Listener 4122, Heart by Phi

[Cruncher]

Thought I'd start a thread for one. Rather relieved that the Friday club are quite on this one. Have a smattering of answers but a long way to go. Happy solving all!

[Cruncher]

Thanks for the explanations on the pesky words. Safely say that I would never have spotted them and just glad that they weren't a necessary part of the solution!

[Mysterons]

A wonderfully elegant puzzle, which becomes so straightforward once the true significance of the preamble's final sentence is grasped - bravo Phi !

[Apache4D]

Thanks for your support Philoctetes...after a 12 hour slog today at work staring at cockpit displays, I'm not sure how much staring at a blank grid I can cope with!! It's either that or another chapter of Sarah bakewell's biography on Montaigne!!

Contendo, you are entirely correct about me not having Word A (the shame), I do have two redundant words, however they bear no resemblance to each other!! Also if I read 1 Across one more time I think I'll go mad!!

The infuriating thing is, that I so look forward to all listener endgames, I can't bear to give in!

[tilbee]

Thanks Bellabee and all for all the hints. I have only just now got back to this due to pressure of work, so hopefully I will now make some more progress. Think I first need to focus on my original grid and make this fit 15 columns as required by the preamble.

[JackDeCrow]

Phew - there at last. Was feeling under pressure with this one as off on holiday for 2 weeks on Weds and hadn't put in a request to send this one in late! Can't believe the number of ways that the initial grid can be put together (if you don't restrict the shape), but pretty neat in the end I thought. Feeling rather tired now.
And Cruncher - completely agree about the pesky words from last week!

[tilbee]

Well that worked. Finally realised that my original grid (which also had letters jutting out all over the place) did not in fact follow the basic requirement of being in normal clue order.

Have now fitted the solution grid, and have the new thematic word.On now to look for the final thematic phrase - or maybe tomorrow.

[tilbee]

Eureka !

[contendo]

Apache4D - Word A has more than one meaning and each synonym corresponds with a different meaning, but these are not synonymous with each other.

[Rogue-Elfe]

Bellabee, thanks for your line of gentle nudges. I can reveal I had a 9 by n grid (where n was originally 24 reduced to 22 by forming B). One of your hints, above all the rest, was the most helpful - and I now have the amazing endgame PDM which was not dampened in the slightest. Hopefully not too blatant, but I did wonder about those. Also, I was looking for the wrong word(s) from the wreckage; and in the wrong area of wreckage. Oh, and my comment about projecting was (a) literally true, and (b) look 4 main entries down from the correct 2-word phrase in the BRB and you get another one. Thanks for allowing me to continue my run of correct entries. Wonderful.

[Rogue-Elfe]

Mysterons; I need to thank you as well - for advising me to read the last pre-amble sentence again.

[starwalker]

Finally limped across the finishing line last night. An amazing puzzle.

[segue]

Apache 4D - since I'm close to throwing in the towel on this one - how is the Bakewell biography? I'm a big fan (of Montaigne) but sadly missed Living with Princes on R3 the other day. Thanks all for your encouragement: vicarious enjoyment of others' success is the next best thing to completing these stinkers myself.

[bellabee]

cheers tilbee and rogue-elfe. after all that effort i think we deserve the endgame. but yes rogue-elfe i probably nudged the line there. strange that i should misquote you on that crucial word. no wonder you were struggling to squeeze it in!

[lyrabelacqua]

Very nice puzzle, but what an off-putting rubric!. Finished at last. But even with a full grid and highlights I took my time working out why the title is what it is. Duh.

What shall I do with the rest of my week? End world hunger.? Anything seems possible now.

[Ottorino]

I'm firmly in the camp occupied by (among others) AHearer, Andrew G-S, Cruncher,Mysterons, Ruthrobin and Starwalker. This is a Listener crossword somewhere near its best with the kind of layering that with much effort brings a satisfactory final outcome. I'm lukewarm about cold solving but in this case, fifteen or twenty solves should lead to some meshing and a little help with unsolved clues. There is no final leap into the void and as Europe's worst lateral thinker, I give thanks for that in much the same way that I cursed "Cross Country" despite all its other virtues

[tenflags]

not a good week to start late (missing the weekend), especially as a relative newie and v slow anyway. Even with much effort since I have only done 9 clues and even with word A identified and assisting i'm very much struggling. Have an idea what this might be about and given the comments here about how good the result is I shall try to persevere but this one might be beyond me if I can't even get to a tipping point.. let alone the end game. Hey ho.

[Apache4D]

Thanks contendo, have brought my squared exercise book home from work for inspiration!

Segue - I came across Montaigne as a complete newbie after reading Alain de Botton's The consolations of philosophy, he appealed to me the most out of all the philosophers covered. Plus the fact that I have regular trips to his hometown Bordeaux.

I am really enjoying it, it is not a typical biography. It serves as a beginners guide to his essays, written in a very conversational and engaging way, relating his musings to everyday life. It has the added bonus that whilst doing it, she tells the story of the man himself. Give it a go :-)

[IainGrace]

On the Montaigne theme, there's also Saul Frampton's "When I Am Playing With My Cat, How Do I Know She Is Not Playing With Me".

[Clamzy]

Wednesday finish for the English as well.
I agree that this was a fine example of the art of Listener setting - Thank you Phi.
Unlike some earlier finishers I didn't find the end game difficult at all; it was the middle bit which had me baffled. More!