Listener 4139: An Unsettled Spell by Nutmeg

[AHearer]

I spent a long time staring at a grid with the source filled in and a knowledge of the letters that had slipped before I started cracking the clues. Having basically solved it in the reverse order I feel slightly dissatisfied, but that's my fault rather than Nutmeg's.

[midazolam]

Very impressive AHearer. I only got the quotation part the way through, before that I was finding this really tough going. Harder than some of the carte blanches we have had this year. A bit of a slog this one by Gemtun - oops!

[Zabadak]

Late start, so no Friday finish here, but I'm also walking back to happiness.

[Zabadak]

I would have struggled with this without spotting the theme early on: some of the clues only became possible (for me, at least) when I knew what letter I was playing with. But this was lots of fun, not least with lots of Easter eggs dotted around the grid which, for once, don't seem to be there as an obligation on the solver, but just for extra delight. Respect to Nutmeg.

[bobbycollins]

Good morning, all.

May I seek clarification of the preamble?

“Such letters in clue order…..”

Does this allude to all of the letters or just those from the down clues?

Thanks

bc

[bobbycollins]

sorry, got that wrong.

I meant "or just letters slipping from grid entry to clue"

[Zabadak]

It's all letters, whichever way they go.

[starwalker]

AHearer, I congratulate you. I chose (?) to follow the more traditional slog route, though I'm not sure that if I stared at it for hours anything would have changed.

[aldanna]

AHearer, I just can't imagine how you did that. I am having great trouble getting my head round this one, and daughter and family are about to arrive for a few days, so I don't think I'll have much crossword time in the foreseeable future. Maybe next week!

[bobbycollins]

Thanks, Zabadak.

This is a slog. I need the quotation to get me cracking on - some inspirational music methinks. I shall start with Taverner - "Spem in alium" may do the trick, pity it's only 12 minutes long.

[Paula]

I certainly needed the quotation to proceed with this. Once spotted it was pretty enjoyable although it took me somewhat longer than 90 minutes. Found the 'easter eggs' well Zabadak.

[rabet]

bobbycollins, isn't "Spem in Alium" by Tallis, not Taverner?

[bobbycollins]

Well spotted , rabet. I had just been listening to Taverner's "In Alium" - on a Naxos album along with "The Protecting Veil". Hence the slip. My "Spem in Alium" is on another cracking Naxos offering "The best of Tallis" with the Oxford Camerata, can't recommend it highly enough at around a fiver.

Anyway the music did elicit quite a few more answers and I am pressing on gamely. The "Trout" quintet is aiding and abetting me at the moment!!

[tilbee]

Found this tricky and have spent all afternoon to finally complete. Still have a couple of issues to resolve. 29a wordplay seems to have an extra letter. 39a has two solutions from the wordplay, but the one that is confirmed by 33d does not seem to be the one justified by the definition ? Finally still need to justify the wordplay to 32 ac.

Sure all will become clearer if I look at these further ?

[Zabadak]

tilbee: 39a works fine so long as you remember to mess about with the extra letter. I liked 32 across: again, what you do with the odd letter is critical. For me, it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it was. on 29 ac (and others) what tangled me up more often that not was remembering that I was looking for a real word solution, but not necessarily a real word grid fill.

[tilbee]

Thanks Zabadak. You are correct in that I forgot about the slipping letter for 39. For 29a I now see the much more obvious wordplay. For 32a think I am still missing something obvious, though assume I have this correct based on definition; will need to ponder further.

[tilbee]

OK got it !

[AHearer]

With apologies for stealing Midazolam's line, very impressive S-matrix. By the time your 90 minutes were up I'd spent the hour on the train getting no further than the quotation and a couple of answers to clues, then (ignoring the journey home from the station) a glass of Shiraz, a check in ODQ, and a couple more grid entries. That was it. It took several more glasses and the light relief of Have I Got News For You before I was done.

I've obviously got the version of Spem in Alium for those with a short attention span -- according my CD label it's only 11.04.

[AndrewG-S]

A bit of a mixed one I thought. On the one hand the clueing was tough, but perfectly fair and clever. On the other hand I did not like the fact that (at least for me) it was pretty necessary to get the quote and author very early on in order to progress with the puzzle, which meant the ending did not have much to look forward to.

[pushmi-pullyu]

Not quite finished yet, but I'm fairly sure I'll get there (unlike last week), helped along by Dylan's Visions of Johanna.