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Erratum:

The clue to 5 down should read Z J T T

This calculator is helpful for the final step and as a checking device:

http://www.mathcelebrity.com/foursquare.php

Has the error actually been confirmed? I am sure you are right.

I'm really struggling to get going on this one.

Can someone confirm that my initial guesses are correct?

1ac = 32 starting in the top left square.
8ac = 102?

Yes to both.

Thanks reynard.

I'll readily admit to being a maths dunce but through what arcane process of logic can you determine that GGDD equates to 32? This is what stumps me with number puzzles, unless you understand mathematical logic from the outset you have no chance of ever improving, which is why I find these puzzles so baffling and infuriating.

Since the clues are monotone decreasing (e.g. 17a => Y > A > D), you can fairly easily deduce that X>T>D and all the other letters are > X. So X = 2, T=1, D=0. Similarly the biggest G can be is 17 as there 8 letters given > G. (You may be able to find more than 8)

1ac starts in the first cell. Since there is no 1d, the 1st digit of 1a is unchecked (so draw a bar under the first cell and above the last one in the last row. Since two unches cannot occur together, 2d must intersect 1a in the 2nd digit of 1a.

Trying all possible G's:
G: 3 1a: 18 2d: 13
G: 4 1a: 32 2d: 20
G: 5 1a: 50 2d: 29
G: 6 1a: 72 2d: 40
G: 7 1a: 98 2d: 53
G: 8 1a:128 2d: 68
G: 9 1a:162 2d: 85
G: 10 1a:200 2d:104
G: 11 1a:242 2d:125
G: 12 1a:288 2d:148
G: 13 1a:338 2d:173
G: 14 1a:392 2d:200
G: 15 1a:450 2d:229
G: 16 1a:512 2d:260
G: 17 1a:578 2d:293

Only G: 4 1a: 32 2d: 20 makes the intersection work

Thanks for the explanation Buzzb, that makes perfect sense now, very well explained. I'd started to put together a list of 'greater & less thans' so and making a little headway. I definitely think my brain is wired more for words than numbers though. How I managed a lifetime in IT is anyone's guess! ;¬)

Just finished. Fortunately, 5d, the clue that was not correctly printed, was the last one I did, and I realised that the clue must have been wrong given that all cells in 5d are checked.

A neat idea combining a number puzzle with a carte blanche. With number puzzles, I use an Excel spreadsheet to help with the arithmetic when brute force computation is required (as it was for getting started with determining the value for G), and I also write down every step of my reasoning, so if I go astray I can go back and work out where the error crept in.

I disagree with 1st 2 lines of comment 7. It's there are other letters (W, F, each appearing in only one clue) which could at the outset possibly take the value of 2. Faulty logic/lucky guess...