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Is it possible to solve this without using Excel? I suspect not, which makes it a test of computer skills rather than mathematical ability.

Certainly. I only rarely use excel on these. However, given that there are square, triangular, and Fibonacci numbers, some sort of table is likely to make the solve quicker. I’d prefer to just look up those tables rather than messing with excel.

If you would rather not use tables at all, here are a couple of suggestions. The formula for the nth triangular number is n(n+1)/2. Because of the form of Fibonacci numbers, they get much farther apart, so there really aren’t that many 4 digit ones, relatively speaking.

Just looked it up: there are only four 4-digit Fibonacci numbers. Easy to generate the list by hand. You may need some 5-digit ones so just keep going.

Thanks for that, Darla. I'll persevere tomorrow.

Just a small tip,any number added to its reverse will be divisible by 11

I am clearly misunderstanding the instructions. They state that all ANSWERS and ENTRIES are different. However the clues state that the ANSWER to (23ac + 6dn) is the ENTRY at 10ac. What is my feeble brain failing to understand?

Or does it simply mean the there are 32 different entries and 16 different answers?

gitto - each answer is the sum of two entries so can be different to each individual entry

Also 23a plus 6dn is not the entry at 10ac, it’s referring you to the clue referencing 10a

But, candledave, I am saying that the ANSWER to (23ac + 6d) IS the ENTRY at 10ac - i.e. 10, 23 and 6 are all different but 10 (entry) and (23+6) (answer) aren't different.