Listener 4220 Falsehoods By Aedites

[Ruthrobin]

Of course, I should have put the title too! Great fun this!

[upsetter]

Our bleat is not that the crossword is too easy. It is that it is in no sense introductory to Listener crosswords, in that it contains none of their wide range of their characteristic features.

[Zabadak]

Well it was on the easy side of really rather easy!

[Mesnilpat]

Thanks Ruthrobin. Once I have caught up with festive preparations - all put on hold while we were away, I shall look forward to starting with 4218 + a suitable libation.

[Philoctetes]

As there probably won't be much discussion here this week, may I pose a topic? I like to approach the Listener in nibbles, however easy it might appear, and spread it over a few days. My first few nibbles are without any aids, then I use the books, then, if necessary, electronic aids. I shall rarely, if ever, join the Friday (or even Saturday) club. I also eat a Toblerone bar over a couple of weeks! So, you Fridayers, do you plunge in with all aids firing, aiming to finish if possible by 16:03? Or do you achieve rapid near-perfection without aids, only using them to refresh your knowledge of overseas metros? Or....?

[tilbee]

Near record competion time today, but no complaints from this quarter with Christmas preparations still to complete and ample challenges elsewhere this month. A theme that was new to me so thanks to Aedites.

[aldanna]

Even I did this in less than an hour; as people say, quite fun but a bit too easy for a Listener. I had a look for a thread yesterday before five. There was nothing there and I had no idea how to start one. Too busy cooking and walking the hills (not simultaneously) to look in again till now.

[Alekhine]

Philoctetes ... I don't have the structured approach that you have with regards to using 'aids'. For 4220, I confirmed a few things with Chambers ... and certainly resorted to Google for details of the letter ... but don't recall needing much else.

[dr b]

Since there is not much to say about the puzzle, I will provide you with an amazing fact about the periodic table:

The first 30 elements listed here anagram to the second set of 30 elements:

hydrogen + zirconium + tin + oxygen + rhenium + platinum +
tellurium + terbium + nobelium + chromium + iron + cobalt +
carbon + aluminum + ruthenium + silicon + ytterbium + hafnium +
sodium + selenium + cerium + manganese + osmium + uranium +
nickel + praseodymium + erbium + vanadium + thallium + plutonium
=
nitrogen + zinc + rhodium + helium + argon + neptunium +
beryllium + bromine + lutetium + boron + calcium + thorium +
niobium + lanthanum + mercury + fluorine + bismuth + actinium +
silver + cesium + neodymium + magnesium + xenon + samarium +
scandium + europium + berkelium + palladium + antimony + thulium

If you replace each element by its atomic number, the sum still holds:

1 + 40 + 50 + 8 + 75 + 78 +
52 + 65 + 102 + 24 + 26 + 27 +
6 + 13 + 44 + 14 + 70 + 72 +
11 + 34 + 58 + 25 + 76 + 92 +
28 + 59 + 68 + 23 + 81 + 94
=
7 + 30 + 45 + 2 + 18 + 93 +
4 + 35 + 71 + 5 + 20 + 90 +
41 + 57 + 80 + 9 + 83 + 89 +
47 + 55 + 60 + 12 + 54 + 62 +
21 + 63 + 97 + 46 + 51 + 69
[= 1416]

Wowser! This is actually rather old but was repeated in an interesting book called "The Disappearing Spoon" by Sam Kean, full of weird stuff like this.

[perseverer]

Anagrams ..... only if you are American and 'can't spell' aluminium

[dr b]

The aluminum/aluminium divide is discussed here:

http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm

It was apparently first spelled alumium, then aluminum, and finally aluminium. Perhaps the anagram can be saved by adopting the British spelling "ziinc" in the second set.

[Arcticpenguin]

The worst thing about this being so easy is it means I'll be back to the Magpie tomorrow. "Childs Play" ? You must be joking- can't wrap my brains around this one at all. Perhaps a need some Lego.

PS Thanks for the subscription reminders everyone.

[IainGrace]

A pleasant diversion for this team, having missed/not attempted/failed to complete the last half dozen or so. Did everyone spot the incestuous reference? Now back to 4219 - full grid but no PDM.

[Ruthrobin]

Philoctetes, it rather depends on the puzzle but we tend to set aside two or three hours on Friday and simply solve, using Chambers and Bradford (indispensable for us and we even have two copies - one each) for about an hour or until we have say 20 solutions in place. As soon as there is a potential theme emerging (which is often when misprints begin to spell something but has on the odd occasion, like this week, been an inspired guess after three clues were in place) we resort to the ODQ or Internet. Our longest solve ever was five hard days and the shortest maybe this where we had a full grid in about 30 minutes of solving and Internetting. We use calculators and paper for mathematicals and Quinapalus for playfair codes etc. (Oh why did I mention those - there will probably be one next week - gloom!)

[aldanna]

That's really interesting, Dr b (whoever had nothing better to do than work it all out, though?). However, as well as Al, there is also the caesium/cesium problem, I think. Obviously not as good for this side of the Atlantic.

[dead-eye]

Arcticpenguin, I use Tate+Lyle for those sort of problems.

[Staurologist]

I suspect that Aedites just picked this entertaining theme out of the ODQ. I found it in Wintle and Kenin's excellent "Dictionary of Biographical Quotations", which I hadn't browsed through for some time.

Does this puzzle not contradict the myth (if myth it be) that the Listener editors choose more difficult puzzles towards the end of the solving year to thin out the all corrects? Here are some reflections on this (contrary opinions welcome):
1. We know that the editors try to vary the difficulty of the puzzles throughout the year. I suspect that the approaching end of the year does not affect this.
2. I also suspect that they have difficulty in judging what is difficult for the majority of solvers. Comments on this site and in the Crossword Club's magazine reflect how different people may find the same puzzle easy or difficult, although at the extremes (very easy or very difficult) opinion seems to coalesce.
3. What's wrong with an easy (or very easy) puzzle from time to time? At this time of year puzzles tend to come in droves and a quick solve may be welcome.

A final note (re upsetter's comments). This puzzle uses a barred grid, contains unclued lights and perimetric quotations, and features an unusual theme, standard features of Listener puzzles (e.g. those of Apex). Have we become too sophisticated to appreciate them?

PS: Philoctetes, I do it much as you describe.

[jim360]

I found this a harder slog than most but mainly because I was without my trusty BRB. Finished now - probably just the sort of puzzle I'd want for a weekend without time and BRB. Not too hard but hard enough - but definitely at the bottom end of the scale of Listeners.

[Cloverjo]

I can't usually do the wordy Listeners; I look forward to the numericals. But as everyone was saying how easy this is I thought I'd have a go. I've got about half of it done, but I'm struggling now. It's good to have what you call easy ones sometimes. Usually, I read the preamble and a couple of clues, and give up straight away. I'll keep plodding on though and see if I can finish.

[tristram37]

I (and many others in this area) have been without phones and internet for 3 days thanks to a gang of thieves who stole a BT van and toured the green junction boxes stealing all the copper wire. They stood to make thousands of pounds but thankfully have been caught. Now back online again I can say that this puzzle was for me a joy - a grid with bars and numbers, normal clues, no intelligence test at the end and a pleasing theme. Also I started it at 2.15 pm on Saturday and finished it by teatime (also on Saturday!), almost a record for me.

[Flyhalf]

Here I was congratulating myself on finishing a Listener for once, and in a couple of hours, final 15 mins of that on the wordplay for entry for 18 down.
Ah, well.