Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

I've managed to fit the answers into the grid, albeit with four ambiguous cells (in two pairs of answers, across and down, each two cells).

I've tried every combination for 19a and 34d (with a prime factors tool) but can't find a central number that works for both. I think I must have gone slightly wrong somewhere?

Thanks sh, my problem was actually the two crossing answers which can go either way around, a fact I’d missed for some reason. Switched, that forced the middle cell nicely. I agree that prime factoring is the key, and a tool is essential (I use WolframAlpha), and as I count it you’d need to try out potentially 26 different numbers to see if they fit the (square x prime)’ pattern. That does seem a shame, though I’m impressed you did 18A without a calculator…!

With the blanks filled in, the gobbledygook resolved itself, although I found starting in the top[\i] left more useful. I can’t see what the “sequenced conventionally” refers to, as the items appear listed in all sorts of different orders, but at least I can see what’s missing, which is all we actually need, and made the title clear.

I enjoyed this one: that business with giving us the number of cells not the number of digits was sneaky and gave me some pause at the start, but once you poked at it it started to crumble nicely. Thanks Child’s Play.

felipedon, I had four ambiguous cells (two pairs) in the down one, so you might be missing some permutations…

I've got it now. It was an across one I had in the wrong place - I had the wrong one in the pair.

Actually, it's trio, not a pair.

Well I’ve got a complete grid but not even the slightest clue what I’m looking for in this grid of letters…

It's one of those that you stare at for ten minutes and think well this is just complete nonsense, I bet it's some obscure set of physics terms or something and then you see it and you think, no, fair play, absolutely fair enough.

As others have said, I found bottom left very helpful.

Sequenced conventionally means in increasing order of the relevant associated number, with the title referencing the missing element.

As my grid staring is well beyond 10 minutes with no PDM in sight, could somebody please confirm that my gobble de gook is correct. Without trying to give to much away, the sum of my digits in column 1 is equal to the sum of the answers for clues 4 and 21.

That should read the sum of the numbers in column 1........and "to" should read "too".