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!

[easylistener]

Feel like I might give up straight away. Surely we are all predominantly wordy people and shy away from number puzzles?

[dr b]

I'm a bit unclear on the instructions; is it the case that all equations in column P give the same answer, so that 3Gn = 3Nz' = 5Gx =, etc.? And that the stars are the "missing entries"?

firing up Excel.....

[Philoctetes]

I love the numericals, but I think the balance is about right. What I find, though, is that, if I take a break (as is inevitable) it takes me some time to reach the stage of deduction that I had reached before. With "wordals" one can just dive straight back in. So I tend to submerse myself more and get them finished quicker - and annoy the rest of the family more!

[Philoctetes]

Dr b - that was my first guess, but consideration of Q rules that out. I think the asterisks are as you say. And, as a slight flaw from the setter, there are two meanings to "P" and "Q" according to context

[shelouse]

dr b, I dont think that can be right because you then get several pairs if identical entries: S/E, M/q, h/a, and how can 2p and 5p be the same?

[Jogler]

Have resorted to the gin rather than the strong cup of tea! Taking a little while to get to grips with the rubrik but still looking forward to the challenge. This could change!

[dr b]

OK, I was trying to decipher (wordplay!) the directions before even looking at any of the clues. Ponderation commencing.....

[midazolam]

i have finally seen the woods from the trees (or the clues from the entries). The clues are going downwards, with the bold P being different from the normal P (an entry). each answer to bold P has to be 4 digits and they are all different. so there are 11 different X_Y_Z (in this crossword anyway). this is the first time i have had to use an excel spreadsheet to help me along the way....back to it

[starwalker]

When I first saw this, my heart sank. However, after a period of calm consideration(and a beer), I think I understand the clues better.
I think that I am on the right lines, but only time will tell.

[tweaker]

Philoctetes - I think a strong cup of (double) absinthe is on the menu for me!

Dr B. Will Excel help with this puzzle? Honest - I'd like to know, I now own a copy and if it'll help then let me know.

My first number puzzle, and my fifth Listener - A lamb to the slaughter.... (I hope that'll amuse some of you)!!!!

[turnerjmw]

Please can I ask people not to give this away on here. My entry is already in the post, so I can assure you it can't be all that difficult.

Turnerjmw

[midazolam]

i agree turnerjmw. my quickest numerical listener. although I did use excel, I did not use any fancy calculations/equations. therefore i hope we dont give anything away this week, because the maths is quite straightforward.

i don't like the use of the word "entries" in the preamble and It is also a shame there was no little extra that I wish for in the numericals. nevertheless, well constructed as usual Oyler.

[Mysterons]

Don't give up easylistener - as turner jmw says, numericals are normally fairly straightforward once you find a way in.

In today's puzzle I found this codepad useful to work out the 2 squares summing to any particular 9-digit number:

http://codepad.org/DuNNQYrh

[BlackHugh]

I agree that it is relatively straightforward once you realise how the clues are arranged - However being something of a programmer manqué I could not resist writing a program in Excel to list out the possibilities for P, Q, X, Y & Z (which incidentally were far more than I had guessed) - Given that cheat I'm not going to send it in.

By the way - is there a pattern to the appearance of the numerical ones? Some people seemed to know last week that this would be one.

[Philoctetes]

Last weeks in Feb, May, Aug, Nov

[Mysterons]

There are 4 numericals a year, appearing at the end of February, May, August and November.

[BlackHugh]

Aha - Thanks

[society]

You all actually take time-out from asking for answers to have a conversation... :-)

[cluelessJoe]

.. or maybe do we sometimes take time out from having a conversation to ask for answers? This tends to be a fairly civilised area of the board, society - it's quite refreshing / inspiring some times to have a chat ... and we don't always need answers. Often just a friendly hint - or even just knowing that someone else is having the same nightmare with a clue as you are - will help.

[Zabadak]

BlackHugh: In what way is what you have done a cheat? Is it a cheat, for example, to extract all five letter words with the pattern ?h?a? from a dictionary to find one which satisfies a clue in a "normal" crossword? Clever of you to write an Excel programme, sure, but you still have to work out how it all fits together. Wish I could do it, or work out how to use that codepad thing Mysterons offers. Some of us just blunder away - damned if I'll let this be the first one I don't complete this year - but I won't be upset by someone who finds a short cut. I might (might!) be a tad miffed by the ease with which turnerjmw has solved this thing, but he hasn't cheated by being confoundedly adept with numbers. He has, however, "given away" a great deal: this thing can be done, and it's actually not that hard. All I have to do is do it my way. It'll take a while!