Listener 4091: Mind the Gap by Calmac

[AHearer]

[qwerty99]

This was so easy I'm almost convinced I've missed something. I predict next week's will be a real stinker!

I liked 13 across though - worthy of Cyclops in Private Eye

[Rogue-Elfe]

Couldn't finish 4090, so thought they had started increasing the general difficulty to accommodate the needs of the more hardened Listener solvers.

Obviously not.

[easylistener]

Ok, nearly a listener worthy of my name. Got the grid filled except 35a, 24d,26d,31d and the unclued across. What do I need to do next? Any help ? Thanks.

[Rogue-Elfe]

Glad to be of service, Easylistener.
35a uses a word not suggested by Bradfords, but common enough in parlance.
24d isn't talking about flags, and the entry is not a main one in chambers.
26d is a proper noun, so not in chambers at all. (shouldn't we have been told that in the preamble?)
31d grieved me for a while as well.
As for the unclued across entry - mind the gap!
Hope this helps in a traditionally cryptic kind of way.

[poorsolver]

Calmac is a former newspaper crossword editor and producer of very fine puzzles; this is is first for quite some time, and I for one am pleased to see his return.

[easylistener]

Thank you r-e, 3 pdms later and I just need 26d and the mind the gap thing. Any more nudges?

[suilven]

...but why the 3 unclued downs?

[Rogue-Elfe]

Hi Easylistener...without giving the game away (which would take all the fun out of it); I think I can add that I have just put again into the fridge (1) that which I needed to empty into a dish (2) for my very noisy cat (3) which I might be better off frying (4).
Excuse my language...

If this doesn't help for the main entry then I suggest simply entering what you have into google - this will also give the crucial missing letters in 26d, bearing in mind that there are no choices to make in the final grid.

[cluelessJoe]

... or just give it a bit more time easylistener and you may just get there under your own steam. Echoing turnerjmw's earlier post, and considering this is the easiest Listener in months, you'll get a bigger boost solving this yourself than asking for help too soon. When I started solving this series about 6 years ago, I was often pleased to finish before the following weekend, and was content to spend days musing over the odd endgame. Stick with it.

[Rogue-Elfe]

There is that element, Clueless Joe - but don't people only use this site when they are at their wits end? I know I do, except for when I am able to give help to others, or discussing previously posted comments in a conversational manner (as this post).
If people use it to get their crosswords finished without personally striving to achieve that moment of glory when their penny drops, then to be fair, that's up to them. Chacun a Son Gout...

[7lattens]

Just completed in a personally best time of 3 hours - beating my average by quite a few days.

Was this easier than normal or was it because the Good Lady is on a series of trains from outermost Suffolk to Edinburgh to participate in tonight's 26 mile MoonWalk in aid of breast cancer.

Now where did I place her list of to dos.

[midazolam]

Over recent times this site has attracted quite a few newcomers which is fantastic but who may not know the battle that went on a couple of years ago. it is great that we can all share this crossword and help along the way.

I note other regular threads e.g. spectator just gives away answers. I also appreciate that time available to spend on these may be short and nagging clues / PDMs just want to be solved. Despite this, perseverance and the satisfaction of getting there on ones own i feel not only improves solving skills but is just more fulfilling. Although this is one of the easier solves the PDM doesn't immediately stand out if you don't know it but can be obtained relatively easy. The bank of extra useful tools with the listener includes ODQ, Brewers, Wikipedia, Google, and search facilities e.g. quinapalus. All of which can be accessed for free online (one of which is very useful indeed, if stuck)

Lets continue to use logic and try not to reignite the battle which has thankfully been laid to rest. There have been attempts to close down these threads on several occasions, which would be a shame.

[cluelessJoe]

Well put midazolam - Rogue-Elf, I think that you will find these Listener threads (unlike many others) tend to be as much discussion forums as places to find ready answers. Granted you will often find encouragement offered to the eager to learn and the truly stuck, but after some quite unsavoury past battles (as alluded to by midazolam), there does tend to be reasonable self-moderation here respecting the views of some true devotees.
I'd just like to add (back on topic for this puzzle) that, although very easy / too easy for a Listener, it was beautifully, precisely and fairly clued suggesting the mark of a real expert. Thanks for that Calmac.

[easylistener]

Thank you r-e for help and rr by email. Sorry to have stirred up the hornets' nest again. Please be assured I don't enter for comp so I'm no threat but will be more discreet in seeking help so as not to spoil fun. mia culpa!

[teuchter2]

I'm not a Friday starter, so didn't see this until 1400 today, but finished by 1700, so probably the easiest ever. I enjoy this thread, but try not to look unless I'm really stuck, due to 45a perhaps! I agree that there should not be too much 1d in the thread.

[AndrewG-S]

All done apart from 31d which I need to give a bit more thought. A nice straightforward offering and will be my first Saturday finish (assuming I resolve 31d in the next few hours). PDM on the unclued across was not the most exiting and leaves me wondering if there is something I am missing, but overall a well constructed puzzle.

[AndrewG-S]

Just finished, I am with teuchter2 on the use of the site. The best PDMs are those that arrive out of the blue after a lot of thought. Zabadak do you need a good 46ac for your fingers?

[silversolver]

I am not finding this as easy as others have suggested. Yes, the clueing was pretty straightforward and I quickly arrived at a completed grid except for the "gap", but the endgame (and the reason, if any, for those unclued down entries) has so far eluded me. I am sure the penny will drop eventually but the "drawback" hint in the preamble does not immediately give much away.

I agree with the thoughts on this site - it is comforting to come here and know that there are other fellow strugglers and to give and receive a bit of encouragement but I would not want any of that help to become more overt.

[Ruthrobin]

Silversolver, I imagine that those unclued down entries were left unclued to render the crossword slightly more difficult. We are told that they have no thematic significance. I think we are so used to extremely complex and difficult endgames that we expect them and can't understand it when they are absent. Of course, I might be eating my words in three weeks' time.

[poorsolver]

Agreed about the comments above. While visiting the front screen yesterday, I was greeted with the key phrase for the Araucaria Guardian Prize puzzle on the screen in a number of threads that ruined the puzzle and almost killed the enjoyment of the puzzle for me.