listener 3973: Collusion by Magpie

[midazolam]

Here is this weeks listener the preamble sounds initially complicated

good luck

[Mysterons]

Yes, great puzzle, but I'm not sure it ranks in the 'very difficult' category (said with fingers crossed !)

In answer to Spiderfreak's query above, surely 26d has to end with 'S' ?

[Scorpius]

Since the collaborators were not unanimous in their choices of the final letter for 26 down I don't see why it has to be 'S'.

[Mysterons]

I could be wrong Scorpius, but I had 3 words all ending EARS.

[Scorpius]

Originally so did I, Mysterons., but then I had doubts about the match between one of the extra words and the entry I had (ending in S) for one of the collaborators , so I altered it to make a better match conforming more precisely to Chambers. So SpiderFreak's comment chimed with me.

[Mysterons]

I see what you mean - this may be judged as a possible weakness, but in the absence of any other ambiguity, for example in 11 down, I think we must assume that 'S' is correct. This means that the only changes made from each of the collaborators original submissions are in the central row.

[bobbycollins]

I was about to accuse mysterons of "too much information" but realised that I was guilty of the same hint in an earlier posting. Apologies to all.

3974 appears to be more than a tad easier. Definitely recommended for newcomers.

[Mysterons]

........ and like you I had concerns over the definition in 38 Down. The corrected misprint seems to define a word which can also mean 'TOAD', rather than TOAD itself, unless my edition of Chambers is missing something.

[bobbycollins]

Thanks, mysterons. I have all of the wordplays now. Not ashamed at missing the final step - it was quite simply beyond me!