Listener 4819 By George! By Enigmatist

[upsetter]

An extraordinary construction with an astounding amount of thematic material.

A virtuoso performance by Enigmatist.

Many thanks.

[emcee]

Quite a challenge as expected. Clues were tough but fair.

A great endgame. 

Many thanks, Enigmatist.

[HawkCrossword]

I've not solved many of Enigmatist's puzzles, but memory of one of his previous ones kept me in the game here. It's not my specialist subject, but I knew enough about the thematic sources to know where to look. It's a remarkable result, and it's a brilliant execution. Many thanks, Enigmatist. I really enjoyed that.

[Keepatit]

I thought this was excellent, my enthusiasm only slightly tempered by the fact that Enigmatist didn't discover the result - Google tells you it's been known a good while. Still, a fine execution

[youngoffender]

Enigmatist's last Listener made a bracing but very rewarding challenge out of a far from scholarly theme, and he does the same again here. I found I had to crack the bottom half first, and then work upwards. A Gold Cup contender?

[Keepatit]

I think it's definitely in the Gold Cup conversation. His Variety Show (which I disliked) came third in 2022. This was significantly better, but with more than 25 to come, nothing yet from Shark or Twin, and the endgame hardly being a new discovery, it may well be beatable. 

My personal favourites so far, along with this, would be Ready Now by 'Eck, Second to Last by Karla and Creature Feature by Sabre (winner in 1991 and 2002)

The cruciverbal world is rather cliquey, though, and John Henderson is of course royalty ("I" editor, sometime Times Crossword Championship winner), so I wouldn't be surprised if it won.