Listener Crossword 4708 Diamond By Karla

[upsetter]

Another beautiful puzzle ending with a perfect length grid stare - keep up the good work chaps.

Thanks Karla.

[emcee]

There must be a really evil one in the pipeline.

[sunny-dave]

Very good indeed - some nice clues and a couple of tricky missing letters. Final resolution wasn't too tricky.

Ideal for a weekend with beer and visitors and sunshine due :)

Thanks Karla

[HawkCrossword]

As the theme started to emerge, I was expecting something quite different, but it's always nice to have a surprise.

Evil one in the pipeline? Don't tempt me :-)

Thanks, Karla!

[emcee]

Ha! I hadn't thought of that, HawkCrossword. Very good!

[Dim16]

Kudos to those who have completed this. I have solved the grid and have the first three thematic words, but have no idea what the symbols etc is all about.

Nice clues, and I appreciated the fact that more entries than usual were words I am familiar with.

[Dim16]

Still, managed to do the Inquisitor so the week is not a complete write-off.

[Dim16]

Intriguing.

From the comments here it seems that if one has completed the grid, and identified the first three thematic words, then it should be straightforward to find the two word phrase.

But in my case, although I feel I have correctly identified the theme I cannot find any two word phrase in the grid. Maybe I need to know the phrase first in order to find it, but if so the phrase should be fairly obvious.

And I can't see how replacing 14 letters in the grid with a single symbol (or maybe different symbols?) is going to reveal anything relevant to the theme. But I guess that might become clear should I identify the two word phrase.

Just have to conclude that I am being dim.

Certainly looking forward to seeing the answer.

[perseverer]

I know it is frowned upon to give anything away on this site, and also you have said before you want to do the puzzle without any help, but if you have correctly identified the word from the down clues, focus on that.

[HawkCrossword]

This is the type of puzzle I'd have struggled with a lot when I started solving. It's certainly one where experience helps a lot. You do need to work on spotting as many of the extra words and omitted letters as you can, to give yourself a chance of spotting the links and themes within. Good luck!

[Dim16]

Perseverer, Hawkcrossword

Thank you for your encouragement, which I have only just read.

I think I have to give up on this one. The endgame is a weakness of mine but hopefully the more I try the better I will get.