Listener No. 4346: Nonconformist By Towser

[AHearer]

Grid entry only took half an hour, but then I'm ashamed to say that it took another half hour for the penny to drop. It raised a chuckle, so thank you Towser.

[Contrarian]

Yes, fairly straightforward. I was fortunate to see the connection almost immediately.

Thanks Towser.

[starwalker]

I managed to catch the theme quite early on, but then made things difficult by writing down a wrong extra letter. Doh ! But thank you Towser, some of the members were new to me.

[Ruthrobin]

It took us over an hour but we, too, smiled at the end. I think this must be Towser's first Listener (?) A kind, gentle start.

[jockie]

And my all-time favourite at 25, which dates me, I guess. Thanks, Towser.

[upsetter]

Very simple clues - followed by a fairly quick but satisfying denouement.

[upsetter]

Reverting to our regular bleating on the subject of easy clues. Anyone attempting The Listener for the first time will be well above the standard of most of this week's clues.
Surely, the Listener should take things on from where the Guardian Genius leaves off.

[olichant]

Slightly cheekily checking in before I've completely resolved two wordplays. I too found the gridfill a little too easy (which, as some people here will know, is maybe a little ironic) but it was a pleasant solve and a nice PDM at the end that made me grin. Thanks, Towser.

[jim360]

I for one don't mind too much if the run of generally not too tricky Listeners lasts for another week or so. Nowhere near enough time or energy for a Sabre, Kea, Lavatch or Shackleton at the moment. This was just right for a couple of hours at the end of another long week. Thanks Towser.

[fyellin]

Grumble. I have absolutely no idea about 27A. I'm still waiting for that moment of inspiration.

Pretty easy up until the last moment.

[Cagey]

Did about half last night then finished this morning. I think (yet again) that I found the clues harder than others, and one Or two in the top left could it sue last night. All resolved after a good nights sleep. Enjoyed it. Finding a loose group of 10 to satisfy the conditions must have been tricky. Cheers stu

[upsetter]

Our point is that had the Editors invited Towser to make some of the clues more challenging, he would have been willing and able to do so.
27a was the best bit.

[Scorpius]

I rather agree with upsetter. It was a perfectly good puzzle, but I found a number of clues insufficiently challenging, though some of them, such as 14 and 28 were nice clues. I think the setter could have afforded to make the thematic clues harder, thus delaying the thematic PDM, which came very early for me. Some of the clues were not intrinsically easy, but they became easy to solve in a grid that has 22 entries with no unchecked letters.

Three of the group members were completely unknown to me.

[Grandie]

"Someone"? associated with 11th member?

[upsetter]

We thought the same Grandie, but were afraid to stick our necks out.

[s_pugh]

A straightforward plod through, then spent ages staring at 27ac. I think I now have the answer, but it's hardly a 'cryptic representation' and certainly not of someone unless I’ve got it totally wrong! A poor ending to an otherwise enjoyable if easy puzzle. Thanks Towser.

[doctormatt]

Likewise held up by 27a: I assume the preamble is a misprint?

[icynorth]

I agree this wasn't difficult, but there was some challenge in unravelling the theme.

'Someone' is fine, if you consider an individual associate. The cryptic definition wouldn't quite work otherwise.

[olichant]

I thought it could be a cryptic representation of more than one person (if that helps...)

[mathsman]

Grid filled (bar the end squares of 17A). Got the eleventh member. Cannot see how to decipher it: too many consonants. Are we looking for a real person?

[fyellin]

Okay. Dissatisfaction with the word "someone" was all I needed.

Agreed that it's rather disappointing ending to a fun but easy puzzle.