How to find doubles and triples in a range of numbers

[Dimi]

Hello to the Community,

I have an Excel file with a range of numbers (B2-F6) and I was wondering if there any functions in Excel that would help me to calculate the following:

- pairs and triplets that are most often shown together in this range, irrespective of the order,
- how many times are shown.

Also, I would like to type in a range of numbers (U2-Y2) and check if there are any pairs or triplets compared to the range of numbers B2-F6. And if there are, I would like to see them somewhere.

Please find attached an image for your convenience (the results of pairs, triplets etc. are typed manually just to give you an idea)

Thank you very much in advance for your help!

 

[Snakehips]

@Dimi Welcome.
Sadly for you, no response as yet on this.
I imagine that is because it is not, in my view, something that has a simple solution. Certainly not by way of formulas.
There are many potential and actual pairs and triplets within the 5 x 5 matrix.
My first thoughts were that you would have resort to using VBA to define, establish and loop to compare such.

However, as it has been rainy day, I have messed with trying to find a formula solution.
With the aid of some 'helper' ranges I do believe that I am almost there BUT I am using Excel 365 rather than 2021.
This will likely mean that my solution is not suitable for you?
I will not unnecessarily clutter the thread with my effort unless you think it may help.

Hopefully, someone brainier than myself will be along shortly with a viable solution.

 

[Peter_SSs]

irrespective of the order,

I'm not sure of the significance of that since every row in your sample data is sorted small to large. So I can't see how, say, 25 and 28 could be in that order in one row but 28 and 25 order in another row.
Anyway, this is my attempt at a solution, for pairs only at this stage.

Sub Multiples()
  Dim d As Object
  Dim a As Variant, Ky As Variant
  Dim i As Long, j As Long, k As Long, uba2 As Long, MaxCount As Long
  Dim s As String
  
  Set d = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
  a = Range("B2:F6").Value
  uba2 = UBound(a, 2)
  For i = 1 To UBound(a)
    For j = 1 To uba2 - 1
      For k = j + 1 To uba2
        s = a(i, j) & ";" & a(i, k)
        d(s) = d(s) + 1
        If d(s) > MaxCount Then MaxCount = d(s)
      Next k
    Next j
  Next i
  For Each Ky In d.Keys
    If d(Ky) < MaxCount Then d.Remove Ky
  Next Ky
  With Range("I2").Resize(d.Count)
    .Value = Application.Transpose(d.Keys)
    .TextToColumns DataType:=xlDelimited, Semicolon:=True, Other:=False
    .Offset(, 3).Value = MaxCount
  End With
End Sub

This is my sample data and results
BTW, I suggest that you investigate XL2BB for providing sample data to make it easier for helpers by not having to manually type out sample data to test with.

Dimi.xlsm
	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L
1
2	3	15	18	25	28			25	28		2
3	2	5	16	35	45			16	35		2
4	5	25	28	36	38			16	45		2
5	8	16	35	37	45			35	45		2
6	4	10	19	20	43
7
Sheet1

 

[Snakehips]

Ok, here is my 365 solution. Hope it is of some value?
Helper rows may be hidden.

PairaandTriples.xlsx
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z
1		Range of Numbers						Pairs	Times			Triplets	Times								Range Check
2		3	15	18	25	28		25-28	2			16-35-45	2								10	16	18	25	28
3		2	5	16	35	45		16-35	2												As a result of adding above range:
4		5	25	28	36	38		16-45	2												Pairs	Times		Triplets	Times
5		8	16	35	37	45		35-45	2												18-25	2		18-25-28	2
6		4	10	19	20	43															18-28	2		16-35-45	2
7																					25-28	3
8																					16-35	2
9																					16-45	2
10																					35-45	2
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20	Pairs Helper	3-15	3-18	15-18	3-25	15-25	18-25	3-28	15-28	18-28	25-28
21	Numbers Pairs	2-5	2-16	5-16	2-35	5-35	16-35	2-45	5-45	16-45	35-45
22		5-25	5-28	25-28	5-36	25-36	28-36	5-38	25-38	28-38	36-38
23		8-16	8-35	16-35	8-37	16-37	35-37	8-45	16-45	35-45	37-45
24		4-10	4-19	10-19	4-20	10-20	19-20	4-43	10-43	19-43	20-43
25	Check Pairs	10-16	10-18	16-18	10-25	16-25	18-25	10-28	16-28	18-28	25-28
26
27
28	Triplets Helper	3-15-18	3-15-25	3-18-25	15-18-25	3-15-28	3-18-28	15-18-28	3-25-28	15-25-28	18-25-28
29	Numbers Triplets	2-5-16	2-5-35	2-16-35	5-16-35	2-5-45	2-16-45	5-16-45	2-35-45	5-35-45	16-35-45
30		5-25-28	5-25-36	5-28-36	25-28-36	5-25-38	5-28-38	25-28-38	5-36-38	25-36-38	28-36-38
31		8-16-35	8-16-37	8-35-37	16-35-37	8-16-45	8-35-45	16-35-45	8-37-45	16-37-45	35-37-45
32		4-10-19	4-10-20	4-19-20	10-19-20	4-10-43	4-19-43	10-19-43	4-20-43	10-20-43	19-20-43
33	Check Triples	10-16-18	10-16-25	10-18-25	16-18-25	10-16-28	10-18-28	16-18-28	10-25-28	16-25-28	18-25-28
34
Pairs & Triplets

Cell Formulas
Range	Formula
H2:H5	H2	=IFERROR(UNIQUE(TOCOL(IF(COUNTIF(B20:K24,B20:K24)>1,B20:K24,1/0),3)),"None")
I2:I5	I2	=COUNTIF(B20:K24,H2#)
L2	L2	=IFERROR(UNIQUE(TOCOL(IF(COUNTIF(B28:K32,B28:K32)>1,B28:K32,1/0),3)),"None")
M2	M2	=COUNTIF(B28:K32,L2#)
U5:U10	U5	=IFERROR(UNIQUE(TOCOL(IF(COUNTIF(B20:K25,B20:K25)>1,B20:K25,1/0),3)),"None")
V5:V10	V5	=COUNTIF(B20:K25,U5#)
X5:X6	X5	=IFERROR(UNIQUE(TOCOL(IF(COUNTIF(B28:K33,B28:K33)>1,B28:K33,1/0),3)),"None")
Y5:Y6	Y5	=COUNTIF(B28:K33,X5#)
B20:K24	B20	=TRANSPOSE(LET(rw,TOCOL(B2:F2&"-"&TRANSPOSE(B2:F2)),FILTER(rw,1*TEXTBEFORE(rw,"-")<1*TEXTAFTER(rw,"-"))))
B25:K25	B25	=TRANSPOSE(LET(rw,TOCOL(U2:Y2&"-"&TRANSPOSE(U2:Y2)),FILTER(rw,1*TEXTBEFORE(rw,"-")<1*TEXTAFTER(rw,"-"))))
B28:K32	B28	=TRANSPOSE(LET(tr,TOCOL(B20#&"-"&TRANSPOSE(B2:F2)),FILTER(tr,1*TEXTAFTER(TEXTBEFORE(tr,"-",2),"-")<1*TEXTAFTER(tr,"-",2))))
B33:K33	B33	=TRANSPOSE(LET(tr,TOCOL(B25#&"-"&TRANSPOSE(U2:Y2)),FILTER(tr,1*TEXTAFTER(TEXTBEFORE(tr,"-",2),"-")<1*TEXTAFTER(tr,"-",2))))
Dynamic array formulas.

 

[Dimi]

@Snakehips & @Peter_SSs: Thank you so much for the effort! I didn't have the time to check your solutions. When I do, I will let you know.