Listener 4297 - Tetris By Aramis

[TheBear69]

What a magnificent puzzle! I hope this one is remembered when the puzzle of the year vote is made. It will be hard to top. Thanks, Aramis!

[AHearer]

Agreed, an absolute gem. The clues that yielded first for me were 10, 11 and 12, which were very helpful in terms of the character and so on on the perimeter, and I filled the grid from the top down. At no stage, though, was it easy. Many thanks to Aramis.

[djawhufc]

Just starting this one. I was one of the winners of Trio which is my first ever Listener prize. Particularly good as I live on Thames as per the theme. Also a fellow winner was the person who started me off on The Listener. Without his patience and assistance I would never have got to the stage I am now. Thanks Don

[Ruthrobin]

Yes indeed Bear69. This was remarkable from the enjoyable initial fill of the 'grid' through all the negotiating of the tetris shapes and to the wonderfully thematic final moment. We have loved it!

[jim360]

And Don won it three weeks ago, too. Stop hogging the prizes, Don!

I' still working my way up the grid. An annoying gap on the right of the grid, and the perimeter so far is only making partial sense. Hmm.

[midazolam]

An excellent puzzle, one of my favourites of the year.

[olichant]

Just stunning.

[jim360]

Not even a pangram? Sheesh... why even bother?

Seriously, though, this is a shoo=in for POTY contention and then some. What a debut by Aramis.

[s_pugh]

Barely started on this but Ahearer's advice was bang on. An absolute work of art thus far, so enjoyable I'm in serious danger of a Saturday night in!

[tilbee]

I thought this was tough. Like AHearer started from the top in identifying the Shapes and worked my way down (slowly). Another great construction following on from last week.

[s_pugh]

Decided a break would do me good, and this morning got the last of the across clues and identified the sobriquet. So a full grid (I luckily spotted the phrase very early on). But I still haven't solved 7 of the shape clues! A bit of closing off to do just to be safe. A stunning puzzle, and a reminder of hours frittered away on the Gameboy ;¬) Thanks to Aramis for a peach.

[perseverer]

This occupied a large part of a miserable rainy Saturday, so thanks to Aramis for that. Unlike others I (eventually) managed to fill the grid from the bottom up.
You have to marvel at how a setter manages to put together a puzzle like this, and how you think of the link between Tetris and the character.

[starwalker]

No one can doubt the effort that must have gone in to the creation of this. Some very tough clues as well. Thanks Aramis.

[fallster]

Took longer than any so far this year. Very tough clues, especially with a not quite known number of misprints. Final diagram is amazing to look at. Thanks, Aramis.

[emcee]

Tough but *** brilliant ***.

[Mesnilpat]

I was getting nowhere fast but a lucky guess at the theme has given me a glimmer of hope. Still plodding on in the slow lane, I may get there by the end of the week. Impressive puzzle!

[trux]

A corker of a puzzle even if idea was first aired long time ago. Take nothing away from the brilliance of this construction (and the elegance and difficulty of the clueing). Many thanks to Aramis. Probably my favourite this year so far...

[Scorpius]

Ye Gods, when are the editors going to give us a break? We've now had three very tough puzzles in succession, this being one of the toughest I can ever remember. Still a third of the grid to fill, but the number of clues I solve each day is becoming progressively fewer.
Some entries appear to have only one in four cells checked, which goes against the Listener guidelines.
To end on a note of dissent, despite the obviously impressive grid, I don't agree that this is a contender for the top prize. The clues are dire, with some of the worst surfaces I've seen in a long time.

[jim360]

I thought that about the checking but the perimeter can be determined from a smattering of well-checked clues which means that in the final grid everything is fully-checked. Some of the surface readings are rather strained but I thought that 7 and 11 were pretty good, and some of the shape clues seemed lovely. e.g the one about a cat managing Man City presumably.

[teuchter2]

I have found the last few impossibly difficult. Dementia developing? I think I would enjoy this one if I could get into it. I have solved 10, 11 and 12, but can only get one tetris shape in there as I haven't managed to solve many that would be last in. I just can't think of anything that includes the second letter of the Arab hill! Are the across words entered in the order they appear in the clues?

[jim360]

Yes, first clued answer is first entered in the across clues. The top-left corner is surely the hardest part.