Find the number of ways $(1,2,3,\cdots, N)$ can be permuted so that the first $i$ numbers is not a permutation of $(1,2,3,\cdots, i)$ for $i<N$

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Find the number of ways $(1,2,3,\cdots, N)$ can be arranged (permuted) such that the first $i$ numbers is not a permutation of $(1,2,3,\cdots, i)$ for any $1\leq i < N$.

One way is to solve it using the principle of inclusion exclusion which is doable though I'm not sure if that will directly yield a closed form.

I also observed that $$\text{sol[N]} = N! - \sum_{1}^{N-1} \left\{\text{sol[j]}(N-j)!\right\}$$ where $\text{sol[K]}$ is defined as the solution to the original problem for $N=K$ but I'm not sure how this works. It's just that we get the solution but I'm not it sure how.

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Assuming that the question is asking for an explanation why the recurrence relation works, here's an answer. Let $A$ be the set of all permutations of $1 \ldots N$, so that $|A| = N!$. For $1 \leq j \leq N$, define $A_j$ to be the set of permutations $\pi \in A$ such that $\pi$ maps $\{1 \ldots j\}$ onto itself, but $\pi$ does not map $\{1 \ldots i\}$ onto itself for any $i < j$. Clearly $A$ is the disjoint union of the $A_j$, for $j \in \{1 \ldots N\}$, and $sol[N] = |A_N|$.

For $1 \leq j < N$, we know any $\pi \in A_j$ maps $\{1 \ldots j\}$ onto itself. Moreover, since there is no $i<j$ such that $\pi$ maps $\{1 \ldots i\}$ onto itself, the number of choices for the action of $\pi$ on $\{1 \ldots j\}$ is exactly $sol[j]$. Once this is chosen, the action of $\pi$ on $\{j+1 \ldots N\}$ can be chosen arbitrarily, for which there are $(N-(j+1)+1)! = (N-j)!$ choices. Thus $|A_j| = sol[j] (N-j)!$ for $1 \leq j < N$.

Since $A$ is a disjoint union of the $A_j$, we have $|A| = \displaystyle \sum_{j=1}^N |A_j|$, and thus $N! = \displaystyle \sum_{j=1}^{N-1} sol[j](N-j)! + sol[n]$.