Listener Crossword 4307 - Spiral Of Salami And Walnuts By Wan

[starwalker]

What a delight, on another theme about which I was previously ignorant. Would have been much tougher without the generosity of the setter. Particularly liked 33 down. Thanks Wan.

[tilbee]

Late to it this week, but share others' admiration for the elegant construction. End game certainly a headscratcher until eventually identified the construct and discoverer via Google. Many thanks to Wan.

[AHearer]

After all these years, I should have learned to hunt through every element of the puzzle for help, but I still spent fruitless time staring at the grid expecting something to pop out before reading EVERYTHING and turning off the anti-gravity machine that had my penny in its thrall. As everybody has said, a beautiful puzzle. I'm just glad that I had some heavy garden work on which to vent my frustration. Many thanks, Wan.

[Alan7777]

Brilliant - one of those puzzles that gives you a real sense of achievement. Many thanks Wan.

[borealis]

Wonderful. Enjoyable for the clueing alone. Strange how paths to the solution vary - it was not until all done and highlighted that I realised why the discarded elements were non-thematic! Thank you very much, Wan.

[UglyUncle]

I really shouldn't have left it until last night to make a start. There's no room for doubt about the discoverer, but I seem to be going in the wrong direction with the final stage. I've always thought a spiral had to follow a certain logical progression (which doesn't work with the thematical elements as I understand them), but Mr (Dr?) Walnuts seems to have taken a different approach, if Google is to be believed. As the dinner gong has just been struck, I shall have to try out the counter-intuitive progression later on.

Can't resist saying that the clue to 25 is the funniest I've seen in a very long time indeed!

[Patch49]

That is just so clever and so enjoyable to solve too.

[jockie]

I have every admiration for Wan in setting with such demanding symmetry, and for the spectacular clueing, and for the truly astonishing end result. For me the gap between filling the grid and spotting the "in" was too great though. It would be illuminating to discover what percentage of the total time taken had elapsed for others by the time the grid was filled. For me it was around 40% (maybe I'm just dim) but that's too much time spent on grid-gazing for a really satisfactory puzzle. I reckon perhaps 80% would be about right. What do others - including setters - think?

(Nice to get your Alma Mater in, by the way, Jim.)

[jim360]

*Grin*

[olichant]

Can't remember the last time I more enjoyed the penny dropping. Took me ages, but absolutely worth it - and as others say, great clues.

Funnily enough, I had an idea for a crossword based on the same theme only very recently - but the implementation i was toying with was infinitely less clever.

Thanks, Wan.

[contendo]

I seem to have finished it without understanding the significance of the non-thematic elements which, assuming I haven't missed something, must indicate a weakness in the setting, but, yes, what an astonishing construction and there were some brilliant clues. 15A held me up for a long time but brought a smile to my face when the penny dropped.

[olichant]

Cruncher, feel free to email me on olichant 08 at gmail dot com if you'd like a hint. It's a very nice touch.

[sunny-dave]

Wow ... just Wow.

That was quite a construction, some lovely clues and a new (to me at least) rationale for the discards.

Thanks Wan - now I may have a salami butty for lunch ...

Dave

[Cruncher]

Thanks Olichant. You must psychically connected with my dismay today whilst still grid staring but sorted now. Lovely achievement

[Cruncher]

Err - must have

[petefoxes]

Wonderful puzzle. Kept coming back and doing two or three clues at a time during quiet moments on holiday, then had the enormously satisfying PDM when I got home. Thanks, Wan.

[IainGrace]

Still playing catch up. Just finished. Superb construction. This week's numerical gives us a week off to get back on track.

[quarrel]

I have everything completed, discoverer identified and I understand what is mean by thematic elements and probably also by non-thematic, but I just can't see the message. Can anyone give me the slightest of nudges, please?

[crosswhit99]

quarrel, you could take a look at the Wiki-page entitled XY , where X is the discoverer's surname and Y the first word of the puzzle title.

[NickorWan]

Thanks very much for the lovely comments. I am so pleased that a lot of you enjoyed the puzzle. I hope to see you again.

Best wishes
Wan

[quarrel]

Thanks to crosswhit99 for the nudge, and to Wan, of course, for all the head-scratching and entertainment