Listener No. 4428: Classic Fm Track By Aelfre

[AHearer]

A nice brief escape from reality, not at all frightening. A good one for beginners at the Listener. Many thanks, Aelfre. Main problem is going to be writing small enough!

[Contrarian]

Rather too easy, I thought.

Would have benefitted from some jumbling of radial entries perhaps.

[olichant]

I echo AHearer - or, at least, a nice break from the wonderful but sadistic Magpie this month. I enjoyed this.

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, a bit of fun that took under an hour and has left us time to prepare dinner. Indeed it is a relief after the December Magpie. Sadistic just about sums it up, Olichant.

[starwalker]

So few posts already ! Very generous of the setter to allow me more time to accompany Mrs S on her Christmas shopping trip. (Aaaarrrrrggghh). Thanks Aelfre, I think.

[Encota]

Gentle fun - I enjoyed that. Back to 'Another Mess' & 'Exchange' - or The Penguin GCHQ Puzzle Book. Choices, choices... :-)

[Whenland]

A lot of fun. Thank you Aelfre!

[Hagen]

I finished all my Christmas shopping some time ago (assumes smug expression) so I was hoping for rather more of a challenge this weekend. In accordance with the festive spirit though I'll concur that a gentle puzzle is always a welcome change from the brain-twisters that the Listener produces. Thanks Aelfre.

[upsetter]

Etter here - Ups (the musical one) was unavailable so I had to fly solo.
It was easy, but still a perfectly acceptable Listener (by comparison, still cross about the Bayeux Tapestry clues).
But I was depressed that I could complete the thematic elements without recourse to Google. I am certain that I have never listened to the oeuvre, but such is the insidious nature of popular culture that I have heard it so often that I can actually remember the key characters. Reflecting on this, I feel equally violated by knowing far too much about the dramatis personae of the Bake-off. I am surprised that my enjoyment of a crossword as a whole can be so affected by how charmed or otherwise I am by the theme, familiar or not.

[Scorpius]

As I'm a bit short of time I, for one, was very grateful for an easy puzzle that didn't take too long. My only complaint was the poor definition of the grid, making it difficult to read some blurry numbers. At first I suspected my printer, but the image on screen is just as bad.

[Flocker14]

Am I alone in having doubts about the Label? There's the real life one of course but I could argue convincingly for another one with a nominal connection and possible explanation of the scratches.

[s_pugh]

There is another option Flocker14 but you'd definitely have to be able to write small to get that one in!

Very easy for a Listener but at least that frees up more of the weekend. Thanks Aelfre.

[HappyUncle]

One of those puzzles that looks as if it will take an age to solve, but then doesn't. Some clues were a little over-egged (def + one dose of wordplay is usually enough), and the Beckett clue was a disappointment, but otherwise it offered a pleasant way to pass the time. My pre-cognition must have been switched on, though, as I had a successful intuitive stab at the theme before solving any clues. It's not big, it's not clever, it just happens sometimes.

[upsetter]

Good to hear from you, Happy Uncle.
The pre-cognition is more of a curse than a blessing and a poor substitute for the PDM.
It happened to us with the clunkingly-titled Reductio ad Absurdum, which was not even the first time in Listener history that we were required to submit an empty grid

[fyellin]

Just curious. I noticed that a few clues had three parts, either two definitions and a wordplay, or two wordplays and a definition, and that the three could come in any order. Is this a new thing?

I wonder how difficult this puzzle is to someone (somehow) not familiar with the original. With about half the radials, it was clear what the outer ring was, which then made it obvious what the third ring needed to be.

[TheBear69]

I was completely unfamiliar with the original, but the grid fill was so easy that in short order I had enough of the outer ring to have a phrase to Google and that was that.

[icynorth]

No stiff challenge, but some interesting clueing as others have mentioned. It's the first radial I've seen in the 2 years I've been a regular solver, and I'm always grateful for the variety. Thanks, Aelfre!

[IainGrace]

Came to this late due to being away. Easy solve. Hate the work.

[sunny-dave]

A very quick romp through this today - easy enough, but lots of thematics nicely stashed away in the grid.

Thanks Aelfre - good fun.