The Listener 4584 Mince Pie By Nutmeg

[upsetter]

Good fun - thanks Nutmeg.

[Hagen]

I thought this was a lovely puzzle. The combination of four clue types (plus normal) wasn't as fearsome as it looked at first, and all the thematic elements feel into place with a satisfying neatness. Not the hardest of solves by any means, but if I recall correctly the Listener editors usually go easy on us at this time of year to give us more time to get the Christmas tree up etc. Thoroughly enjoyable; thank you Nutmeg.

[Flocker14]

Yes, very good fun - but you certainly needed a clear head to sort out the different elements. After all that though, a very neat, satisfying ending. Many thanks, Nutmeg.

[12barblues]

Luckily I landed on the word and theme pretty quickly which led to quite a bit of”sur-solving” especially in the bottom half. Although fairly accessible overall, as others say, you do need to keep your wits about you and a couple of clues are, at least for me, initially ambiguous as to which group they belong. With the Grauniad that’s quite a lot of Nutmeg for one weekend, must be the mulled wine, “Cheers”

[NickorWan]

I agree with Hagen, a lovely puzzle and not as fearsome as it looked at first glance.

Thanks, Nutmeg.

[Philoctetes]

I can only concur. Not enough to sort sheep from goats, but enough to keep them all well-pastured.
Is there a glossary of Ed's words available? Whenever I see him crop up, I groan

[Cruncher]

Am I the only sad man who finished up having to make a little spreadsheet at the end to sort out the groups and messages? Must get out more

[perseverer]

It would have been harder with 8 of each of the 5 clue types, but not arranged in the sets of 5, and with minimal change to the preamble, we could still have the word below the grid. Perhaps it was hard enough to keep track as it was.