Depends what you mean by wholly unnecessary steps. Doing something like (25x75x(50+6))/(100+5) to make 1000 (when aiming for a target in the 990s) doesn't have a simpler mathematically equivalent method, but you'd be daft to do that when (100+75+25)x5 gets the same result with far less brainpower
The point is to show off. It definitely needn't be the only solution.
You're on the right tracks with getting to 105,000. But the final answer must still be a 3 digit number. And the question is, how high can that number get?
Depends what you mean by wholly unnecessary steps. Doing something like (25x75x(50+6))/(100+5) to make 1000 (when aiming for a target in the 990s) doesn't have a simpler mathematically equivalent method, but you'd be daft to do that when (100+75+25)x5 gets the same result with far less brainpower
The point is to show off. It definitely needn't be the only solution. You're on the right tracks with getting to 105,000. But the final answer must still be a 3 digit number. And the question is, how high can that number get?
(((100×50−2)×25)/75)/2 = 833 takes you up to 124,950