Listener 4635 - Two Listeners In One By Extent

[upsetter]

Quite a few easy clues but no rubbish.
Great fun, with a painless and entertaining finish.

Thanks, eXtent.

[Philoctetes]

Just beat me to it! I liked the notion of "untouched", and the area of (my) expertise. Once the penny had dropped, which took an age, it rolled on quickly.
TAVM, eXtent

[perseverer]

We are accustomed to having to modify a clue answer to produce the entry. It took a little while to get used to doing the opposite, but once you realised the change needed, it was straightforward enough. My knowledge of the person didn't extend beyond the themtic change, so a quick look at Wiki was needed to confirm the end-game.

[Hagen]

I struggled with several of the clues even after realising what was going on, but the endgame was neat and unambiguous with no grid staring needed. Some satisfying PDMs along the way. That's the way I like my Listeners. Excellent puzzle with some nice touches.

[NickorWan]

Excellent puzzle, thanks eXtent. I got off to a rapid start but there are enough tough, but superb, clues to slow anyone down.

[Scorpius]

When I searched Google and Answerbank for this Listener I got no results so I opened a thread, to be told recently that there was an earlier one. Even now, entering 'Listener 4635' in Answerbank's search box gets no results even though there are two threads.

Anyway, this was my original comment:

I thought this was an excellent Listener with a lovely denouement. Quite challenging in places, with some deceptive clues. Even with the grid almost completely filled I had little idea of the thematic person, then, after following a preamble instruction, the penny dropped.

Thanks eXtent, two Listener setters in one

[Hagen]

I sympathise, Scorpius, having started threads in the past when there's already one on the go but which is invisible to AB search. Even now neither "Listener" nor "Listener 4635" shows anything in AB search. I found this thread by including the setter's name. It is high time the AB search facility was updated. If anything, it's got worse recently!

[pushmi-pullyu]

I thought this was a lovely puzzle with some good clues and a nice endgame.

[brainiac]

I see one of the winners of Listener 4632 Heads and Tails is D F Manley of Oxford. Must be none other than Don Manley, prolific setter:

Don Manley (born 2 June 1945), a physics graduate from Bristol, now lives in Oxford where he worked as an editor for OUP.

Don has been setting crosswords since 1963. He has supplied puzzles for Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times among others. He is one of the three current setters of the Mephisto crossword in the Sunday Times, and is crossword editor of Church Times.

His various pseudonyms - Duck, Pasquale, Quixote, Bradman, Giovanni, Izetti - are all punningly connected with the name Don or Donald.

He has also written what is widely regarded as the standard book on setting and solving crosswords: Chambers Crossword Manual.

[emcee]

Late starting this puzzle due to other commitments.

I liked the puzzle (and the title!) and some of the clues were not at all easy. Straightforward endgame which enabled me to learn something new about the thematic character.

Many thanks, eXtent.