What's this constructed number's starter?

A number of programming languages construct large integers through 'concatenating' the digit to the end of the existing number. For example, Labyrinth, or Adapt. By concatenating the digit to the end, I mean that, if the existing number is $$\45\$$, and the digit is $$\7\$$, the result number is $$\457\:(45 \times 10 + 7)\$$.

A constructed number is a number that can be built this way through the use of the multiples of single digit numbers: $$\1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9\$$ A.K.A an element in one of these 9 sequences:

$$1, 12, 123, 1234, 12345, \: \dots$$ $$2, 24, 246, 2468, 24690, \: \dots$$ $$3, 36, 369, 3702, 37035, \: \dots$$ $$4, 48, 492, 4936, 49380, \: \dots$$ $$5, 60, 615, 6170, 61725, \: \dots$$ $$6, 72, 738, 7404, 74070, \: \dots$$ $$7, 84, 861, 8638, 86415, \: \dots$$ $$8, 96, 984, 9872, 98760, \: \dots$$ $$9, 108, 1107, 11106, 111105, \: \dots$$

To provide an example of how the sequences are constructed, here's how the sequence for $$\a = 3\$$ in constructed:

\begin{align} u_1 = && a = && 3 & = 3\\ u_2 = && 10 \times u_1 + 2 \times a = && 30 + 6 & = 36 \\ u_3 = && 10 \times u_2 + 3 \times a = && 360 + 9 & = 369 \\ u_4 = && 10 \times u_3 + 4 \times a = && 3690 + 12 & = 3702 \\ u_5 = && 10 \times u_4 + 5 \times a = && 37020 + 15 & = 37035 \\ u_6 = && 10 \times u_5 + 6 \times a = && 370350 + 18 & = 370368 \\ \end{align} $$\vdots$$ \begin{align} u_{33} = && 10 \times u_{32} + 33 \times a = && 37\dots260 + 99 & = 37\dots359 \\ u_{34} = && 10 \times u_{33} + 34 \times a = && 37\dots359 + 102 & = 37\dots3692 \end{align} $$\vdots$$

$$\u_{33}\$$ and $$\u_{34}\$$ included to demonstrate when $$\n \times a \ge 100\$$. A lot of digits dotted out for space.

It may still not be clear how these sequences are constructed, so here are two different ways to understand them:

• Each sequence starts from the single digit. The next term is found by taking the next multiple of that digit, multiplying the previous term by $$\10\$$ and adding the multiple. In sequence terms:

$$u_n = 10 \times u_{n-1} + n \times a, \: \: u_1 = a$$

where $$\a\$$ is a single digit ($$\1\$$ through $$\9\$$)

• Each of the $$\9\$$ elements at any point in the sequence (take $$\n = 3\$$ for instance) are the multiples of $$\123\dots\$$ from $$\1\$$ to $$\9\$$, where $$\123\dots\$$ is constructed by $$\u_{n+1} = 10 \times u_n + n\$$ $$\(1, 12, 123, \dots, 123456789, 1234567900, 12345679011, \dots)\$$

So the first values are $$\1 \times 1, 2, 3, \dots, 8, 9\$$, the second are $$\12 \times 1, 2, 3, \dots, 8, 9\$$, the third $$\123 \times 1, 2, 3, \dots, 8, 9\$$, etc.

Your task is to take a constructed number as input and to output the initial digit used to construct it. You can assume the input will always be a constructed number, and will be greater than $$\0\$$. It may be a single digit, which maps back to itself.

You may take input in any reasonable manner, including as a list of digits, as a string etc. It is acceptable (though not recommended) to take input in unary, or any other base of your choosing.

This is a so the shortest code wins!

Test cases

       u_n        => a
37035            => 3
6172839506165    => 5
5                => 5
246913580244     => 2
987654312        => 8
61728395061720   => 5
1111104          => 9
11111103         => 9
111111102        => 9
2469134          => 2
98760            => 8
8641975308641962 => 7


or as two lists:

[37035, 6172839506165, 5, 246913580244, 987654312, 61728395061720, 1111104, 11111103, 111111102, 2469134, 98760, 8641975308641962]
[3, 5, 5, 2, 8, 5, 9, 9, 9, 2, 8, 7]


When I posted this challenge, I didn't realise it could be simplified so much by the method used in Grimy's answer, and so therefore would be very interested in answers that take a more mathematical approach to solving this, rather than a 'digit' trick (Obviously all valid answers are equally valid, just what I'd be interested in seeing).

05AB1E, 75 4 bytes

>9*н


Try it online!

>            # input + 1
9*          # * 9
н         # take the first digit

• Hmm, that doesn't bode well for this challenge if it can be simplified that easily – caird coinheringaahing Sep 4 at 14:41
• You have approximately 1 byte of code for 800 bytes of challenge explanation. :p – Arnauld Sep 4 at 15:21
• How do you come up with the solution and why is it correct? – Joel Sep 4 at 16:14
• @Joel the (n-1)th term of the sequence starting with a is a * (((10**n - 1) / 9 - n) / 9). Multiply that by 9 and add a*n, and you get a * ((10**n - 1) / 9), aka the digit a repeated n times. Turns out adding 9 instead of a*n works for n=1, and for bigger n the constant difference is negligible next to the exponential growth. – Grimmy Sep 4 at 16:43
• @Grimy Thanks a lot for the explanation. Maybe you can put it into your post. – Joel Sep 4 at 18:21

MathGolf, 6 bytes

)9*▒├Þ


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Unfortunately, there's no head operation in MathGolf, so I have to make do with ▒├Þ to convert to string, pop from the left and discard all but the top of stack.

Jelly, 5 bytes

‘×9DḢ


Try it online!

Using Grimy's approach.

Stax, 5 bytes

^9*Eh


Run and debug it

Japt-g, 76 5 bytes

-1 byte thanks to Shaggy

Takes input as a string

i°U*9

• 5 bytes, taking input as a string. – Shaggy Sep 4 at 19:29

Charcoal, 7 bytes

§Ｉ×⁹⊕Ｎ⁰


Try it online! Link is to verbose version of code. @Grimy's method of course. Here's a 27 byte mathematical approach:

ＮθＷ¬№Ｅχ×κ↨υχθ⊞υＬυＩ⌕Ｅχ×ι↨υχθ


Try it online! Link is to verbose version of code. Crashes on invalid inputs. Explanation:

Ｎθ


Input the constructed number.

Ｗ¬№Ｅχ×κ↨υχθ


Interpret the list as a number in base 10, multiply by all numbers from 0 to 9, and see whether the constructed number appears.

⊞υＬυ


Push the list's length to itself. The list therefore becomes of the form [0, 1, 2, ..., n].

Ｉ⌕Ｅχ×ι↨υχθ


Recreate the constructed numbers but this time find and output the index at which the input number appeared.

Labyrinth,  28 22  20 bytes

9 10/;!@
? _ :
)*"""


Applies the digit-based method described by Grimy by repeated integer division by ten until zero is found.

Try it online!

Whitespace, 108 bytes

[S S S N
_Push_0][S N
S _Duplicate_0][T   N
T   T   _Read_STDIN_as_integer][T   T   T   _Retrieve_input][S S S T    N
_Push_1][T  S S S _Add][S S S T S S T   N
_Push_9][T  S S N
_Multiply][S S S T  N
_Push_1][N
S S N
_Create_Label_LOOP][S S S T S T S N
_Push_10][T S S N
_Multiply][S N
S _Duplicate][S T   S S S T S N
_Copy_0-based_2nd]S N
T   Swap_top_two][T S S T   _Subtract][N
T   T   S N
_If_neg_jump_to_Label_PRINT][N
S N
N
_Jump_to_Label_LOOP][N
S S S N
_Create_Label_PRINT][S S S T    S T S N
_Push_10][T S T S _Integer_divide][T    S T S _Integer_divide][T    N
S T _Output_top_as_number]


Letters S (space), T (tab), and N (new-line) added as highlighting only.
[..._some_action] added as explanation only.

Port of @Grimy's 05AB1E answer, except that I don't have a builtin to get the first digit. ;)

Try it online (with raw spaces, tabs and new-lines only).

Explanation in pseudo-code:

Integer i = STDIN as integer
i = i + 1
i = i * 9
Integer t = 1
Start LOOP:
t = t * 10
If(i - t < 0):
Call function PRINT
Go to next iteration of LOOP

function PRINT:
t = t / 10
i = i / t    (NOTE: Whitespace only has integer-division)
Print i as integer to STDOUT


Python 3, 22 bytes

lambda i:str(-~i*9)[0]


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Port of Grimy's 05AB1E answer

Python 3, 74 bytes

f=lambda i,j=1,k=2,l=1:l*(i==j)or f(i,*(10*j+k*l,l+1,k+1,2,l,l+1)[i<j::2])


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Explanation

Recursive function. Iterates over the sequence for each digit l, starting at 1. If the input i is equal to the current iteration j, the corresponding digit l is returned. Else, if the current value j in the sequence exceeds the input value i, it will increment the digit l and start over. Argument k is used to increment the multiplication factor.

JavaScript (ES6),  16  15 bytes

Thanks to @Grimy for lifting the 32-bit constraint I had with the previous version.

Using Grimy's magical incantation. Takes input as a string.

n=>(n*9+9+n)[0]


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JavaScript (ES6), 53 bytes

Naive brute force approach.

n=>(g=(k,x=i=0)=>x>n?g(k+1):x<n?g(k,++i*k+10*x):k)(1)


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• -~n*9 can be n*9+9, which is the same bytecount but should get rid of the 32-bit limitation if I understood correctly. – Grimmy Sep 4 at 15:21
• the brute force works for a>=10, like 14808 – Nahuel Fouilleul Sep 4 at 15:43
• @NahuelFouilleul if we consider a>=10, the answer is no longer unique (14808 could be either the 4th term of a=12, or the first term of a=14808). If outputting any of those is allowed, n=>n works for all inputs. – Grimmy Sep 4 at 15:52

Java 8, 23 bytes

n->(n*9+9+"").charAt(0)


Port of @Grimy's 05AB1E answer, so make sure to upvote him!

Try it online.

But because I kinda feel bad for @cairdCoinheringaahing, here a brute-force approach with a bit more afford (83 bytes):

n->{long r=n,a=0,u,k;for(;++a<10;r=u>n?r:a)for(k=2,u=a;u<n;)u=u*10+k++*a;return r;}


Try it online.

Explanation:

n->{                 // Method with long as both parameter and return-type
long r=n,          //  Result, starting at the input in case it's already a single digit
a=0,          //  The digit to start the sequence with
u,            //  The last number of the sequence we're building for digit a
k;            //  Multiplier which increments each iteration
for(;++a<10;       //  Loop in the range [1,9] (over each digit):
r=u>n?         //    After ever iteration: if u is larger than the input:
r        //     Keep the result the same
:         //    Else:
a)       //     Change the result to a
for(k=2,         //   Reset k to 2
u=a;         //   Reset u to the current digit a
u<n;)        //   Inner loop as long as u is smaller than the input
u=             //    Change u to:
u*10         //     10 times the current u
+k++*a;  //     With k multiplied by a added
//     (after which k increases by 1 with k++)
return r;}         //  And after we iterated over each digit, return the result


PHP, 20 bytes

<?=(_.++\$argn*9)[1];


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Yet another Grimy's answer port!

Jelly, 8 bytes

RRḌ÷@fⱮ9


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A full program that takes an integer and prints the starter digit. Doesn’t use Grimy’s clever method! Terribly inefficient for larger input. The following version handles all of the test cases but is a byte longer:

Jelly, 9 bytes

DJRḌ÷@fⱮ9


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Hy, 44 bytes

(defn a[p](print(get(str(*(+(int p)1)9))0)))


Uses Grimy's method

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Keg-rr, 4 bytes

⑨9*÷


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Of course, uses the same approach as the 05AB1E answer. Also uses the new -rr (reverse and print raw) flag.

Transpiles to:

from KegLib import *
from Stackd import Stack
stack = Stack()
printed = False
increment(stack)
integer(stack, 9)
maths(stack, '*')
item_split(stack)
if not printed:
reverse(stack)
raw(stack)


Wren, 30 bytes

Just a port of most answers.

Fn.new{|i|(i*9+9).toString[0]}


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