Listener 4496: Ilam By Mynot

[kdgs2]

This was quite tricky to make progress with lots of cold-solving required, but the penny dropped in about three stages with a final satisfying clang. Another puzzle contributing to the high quality of 2018, thanks MynoT!

[Flocker14]

Agree this certainly maintains the high Standard this year - 30d is most ingenious for example - from last night I have a full grid, can see what's required but am still trying to make sense of the 29 letters and am hoping that all will be revealed this morning. Thank you MynoT for top quality entertainment!

[Flocker14]

For those struggling, it does all come together nicely in the end. The 29 letters need working through carefully, that's all.

[Hagen]

Quite a struggle until near the end, when it started raining pennies. This was very well paced, so that the initial frustration with jumbles and fiddly extra letters gave way to an ever more rapid series of revelations. The deduction which led to the three-word description was particularly satisfying.

Thanks MynoT, and a happy Easter to all.

[12barblues]

Agree with all of the above. A nice take on the usually reviled jumbles. And I like the title!

[starwalker]

I certainly shared the initial frustrations of not being able to make sense of the 29 letters and I still have a couple missing. But the ending is unambiguous, which is always a plus. Pleanty in there for everyone. Thanks MynoT.

[upsetter]

Does wondering if the circles were strictly necessary qualify us for the Z cup?

Another example of the consistently high standard of 2018 crosswords.

[Scorpius]

A nicely engineered puzzle, but apart from a few cryptic constructions I wasn't all that impressed by the clues, some of which had rather awkward surfaces. And the cryptic syntax of 39a is simply faulty.

Like others above, I struggled to make sense of the instruction after the first word, but then the penny dropped at the same time as I noticed some features of the grid.

Upsetter, perhaps the circles weren't strictly necessary but they did nudge me in the right direction, and also revealed an error in one of my entries.

[contendo]

Does anyone else have a problem with the fourth letter of the instruction?

[Scorpius]

Contendo, I suspect you may have parsed the clue as I did initially, giving a wrong letter. I'm not sure why the two gimmicks were mixed up but it leads to confusion at times.

[Cruncher]

Mr Grumpy this week. Still have a third of the clues to sort but have the instruction, have understood the title, and not a fan of jumbles at the best of times. Bah humbug

[olichant]

Crikey, I found that a bit of a struggle. I did admire the grid, though - very impressive, making for a fun pdm. I agree with Scorpius about some of the clues. I did really enjoy some unusual words in the grid and like the end result.

[contendo]

Yes, Scorpius, I see it now. I suppose 40A is a subtle hint?

[sunny-dave]

Hard - but some easyish down entries made the process of sorting out the jumbles a bit less painful than it might have been.

Not my favourite of the year, but another good puzzle and well worthy of its place in the (excellent so far) 2018 set.

Thanks MynoT

[icynorth]

An accessible puzzle, but fun to complete - thanks, MynoT.

Having the first word of the instruction, I guessed the theme from the title, and it all snowballed from there. Some tough parsing to end with, but all there now.

[emcee]

Quite a challenge with some devious clues. Can't really see the point of the end result other than it supporting the title, which is a construct created by MynoT.

The solve did get easier once the grid's property was noticed as I was able to use the across entries to assist me with the trickier downs.

With the exception of the Chalicea puzzle, the high standard of tough crosswords continues. As with last week's puzzle, I admire the work the setter has put in and the construction (which must have been tricky) but neither puzzle will be particularly memorable, I'm afraid.

Thanks to MynoT for another of his difficult challenges.

[emcee]

Oops! Just realised there IS a point to it -- I'd completely forgotten about the three word phrase beneath the grid! Another senior moment...

[freiheid]

Like Scorpius, I think the clue surfaces could have benefited from some extra work - 'Impatient exclamations aggressively solicit local piecework second' is one example (albeit for a word which must be difficult to clue). MynoT has come up with similar themes in the past, as I recall.

[vetuste_ennemi]

No complaints from me, and grateful for the six letters.

Penny dropped finally in a Bohemian Rhapsody way.