Listener No 4120, Cross Country by MynnoT

[Ruthrobin]

Am I destined to start another thread or are all the friends hiding somewhere else? What a great and well-set challenge this has been. The light has just dawned regarding the theme and how to obey the instruction. Yet another superb opening for the year's puzzles.

[Mysterons]

Yes it is teuchter - however, 'once' signifies it is an obsolete word. The clue breaks down as 3 + 3 = 6

[the_heisman]

i am also in the complete grid camp - with a highly meaningful-looking collection of letters identified in the grid but with no apparent relevance to the theme - still a few days to go. For me Shackleton's work of genius in the form of Sine Qua Non was tops last year.

[trux]

Have moved on, but retrogressively. Finished MynoT's 2006 Xmas offering Allusions (3909) with its relatively easy 12 Days theme but now am stuck into (and a bit stuck on) Extra Special Fare (3910) by the Tall'n which is a very Listeneresque affair ... still none the wiser re this current endgame but being diverted by beaches, vino, sunshine and the earlier puzzles, so extremely content

[teuchter2]

I have finally got a completed grid and a pattern of letters that I think may be relevant, well they are as regards their shape, but as there are many repetitions I'm pretty sure they won't form a two-word phrase, but perhaps the letters don't spell out the theme. I'm still pondering.

[BlackHugh]

I'm in the same boat as you teuchter2. I don't think the letters can directly spell out the theme. I, at least, have 18 letters rather then 21. The theme I considered is something which might be investigated by last weeks device - but cannot get the colourings for the letters from that - so I assume that is wrong.

[BlackHugh]

sorry I meant I have 20 letters rather than 21

[bellabee]

may i iterate - 'it is easier to separate what not to highlight in this case'- best of luck.

[contendo]

Have finally decided to throw in the towel on this one - a pity so near the beginning of the year, but at least learned that I got a prize for the TLS crossword this week which is some compensation.

[BlackHugh]

Ah yes Bellabee - I see what you mean (after a bit of consultation with Wikipedia) and can now get out my colouring pencils! Thanks

[bellabee]

cheers blackhugh.

[mullingar]

Hello starlets.I began today and after much struggle have a complete grid though I cannot see how no 68 fits in to 30 down. I am hoping the theme will manifest itself and I can claim a rare triumph. It seems like it will be intuition or serendipity rather than deduction which might save the day

[Mysterons]

Think periodically for 68 mullingar

[mullingar]

Ok Mysterons thanks I've never come across that before. Still none the wiser about the theme.Started to look at double letter patterns then realised they could never add up to 21. A train journey ahead that might help

[piano_maths]

I have had a complete grid for while now; have identified a symetrical group of letters (20), not to highlight; have had a guess of what the theme is loosely about (but have not got the two words); and cannot see how to highlight the 124 letters.

Am I on the right track? Could I have a little hint?

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, piano_math. Examine the title in connection with what you said!

[tilbee]

Finally after leaving it a week a PDM. Think I would definitely have struggled if it were not for the gentle hints on this thread.

[IainGrace]

Given the erudite bunch who post to this site, slightly surprised by the difficulty in the literary reference at 29ac. Much before our time but well known. Not a clue yet about the theme, though!4

[tilbee]

IainGrace - I confess my ignorance. Although clearly a very popular author, not one I have ever read. On checking this on Google this did ring a bell however. I think the difficulty is that when looking at it from a cruciverbalist view, an odd combination of consonants and vowels tends to perplex.

[Cruncher]

Boggled here. Can see some curious symmetries but no pattern emerging. Had initially assumed that the highlighted cells would spell out the the theme but guess that that is a false lead. Any more subtle nudges?

[Philoctetes]

Having been perplexed by this - needing more than my usual 10 minute sessions to work out the theme - may I say that I think the word "theme" is a bit off the mark. The eventual solution (which is, itself, expressed in a particularly obscure form, when one of the official forms would have served just as well) has absolutely nothing to do with the answers in the main puzzle (so far as I can see), nor, really, the instruction. It is little wonder several regular solvers are floundering.