Puzzle Nekst 3 2016-2017

After the winter and with spring well on its way, Nekst provides the perfect opportunity to awaken your hibernating brain. Can you crack this puzzle?

A group of children is learning maths. Their teacher, an especially conservative individual who refuses to allow any of them to use a calculator, likes to start the day with a sequence of division exercises. He writes a large number on the blackboard, and asks the children whether it is divisible by a series of incrementing numbers.

“Yes sir, this number is divisible by 2,” says the first child. “It is also divisible by 3!” says the second. “The number is divisible by 4 as well,” says the third, and so on until the 30th child says “Yes, it is also divisible by 31.”

The teacher, relatively happy with today’s score, nods briefly and announces with a loud voice: “Exactly two of you have failed today! Two consecutive answers were wrong.”

Can you figure out which two children were mistaken? Please send your solution to nekst@Asset-Econometrics.nl. A crate of beer or a delicious pie, whichever the winner prefers, will be waiting for whoever has sent the best (partial) solution. Please note that, as before, every recipient of this magazine is eligible to send in their solution, so members of the department are invited to participate as well. Good luck!