I don't know if you're aware, cally, but there's a bit of an unwritten law that one doesn't give the game away on Listener crosswords.
Hints on how to interpret the preamble are generally OK, though anything beyond that is unfair to those who struggle through every week in the hope of featuring in the annual solvers' rankings. Also, if the crossword's editors find out who you are you could be banned from entering.
I do not enter the competition - I just use my brain to get the answers. Have to get the old grey cells working somehow. Would not anyway do anything so underhanded. Hints I am open to.