Listener 4168, Phiz by Bero

[Zabadak]

So, no Friday finishes on this one. Me neither: perhaps I really am slipping.
I'm really struggling to get enthused about this: it looks like a lot of cold solving and then a letters jigsaw. I don't think it gives anything away to note that 3, for example, has four turns that I can see, in any direction and not counting bumping into the edge, which creates a very large number of alternatives - too many to enter anything with certainty even with some checkers around. The only letters you can actually enter are the first ones. I struggle with knight moves, but these are king moves (minus diagonals) in three dimensions. It must all work out, I suppose, but at the moment I'm underwhelmed and unlikely to push through. Perhaps others could let us know whether it yields before you've solved all the clues independently.

[midazolam]

It does work though, but I cold solved all but three clues and even then I made mistakes with the grid(s) fill. I have transferred my letters over, but I will have to think what these interesting looking letters mean tomorrow. Definitely a game of two halves (or even thirds)

[cruciverbali]

Yes Zabadak, you can start to place entries with reasonable certainty after solving, in my case, 15 clues the rarer letters are obviously a big help in this regard.

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, I am in Midazolam's position. Three clues not solved but fitting the words in does help solve some. I think it is important to keep track of what you do as you go along. Otherwie, dead ends mean going back almost to the start of the fill.

[midazolam]

I have been over my fourth grid letters again this morning with a clearer head and I managed to remove one erroneous letter and makes them all look much better, but I still dont really understand what they mean - a downfall of the puzzle? I could submit it as it is and it will (hopefully) be correct, without an understanding of the theme / embellishment.

[Vagans]

Agreed: 20+ clues solved fairly quickly but only one word's initial direction unambiguous so far. Hard to read back from any guesses at the endgame (one obvious theme stands out) when it depends on unches that can't as yet be identified!

[Vagans]

That was agreed with Cruciverbalist - I'm not as far on as RR and Mz yet.

[emcee]

This looks as though it's going to be a slog. I've cold-solved over 2/3 of the clues and entered their initial letters and still don't feel confident enough to try entering any words. As Zabadak states we have a (reduced) King's move puzzle in 3D and that cannot be good news!

I'm with you on this one, Z, inertia is fast approaching.

[Mysterons]

Check out the title for an explanation of the embellishment

[Ruthrobin]

That was very hard work! The embellishment is not quite what the title led me to expect.

[Rogue-Elfe]

Glad that (a) everyone else found this hard too, and (b) you're not chuffed with all that cold solving either.
Also, there is to my knowledge no game just called Fizz. The most basic version I've heard of is Fizz-Buzz with two different prime numbers chosen (usually 5 and 7 for beginners), which is at least a little bit taxing for youngsters. I've done 24 clues now - 14 to go - and have no idea what to do. I'm going to scour the net for help with some others. TTFN.

[contendo]

I only have 5 more to cold-solve, but mental paralysis sets in when I contemplate the astronomical permutations of possible letter placement. Wouldn't a dictionary of Spenserian English (or its e-equivalent) be useful?

[bobbycollins]

Thanks for the above posts - they have convinced me not to bother with this. Yet again we have fairly gentle clues followed by a much more taxing grid fill. I prefer the clues to be the real challenge followed by an end-game of similar difficulty.

I have just printed off 3779 from 2004 ("Autobiography" by Tiburon) which looks much more my cup of tea. One of the pleasures of reaching 60 (apart from just waking up each morning and making it into work) is not remembering the plots from Jonathan Creek, puzzles from seven years ago, or the childrens' names.

[iamamoose]

Contendo - i think

www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/haphazard/extra/l
anguage/


may eventually be a good resource, though it is obviously a work in progress at the moment

[trux]

Have only been able to glance at this from time to time ; most of clues up to about 25 solved, first letters in my grid - think I can link my Q & Z (don't think that gives too much away) but that's barely a break-in- Fortunately first guest now out of house, and free tomorrow so will be able to crack on hopefully. R-E : I think there is a more adult version called Fuzzy Duck...

[Alan7777]

Making slow progress and at this stage I doubt that I will be able to complete this one - only 13 clues solved and only first letters of these in the grid.

[contendo]

Iamamoose - Yes I'd found that one, but it's not much help yet. What's really needed is a modern to Spenserian dictionary.
Got one more. 1 still defeats me. It looks as though it should be obvious.

[Vagans]

Contendo: re 1 - I didn't find the word in my older Chambers, but a bit of googling should reveal it.

[Vagans]

And now I repent and apologise to BeRo: it's there but in a definition, so you can only really find it once you know the answer ...

[magichour]

Made a start on this today, have solved around 10 clues so far but have a dislike for those puzzles where a large amount of cold solving is required. That said, I'm not put off by the interesting jigsaw aspect of the puzzle, and have got a few ideas about where some of the answers will go. Re 1: solved that one instantly largely thanks to recent study of words newly valid in Scrabble. Will have another run at the rest of the clues tomorrow.

[midazolam]

1ac is in the primary reference - 2008 edition

However quinapalus wordmatcher will help

http://www.quinapalus...p=0&dict=6&ent=Search