Listener Crossword 4093 Times Group by Colleague

[starwalker]

Another Friday, another Listener and another new setter (or is it).
After a very straightforward grid fill, I shall now retire for a glass of something to consider the preamble.
These easy fills are starting to worry me - what is coming round the corner ?

[BlackHugh]

Hurrah - I have also had some PDMs during the football (the glorious victory :-) ) this afternoon and discovered the 2nd & presumably the 3rd group and author - although still to discover the missing letters & thematic word.

starwalker - I always prefer filling in the grid to working out whatever else the preamble requires - the clues always have some solidity about them to work with

[AHearer]

I think JEG is being a bit hard on those of us who contribute here. For the most part the Listener exchanges here are little more than social networking (and it's sometimes helpful to know that the problem IS soluble). We may sometimes get into heavy hint-dropping, and somebody usually comments if we look like going too far, but as far as I can tell we have never gone as far as ' the answer to ... is ... '
Having recently enjoyed Schadenfreude's latest offering in CAM, I hope the Listener spirit spreads to other puzzles of similar deviousness. Can anybody suggest why CAM seems to have better crosswords than Oxford Today? By contrast, Oxford seems to do better than Cambridge for detective stories.

[cluelessJoe]

You have obviously not been around quite long enough to have witnessed the kind of transgressions which once earned these threads such a bad reputation AHearer. Although there have been very few occurrences of late of ' the answer to ... is ... '
there was a time when certain posters quite readily indulged in just that, week in week out. There was even an instance when one of the worst offenders, completely umprompted, simply listed the answers to every single clue in one post. (The only mildly amusing aspect of that posting was that he had in fact got one answer wrong, thus very publicly displaying his early failure to achieve the all-correct for the year).
Your observation on recent threads is correct, but I suspect that John's views are very firmly rooted in the happenings of the past.

[dr b]

Finally got back to this and polished it off. A bit too obscure, I think - I was more annoyed than elated at the finish. Off to the fireworks!

[serpentinew]

AHearer - I wholeheartedly agree with you on CAM 60. A stunning puzzle with a beautiful ending. Can't comment on the Oxford equivalent, not being a member. As to this one I personally prefer the easy-ish grid fill and then the hard thinking, which once I'd realised that the preamble did n't mean all clue answers include the members of two groups was not that taxing, but does incorporate some nice sign-posting devices (in this puzzle's case Chambers could be the only reference required). The simpler clueing opens the puzzle out to a, dare I say, less wordy bunch - but it is no less of a challenge and more fun from my viewpoint.

[Clamzy]

Yes for the third week running an easy grid fill followed by a few hours head scratching. As with last week's (I still don't get the title) it is possible to submit a correct solution without completing all the parts. I have a full grid, the highlighting, the two barred off cells and the writer and therefore a correct solution (I hope) without finding the second group.

[7lattens]

Strange how diffrent people see different things - I have filled the grid (excepting barred-off cells) and located the members of the first two prime groups and should surely therefore be able to stumble upon their product - that PDM awaits !

[teuchter2]

Grid filled and two groups identified quite easily yesterday morning. Out or exhausted for rest of weekend so I'm now scanning the grid hoping for inspiration to strike. I was hoping something might be listed under the relevant group size in Chambers, but the only thing I can see there is date related, so probably not relevant.

[AndrewG-S]

S-Matrix, I too picked up the classic hero, but could not find any others - still looking. I also noticed that Soho was an anagram of one of the clued answers.

[AndrewG-S]

At last I have one group for sure - on the way again!

[AndrewG-S]

All fell into place pretty quickly after finding the first group. Spent much longer overall finding the thematic elements than filling the grid, but rewarding in the end. Nicely constructed puzzle - thanks Colleague

[IntoTheBlue]

An enjoyable puzzle with a neat ending. I hadn't heard of the theme group but fortunately I hit upon it quite early sticking to the belief that it had to be in the big red book.

IntoTheBlue

[Clamzy]

A hint from a friend led me to the glaringly obvious second group. I had been misled into searching for a group with a similar 'flavour' to groups 1 and 3.
This puzzle marks the commencement of the second half - anyone still on target?

[Mysterons]

I think so, though I don't submit, so have to rely on my own marking !

From my own observations, the Distractions series has tended to have a stronger thematic link to the University than CAM of late, which now seems to be featuring the likes of Charybdis and Schadenfreude on a fairly regular basis. Coincidentally, the latter used this very theme in CAM only last year.

Here is a link to his latest puzzle, to be found on page 48:

http://www.alumni.cam...CAM60/CAM60LoRes2.pdf

[Mysterons]

Please ignore my penultimate sentence - I think I'm confusing 2 puzzles with each other, apologies to all.

[twoshortplan]

Finished grid double quick time, for me. Spotted first group easily (including anag.) then filled in the barred off cells to see vertically a typical Listener type two word command.
However can't make any sense of what I'm told to do. Is this a red herring?

[dr b]

Seems like a red herring to me, as I don't see any way to get what goes into the barred cells unless you have the 2nd and 3rd groups.