Listener 4118: Auf Wiedersehen by Loda

[AHearer]

I'm delighted to see that there is, after all, a Listener this week, and glad I signed up to the on-line service as our local newsagent does not open on New Year's Day.

It's a nice puzzle, but prompts me to ask whether anybody has correlated the intensity of the discussion here with the length of the rubrick.

[dr b]

Well, at least there does not seem to be any ambiguity as to what to do this week, so despite the length of the preamble the puzzle was straightforward enough (and entertaining, as always).

Happy New Year to all Listener solvers!

[starwalker]

A welcome start to the New (Listener) Year.
Thus far I have about 60% of the grid, with a mixture of smiles, groans and the occasional banging of the head - which is par for the course.
A Happy New Year to all.

[Zabadak]

Comfortable enough: as sometimes happens with Listeners of this sort, resolving the various parts of the preamble in no particular order helped with the solving of some of the more resistant clues, including (for me) the clashing ones. Arguably (and if you have the talent for it) you could even extract all the added words first, as quite a lot are fairly obvious.
It will be interesting to see if any non-subscribers are, as AHearer would have been, disenfranchised by the unavailability of a Saturday paper - a somewhat disconcerting start to the new year and chances of a clean sheet!
Happy 2011 everyone.

[midazolam]

A pleasant start to the listener calender. I worked out the theme at the very end and this way it gave a nice PDM (although with a bit of searching I suppose I could of got it earlier).

Loda gave us "In clue order, on and on" in Jan 2009, which was an excellent puzzle.

Happy New Year to all.

[contendo]

"Could of" Midazolam? Tut tut. Am half way through the grid but found the theme came too easily, meaning that it's very easy to pick out the extra words, so the end is in sight.

[midazolam]

could have, would have, should have...yes!

[easylistener]

This is HARD!!!!! Only solved about 8 in as many hours! Hints welcome at [email protected]. Don't worry - I don't submit!
Thanks.

[trux]

A neat puzzle, with relatively straightforward clueing, and very clear instructions in the pre-ramble (and it did ramble on a bit, too - not entirely sure that the clashing letters added much to the overall result and somewhat hampered the final imagery) ... But most enjoyable, good variety of devices and a welcome start to what I hope will be a wondrous year for all Listenerites.

[contendo]

It's gone very quiet. Is everybody still sleeping off last night's excesses?
A satisfying crossword. All done, so that's 100% record for this year. I wonder how long it will last.

[Antmark]

Yes. A nice gentle start to the New Year, thanks to Loda.

[BlackHugh]

Well - I have also found the solving a nice and gentle start to the new decade (no arguments please about whether it started last year or not) - however, as is usual with me, I am very uncertain about the highlighting. I have a fairly obvious idea - but it is not very satsifying.

[Ruthrobin]

Black Hugh, good advice that I have received is that if you are dubious about something in a Listener crossword, and your 'obvious idea is not very satisfying', it is almost certainly not right and you should look again.

Yes, a welcome gentle start to the new year and a Happy New Year to all the friends on AB.

[bellabee]

i disagree ruthrobin - with the listener if the idea is not very satisfying it's almost certainly the 'right' answer - more often than not i check the solutions hoping to see some neat denouement that tidies up all the loose ends only to be disappointed - maybe the listener has reached that point where it's reputation puts it beyond criticism. today's enigmatic variations was far better than this xword [in my opinion]. lato has constructed a puzzle full of traps that stretches the solver [although three quarters of the clues appear to be very straightforward] - i think wordplay is sadly lacking in listeners these days - it has become the plaything of the programmers - the number-crunchers have taken it over.

[bellabee]

oops - inquisitor i mean - although ev is eagerly awaited after this.

[contendo]

Bellabee - Today's EV is by Samuel. Are you talking of last week's?

[silversolver]

A pleasant and relatively straightforward introduction to the Listener New Year. I got the theme fairly early after completing a third of the grid which made the identification of the extra words and the subsequent clue solving a lot easier.

[bellabee]

contendo - yes, i am looking at samuel's ev now [not helped by fuzzy head] my listener rants always follow from large intake of whisky - sorry about that but only half a bottle left now so expect no more - forgot to say - happy new year.

[Clamzy]

A happy and successful New Year to all and thanks to Loda for an interesting send off.
RR was absolutely correct, as I know to my cost, that any lack of rigour or uncertainty will lead to Listener misfortune (AREDE for AREDD etc).
New year resolution - double check those unches:-)

[cluelessJoe]

A Happy New Year to all, and yes, this was a pleasantly gentle start.
Not entirely without potential for ambiguity dr b, as the two central letters could arguably be placed either way round; the reverse of (what I assume to be) the intended way might be said phonetically to sum up the extended thematic quotation.

[Philoctetes]

It took a while for my brain to get in gear - missing a week takes a lot of recovery at my age. Pleasant dénouement, finding more out about something I thought I knew (which is probably one of the best features of a Listener). So onwards - and a Happy New Year to all.