Listener 4088 - Digimix by Oyler

[Philoctetes]

Well, thank goodness we have a long weekend. I think I might need that to work out what the blazes the clues mean! I had one theory, but the rubric that all entries are different turned me towards a slight revision of that. I shall go along on that hypothesis for now - but not until I have had a nice, strong cup of tea!

[dr b]

Like daagg, I did not list all possible answers and then work out which ones fit where, but found an entry point and worked out other grid entries logically or by brute force from there. And, it hardly seems to be giving the game away to observe that starting from the list of all possible answers is one way to go (isn't that a bit like taking a standard Listener, and observing that you just need to start with the dictionary and work backwards?).

[Clamzy]

Good point dr b. How can listing all possibilities be construed as a hint, let alone a give away.

[Jogler]

Agree with daagg and dr b; chipped away at it - there was one seemingly obvious (to us) place to start and we pegged away from there. Did not look at all the possible answers - or use a spreadsheet.... good old fashioned arithmetic and slog! But I cannot give a big enough thank you to Mysterons for that link!

[JackDeCrow]

Phew - made heavy weather of that one. Can't help feeling it might have gone quicker if I'd spotted the bit about P&Q having all the digits between them, as well as XYZ, before I got on to the very last line! Similarly surprised and faintly worried by the lack of apparent significance in the final total.

[Mysterons]

Thanks for that Jogler I'm just glad it was of use to so many - I tend to agree that having the list of all 78 at the outset wouldn't have made a lot of difference, though I certainly sympathise with JdC !

[shelouse]

I would like to add my heartfelt thanks for Mysterons for the codepad. Have finally finished, delayed by a hiccup (handwriting) in miswriting the vlue of j, and hen trying to use the wrong value.......

I agree with other comments - a nice word at the end, or even invert the calculator and read the answer (no, that doesn't work either). But I did get a nice PDM with the sudden rush of solutions about half way through .

[tbayliss]

I also thought the final total may be an American format date - perhaps the birthday of a child or someone from history (as the century is not there)? I looked up the dates of the mathematician Euler (pronounced Oyler of course) but nothing there. I'm sure the ingenious setter could have come up with something with those left over numbers - perhaps he did and we're all missing it.
I apologise to all concerned for my rather hasty submission about over helpful clues (spOYLERs?). I'm not usually so grumpy and if I ever need help here, will probably not deserve much - sorry again. Having spent most of my time working out the possible PQXYZ combinations, I perhaps found it annoying that there was a pointer to a web site where you could find them all listed. I also applaud those who did it a different way. Having been rather busy for some months and not attempting the Listener for a while, it's always a good feeling to crack it. I used a computer too so I did get a lot of help from the tiny but vastly superior calculating brain concerned.

[patmark2]

tbayliss, I must be missing something obvious, can you show me where on the thread there's a pointer to a website which lists all the PQXYZ combinations? I must be being particularly dense today!

[tbayliss]

I got the impression from one of the posts that it did. I didn't follow the link so I am probably wrong. Sorry

[daagg]

JdC, if you really solved this without the fact that P&Q (is that a DIY shop or a shipping line?) have all the digits between them, then I am very impressed. Sounds like choosing to climb Ben Nevis in the winter.

[JackDeCrow]

Yes, daagg, I did, but I would definitely rank it as stupid (and rather tedious) rather than impressive! Actually with the aid of a website similar to the one identified by Mysterons, I didn't have to battle through more than 120 permutations for any of the XYZ's (and each time with some pretty big factors of P or Q identified) so once I knuckled down to it, it wasn't too bad. It was only when I got to the very last line and thought didn't fancy 720 combinations that I went back and read the instructions again!!

[Clamzy]

Gee whizz Jack - I think you need the spreadsheet as much as I do:-)

[Philoctetes]

Odd one, this. I look forward to the numericals for all the reasons that their fans have given here and elsewhere. But I just could not settle to this. I agree there was nothing too out of the way in the arithmetic involved (though how you work it out without a spreadsheet I cannot fathom). There was nothing driving me on other than I "had" to do it. So I have only just completed. I even googled the final number - nothing except an innocuous soup recipe. But still, less than an hour till the words come back!