Listener 3984

[cruciverbali]

This quarter's numerical puzzle is Odd One Out by Oyler

[cluelessJoe]

Thanks once again C ... enjoy your weekend

[mad max]

oh well, think I will have another look at last weeks which I didn't get very far with,
anyway thanks for link

[Rapparee]

Thank you for the link, Cruciverbalist.

[midazolam]

thanks c - after a long day at work i come home to this oddity!

[Mysterons]

The really odd thing, yet again, is the preamble, which suggests the blank grid should be completed after the other two. In fact, because of the various other stipulations, there is a unique bar pattern for the lower grid, which seems to be the obvious one to complete first !

[bobbycollins]

Luckily I saved last week's EV for this eventuality, and kept the Spectator back for the same reason.

Good luck to those in with a shout, but I suspect that these aren't too difficult for our numerate chums.

[cluelessJoe]

Chugging along quite slowly. Can anyone confirm the meaning of one B across clue .. "Square factor of D".
Can't find this term referenced in Chambers, so is a square factor a factor which just also happens to be a square, or the square of a factor (which need not necessarily itself be a factor). Strikes me as ambiguous right now.

[Mysterons]

A factor which is a square.

[u10]

I've completely filled grids 2 and 3 but must have made a mistake as I have clue C in grid 1 starting with a 2 which can't be right as this digit needs to be higher if it is equal E + E' + e. Also I have answer A in grid 3 as 13 which is Fibonacci AND prime. Could someone suggest what I might have done wrong or where I need to check my workings. Many thanks.

[Scorpius]

I may be wrong, but I don't think C in grid 1 can logically be E+E'+e. For it to work, the second digit of e would have to be 0, which is impossible as it starts D.
But my head is already spinning, so don't take my word for it.

[sinkingfast]

Oddity indeed. Where do I start!!

[midazolam]

as mysterons said - start by constructing the third grid and working out which clues can only go in certain grid/s

[himsuperstar]

u10. i think you have made a mistake to get E + E' + e as the clue for grid 1. also, yes in grid 3 A is Fibonacci And Prime, presumably in one of the other two grids A is one of these and not the other

[u10]

Thanks superstar - I'll probably have to start again as it's hard to know where I've gone wrong. This looks like a tough one!

[lordbadger]

does anybody actually like these numercial puzzles?

[jamesah]

I've constructed the 3rd grid(I hope) and worked out some clues which can only fit in certain grids but am now stuck. Is it now a matter of trial and error as I haven't yet got one definite answer. I'm not sure that my maths is up to this.

[Mysterons]

Jamesah - as I mentioned above, start by almost completely (see my second paragraph) completing the third grid. Start this by concentrating on A,b and G, moving on to the two main possibilities for D and its associated entries. Once the third grid is filled, move on to the second. This can be completely filled without ambiguity before moving on to the first.

However, since completing this puzzle I have noticed that there are (at least 2) alternative entries possible for B and c in the third grid - please correct me somebody if I am wrong. I think c in this grid is (prime x square) and as such the square could be 64 or 4, making c start with a 3 or 8 respectively. I expected one of the possible answers for B to be excluded by its appearance in one of the other 2 grids, but this does not seem to be the case. I shall of course recheck all answers carefully and report back on this one .

[cluelessJoe]

Mysterons - I found a 'perfect' solution which turned out not to be .. although I had squares in place for B, my last check reminded me that one of the B squares has to also be a factor of D - make sure you have that in place!. I had to backtrack a bit to fix that one.
I'm pretty sure I am there now, but will be checking the whole lot very carefully.

[starwalker]

I have checked my workings three times now, and there seems to be just the one definitive solution.

[Mysterons]

Yes, my final check revealed I had overlooked the same thing exactly, otherwise there would have been several possibilities for the third grid !