Listener 4538 Joint Conditions By Awinger

[kdgs2]

I really enjoyed this one, the theme revealed itself early enough to be a great help in dealing with clashes. Lots and lots of thematic material throughout. Nice to see a new setter too - thanks Awinger!

[Hagen]

Agreed, the theme made itself known soon enough and this was a great help with the clashes and a few recalcitrant clues. It was also superbly implemented, and that can't have been an easy task. I'm not sure if the need to insert the missing item was thematic or forced by constraints, but I don't think it matters either way. I've only made a rudimentary attempt at the shading but then I don't submit puzzles; good luck with it to those who do send in!

There was a similar theme in the IQ not so long ago and that puzzle was universally acclaimed as a tour de force. That doesn't diminish this one at all - it's an excellent debut and I hope we will see more of Awinger.

[IainGrace]

Yes, excellent puzzle. We were initially fooled into thinking it would be easy because a number of the clues were only just Listener standard.

[HappyUncle]

Only three comments? I agree that the theme appeared early and I agree that this was thematically superb, although in a slightly different way from the IQ puzzle rightly awarded summa cum laude. I found 56 cells that could plausibly have been shaded but as I no longer submit I decided to spare myself the task of counting up the boundaries. I assume there is no ambiguity. My avatar looks suitably pleased with himself.

[Philoctetes]

I have by no means finished. But, in answer to Happy (good to see him around) I am finding the presence of the clashes turns this into a bit of a slog, even knowing the theme. It is, indeed, clever and well presented - but having a cup of coffee just seems a more attractive prospect right now than solving the last few clues

[sunny-dave]

For me, this was very much a 'puzzle of two halves'.

I thoroughly enjoyed the gridfill (even though I should have spotted the theme much earlier, given the various hints) - the clues were accurate and tough at times - with some nice surface readings.

Where I'm much less happy is the 'aftergame' - the omission of one item and the replacement of four letters seem (unless I'm missing something?) to smack of either an inability to create an initially complete puzzle, or a pointless attempt to increase the total complexity level of the puzzle.

The shading is fiddly, but acceptably so - but then I don't submit, so am not getting angsty about cell counts.

Thanks Awinger - overall still a very nice puzzle.

[starwalker]

Certainly this is an impressive debut, but I feel a little irked by the "one item missing". Perhaps the symmetry could have been sacrificed to avoid it. Thanks Awinger.

[olichant]

I enjoyed this - the pdm was nice, and the gridfill with the clashes was fair once the theme was clear. The shading at the end was a little odd (unless I've got it wrong), but it still made for a fun challenge.

[emcee]

Back to this one now as 4539 is out of the way.

I'm uncertain about the shading too, Olichant, hence the need to return to it.

Rest of the puzzle was fine.