This asks for the number of ways to choose 5 numbers from 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18 such that no two of the 5 are next to each other: For illustration, suppose the 5 numbers chosen were 3,7,12,14,16. Let's bracket those 5: 1,2,[3],4,5,6,[7],8,9,10,11,[12],13,[14],15,[16],17,18 For all but the last one, 16, let's bring the right-hand neighbor into the brackets: 1,2,[3,4],5,6,[7,8],9,10,11,[12,13],[14,15],[16],17,18 This is a sequence of 14 things, 5 brackets containing numbers and 9 numbers not within brackets. And 5 of the 14 indicate 5 choices according to the required condition of no two chosen are next to each other. Here is another example which shows why it is not necessary to bring in a neighbor to the right of the largest number chosen into a bracket. Suppose the 5 numbers chosen were 1,5,10,12,18. Let's bracket those 5: [1],2,3,4,[5],6,7,8,9,[10],11,[12],13,14,15,16,17,[18] For all but the last one, 18, let's bring the right-hand neighbor into the bracket: [1,2],3,4,[5,6],7,8,9,[10,11],[12,13],14,15,16,17,[18] This shows why we don't need to bring a right hand neighbor into the last number chosen, because in this case there is no right hand neighbor. It is necessary that only the first four numbers chosen have a right hand neighbor, which of course, must not have not been chosen as one of the 5. Notice that this is also a sequence of 14 "things", consisting of 5 brackets containing numbers and 9 numbers not within brackets. And 5 of these 14 indicate 5 choices according to the required condition that no two chosen are next to each other. So the number of such choices is the number of ways to choose 5 positions from the 14 possible positions to place the 5 brackets. Answer: 14C5 = 2002 Edwin