Listener 4767 Violin Wire By The Ace Of Hearts

[emcee]

Another great circular puzzle. I enjoyed solving the clues -- just pitched at the right difficulty. 32 was the final clue for me which I should have solved far quicker!

Initial inroads were made in the SW "sector" as I found the ring clues there easiest. Once the theme became apparent the whole puzzle became so much quicker.

Many thanks, TAoH, for an entertaining solve.

[upsetter]

A delightful and challenging puzzle.
We are concerned that there may be more than one possible solution to 27.

Thanks, The Ace Of Hearts.

[emcee]

Only one of the possibilities is specifically defined in the BRB.

[upsetter]

Thanks emcee.

[sunny-dave]

I love circular puzzles - and this was a beauty - totally unambiguous and (as emcee says) becoming easier as the theme was unpicked.

Some tricky clues and good vocab too.

Thanks TAoH - very enjoyable.

[mjld]

Yes, another cool puzzle for the hot weekend. BUT - coming back to it now, hoping to fill in the grid for submission, I'm still stumped on how to enter radial 14. I'm sure on all ring entries, and on all answers for the triplet 13, 14, 15, but have two choices for 14's letter in ring 2. Has no-one else found this ambiguity?

[perseverer]

Be very precise with the radial line

[mjld]

But radial 2, for example, doesn't have a precise alignment. I agree that one possible alignment for radial 14 is more satisfying than the other.

[perseverer]

A radial might be invisible but it still exists! Remember the message from the clues.

[mjld]

ok - will reconsider

[Keepatit]

I had the same thought as you, mjld. As I read it, the preamble means that one radial entry starts at the clue number cell, one ends there, and the jumble includes it, subject to the constraint that all cells in an answer must be contiguous at an edge, rather than just a corner. Any other information to restrict the choice must presumably rely on an interpretation of the word radial as a straight line from the centre of the grid to the centre of the outside ring numbered cell.

I've never seen that specified in 20 years of doing the puzzles, but it seems that most people accept it. It makes grid entry easier, and clearly identifies the likely answer as the intended one.

It does explain the significant size variation in the cells in the inner three rings too.

[HawkCrossword]

A belated thanks to The Ace of Hearts for this interesting circular puzzle, which has just greeted me on return from holiday.

I thought the radial clues were more challenging than usual, but the ring clues fell fairly quickly, which offset it nicely.

We get this grid shape maybe once or twice a year, but it's a challenge I don't seem to get tired of.