Crossword Help Forum
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A numerical puzzle this week, apparently.

The clues...

Any help given should not be too generous, not too specific, just a gentle nudge. Hints only, please, no answers.

The theme...

Again, the help given should not be too generous, not too specific - and certainly not anything that would spoil the puzzle for other solvers. A nudge, a pointer in the right direction is what should be aimed for.

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

I always admire the construction of these number puzzles far more than I enjoy solving them!

Having said that, I do get some satisfaction from doing so without resorting to Excel. Not too many scraps of paper were required, which makes it a well-set puzzle.

Thanks, Oyler.

I must have misunderstood the preamble. How can 7 across be both odd and twice a square

In one grid it could be 61 and in the other 72 (for example)

I have “proved” to my satisfaction that it is impossible to solve 3D. Clearly this conclusion is false, so I would (after rather more than 6 hours) welcome confirmation that 6A is a number within the well-known carol about the tree-dwelling partridge.

yes and no!

Thanks, buzzb. Soldier on - I have the LHS done, so that narrows the choices for RHS.

Fair play to anyone who has cracked this. I'm 2 hours in and I'm nowhere near even getting my first toehold in either grid.

SH, I found that this puzzle required a different approach from normal, because the key constraints are different.

(I fear that that message may only be meaningful to those who don't need to be told!)

I have been going in circles for hours. Do the digits of one of the 3D clues sum to the first 2 numbers in the answer?