Listener 4667 Classicist By Gorrag

[Hagen]

Extremely difficult, and unless I've missed something after hours of searching, a certain amount of insider knowledge is necessary to understand some of the thematic connections. I don't possess that knowledge, so I can only guess at the significance of some of the thematic material. I don't want to diss a tribute puzzle (it's a lovely idea) but I would have preferred to be able to confirm the link between the writer and the thematic items.

[sunny-dave]

That was hard - very well crafted and indeed a suitable tribute.

Thanks Gorrag - a pleasant afternoon of puzzling

[emcee]

An excellent, difficult puzzle. The PDM was very cleverly concealed.

Thanks, Gorrag (a combination of setters maybe?).

[HawkCrossword]

I agree. This was very hard, but most rewarding to complete, even if I too don't understand the link to the thematic items. I'm sure that will become clear in the fullness of time.

Thanks, Gorrag for a really stretching solve.

[Scorpius]

One of the hardest, possibly the hardest, this year for me. However, I enjoyed it far more than the toughie of two weeks ago. The difference here was that I could nibble away at it bit by bit, making slow but steady progress, without any lengthy hiatus scanning lists of possible thematic words.

The clues were indeed very tough, partly because the omitted letters were so well concealed in many places.

It did take extensive searching on Google to confirm the writer, though there was no doubt about my final grid with the highlighting, so it wasn't essential for the solution.

A very satisfying puzzle indeed. I don't think I have any doubt about the setter, or one of the setters if it's a joint effort.

[upsetter]

We agree with all the above - tough but fair.

Thanks, Gorrag.

[Liathach]

I agree with the comments above. The middle of the the grid was tricky, for obvious reasons. I have not been successful in finding anything about the writer and his works.

[NickorWan]

I thoroughly enjoyed this. An excellent piece of setting. Really tough, as others have said, and never yielding, even after a couple of pdms. I’d be very happy to have a serious challenge like this every few weeks.

Very nice tribute too.

Thanks very much, Gorrag.

[Philoctetes]

Certainly hard, but very fair. I did like the use of the extra letters, in both respects.

[Dim16]

As someone who only completes about 1 in 6 of these puzzles, and having read the comments here, I am now giving up safe in the knowledge that no matter how much more time I might spend on it I will fail to complete, but happy to have solved half the clues and identified 5 or 6 of the thematic words. No chance of identifying the writer and I struggled with the LHS of the grid. Look forward to seeing the answers in due course.

[HawkCrossword]

You've done particularly well to get that far, Dim16. That was as far as I got until I had a lightbulb moment regarding the writer. It required some lateral thinking and a brief internet search to then progress. Many will say this is a somewhat unfair puzzle, and they would have a point, as it is quite unusual.

[Cruncher]

Not my fastest solve, but happy to have made it before the week is up. Fruitless Googling, of course, and then it all became clear, although I expect I will spend a lot of time checking my maths for the perimeter entries. Very tough indeed but totally fair IMHO

[Dim16]

Further to my previous post I was just about to give up when I had a couple of PDMs. As a result I have got agonisingly close to finishing, but am unable to solve one of the perimeter clues or identify the writer. Enjoyable puzzle!

[IainGrace]

Agree with comments. Slow but steady through a very tough and well constructed puzzle.