Listener No 4278: Generalisation By Samuel

[fortyseven]

This was a very clever idea by Samuel. Despite getting the theme quite quickly and also deducing the quotation, it took me quite a while to solve all the clues and to construct the grid. But there was no coming-to-a-halt time; things just moved along slowly but surely.

[jim360]

Someone should tell Samuel that he's allowed to include bars in a Listener crossword...

I've got the theme but still a long distance away from putting the clues together.

[TheBear69]

I found this to be a lot harder than fortyseven, but I've finally arrived. Excellent puzzle, Samuel!

[EV_Solver]

Nice to see Samuel take time off from the EV to come up with such an excellent puzzle for The Listener. Great fun, but would have been a lot easier if the split between across and down answers had been given. I was rather astonished at how good the final grid arrangement looks. Best puzzle of the (very young) year so far, and surely already a contender for the year's best Listener. Fair, tough, very elegant, a great PDM, and a remarkably clever title.

[contendo]

Slow but steady progress. I've got the first few acrosses and downs but it's looking rather crowded at the top. Are non-Chambers words allowed in clues? Weedish isn't in.

[emcee]

Excellent construction with a nice mixture of clue difficulty. Can't really see the point of shading the empty cells as the boundaries are quite clear.

[lyrabelacqua]

Loved this. Emcee, I think you need to read the rubric again

[IainGrace]

Early days yet but got the theme, having easily identified the language but followed a false trail for the speaker. Those who have cracked the theme can doubtless surmise which false trail we followed.

[Philoctetes]

May I hi-jack this a moment? In the recent Hitchcock puzzle - answers in today's Times - I had missed the obvious "39 steps" but had highlighted "bagfox" as "To Catch a Thief". Correct number of letters as one already used. Anyone else as devious (and willfully blind) as me? Is it likely to be accepted?

[Contrarian]

My heart sank a bit when I saw this was an asymmetric carte blanche.

I am making good progress with the clues - just have yet to work out the theme.

Philoctetes. No way, I'm afraid.

[jim360]

Not quite sure how you can say it's the "correct number of letters" when bagfox is 6 and 39 steps in total was 5.

[jim360]

Filled in the final letter just now, lines in place, everything sorted, thanks Samuel!

[Monkmonk]

Philoctetes
I too considered BAGFOX as "To Catch a Thief" but rejected it when I found "39 STEPS". I kept looking because I wasn't at all happy that FOX = THIEF.

[emcee]

lyrabelaqua:

I was aware of what the rubric said when I wrote my comment! I still don't see the point of blacking in the unused cells (even though I know what they represent). Seems a waste of time to me.

[TheBear69]

Monkmonk, BAGFOX does result in the same number of shaded squares since the B is checked in NBYNW. But I doubt it will be accepted since FOX=THIEF is dodgy.

[TheBear69]

Oops...I mean jim360 not Monkmonk

[EV_Solver]

Emcee - I agree that it adds little in demonstrating understanding of the theme, but it does emphasise the final nature of the grid, is accurate when considering how the information in the grid would normally be displayed, and looks aesthetically far more pleasing than without any shading. That's all fine by me.

[AHearer]

That was fun, with some lovely clues -- though my fitting items together was not helped by my having a mistake in one of the across entries. As to the shading, I agree that it does not really add much -- and I have an overwhelming urge not to use black. Many thanks, Samuel, for a nice workout for a wet weekend.

[PhilP62]

Hi Times sold out this morning - can someone send me a copy of the Listener if I provide an email?

[Grubb]

Well, I've just found the final thematic item and drawn the line - where it should be, of course. This was for me the most enjoyable puzzle for months and, having only really noticed what was happening 20 minutes before the grid was filled, I was only too happy to shade in the cells. Unfortunately, my friends have no black pencils so I had to make do with another colour. Great, challenging puzzle. Many thanks, Samuel.

[tilbee]

Like fortyseven established the theme and quotation early on, but still found it quite a struggle to construct the final grid. Even when top half had been completed, came to a halt for some time until finally solved a key clue. Certainly made more difficult by the thematic answers in a foreign language, and the carte blanche grid. For me the hardest but certainly one of the most enjoyable of year to date. Thanks to Samuel.