Expedia SDE-3 screen — remove stones + sliding window max; reject

Was asked following questions:

• Variation of Remove Stones to Minimize the Total
• Variation of Sliding Window Maximum

Completed first question optimally and passed all test cases, while in 2nd one used brute force and passed 12/15 cases (time limit exceeded). Interviewer gave hints to use deque, but couldn't arrive at an optimal solution in time so coded with brute force.