Listener 4110: Contractions by Hubris

[Zabadak]

What a delightful piece of work, on a theme that I've been playing around with myself and which I will now have to shelve. Some of the thematics led to a lot of head scratching on the grounds that I knew they had to be but couldn't see how (with one exception that turned out to be a straight clue).
Not a bad curtain call: may Hubris' supply of celestial Listeners never run dry.

[dr b]

Certainly an enjoyable puzzle but one of the quicker grid fills of late. Just as well as a road trip awaits!

[starwalker]

Certainly some tricky clues in there, especially when each one had to be treated as "suspect until proven otherwise".
It seems that the Listener is going through a sad period at the moment with regard to setters and vetters.

[cluelessJoe]

Not exactly an unique theme Zabadak .. in fact there's a vaguely related one appearing elsewhere this week. Don't shelve yours, just put it in cold storage for a year or so, and there should be demand for another from one of the editors who has not featured it recently.
Another quite quick fill, but enjoyable all the same.

[midazolam]

To search whether this theme has come up before on the crossword database is difficult but I doubt that it hasnt come up before. Someone mentioned to me a similar theme to this in the crossword club recently and there was also one in the IQ (with a different type of alteration)

I am sure it took a lot of thinking, and there were a mixture of harder and easier clues here, but not that exciting.

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, indeed, a most enjoyable fill. How sad that it is Hubris' last. We, too have completed one very like this already within the last month.

[AndrewG-S]

First and last Hubris for me. An enjoyable gird fill (still have 3 thematics to find but may leave this to tomorrow). A posthumous thank you.

[contendo]

I have a full grid and 11 or the 12 thematic words, some of which had me chuckling. I think I know where the 12th is but will hope tomorrow brings enlightenment.

[trux]

Ditto : full grid but not all the thematic explanations worked out yet - am sure they will (slowly) dawn on me, one by one, and hopefully - as RR found - make me chuckle my way through the weekend

[contendo]

Finally got no. 12. A very satisfying finale for Hubris, though some of the cluing was a bit too straightforward. Now I can get back to ministering to my wife who has a roan clone. A gold star to the first person to work that one out.

[Zabadak]

contendo: my very best wishes to your wife for a speedy recovery to her damaged elbow. Must be very painful.

[contendo]

Zabadak, the gold star is yours. Yes, it's quite painful, and anaesthetics seem to take longer to wear off than people realise.

[JackDeCrow]

Glad to hear some of the thematics took a bit of understanding - I've had four left for a while and I'm at a loss as to how they work. Assuming my first eight are correct, the theme seems a very poignant one.

[flocker]

Ground to a halt just as I thought I was home. Seven or eight pretty definite thematics - but the remaining clues don't seem to offer much. Slight clue uncertainties in NE and SW still.

[flocker]

it'sall gone very quiet out there! Perhaps you're having as much difficulty as I am in spotting those last 4 thematics...and unravelling two paricularly obdurate clues which interlink and where only one side of the answer is at all apparent

[reg orr]

Yes - a very neat idea & good execution.
I got lucky and solved the last "normal" clues leaving the only two unsolved - which had to be "specials". When I eventually unravelled these from their two halves it was a good confirmation of the rest of the answers. Some of the specialities added to the enjoyment - as I'd initially (& naively) assumed they were all of one kind.

[perseverer]

I'm another one who filled the grid quickly - then took more than 24 hours to figure out how six of the thematic clues worked.

Zabadak - not sure you could have had too much head-scratching before starting the thread at 17.10 on Friday!

[Clamzy]

Same here. Eight of a kind led me to look for four more of the same.
Nice PDM and sad that we shall have no more from this setter.

[silversolver]

Ditto - took me a while to work out all the thematic clues, which were very enjoyable. RIP Hubris.

[contendo]

This crossword reminded me of a brilliant Listener about 5 years ago where the lights mostly consisted of the names of towns in the UK, with the letters entered in a topologically appropriate way. I can't find it now in my records. Anyone remember it?

[Zabadak]

Thanks perseverer, but I'm pretty sure I posted an hour after that; perhaps those who followed shortly after would confirm. Could be an effect of clock changing, I guess. As it happens, I was delayed at work waiting for an emergency plumber, so had the pleasure of starting (and finishing) there, and not having to either work on it on the train or wait 'til I got home.