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Listener No. 4438 Can't You Do Division? By Oyler

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Contrarian | 17:47 Fri 17th Feb 2017 | Crosswords
17 Answers
Thanks Oyler for another brilliant puzzle.

Is there any way we can access the original puzzle from 50 years ago?
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I haven't got the hang of the new Answerbank user interface yet and accidentally created a parallel thread. Great puzzle - thanks Oyler!
Yes, a very nice twist on Sudoku, thanks Oyler

http://www.listenercrossword.com/Years/Y1967.html
Old puzzles like the one by Rhombus can be accessed via the Listener Historical Archive.
Like Encota, I had trouble locating this thread. I've just made a start on the puzzle, which is an interesting idea, although at present I'm finding it a bit laborious.
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But, crosswhit99, that archive doesn't provide access to the puzzle itself, does it?
Contrarian email me at [email protected] for more info.
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Thanks Oyler. I've emailed you.
After a couple of weeks of hot sun and cold beers, coming back to a numerical was always going to be a bit of a downer. Fortunately, once I got into the swing of it, it gradually came together nicely. Many thanks, Oyler.
The original puzzle by Rhombus was much harder with no hints given and without the nine digits in each row/column to assist in reducing options. Also in those days there were no calculators or internet factor producers. By the way, can I recommend Oyler's crossnumber monthly - great variety of numericals to keep you going between the Listener offerings.
Astonished myself by getting through this with no help required, other than a huge amount from the algebrahelp site kindly posted by crosswhit99 to whom I am deeply indebted. I still hate these numeric things as even having finished it I have no idea how I should have solved it as presumably there must be a logical way that doesn't require the use of spread sheets, calculators etc.
Thanks Oyler, but I didn't find this as challenging as other numericals in the recent past. There was an easy route in to it, and when I got to the sudoku stage, it was all over in 15 minutes.

I do appreciate the skill that goes into these puzzles - this one was just too accessible.
Well I've ground through to a correct grid - whilst I'm in awe of the construction and clueing, I can't say it was a particular joyful process.

I had to restart from scratch a couple of times - I suppose that's my real beef about numericals, it's virtually impossible to backtrack and regroup once you've strayed from the straight and narrow.

Thanks though, Oyler - it has kept the old numerical logic circuits in my brain from furring up.
Well done s_pugh, you are very welcome.

The original 1967 puzzle can be accessed via the Listener Archive, a free 2 week trial is on offer here:

http://gale.cengage.co.uk/product-highlights/history/the-listener-historical-archive.aspx
I spent ages baffled as to what the way in could be. Then came the "doh" moment and the rest just flowed. Pleasant fun rather than intense workout
An ingenious and well constructed puzzle. I had to have two attempts: overlook just one possibility, and it might only become apparent when you reach an impasse much let on. A bit laborious, but rewarding when you finally reach the end. Without the Sudoku element, I think I might have given up. My primes table only goes up to 60000, so checking a 6 digit number is prime can take a lot of work. However, I found an online checker, which gave instant results.
Bringing up the rear, here - took me a while, but I enjoyed the way it came together in the end. Like others, I cheated slightly (if cheating it be) by focusing on the perimeter at the start. On which note - is penholodigital a real word?!

Thanks, Oyler.

Right, back to the tussle with Encota's numerical in this month's Magpie (highly recommended, as always).

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Listener No. 4438 Can't You Do Division? By Oyler

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