Can the parentheses be removed from a cross referenced numbered tag?

speculation:

your autonumbering definition looks a bit like this F:Figure <n+>) and give you text that looks like this Figure 7) the Aardvark sanctuary

cross-ref options and results:

<$paranum> <$paratext>

Figure 7) the Aardvark sanctuary

<$paranumonly> <$paratext>

7 the Aardvark sanctuary

Figure <$paranumonly> <$paratext>

Figure 7 the Aardvark sanctuary

Being able to mix text and building blocks gives us a level of flexibility for cross-ref formatting that users of other applications can only dream of :-}