Listener 4234 9 To 5 By Zag

[Ruthrobin]

Sheer joy from start to finish. What a splendid original idea. We had to be really organised to keep track of those different types of clue but have loved this solve. Thank you Zag!

[Philoctetes]

Another tense evening for Jim! Has he any nails left?

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, brilliant, Jim - we thought Pembroke were going to catch up and were biting our nails.You did superbly and the team were astonishing for the first half - then what happened?

[jim360]

I... don't know! I know what happened on the first question they got in the run, the physics one, I just tuned out of it stupidly and gave them the time they needed. Not positive I would have beaten them even if I were tuned in, but I do remember not paying enough attention! Stupidly thought the game was over. After that... I think they just knew the answers and we didn't. Oh well. A win is a win is a win!

I felt annoyed at not getting that Mary Queen of Scots answer. Actually, I did know it, and pressed the buzzer twice, but would you believe it, twice someone was faster than me! At least my possibly favourite ever piece of music came up, a bit of a gimme that.

See you again in a fortnight!

[olichant]

Well done Jim. Annoying that Pembroke got the Pauli question given your EV debut!

[jim360]

Ha-ha! That never occurred to me at the time (the puzzle was just a thought in the back of my mind) but even so that was a set of bonuses I'd have loved.

[Ruthrobin]

We groaned in despair when your team member thought Paul was the most popular Pope's name - we were sure you were coming back in then!

[Scree]

When I finally got round to this, I found it just about right - some fairly easy clues, a stuck period where the top left corner remained ominously blank, an idea about one of the thematic answers which turned into a PDM - but like one or two other posters I don't see the point of the two-letter entries and I'm stuck on 11A with everything else filled in.

There appear to be only three words which fit, and I know which letter to look for - but so far the clue remains inscrutable.

[Scree]

And like a previous poster, as soon as I post I see the answer! Must remember to check words in the clue for 'meanings I hadn't heard of'!

[petefoxes]

Hello all, newbie here. This was the first Listener I've ever completed (except two numerically-themed ones) so regardless of the quality I obviously enjoyed it! Thanks to the setter.

Could someone enlighten me as to the meaning of 'EV' and 'PDM' and any other potential acronyms on here?

[jim360]

PDM = Penny-drop moment. When we get the point of the puzzle, or some other secret jumps out at us. Often quite a few of these a week!

BRB = Big red Book = Chambers Dictionary.

EV = Enigmatic Variations, the Sunday Telegraph's equivalent of the Listener.

All this code is confusing at first but you get used to it! Any more questions and don't hesitate to ask.

Glad you enjoyed this puzzle, and welcome to the Listener fun. I guess this was a good one for newcomers so I've certainly been far too harsh about it in this thread.

[petefoxes]

Thanks! I was pleased enough with my performance that I ordered a copy of the 'BRB' and have cracked on with 4235 (to the point of having the quotation, but only about half the clue answers ... so far).

I have a feeling I might've done an 'EV' when drunk in the pub a few weeks ago; was there one about composers?

[jim360]

There was a musical one last weekend, and a sciencey one about a month ago. If you want more information about EVs, Listeners or crosswords of this sort in general, then the two websites listenwithothers.com and fifteensquared.net are both excellent. ListenWithOthers deals only with the Listener, but the other one covers at least two dailies (including the Guardian), EV, the Inquisitor (Independent's weekly offering, equivalent of EV and Listener) and many more.