The Mathsbombe Competition

2026 edition. From the people behind the Alan Turing Cryptography Competition.
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Problem 3

For any positive integer $n$, let $\sigma(n)$ denote the sum of the digits of $n$, for example, $\sigma(317)=11$. Find the least number $n$ such that $20$ divides $\sigma(n)$ and $26$ divides $\sigma(n+1)$.

To deter guessing without thinking, we ask that you also solve the following simple arithmetic problem before checking your answer:

What is six plus four, plus nine?  

This problem was first solved on Wed 4th February at 4:06:51pm
Mathsbombe Competition 2026 is organised by the The Department of Mathematics at The University of Manchester.
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