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The letters map to integers 1 to 26: one letter maps to 5.

The rubric seemed unambiguous to me, once I'd read it three times. It's straightforward to identify the clues which are equalities (and the ones at the end with error more than 26). From there the letters corresponding to 1 to 5 can readily be found. Having filled in 30dn, 32ac can be approximately identified...

There's some tedious arithmetic to fill in the grid once all the letter values have been found.

I've got it now, I've got a spreadsheet where I've worked out the numerical value for each letter for the internal clues, then for the perimeter I just work backwards. Thanks.

The first six letters were easily solved by deduction only, but after that it's a mighty slog with a combination of deduction, trial and error and elimination. I find it hard to believe that anyone could solve this in less than four hours!

Good luck after solving the first six letters - it gets a lot more laborious after that!

One can deduce each letter (if you do them in the right order!) pretty much directly from single clues or pairs of clues, with only an occasional reference to digits already placed in the grid. Occasionally you might need to test all of the unused values, 1-26, to determine the only choice that gives an entry with the right number of digits or an error value that keeps the errors increasing, but it's never a long slog if you determine which clue(s) to attack next.

Is anyone actually moderating this thread? I completed the puzzle on Sunday but now I'm looking at the "hints" and frankly, several of them are giving far too much away. It took me around five hours to complete from scratch but with the benefit of some of the hints it makes it really easy. This is a competition, there are prizes, why do people post such detailed hints so that almost anyone can solve the puzzle?

jerry - you’ll really hate it when you hear there’s a Facebook page that just puts up the answer for anyone to see

Jerry, I do not read the Listener thread in great detail, please email me if you have any concerns that answers give away too much information and explain why.

The preamble asks that hints only are given but some of our users are beginners and need more help than others. It’s very difficult keeping a balance between being helpful and giving away too much.

I wouldn’t say that almost anyone could solve the Listener, I personally couldn’t solve the simple Daily Mail crossword, even with hints😇

Reminder about hints only

Please read the preamble to the Listener threads, both the ordinary one and also the numerical.

A reminder to all our members that hints only should be given for the Listener thread, please do not stray over the line between being helpful to beginners and giving away too much information for our more experienced members.

As explained in the preamble, the Listener puzzle is unique and should be treated as such.

Thank you.

PS - Please never offer unsolicited hints or advice, wait for the question to be asked.

JerryHatTrick. It's a shame you felt too much was given away this week. I don't do the numerical Listeners (nor all of the other ones!) and my opening thread on Friday could perhaps have been a little stronger. On the word puzzles threads, my wording includes mention of 'Any posts which... reveal too much are likely to be removed' and I think I will add that to the numerical puzzles.

Many regulars visit these threads and I expect they will all be aware of Norah, Admin, mentioning from time to time that anyone who has any concerns about the scale of help should contact her. Norah, as a non-crossworder, has always said that she would rather err on the side of caution - and that works well almost all of the time!