Listener No 4426: Dah-Di-Dah-Di-Dah By Harribobs

[AHearer]

Thank goodness for the message, as it allowed me to correct a couple of mistakes in my modification of the grid! Thanks, Harribobs, that was fun.

[starwalker]

Gridfill went much faster and smoother than I was expecting. Now it's just a simple matter of modifying and decoding, which I will leave until tomorrow. Thanks Harribobs.

[trux]

Fun and well-worked final grid. Many thanks to Harribobs, a setter clearly on the rise judging by this and other puzzles that have appeared elsewhere. Good weekend to all.

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, I made a mess initially of my modifying and, like Trux, found that the message put me right. Thanks, Harribobs for entertainment here and in the Magpie.

[Encota]

Great puzzle - thank you Harribobs!

[Hagen]

Excellent puzzle. The penny dropped once I'd solved enough of the clues to fill in the blanks of the message, and my feelings of self-congratulation on doing so soon turned to congratulations for the setter's beautiful implementation of the theme. This is actually the first puzzle by Harribobs that I've completed unaided, so I'm pretty chuffed all round.

It would be tempting to go on about what a difference it makes when the endgame is totally unambiguous, but we don't want any apoplectic squeaks, do we now?

[Aloysius535]

A pleasant endeavour. Took me back.

[tweaker]

Almost there, an easy grid fill I thought. not as quick as the rest of you seasoned solvers, but, 'what ya gonna do'? as they they say...

Many thanks to Harribobs - so far :)

[tweaker]

Oh, the Magpie...

Is F grade a new feature?

[olichant]

Very nice - that came together beautifully. A few red herrings in the clues, or perhaps that was just me. Really enjoyed it.

[olichant]

Sorry, tweaker, I didn't answer you. So far as I'm aware, the F Grade is very nearly unprecedented, or very actually unprecedented. I'm sure one of the veterans here will know for certain. It looks fearsome but fun. In fact, all of the Magpie puzzles look great.

[doctormatt]

Super elegant puzzle, with message neatly bringing it home.

[Scorpius]

I'm always a bit wary of Harribobs' endgames - they sometimes take longer than filling the grid. However, this was pleasantly straightforward, and there are a few gems to savour among the clues.

[icynorth]

Ok, I solved it. Some clues were great (23d particularly) and it's a clever finish, thanks Harribob.

But am I being picky to prefer a prettier final grid?

[ArchieLeach]

It is a bit messy, Icynorth. It would have been better if we were required to enter in the original grid with the message.

[s_pugh]

Great puzzle - fun and zero ambiguity, thanks Harribobs.

[olichant]

It's a matter of taste, but I disagree about the messiness - I think what the end grid represents could not be more appropriate to the theme.

[AHearer]

I agree with olichant: what we were asked to submit was spot-on. What's more, if we had had to submit the original grid and the message I would not have had to go back and correct some of my grid modifications -- the message was clear enough despite some of my errors. I support having to prove that the end-game has been accurately followed through.
One might argue that submitting the original grid would prove incontrovertibly that all the clues had been solved correctly, but the chances of incorrect grid entries leading to the correct submitted form are minuscule.

[Bluearmy58]

Having worked in the maritime industry at 32 down for many years this answer takes me back to when we had a fishing fleet and a healthy fleet of short sea coasters......

[HappyUncle]

Most enjoyable - the first time I've looked at my copy of 'Every Boy's Handbook' for more than 50 years. The significance of the message was easy to confirm in ODQ. I wonder if Harribobs considered submitting the puzzle to another newspaper with a more apposite name.

[upsetter]

Kicking ourselves that it was such a slog to get the message.
Many good clues, we agree with Icynorth re 23d.