Listener 4062 - Letter Squares by Elap

[Philoctetes]

No - i haven't finished it, so get up off the floor. I just wondered what people approaching it thought of the bit in the preamble "so solvers must deduce how many complete cells each answer occupies" (and the attendant mismatches). Without that it looks quite straightforward

[cruciverbali]

As an example, at first sight 17 across could occupy 2 or 3 cells. When 18 across is solved, in combination with 2 across, the correct option becomes apparent.

[starwalker]

As a reluctant solver of the mathematicals, I shall pour myself a glass and do some hard staring. To the outside observer, it looks impressive and hides the inner turmoil. As I have come to find with most of these, there is a way forward, eventually.

Philoctetes - I'm surprised !

[AHearer]

I thought I was off to a flying start on this, and then came to an irreconcilable clash. I'll obviously have to go back to square one (sorry!) so I'm going to put it on one side and attack it with a fresh(ish) mind tomorrow.

[tristram37]

Since I never speak to my wife till I've finished the Listener puzzle she's in for a lonely week! The numericals are my bête noire.

[Cruncher]

At first glance this looks pretty straightforward. Fare well fellow number crunchers!

[Philoctetes]

Apologies for my original - slightly bemused - post. I must have suffered what is referred to in the rugby world as a ""Brain f*rt" and not read the first sentence of the preamble, which makes the others clear. I now think this should boil down to the usual hacking through alternatives until the right ones fit.

[emcee]

Another superb offering from Elap. How on earth does he go about compiling it?

[cluelessJoe]

Well, got there (I think), changed the contents seemingly satisfactorily - but I don't really understand the relevance of 'thus solving any ambiguities' in the preamble. Not sure that I had any!

[AHearer]

CluelessJoe, take another look at 25 across: it could be entered in two ways (don't think that's giving away anything to anybody who hasn't got there).

[daagg]

Finished quite straightforwardly. I'm with cluelessJoe in that I can't see any possible ambiguities (25ac is constrained by a long down entry). Could the "ambiguity" refer to how the grid is or is not modified?

[Mysterons]

Like cJ, I was also puzzled by those last 4 words of the preamble. I expected that there would be another way of entering one or more answers that would not conflict with cross-checking or the requirement for all numbers to be less than 26, however I couldn't find any. 25 across seems to have a unique 7-digit answer which occupies 5 calls in only one possible arrangement.

[cruciverbali]

The only ambiguity with this puzzle seems to be the last part of the preamble !

[AHearer]

Sorry, CluelessJoe, daag, Mysterons, you are quite right about 25ac being constrained by the crossing light. I was misled by what seemed obvious.

[IntoTheBlue]

Being someone who does not look forward to the quarterly number crunch I approached Friday's offering with trepidation... however I seemed to have finished without too much gnashing of teeth before the weekend is out.

(I thought the ambiguity lay with the last across clue which couldn't be entered until the hint had been acted upon... )

As always bewildered how these numbers grids are constructed. Many thanks Elap.

IntoTheBlue

[Mysterons]

Well spotted IntoTheBlue ! Even on re-checking I'd completely missed that possibility.

[turnerjmw]

I'm with Into The Blue on the ambiguity. Cleverly constructed, and easier to find a way into than many number puzzles, though the last few letters took a little bit of sorting out (I probably missed something trivial). Thanks as ever, Elap

[cluelessJoe]

Well you three, wish I could borrow your eyes - if there is ambiguity in that last across clue, I must have struck lucky or wrong as still I can't see it ... I have 16d fixing the first light and 12d the last so I can only see one way the unchecked lights can possibly be filled.
Regardless, I must congratulate ELAP on another masterpiece of construction. Well done & thanks.

[thebuzz999]

CluelessJoe: I did not see it either until now but they are right - there is ambiguity in how to enter 27 across; no ambiguity in the value to be entered, but the next-to-the-last cell could either be 1 or 2 digits...

[cluelessJoe]

Sorry, ignore that first paragraph above. I now see the scope for an ambiguous entry ... though not one I'd ever have considered - I wonder if ELAP initially overlooked it, and the editors stumbled over it?

[cluelessJoe]

... thanks thebuzz999, looks like our posts overlapped. Yes it was niggling me so I went back and had a longer look and finally twigged - I can sleep easy now