Listener 4396: The Listener Audience By Pointer

[AHearer]

Had a lucky start because a few of my early solves contained relatively uncommon letters, so the grid-fill could start quickly. Nice clues, with a nice balance of easy and tricky. Once I had the full grid, my first thought was that with grid-staring ahead I should put it aside and come back with a fresh mind tomorrow morning, but things suddenly went ping, and I could see how the title worked, too. Thanks, Pointer.

[starwalker]

I've just got to the state of a full grid and will leave it there until tomorrow. It is very much a thing of luck that the clues one has solved can give a starting point either straightaway or sometimes much, much later. Looking forward to the finale. Thanks Pointer.

[Ruthrobin]

The endgame took us twice as long as the filling of the grid which was, indeed, not difficult once a couple of letters intersected successfully. Thanks to Pointer for a challenge.

[Hagen]

I had the same experience as RuthRobin. I almost didn't bother with this as it looked impossible but the clues turned out to be quite easy and I had the grid filled pretty quickly. Then lots of frustration before the tea tray finally clanged. I normally dislike puzzles where the endgame takes longer than the gridfill but this was very much an exception. I thought the whole conception was brilliant and goodness knows how Pointer filled the grid so neatly. I really enjoyed this, thanks Pointer.

[emcee]

Clues were very approachable.

The endgame was clever and initially took some spotting. Once you knew what you were looking for the solve went much quicker.

The title was apt and I wonder whether some will highlight the wrong example.

On the whole very enjoyable. Many thanks, Pointer for such a clever construction.

[IainGrace]

Just embarking on this and finding clues worryingly easy. Comments noted.

[Scorpius]

Emcee's reference to the aptness of the title has me worried and I wonder if I've fallen for a gigantic red herring (or rather, many red herrings) since I don't see a connection between the title and the theme that I have, nor between the title and my chosen candidate for the highlighting, though I can see a connection with another candidate that I have rejected.

[icynorth]

Most enjoyable, Thanks Pointer!

Nice accessible start, and then a series of revelations. I too was hooked on the red herring for a while. Clever grid, too.

[Scorpius]

Shortly after posting my last message I saw the somewhat contrived relevance of the title, confirming my highlighting choice.

I enjoyed piecing the grid together, but I don't much care for puzzles where completion of the grid is then followed by grid staring and grid manipulation that takes twice as long as the initial fill, especially when one has no idea what one is supposed to be looking for. Nothing in the title, preamble or clears contains anything to steer the solver towards the theme as far as I can see, so it struck me as what has been termed a GWIT puzzle (Guess What I'm thinking), a term that is rather more apt than the any of the six unclued entries.
As if the theme were not elusive enough, solvers were given a preamble that contains a misleading statement (which led me to reject some choices in the early stages that turned out to be right) and some other information that was unhelpful in its presentation.

I shall be interested to see whether Uncle is Angry, Ugly or Happy this week.

[Antmark]

Did anyone else have an issue with the answers in the bottom row ?

[Antmark]

Meaning the order in which they were inserted.

[Scorpius]

Antmark, they follow the same pattern as the others. I don't see an issue.

[HappyUncle]

I've been away for a couple of weeks but I see that my return is timely, at least for Scorpius. Last night I was on the verge of Anger after many minutes of fruitless staring, but at 6am (isn't the brain a wonderful thing?) I realised that the asymmetry of the grid, together with the instruction on substitutions, provided a significant Pointer. Experimenting with one of the more constrained possibilities confirmed my suspicions and led rapidly to the final PDM.

I think the presentation of the revised word lengths might have been handled differently without giving the game away, and the title is a bit contrived, but I enjoyed this one a lot and marvel at the construction - I do concede however that I might easily have remained stuck at the GWIT stage.

[Philoctetes]

I think Scorpius is being slightly unfair. The preamble describes exactly the processes required. The theme is commonly used, and its use in this context is confirmed by the BRB. All in all a sweet puzzle.

[upsetter]

Another extraordinary feat of composition. It may be in the nature of cartes blanches, but grid fill is always initially impossible and then almost automatic (virtually unch-free).
The theme was pleasing, but still too much of a grid-stare.