Conjecture: (i) a(n) > 0 for all n > 0, and a(n) = 1 only for n = 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12, 16, 23, 24, 40, 47, 71, 167, 311, 599.
(ii) For each triple (a,b,c) = (1,1,1), (2,1,1), (2,1,2), (2,2,2), (3,1,2), any natural number can be written as x^2 + y^2 + z^2 + w^3 with x,y,z,w nonnegative integers such that a*y - b*z - c*w is a square.