Listener 4486: In Self-Defence

[IainGrace]

An entertaining puzzle, using a mix of familiar cryptic techniques. We were perhaps fortunate in identifying the run of correct letters after solving about a dozen or so clues.

[Alekhine]

Yes, the text appeared in rapid order here at Alekhine Towers.

I liked the thematic device ... which, mercifully, made things a lot easier.

6/10 on the new Alekhine-o-meter.

[Hagen]

Quite a gentle one this week, and good fun. Thanks Lavatch.

I'd direct those of you who feel under-challenged to this week's IQ - it's a real *&%$!

[emcee]

Good puzzle however, I've been constantly checking since last night as the 5th letter of the theme seems to elude me in the grid -- there needs to be an A but there isn't! It's clear what the two word phrase is and I know the phrase to be entered beneath the grid.

I thought I was happy with my answers in that particular region of the grid but, as no-one has mentioned an error, I am now wondering.

Thanks to Lavatch for an otherwise enjoyable solve.

[emcee]

I've now found my error -- it wasn't an 'A' after all. Pretty crafty word that I was unaware of!

Thanks again to the setter.

[Flocker14]

Got there in the end after a slow, patient, logical solve. I too was held up at the end by having two false replacements which I couldn't locate - but it all reveals itself in the end. I'd give that a higher grade than Alekhine, but then it's all a matter of taste. Many thanks to Lavatch for a considerable feat of construction!

[IainGrace]

Hagen, absolutely at one with you on today’s Inquisitor.

[s_pugh]

Tremendous construction, a good mix of clues and zero ambiguity in the endgame. What's not to like? 6 out of 10 seems a tad unkind, I'd give it 8 at least. Thanks Lavatch, you can't please everyone it seems!

[starwalker]

Relatively gentle compared to this year's previous offerings, but fun nevertheless. Thanks Lavatch.

[Scorpius]

Certainly an easier solve than the last two puzzles, though I found the NW and SE corners distinctly tricky. I thought many of the misprints were rather well chosen for the surfaces, or the surfaces were nicely composed to suit the misprints.

Quite a sneaky endgame, I thought. I probably made the same errors as Flocker14 and couldn't get the four-word phrase for a while.

[fyellin]

Just out of curiosity. . . .

I expect most UK Listener solvers to be familiar with the theme and its subject matter, but I'm not sure I would have expected you to be familiar with the actual text. Is the text well enough known that you could get it from a couple of words? Just curious.

And I apologize for the theme. :-(

[IainGrace]

Fyellin, yes. Educated Brits are very familiar with this, and of course Answerbankers are omniscient.....

[BobMinor]

I thought this was a very enjoyable puzzle - a fine grid construction, good clues, and a logical and unambiguous end-game. Thanks to Lavatch.

[freiheid]

I suspect a lot of solvers will not appreciate how hard it must have been to create this intricate and satisfying grid. Just think of the self-imposed constraints! The epitome of elegance.

[olichant]

Best use of misprints I can remember in a long while. I found this tough, but I really liked the way it all came together in the end. As others have said, the endgame was devious, but fair.

[12barblues]

I thought that this was a good solid Listener, although I found it easier than previous Lavatch offerings. Luckily, I managed to work out much of the top of the grid first which allowed a good guess at the text and facilitated completion of the bottom which until then had been tough going. THanks to Lavatch

[icynorth]

A good, tough puzzle and an impressive construction. I would have preferred no ambiguity in the replacements, as it held me up for a few hours, too. Congratulations to those who spotted the theme and phrases more quickly than I did!

And thanks, Lavatch.

[sunny-dave]

I happened to complete some unhelpful words first in the theme, but it succumbed to google eventually (I didn't know the precise wording well enough to spot it without a couple of the key words, which happened to be in blocks of clues I hadn't solved).

Once I had the full theme the grid filled out a bit more quickly - and the grid-alteration and phrase were then quite interesting to tease out.

Three good puzzles in a row now - very nicely done by Lavatch this week I think.

Thanks.

[Hagen]

One thing I noticed is that some of the clues make very little literal sense when the misprint is corrected. This is NOT a criticism; I'd just like to ask if it's not a requirement that misprint clues should retain some literal meaning after correction. I'm working on a puzzle (not a Listener!) that uses the misprint device and it's my first attempt at this. So far I've managed to write clues that have some possible context as English sentences in both versions, but it's very difficult!

[olichant]

Hagen, that's interesting. I'd be very interested to hear others' views. It seems convention that misprinted clues don't need to make much sense after correction (albeit this gives the lie to any notion that they were accidentally misprinted which I thought was the conceit back in the early days - I could be wrong). It is of course that much smoother if they can make sense after correction, which is easier when they don't have to appear in every clue. And of course, it's even harder to do that where there are additional clue constraints.

I guess the setter's focus is mainly on disguising the misprints as well as possible, which adds to the difficulty further. I'm just looking at a recent draft puzzle I've done with misprints and there's no denying that the clues I like best are the ones where there is a genuinely strong surface reading after correction.

[olichant]

On which note, Hagen, this may be interesting: http://www.andlit.org.uk/reviews/Azed%20No%201953.htm