · 33%
- depth first search1 · 17%
- breadth first search1 · 17%
- graph1 · 17%
- topological sort1 · 17%
- sorting1 · 17%
- dynamic programming1 · 17%
Cruise weights arrays heavily, so that's your priority one. Merge Intervals teaches the sorting and merging patterns that unlock other array problems fast. Unique Paths II and Unique Paths III back-to-back mean you'll need both dynamic programming and backtracking fluency on grids. Synonymous Sentences is the outlier: it combines hash tables, backtracking, and union find, so it's harder to drill in isolation. Course Schedule tests your graph and topological-sort chops but appears once. Hash tables and linked lists show up in LRU Cache, a design problem that's medium-difficulty but requires careful implementation. The single hard problem (Unique Paths III) mixes bit manipulation with backtracking on a matrix, so it's the real stress test. Study arrays first, then grid-based recursion. StealthCoder is your hedge on anything you haven't fully internalized by interview day.
Companies with similar patterns
If you prepped for Cruise, these companies recycle ~60% of the same topics.
You've seen the list.
Now make sure you pass Cruise.
Memorizing every problem above in a week is a fantasy. StealthCoder is the hedge: an AI overlay that's invisible during screen share. It reads the problem on screen and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Built by an engineer at a top-10 tech company who can solve these problems cold but didn't want to trust himself in a 90-minute screen share. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
Cruise interview FAQ
How many array problems should I solve before the Cruise interview?+
Array problems appear in 4 of 6 reported questions. Nail Merge Intervals and both Unique Paths problems first. Then solve 8 to 12 similar interval and grid problems. That covers your base. You don't need to solve 50 arrays, just the right ones.
Is backtracking enough prep if I skip dynamic programming?+
No. Unique Paths II is medium-difficulty and requires DP; Unique Paths III adds bit manipulation on top of backtracking. You need both skillsets. Study DP on grids first, then layer backtracking. One without the other leaves you guessing on half the problems.
Do I need to study graph algorithms for Cruise?+
Course Schedule is one of six problems, but it's a medium-difficulty topological-sort question. If graphs aren't your strength, drill it once you've nailed arrays and matrix problems. It's not the bottleneck here.
Should I focus on hash tables or linked lists first?+
LRU Cache combines both and is the only design problem in the list. Study hash tables first for the Synonymous Sentences problem, then learn doubly-linked lists for the LRU Cache implementation. Design problems are medium-difficulty but require meticulous code.
What happens if I blank on Unique Paths III during the live assessment?+
It's the only hard problem and mixes bit manipulation with matrix backtracking, so it's easy to second-guess. You have a week. If you can't solve it cleanly by interview day, you have a safety net. The rest of the problems are medium and solvable with solid drilling.