Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

As it's a numerical puzzle this week...

The clues...

Requests for help should normally include the clue itself and any pertinent information.

The theme...

Requests for help towards the theme may also be made here. The help shouldn't be anything that spoils the puzzle for other solvers, just a little steer, nudge in the right doirection.

The Listener is a unique puzzle and should be treated with respect.

I’m really struggling to be certain I understand the preamble. It is saying that in, for instance, 15ac/25dn, the clue answer is itself a square, but the two grid answers that sum to it are not necessarily squares?

And to add to my immediate post, presumably this also means the lengths of the clue answers are in no way constrained.

That’s my read of it although the clue answers are constrained to some extent as can only the same length as one of the relevant entries or one higher

Because the two numbers are the reverse of each other, they are the same length. For example, 5ac and 22dn are both 3 digits long. The sum of the two (which can be 3 or 4 digits long) is a square. If 5ac is abc, then 22dn is cba and abc + cba is a square.

As usual for a number puzzle, Excel and a wet towel are the required tools. I generally don't enjoy them very much. This one was no exception.

Having said that, as usual I am in awe of the skill required to set this puzzle.

Fairly easy numerical this week I thought. As with the last one I would have preferred some endgame for motivation beyond just filling a grid. But since it was on the easier side I still enjoyed it.

Fairly gentle solve provided you keep a clear head and know how to tackle puzzles like this. No need to throw the kitchen sink at it computation wise. Just a little bit of Excel and some nice deductions are all that's needed. Lovely puzzle and well set but then it is by Arden and that's what he's known for.

For those of us too old to learn how to use Excel, are there any tables available to provide lists of two numbers which add to squares, triangulars and fibonaccis etc?