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.

[midazolam]

agree starwalker (although Roadies was in aug 2007) - top left and bottom right hand corners seemed to be filled quickly, but I subsequently hit a brick wall with all the cold solving - then the theme came clear

packed grid but I am not fully happy with (b), I can see two separate words both relate to "that particular match-up" but would you ever really say that!

Also 29 down's definition seems not to be related to my entry (if my wordplay is correct that is)

on the whole a nice challenge

[starwalker]

You are right midazolam - it was 2007. Just goes to show how good it was that I can remember it so far back.
I am also a little unhappy about (b) whose highlighting I felt was unnecessary. I suspect that you are correct with 29d, not one of my favourites, but with only one unchecked letter . . .
Personally I have 37a to thank for finally showing me the light.

[IntoTheBlue]

It was 22a that gave me the PDM.

I found this a tough cold solving slog until the theme became clear and then it was reasonably easy to spot where the thematic entries should sit and what they could be.

Some of the wordplays were very difficult to unravel and I'm not sure I'd have got them without cracking the theme first.

Loved the theme but not one of my personal favourites of the year.

IntoTheBlue

[perseverer]

For 29d I'm in Korea, and was quite happy with it!

[IntoTheBlue]

Korea won for me as well...

[midazolam]

i agree perseverer and intotheblue, it was not until i looked at chambers in more detail that the definition does work (3rd explanation/synonym). 37 was my first as well.
Shame air-lanes did not come up!

[bobbycollins]

Korea here too.

Not quite finished, but downhill now that the theme is clear, following a slow start due to some very difficult wordplays.

I am rather enjoying this one.

[bobbycollins]

All done and dusted.

A puzzle very much at my level and wavelength despite some very devious Araucaria type clues.

Shame about one of the outcomes, IntoTheBlue !!

[kwyjibo]

17a for me and I would have liked to have seen 'antichlor'. I found this one fairly straightforward, with a huge clue to the theme. Having a profound interest in the theme probably helped.

[turnerjmw]

A curious puzzle, perhaps excessively dependent on discovery of the theme. Without it, much of the clueing seems impenetrable, but once found, the whole thing tumbles out remarkably quickly.

Not a particularly elegant finish, to my mind, but a clever idea.

[nigel2]

All understood except for (b) I have what looks like the second component for that from the down clues and two possible candidates for the first but neither of these two seem in any way thematically related so am at least temporarily stuck. Perhaps, I'm being obtuse.

[midazolam]

my impression is that they are synonymous, nigel2

[perseverer]

May be wrong (again) but I felt nigel2 was actually querying the normal entry which would be first in the set, where there seems to be 2 possibilities - an across and a down. If so I favour the across - due to its position if for no other reason. Apologies if I'm havering!

[nigel2]

Thanks, Midazolam - I now see what's required for (b). Got sidetracked by 39 down as a thematic red herring (not sure if it was intended!).

[nigel2]

Maybe not a red herring on further reflection!

[perseverer]

Penny now dropped here!

[robinruth]

Just completed this one with lots and lots and lots of help. I thought this was a rather male theme and felt, somewhat like Midazolam, that I was kicking against a brick wall. I didn't enjoy the experience one bit and, like turnerjmw, found the conclusion somewhat inelegant. If I have got it right, it doesn't seem to highlight anything coherent - perhaps just the bodies of four exhausted solvers simply lying where they fell on a vast field.

[Philoctetes]

A single-session puzzle with a somewhat dull theme - though I know enough about it to complete, it bores me to tears and just gets in the way. I suppose the construction was clever, though the positioning of the highlights added nothing. Once I had cottoned on it simply became a slog. Do you get the impression I was not over enthusiastic this week?

[Scorpius]

I thought the real slog was the period before the theme became apparent. After that it was much easier. But I share some of the sentiments above. A very dull theme and unexciting finale. One of the items to be highlighted is out of keeping with the rest of the grid, though I can see why it was regarded by the setter as a pairing.

A real disappointment after some of the gems from Bandmaster in the past.

[cluelessJoe]

Almost finished if I don't slit my wrists first .. I'm very much in accord with those last two posts.
.. So, let's change the subject (a bit) - we went to see The Damned United during the week, and both really enjoyed it, even Mrs Clueless who is exactly that about the subject of the film. Highly recommended.
And now back to close out the slog!