Listener 4249 Play's Opening By Shark

[olichant]

This seemed so easy at first - until half the grid was filled and I was suddenly utterly stumped. Even with almost all the grid filled, the penny took a long time to drop. But what a clever treatment of the theme, even if it's not exactly my favourite.

[starwalker]

When I left this last night, I was in the awkward position of having a full grid, got the theme, but was missing three of the changed letters ! Hopefully a clearer head will allow me to finish. Thanks Shark - my son-in-law would be proud of you (if he were a Listener solver).

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, so would my son. How good to see a crossword that comes together so well thematically in the end. Superb construction! Thank you Shark!

[lyrabelacqua]

An absolute corker. Much enjoyed and brilliant construction. But am I alone in thinking the end result is a touch illegal?

[upsetter]

Good fun but decided that the final colouring isn't a matter of life and death

[perseverer]

Yes, another fine construction, but lack of familiarity with the theme may cause a problem for some.

[jim360]

Fairly sure I have a full grid before the endgame, and some idea of where the small circle goes and the line to follow it. But stumped by the -- wait, no I'm not, as soon as I typed this I saw one of the thematic markings.

[AHearer]

The construction is very nice, and the clues pretty straightforward and fair, but the theme itself does nothing for me -- and, unlike others, I can't even claim a relation who's interested. Nevertheless, thank you Shark.

Now to tackle Schadenfreude's latest offering in CAM.

[Simplex]

Agreed. Not a subject I know much about, so I don't quite get the subtleties of the thin red line yet, apart from the obvious. Maybe it refers to some heroic/disgraceful incident from about 1897 that lingers on in folk memory as if 'twere yesterday. As for the final colouring, my set of coloured pencils has one of the exact appropriate colour, but I don't think I'll risk using it.

Onward to this month's Magpies :-)

[Texasetes]

Is this one tricky, or is everyone on their hols?

Overall, a lukewarm reaction here, I'm afraid. The grid really is quite impressive but the subject holds as little interest for me now as it did last year. I realise I'm in a small minority, but it's something about which I am entirely unashamed. So there.

Back to Schadenfreude.

[teuchter2]

Grid filled slowly - tennis too gripping yesterday. I have the three thematic markings, all the correct letters and understand what their order should be, but I've no idea what it's supposed to represent! Nice to see my team in the grid, preceded by an apt description of the SPL (before changes have been made)!

[Simplex]

Ooh, well spotted, teuchter2. Schadenfreude indeed?

[contendo]

I seem to have filled the grid while only getting 4 of the misprints and I have no idea of the theme. I'll have to go over all the clues again with a fine-tooth comb (as opposed to a fine tooth-comb).

[IainGrace]

Enjoyable enough if some of it seems slightly pointless. Got the line, the small circle and two of the three thematic markings. These are presumably something different from the thematic "feature", in which case we are still one short. Working that out may help us to identify the feature spotted by Teuchter2, which will be of interest to another long suffering fan here.

[trux]

Done in two sessions either side of sportsfest and BBQs (now - at last - Summer seems to have started here). Splendid construction indeed, and a perfectly worthy theme imho. Clues were of high standard with good surfaces, some extra candidates for misprints (e.g. in 10a) neatly eliminated by them making a self-checking "set" and most aesthetic endgame (although it might have been even prettier had they actually 41a'd). Many thanks to Shark for another excellent puzzle.

[tilbee]

Made a start on this whilst waiting for the Rolling Stones to come on stage yesterday, but needed to turn to BRB for assistance today to finally complete. All thematic elements now identified, but still need to work out the significance of the red line.

[Arcticpenguin]

Like Teuchter 2 I have no idea what the red line is supposed to represent. Just looks like an afterthought added at the end (assuming I've got it right). Otherwise good fun.

[Anapice]

The red line represents exactly what the title says.

[Philoctetes]

But what is the theme? I know what Shark wants, but, IMHO, the seven letters "in thematic order" could have been any one of a thousand sets of letters. What makes this particular one thematic? And what is the point of the particular arrangement of the circles? Or leaving some letters out, simply so that they could have attention drawn to them. And why this weekend? Undoubtedly verging on the clever, this puzzle is simply a fairly random cllection of loosely related tricks, not a themed puzzle.

[JustinTime]

Is anyone else bothered by the word 'few' in the rubric ?
As I reckon we have the solution sorted, I think the rubric is misleading,
The construction is quite clever but the theme leaves me cold.

[Anapice]

Hoping not to give anything away to those who haven't yet finished; the 7 letters are "thematic" because they indicate the location of the play and why the colour is red.