India, Dec. 15 -- The last time we had a numerical word puzzle of this kind, a number of readers wrote back to say it was a tough one. I expect this week's revival (same kind, different words and numbers) will also be tough, which is why the word-number puzzle comes before the one that is strictly numerical.

We had discussed the rules the last time, but I am repeating them for the benefit of new readers.

#Puzzle 173.1

The crossword grid contains common words, selected carefully to give you a numerical solving experience rather than go dictionary hunting. There are no clues with word meanings, but the "products" of the letter values of the words. The key is A = 1, B = 2, C = 3 etc up to Z = 26. "Product" means simply the product of all ...