Listener 4164: 4164 by Kea

[midazolam]

I was expecting a Kea by the end of the year, but I was surprised to see a Kea numerical

This was an easy numerical (under 1 hour solve) and I am glad it was, partly because of the stinker E grade numerical in the Magpie this month.

If anyone wants a challenge then look at that.

Regarding Kea's numerical, one has to admire the clever construction, but I am left with wanting more.

[Zabadak]

Beat me to it by a couple of minutes, but then I started at about 16.10. Cannot believe how easy this was. Spreadsheet made it "spot the number", and in the end, I got so confident I was putting some of them in without looking them up on my grid. Ho hum.

[AHearer]

Indeed, I think this is the easiest numerical Listener I've tackled. Maybe we're playing along with the editor's game here, sucking the normally numerical-averse into spending an hour on this only for them to be clobbered with a whole day's-worth of solving next quarter.

[starwalker]

Not being suspicious, but I will re-check this tomorrow. My own personal record for a hated numerical.

[x_word_fan]

Hard to say if I'm pleased to finish so early or disappointed it was so easy - have to buy The Independent for tomorrow's fix.

[emcee]

Less than an hour here too. Now what to do? There's always the pub I guess!

[Voulez-vous]

I've never tackled The Listener, I believe it may be WAY beyond my ken, but oft times can make a good job of the Inquisitor.

Are they vastly different in terms of what is expected? The chat on here makes me feel that it is more than a notch above the likes of AZED and Spectator etc.

[TheBear69]

I would not want to solve this without computational help...

Using Lisp, my code solves it in just under 1 second.

The programming challende was to find a efficient way to get possible values for an entry, finding a good staring point and an efficient order to find the various entries.

[TheBear69]

I meant 'challenge' of course, not that it was much of one...

[Voulez-vous]

Mathematical puzzles would defeat me on the outset! I wouldn't even try!

[dr b]

This one suffered, I think, not from being too easy but from being uninteresting mathematically. At least let me learn something about primes or triangular numbers that I didn't already know!

[AndrewG-S]

I really look forward to numericals and when I saw Kea was excited. But a 20 odd minute solve with nothing educational, no clever end game. Sorry, big disappointment.

[fyellin]

The second trivial numeric in a row. Oh well.

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, it was exciting to see that Kea had produced a numerical one and we expected something remarkable. Perhaps it was to cope with people like me who have a phobia about them. Still, it is a pity that all the number experts have found it so easy. Even doing it with a pencil and paper, we have managed.

[Zabadak]

Hi Voulez-vous, and welcome to the blog. The short answer is that Listeners vary wildly in difficulty and quality. Quite a few in the last few weeks have been reasonably accessible (not counting Carte blanche with a twist a couple of weeks ago in my opinion) and it might be worth having a crack at them to see how you get on. There are plenty of folk on here who will lend a hand if you get stuck via email.
This numerical is a case in point. I rarely try the numbers, but this one was no real challenge, especially if you have access to some sort of number crunching programme such as a simple spreadsheet. In a way, that makes it untypical of the Listener numerics - there's no twist in the tale that anyone's observed, and no major theme.
One word of caution: it's conventional here (because it's a competition, after all) not to ask direct what's-the-answer-to-1ac questions or to disclose what's going on in the structure/resolution of the puzzle. But the only way you'l find out if you can cope is to try - I think, from what you say, you'l do better than OK, and may even get hooked. Best wishes.

[sunny-dave]

Hmmm - trivial number crunching in excel - only an hour or so, even with distractions

[tenflags]

Made the effort to start Friday night as I had the chance to this week and because the numbers usually take me longer .. not this time though ...hey ho.

[borealis]

Friday night, on a Kea??? First time for that. No nice pdms here, unfortunately.

[JCVW1]

This is a first numerical Listener finish for me, so it must have been at the easy end. Just short of Friday Club status, but I'm still quite pleased. Nagging worry that a Kea puzzle should be this straightforward though.
Unlike some others above, I quite enjoyed this one. I could do with some training at these, so It's welcome.
Thanks Kea, for what might be a good introduction to the cross-numbers!

[roslyn251254]

Having read the comments, I thought I'd have a go at my "first numeric". Armed with my calculator it took me about an hour too - wish I'd started earlier, then I could have been in the Friday club! Looking forward to more of these though I expect the next will be harder!

[JCVW1]

Rosyln, it sems like we're at a similar point. It does make you want to have a go at more of them though, doesn't it?

Jason W.