Question 146
Philena and Nathan are playing a game. First, Nathan secretly chooses an ordered pair $(x, y)$ of positive integers such that $x \leq 20$ and $y \leq 23$. (Philena knows that Nathan's pair must satisfy $x \leq 20$ and $y \leq 23$.) The game then proceeds in rounds; in every round, Philena chooses an ordered pair $(a, b)$ of positive integers and tells it to Nathan; Nathan says YES if $x \leq a$ and $y \leq b$, and NO otherwise. Find, with proof, the smallest positive integer $N$ for which Philena has a strategy that guarantees she can be certain of Nathan's pair after at most $N$ rounds.