Combinatorics means "combining" few data to gather further data and get implications.
Pattern recognition, on the other side, means fusing much data into fewer, like deriving an equation.
Both thinking tendencies are used alternately and paralelly in my broad band thinking
Also, there happens to also be a "Mischfrequenzdenken" (mixed frequency thinking) with high frequency, low frequency pattern recognition, and high/ low frequency combinatorics.
Plus, I throw in another item of interest: the cognitive functions of the MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator), specially the Perceiving functions;
introverted Sensing Si: (lives in the past, recreates experiences afterwards) theoretical practice, low frequency pattern recognition
introverted iNtuition Ni: (lives in the far future, plans ahead) practical theory, low frequency combinatorics
extroverted Sensing Se: (lives in the present, directly experience things without much cognitive iterations) practical practice, high frequency pattern recognition
extroverted iNtuition Ne: (lives in the many possibilities of the closer future, recreate the outer world in the imagination) theoretical theory, high frequency combinatorics
What does low and high frequency mean in these cases:
LOW frequency means the "wavelength" is longer, the process is more subconscious, but persists far longer and is more stable. It is a slight "gut feeling"
HIGH frequency means the "wavelengths" are ultra short, high energy, thoughts persist for a shorter period of time but are more intense and conscious. Likely unstable, but "piercing the veil", possible "Eureka"-moments.
This diagram I made covers these ideas a bit:
The dots are thoughts/impressions: the extroverted functions are high frequency, thus persist shorter but have more branches and crossings, the low frequency ones, the introverted functions' thought processes, last longer, but have less branches and "focus more on themselves" whilst the high frequency ones spread all their energy around.