Listener No 4230 Elm By Quinapalus

[trux]

Whilst one might argue about some of the clueing, and several ambiguities in extra letter(s), there is no doubt whatsoever that the endgame is most elegant. A real tough test, just about worth the struggle (and struggle it was) but very satisfying when all done. Many thanks to Quinapalus

[Ruthrobin]

What a tough one but what an astonishing construction. This has taken us every minute (almost) of the evening until now. Absolutely brilliant and certainly the hardest so far this year. Wow Quinapalus!

[IainGrace]

Working away at it. Looks tough but not as daunting maybe as at first appears. Category 2 clues appearing in alphabetical order helps, as, we hope, does the fact that there are only four 8 letter grid entries and two 9 letter.

[olichant]

What a workout! And great fun. After a few fairly straightforward weeks, this was a resounding wake-up call. A real seven-cup (of strong black coffee) problem. Thank you, Quinapalus.

[aldanna]

Hardest of the year? No wonder I have admitted defeat.

[olichant]

And there are some lovely clues, too. "Mainz gas producers fermenting new yeast" - delightful!

[tilbee]

Finding this equally tough. Have taken all afternoon to complete Grid A and think will now leave it until tomorrow to move onto Grid B and the end-game. An excellent workout so far from Quinapalus

[tilbee]

As ever couldn't leave this, but fortunately grid B and obeying final instructions was somewhat trivial in comparison (at least to do it conceptually without actually physically amending the grid) so happy now all resolved in time for the Saturday night pub.

[emcee]

I'm at the same stage as you, tilbee. It's taken me all afternoon to get grid A filled! The instruction and description sounds interesting but that's a task for tomorrow.

Very tough clues indeed.

[emcee]

PS I thought the title was clever!

[jim360]

Having ground away at this for a while and still only seven clues or so solved in grid A... it's going to be a while I think, if I even get to the end. Fingers crossed!

[jim360]

On the plus side, Grid B is all sorted.

[Arcticpenguin]

I'm guessing from the number of entries on this site so far that I'm not the only one strugggling on this puzzle. About half complete but a long way to go yet. And that's without worrying about the end game...

[TheBear69]

This puzzle will be hard to beat for puzzle of the year. The transfomation of the two grids into the final grid is phenomenal!

I'm still puzzling over one misprint and one of the skippers, but the final result is certain.

[Ruthrobin]

jim360 we see you again on University Challenge tomorrow night, don't we? Sitting on the far right again?

[dylan123]

I found Grid B fairly quick and straightforward, but have still only done about 10 clues from A, and these don't include the long answers. I'm intrigued as to how the two grids will link together. Must now try harder!

[starwalker]

A late start, a tough puzzle and a weekend of rugby. No wonder that I'm making very slow progress, but am encouraged by other posts that it is worth the effort.

[Coalminers]

Excellent, Quinapalus. Thank you very much and congratultions. A fantastic construction.

[jim360]

Yes indeedy Ruth -- our first of at least two more appearances in the Quarter-final stages. Thanks for the plug!

[AndrewG-S]

This one was an emotional rollercoster! Started with grid b, which was a doddle. Then started on the misprint clues which were not too bad. But the missing letter clues had me stumped for ages. Thankfully made a few good guesses on grid fill so pressed on, at all times making steady progress. Got to endgame and all fell into place neatly and quickly. Phenomenal final grid construction. Many thanks quinapalus, best puzzle of the year so far.

[upsetter]

This is exactly what a great Listener should be. A superbly balanced interaction between multiple special features, many ambiguous clues prevented the message from revealing itself prematurely (to us at least), and the construction and beautifully achieved symmetry of the final grid emerging only at the very end.
Patting ourselves on the head for sure.