ChatterBank0 min ago
Listener No 4367: Identity Crisis By Sabre
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An excellent challenge from Sabre, and certainly had to use all the available information to make headway on this. Full quotation and author only revealing itself right at the end.
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ. Well, that was certainly a good response to those of us who were complaining about things getting too easy! I started by cold-solving all but four clues, and then had to iterate round 'guess some words in the quotation, try grid-fill' a few times before it all worked out. Thanks, Sabre, that was an excellent puzzle, with a good balance of difficulty between the clues and the completion.
I must have already spent more time on this than on any other puzzle in years. I thought Sabre's recent Magpie puzzle was tough enough, but that was a doddle compared to this.
I have filled about two thirds of the grid, with eight clues so far unsolved, but I haven't yet worked out how an asymmetrical set of answers convert to a symmetrical grid. Even knowing, or rather guessing in one case, the four units of co-ordinates hasn't provided enough to get the quotation.
I cannot say I'm enjoying the experience. If it weren't for some perverse desire to keep the statistics reasonably respectable I'd probably abandon it. As s_pugh says, "Life's too short."
I have filled about two thirds of the grid, with eight clues so far unsolved, but I haven't yet worked out how an asymmetrical set of answers convert to a symmetrical grid. Even knowing, or rather guessing in one case, the four units of co-ordinates hasn't provided enough to get the quotation.
I cannot say I'm enjoying the experience. If it weren't for some perverse desire to keep the statistics reasonably respectable I'd probably abandon it. As s_pugh says, "Life's too short."
Still plodding on through the fog but a tenuous stab at building a grid had the unexpected result of producing the two ‘normal’ across answers I was missing, one of which (the Rossini one) I wouldn’t have sussed in a million years otherwise. All down clues cold-solved bar the one which is in the OED which I don’t possess so I’m goosed there. This is a serious struggle.
s_pugh, I hope it won't offend the rules on this board if I tell you firstly that the wordplay to the OED word is very straightforward, and you must know the first letter since you have solved the clues either side. If you then come up with plausible words, try them in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, which has the word. Then check carefully the meaning of the clue's first word in Chambers.
Slowly getting there after getting the quote. I thought Listeners were supposed to be solvable without the internet but the important part of the quotation is not in the sixth edition of ODQ, so I don't know how anyone could get it without the internet. I expect tying up the loose ends is going to take some time still.
My grid is almost full, but on the basis of what I've done so far, I don't think it's an elegant puzzle. In my view it's very inelegant, with the solver having to do a lot of messing around to achieve the final result. I'd go so far as to say it's the worst Sabre I've tackled in twelve years.
My grid is almost full, but on the basis of what I've done so far, I don't think it's an elegant puzzle. In my view it's very inelegant, with the solver having to do a lot of messing around to achieve the final result. I'd go so far as to say it's the worst Sabre I've tackled in twelve years.
Thanks Scorpius, I’d a good idea about the answer for the OED one, just lacked confirmation but managed to find it on the online OED. All clashes understood now, and cells replaced to form second part of quotation. Am I alone though in thinking that the replacement of the 6 cells was a little unconvincing – I’m assuming I’ve got the right characters but one of the words thus formed is a variant spelling of an already obsolete word. I do so hate ambiguity, especially after such a long and tough slog.
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