Listener Crossword 4039 - Intimacy by Bandmaster

[starwalker]

A little later than usual getting started with this.
Initially I found this a bit of a slog, but once the theme emerged, it all fell into place quite quickly.
All in all, an enjoyable solve, but I prefer Bandmaster's offering last year - "Roadies" which I would recommend to those who missed it.

[jamesah]

Well, I'm obviously missing something here! I've got the 14 answers needing treatment and the variation on the title for number 15 but I can't see the 'one normal entry' which presumably ends in one of the two letters which end the other 15. I thought that all the results were 50 across but then I don't understand why the title variation is tenth. I've written out all the down entries but can't see any useful pairing. Any subtle hints would be most welcome as everybody else seems to have found the finish easy!!

[perseverer]

There is one of the down answers which fits the pattern, if it is put first in the list. I failed to spot it in front of my face till I read one of the previous posts.

[Clamzy]

Jamesah,
As you have correctly figured out the one (of only three) down answers to have the right ending is placed first in the list. Have you by any chance a wrong vowel in one of those three?

[jamesah]

Clamzy you're right! I had E instead of U. That part is clear and I think I can see the entries referred to in (b) but which particular match-up is referred to? I seem to have one result which is not a 50ac.

[Clamzy]

The match up referred to is the first of the group but all are 50ac.

[emcee]

I've missed posting here the last couple of weeks due to being overworked and underpaid! Last week's puzzle by Samuel was superb -- loved the final "turn of events".

This week's was a slog -- a cold-solver's delight until the penny dropped. I thought many of the clues intractible until last night when I noticed a potential for the theme which paid off. I agree that everything fell into place when you knew what to look for. Had it not been for the thematic items I really don't think I would have been able to solve a number of the clues.

[shelouse]

I think I've got this, but my knowledge of the subject is written on the back of a very small postage stamp. Are these pairings all real? Even to me the penultimate one seems very unlikely. I have established that the first pair is real, but noone I have asked can confirm the second or the seventh.

[robinruth]

My knowledge is like yours - a topic I detest, but I did quite a bit of Internet surfing to see whether I was missing something (some combination to get a match-up - the words seem so odd) - and believe the pairings are not real - for example, the first did take place this year and got a 50ac. but not the result that I believe we are intended to highlight. Wiser heads than mine seem to say that several of the pairings are unlikely in view of the different 'status' of the participants. However, I am still not happy with the lack of symmetry or any evident significance (except the meaning) in the down words we are highlighting - if I have the right ones. Is that too obscure?

[segue]

Once again I seem to be relying on the hintlets in others' posts (for which many thanks as always) to get anywhere near cracking this one, although I am still cold-solving (penniless?)

CluelessJoe - do read the book if you haven't already, it's arguably better although the film with its one-liners is more entertaining.

[cluelessJoe]

Read it a couple of years ago Segue - and also lived through the farce way back when as a Leeds fan ... but Michael Sheen (or is it Tony Blair / David Frost / Kenneth Williams) gives it a great tragi-comedic dimension on screen.
As for the puzzle, there are some quite wicked clues and you may well need to follow the route of others after your first big chunk of cold solving ... look closely at your prime candidates for alteration and once you spot one, the rest should follow with a little effort. From there you can then tackle the remining normal clues.
Agree with Robinruth and others about the fairly pointless need to highlight the two words in 2) ... can't remeber when I last heard either of those on a Saturday evening!

[Cruncher]

Confess I'm rather baffled by this one - despite completing it and finding the necessary highlights. Apart from their relation to 50ac, are the 16 a group in any sense? I too have failed to locate historical precedents for these unlikely pairings and am left wondering about the word "inconclusive" in the preamble. It would be a jolly smart puzzle if there is a further level of reference but at this point can see it as nothing (or some suitable synonym) more than a set of arbitrary pairings

[cluelessJoe]

I think not a finite group Cruncher, just an arbitrary grouping who do the same sort of thing (with varying degrees of success).
I think 'inconclusive' relates to the 50ac

[perseverer]

With 90 odd to choose from, someone with time on their hands can work out how many were actually amenable to the necessary treatment to be usable. A couple have been suggested in earlier posts, but there may not be all that many, and perhaps that dictated the ones chosen.

[bobbycollins]

I seem to have enjoyed this more than most, although I totally agree about the high level of cold solving required before one could really get going.

Not sure how the pairings can be deemed arbitrary, since they could conceivably occur at any time betwwen January and April.

[turnerjmw]

Very true, bobbycollins, or even earlier in another competition, but I think arbitrary was meant in the sense that they seem to be hypothetical, rather than based on historical fact. Or, to put it another way, is there any significance in the title being tenth in the series? Could it not equally be anywhere between third and ninth? I thought Cruncher put it extremely well with his idea of an elusive further level of reference which would strengthen the puzzle enormously, and without which it falls somewhat flat. Maybe I've simply missed it!

[segue]

ta cJ, and ta midazolam for air-lanes....the clouds have cleared somewhat! 18a was my first in real life too as it happens...

[Mysterons]

Whilst not really a fan of this one, it did strike a chord - the first game I attended with my Dad and brother in 1979 was a local League Cup derby which also required a replay.

I agree with perseverer that Bandmaster's options were probably limited, though perhaps there was a missing overtone.

[kwyjibo]

I thought the setter missed a trick here and fully expected the final highlighting to relate to a win on a coupon.