Can Excel produce a strange but logical sequence of numbers?

Excel supports arithmetic patterns with step size >1 Fill in the first 3 values, and then use a pattern from there down

and then copy that down. I.e. A5 becomes =A2+5 which is indeed 21.

Excel only recognizes arithmetic patterns.

In your case, you can define a formula and fill it to the needed rows.

=A1 + IF(MOD(ROW(), 3) = 0, 1, 2)

Change A1 to the cell where your sequence starts.

In this screen shot below, A1 has the value 14. In A2 I entered this formula

=A1 + IF(MOD(ROW(),3)=0,1,2)

And copied it down

enter image description here

Assuming you start at row 1, it's =ROUND((ROW()*5+37)/3,0)

For every 3 rows, you add 5, hence 5/3. The 37 is to get the starting value right (row 1 => value 14). ROUND to two digits to see how it works.

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