In a \(3 \times 3\) grid, one moves from the top-left corner to the bottom-right corner using only right and down moves. How many shortest paths are possible?

Correct answer: 20

To reach the bottom-right corner, 3 right moves and 3 down moves are required, making 6 moves in all. The number of ways to choose the 3 positions for the right moves is \(\binom{6}{3}=20\); the remaining 3 positions are down moves. Therefore, the correct answer is 20. The option 24 can result from incorrectly counting move orders. Exam tip: for right-and-down grid paths, use combinations of the required right and down moves.