Is there any better approach to solve this Simple Question?

[gmataspirant]

Hey Guys,

Is there any short cut method availalbe to answer the following simple question ?

What is the greatest integer that is a sum of four different prime numbers, each less than 30 ?

A 67
B 88
C 98
D 104
E 126

I narrowed down the options to A,B,C,D and ignored option E as it is over 120. Answered the question by summing up different prime numbers which are less than 30. I am sure that there must be a smarter approach to solve this question.

[jasonc]

not sure how to do it faster... but even if you just sum up the 4 primes, it shouldn't take more than 1 min.

count down from 30 to find the highest 4 primes, sum those = answer.
29, 23, 19, 17=88

[sasi78]

I think, no need to use POE for this kind of problems. Solving directly is the simple & less time consuming way.

[ksh]

I think you have solved the right way.

It is difficult to deduce any formulae for it. Its better to count n add 29+23+19+17=88.

Cheer up

[VP_RedSoxFan]

Sometimes we can out-think ourselves when trying to come up with a neat "trick". As has been mentioned, take the 45 seconds or so and focus energies on getting the 4 greatest prime numbers less than 30 accurately.

[Ian Stewart]

There's no formula for finding primes; the only reliable way to do this problem is to locate the four largest primes less than 30 and add them up. You really should know all primes up to at least 40, and if you do, this question should only take 30 seconds- you only need to add four small numbers. Otherwise, it still should only take a minute.