Got last week’s Express just right, with the right explanation.
This week’s Classic is based on the US flag, but the maths question is this:
[W]hen N equals 50, N is twice a square and N+1 is a centered pentagonal number. After 50, what is the next integer N with these properties?
This one seems very easy to brute force. My code returns an answer in less than a thousandth of a second. The returned answer is twice a square, and one less than a centred pentagonal. It’s definitely possible that I missed the correct, lower answer because there’s a mistake in my logic for stepping through the possible doubled squares and centred pentagonals.
I’m very curious to know if there’s a good way to solve this analytically.
Of course Laurent Lessard has written up an analytical solution: https://laurentlessard.com/bookproofs/squaring-the-pentagon/
At least I seem to have the right answer!