a puzzle sequence

[David Wilson]

I tried to follow up on this as well.

I also googled "87 711 43" and found the cache page of ritanyc's 02/05 post 
at FreeMathHelp.com.  ritanyc is no longer a member of FreeMathHelp.com. 
There is currently a member named "Rita" from "NYC", possibly the same 
person.  But Rita has not posted in a while, and none of her posts are now 
available.  The associated email address bounces. Googling ritanyc turns up 
a handful of references, none of which leads anywhere.

Unless a puzzle arises in nature, has a testator to its solubility (e.g, a 
known author), or else succumbs to cursory mathematical analysis, there is 
little reason to think a solution is feasible.  Such a puzzle could be a 
hoax, or based on inaccessible information, or too contrived to be soluble.

Such was the case with an earlier sequence puzzle posted by NJAS.  After 
some research, it was found that the sequence originated as a puzzle 
sequence on Neopets.com, and was in fact a sequence of solutions to previous 
puzzles on that site.  As such it would have been insoluble to anyone who 
was not privy to that information.

And such is the case with the present puzzle.  Unless NJAS has more 
information on its origin, I won't waste any more time with it.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Graeme McRae" <g_m at mcraefamily.com>
To: <seqfan at ext.jussieu.fr>
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2005 4:52 PM
Subject: Re: a puzzle sequence


> Has anyone had any luck with this one?  I posted this question on a math 
> board I frequent (nrich.maths.org) but so far the only comments have been 
> that the numbers alternate between two-digit and three-digit, and that 
> they are a pair of primes followed by a pair of non-primes, and continuing 
> to alternate in that fashion.  I googled for "87   711   43   269   65 
> 555 39   421   17" and saw someone asked the question back in February, on 
> the FreeMathHelp.com message board, as follows:
>
> ritanyc
> Full Member
> Joined: 28 Dec 2004
> Posts: 109
> Location: New York City
> Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:47 am    Post subject: Pattern
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 87, 711, 43, 269, 65, 555, 39, 421, 17,.......
> What are the next 5 numbers?
> _________________
> Thank you for your help,
> Rita
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Denis
> Senior Member
> Joined: 17 Feb 2004
> Posts: 844
> Location: Ottawa, Ontario
> Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:37 pm    Post subject:
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> s'that supposed to be mathematical, or alpha related,
> or just a plain old puzzle?
> _________________
> I'm just an imagination of your figment!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> But then there was no follow-up with answers to Denis' questions or an 
> actual answer.  I googled for "ritanyc" and found an email address, but 
> who knows if there are many ritas in nyc?  I bet there are.  In any case, 
> I sent an email to that address asking if she ever got an answer to this 
> question. I'll let you know if anything turns up.  In the mean time, has 
> anyone else made any progress?
>
> --Graeme
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "N. J. A. Sloane" <njas at research.att.com>
> To: <seqfan at ext.jussieu.fr>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 5:49 AM
> Subject: a puzzle sequence
>
>
>>
>> SeqFans,  this just came in. Can anyone solve it?
>> I don't know the answer.  NJAS
>>
>>
>>> need help with a math thing
>>>
>>>
>>> 87   711   43   269   65   555   39   421   17   ___    ___    ___
>>>
>>> What are three numbers?  What is the pattern?  What do they have in 
>>> common?
>>>
>>> If you could help it would be great!!
>>
>>
>>
>