Show that $61!+1$ is divisible by $71$

modular arithmeticnumber theory

I'm working on the following Wilson's theorem exercise.

Show that $61!+1$ is divisible by $71.$

I know that expressed as a congruence it would be $61! \equiv -1 \pmod {71}$

Based on Wilson's theorem $(p-1)! \equiv -1 \pmod p$, I have

$$70! \equiv -1 \pmod {71}.$$

What I'm doing now is

$$70*69*68*…*62*61! \equiv -1 \pmod {71}.$$

But I don't know how to cancel those extra numbers I have before the 61; any hint or help will be greatly appreciated.

Best Answer

I don't know whether there is some really clever way, but here a brute force approach is fast enough. $$ 70\cdot69\cdots62\equiv (-1)\cdot(-2)\cdots(-9) $$ We have $$(-8)\cdot(-9)\equiv 1\\(-2)\cdot (-5)\cdot(-7)\equiv 1\\(-3)\cdot(-4)\cdot(-6)\equiv-1$$which means that $70!\equiv61!$