Listener 4206 - A1 by Ifor

[Cruncher]

Prize for the most abstruse preamble this year?

[jim360]

Seems fairly obtuse, but all will become clear I'm sure. No Friday club for me this week, though - got a visitor to entertain. Will probably get round to this one early next week. Enjoy, all.

Looked at the prize-winners for 4203. There is no justice.

[starwalker]

So far I have managed to fill over half of the grid without a single definite idea about what is going on. No doubt clarity will emerge at some point.

[Zabadak]

I have the "items behaving thematically", though they required a lot of fiddling with some ambiguities in the removed letters. I have the Start and Finish, for once not too deeply hidden. I have all the potential affected squares, and therefore not that much to choose from in respect of the 14 letter connection, which nonetheless remains opaque. I have the 4 words that are wordplay only (I think) but very little idea of what to do with them, or how three numbers (perm any three from 4) might represent a celebrated drawer. I'm almost certain that the title is a bit of a red herring, or at least is not as direct as it might be. Perhaps light will dawn, perhaps it won't.
Be that as it may, I'm off to get some Friday night fish and chips, maybe watch the footie or the wonderful Paralympics, and not worry too much.

[starwalker]

At last all has become clear. Just the "behaving thematically" to sort out. Thanks Ifor.

[contendo]

I like that "At last" Starwalker, less than 3 hours after the crossword has appeared.

[jockie]

A splendid puzzle - not too hard and thematically chust perfect.

[AndrewG-S]

Full grid and starting to ponder the preamble more. But think tennis starts soon.

[AHearer]

I enjoyed this, even if the grid fill was a bit too easy. Nice to give my unfashionable outer-wear an airing.

[AndrewG-S]

Got the wrong day for the tennis so carried on with this one. All very enjoyable. Thanks ifor.

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

You guys speak in code.

[trux]

Had this all done before going out to BBQ dinner (some hours ago)- gridfill was mostly straightforward (although I am not sure I understand all of the clues), endgame clever but one seemed to have been lead along the right path too far by that stage, so there was sense of inevitability, quickly verified to be the (hopefully correct) submission grid, even if one hadn't fathomed the other stuff. All in all, a very neat puzzle, unambiguous and enjoyable, so many thanks to Ifor.

[Zabadak]

For Mojo-Jo-Jo. You are, of course, correct. If we don't speak in code, retribution is terrible and swift, and all our existence privileges are withdrawn. Future Listener puzzles are withdrawn from public display, the Times goes off in a huff, and an innocent little lamb in the Shetlands is tortured to death by a secretive , but very violent brotherhood just to make us feel bad. Even protecting the Grail was never this aggressive.

[silversolver]

Enjoyed this one, had little idea how it would all come together until the end (which is how I prefer my PDMs). The cryptic representations made me smile and lots of thematic material. And yes Zabadak, perish the thought that any of us should speak other than in riddles (although I see that the game is being given away rather too often on another site which shall remain nameless...)

[emcee]

Really enjoyed this puzzle. Not too taxing and a pleasant endgame that didn't require hours of staring.

Thanks Ifor.

[turast]

I saw the setter and nearly threw the paper in the bin. I'm still annoyed with Ifor for last week's EV. It too had what might be described as an abstruse preamble.

[dr b]

A rather foreigner-unfriendly theme that I needed a nudge to comprehend. I can see where it would have been straightforward for the natives.

[Mesnilpat]

Not too easy for this native, dr b - the theme is not really my thing. I am still not sure I have the cryptic 11 cell blocks right, but other than that it was quite enjoyable once the penny dropped (and my theme-enthusiast other half gave some hints).

[tenflags]

Not too easy for this native either. Still looking at the 'items' and grid for the PDM .. time to go and watch some para-olympics methinks.

[Patch49]

I now have an iPad. Which solving apps would be good to install? (not that I'll be using them much, of course lol)

[AndrewG-S]

Patch 49. Brb is a must. Other than that I have not found all that much that helps. I do download the puzzle convert it into PDF (save to PDF) then fill in on the iPad using note taker hd. Saves lots of rubbing out and great if on holiday etc. if you need more info to do all that then do email on [email protected]. Let me know if you do find other useful aids - I suspect there is a good scrabble solver that would help but have not looked.