Listener 4057 Inside, by Hypnos

[robinruth]

Where is everybody? Or are you finding the wordplay as difficult as I did. This was a nice, easy grid fill and the alternatives and associatives were fun, but oh dear, did I struggle with the endgame! Perhaps it was so easy for you experts that you are not bothering to appear this week?

[Mysterons]

You Old Romantic !

[Clamzy]

Thanks mysterons - so you remember the old semaphore too:-) Actually midazolam's hint got me there - I had been looking for a synonym and not a variant of a synonym (I'm rambling again):-)

[JackDeCrow]

Now you've got me worried Clamzy. I finally found the accessory this morning after realising that the wordplay from the down clues gave an importantly different theme word from the more "obvious" one I had assumed! But I still thought the variant I was looking for would be a synonym too. Clearly I haven't found it yet!

Am really hoping that this post will have the traditional effect of causing me to find what I'm looking for straight away! Here goes...

[JackDeCrow]

Uncanny - how does that work?! I realise now I looked at that word when I was still on the wrong theme word, so barely even read the definition! Not feeling the need for semaphore though - other than an R.

[x_word_fan]

Like sunny-dave I seem to have got one letter of the 7 wrong - it appears to be the one from the 2nd Associate - I remain convinced it's the E from the small person but it seems not. Can I be enlightened please.

[Clamzy]

x_word_fan

I think you have a wrong vowel as surplus letter from the 2nd associate clue.

[x_word_fan]

Yes -thank you - I know what it must be and I've virtually finished the puzzle it's just annoying me - I was sure it was the E from a six legged small person

[turnerjmw]

The extra letter has to be removed from the printed clue, not from the derived wordplay. So it can't be the E in the small person. That gets replaced by a short word for money - the extra letter is in the last word of the clue

[x_word_fan]

Thank you - I can see that now - I was stupidly thinking electronic had something to do with the brain!

Just got to find the 6 letter accessory and hope the postal dispute ends soon.

[jamesah]

I'm a bit worried now. I thought that I had the variant (a regional version of the theme word) and the accessory but they don't end with the same letter. The accessory (mine anyway) does cross the variant so sort of dips into it which seems to fit the appropriate place for it. Have I gone wrong?

[JackDeCrow]

Don't know about wrong Jamesah - I'm beginning to think there might be one or two different answers floating around here! For what its worth, mine do end with the same letter, and almost overlap at the ends but not quite.

[Mysterons]

That's right Jack, hence my comment above. Does your accesory end with 'T' jamesah ?

[Cruncher]

I think that this is quite a nifty crossword because there are a fair few red herrings and ambiguities. Quite a number of the entries have checked letters that leave the way open for alternative answer - the definition of \"contract\" for example. ANd I suspect that there are one or two alternative variant/accessories littered in the grid. I somehow didn\'t think that the \"Stocks\" option was accidental.

[jamesah]

Yes, it ends with a 'T' and although a very obscure definition it does seem to fit the criteria.

[Eril]

Living in Scotland I have had contact with (what I decided was) the 'accessory', but like jamesah I am now wondering whether I found the one intended. It is in an appropriate position, but I don't know whether it really is used in that manner. However, the puzzle is sent, so I will now have to wait till the solution is published.

turnerjmw - Third entry in Chambers, end of top line gives me 'ordinary' ?!

[turnerjmw]

Eril, I only have the 2008 edition, which has "over(s) (Cricket)", as does the online version. It looks like it's been added, as ordinary is the previous entry. You can get a free month's trial of the latest edition at www.chambersreference.com

[jamesah]

After another look I've found the word ending in 'E' which I accept is a better accessory. I agree that it should logically have dipped into the 5 letter word but I suppose we can't have everything. I wonder if the alternative will be marked as correct?

[jamesah]

PS What's wrong with 'stocks'? Is this answer incorrect?

[x_word_fan]

I can't see the accessory that ends in E - mine ends in T and is reasonably "appropriately placed" insofar as it does intersect the variant - assuming that's what appropriately placed means.

[robinruth]

I was convinced it had to be stocks until I was prompted towards a far more obvious answer that relates to the cryptic clue in the extra letters in the down clues. The word in question is another meaning for that word (as the preamble implies) and has nothing much to do with punishment and stocks and so on. It is also in the obvious place - where if I were the setter, I would put my hidden theme word. For the accessory, it is fairly clear what type of accessory is needed to go with the ´substance´ and the semaphore help is certainly useful or the time 09.07.

I do wonder whether the stocks were a deliberate red herring!