MHB What are the Positive Integer Solutions to the Factorial Equation?

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Determine all positive integers $a,\,b$ and $c$ that satisfy equation $(a+b)!=4(b+c)!+18(a+c)!$.
 
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If $(a+b)! = 4(b+c)! + 18(a+c)!$ then $(a+b)! > (a+c)!$, from which it follows that $b>c$. Similarly, $(a+b)! > (b+c)!$, so that $a>c$. Suppose for the moment that $b\geqslant a$, and let $x = \dfrac{(a+b)!}{(b+c)!}$, $y = \dfrac{(b+c)!}{(a+c)!}$. Then $x$ and $y$ are positive integers. After dividing through by $(a+c)!$, the factorial equation becomes $ \dfrac{(a+b)!}{(a+c)!} = \dfrac{4(b+c)!}{(a+c)!} + 18$, or $xy = 4y + 18$. Therefore $y(x-4) = 18$, and $y$ must be a factor of $18$. But not every factor of $18$ will lead to a solution of the equation, because $x$ and $y$ are defined in terms of factorials and so have to be products of consecutive integers. I found that the only values of $(x,y)$ that work are $(7,6)$ and $(22,1)$, corresponding to the solutions $(a,b,c) = (3,4,2)$ and $(11,11,10)$.

There seems to be no obvious reason why $b\geqslant a$, so we should also look at the possibility $a>b$. Then a similar calculation to the one above leads to an equation like $xy = 4y + 18$, but with the $4$ and $18$ interchanged. However, that did not lead to any new solutions of the factorial equation. So there are only two solutions, namely

$7! = 4\cdot6! + 18\cdot5!$ (when $(a,b,c) = (3,4,2)$)

and

$22! = 4\cdot21! + 18\cdot21!$ (when $(a,b,c) = (11,11,10)$).
 
Here is a little puzzle from the book 100 Geometric Games by Pierre Berloquin. The side of a small square is one meter long and the side of a larger square one and a half meters long. One vertex of the large square is at the center of the small square. The side of the large square cuts two sides of the small square into one- third parts and two-thirds parts. What is the area where the squares overlap?

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