Mynot Listener 4290 All Write

[Ruthrobin]

This seemed very daunting at first with so much going on but turned into a happy romp once the device became clear, and especially when the quotation emerged. Thank you MynoT

[olichant]

The NE corner was a huge struggle for me for some reason, but got there in the end. A clever construction, to be sure. I originally thought I had found two clues that were thematically treated twice, but I was doing MynoT a huge disservice by making a massively wrong assumption (ruthrobin and trux would, I imagine, have been absolutely up in arms had I been right). Happy Easter to all.

[borealis]

We deal in equivalence of meaning (never exact, and we accept Chambers and usage) so we must accept some latitude in equivalence here. Like IanGrace and any others of our ilk, I found 32 challenging, but I'm with Ruthrobin here - I am surprised how good a job MynoT has done to keep us solvers, who don't all have equivalent backgrounds, happy. I wonder how many he rejected?
Unlike jim360, I found the slow-but-steady progress most enjoyable - no blinding pdms, but a lot of laughter about individual clues/entries. The quotation a joy - Contendo, you should re-examine yours if not directly relevant? Thanks MynoT!

[aldanna]

Like Olichant, I am stalled on the NE corner (just seven squares to go!). I found this less than easy but it has been a very busy weekend so little time to devote to it. I rather liked it, though.

[tristram37]

Well I'm lost in admiration of those who found the cluing gentle. I thought the puzzle was a brute and was not sure I'd be able to finish it. But it was OK in the end and the modified quotation was undoubtedly relevant. The various reservations hinted at in earlier posts totally passed me by!

[EAChaplin]

I wonder if an adjoining letter would be acceptable, in the SE corner of the perimeter? I only ask because there have been a few instances of leniency recently - 'product' springs to mind.

[roslyn251254]

Got to the finishing point at last, but by no means easy for me!

[maurice]

Isn't the clue for 34d faulty? There's no indication the solution (before change) is an anagram, and I can't understand it any other way.

[jim360]

34d isn't an anagram, and is fine as it stands.

[s_pugh]

A very enjoyable puzzle from MynoT - but I think I know why Contendo was confused as I too made the same mistake initially until I saw the light. As ever it pays to read and re-read the preamble! Therein lies the answer ...

[maurice]

Imho if we're going to accept one-letter apostrophized abbreviations twice in a short word, then we can accept enything! Sorry to disagree!

[maurice]

(might be better with "anything".....)

[jim360]

Well I suppose I mean fine as in the wordplay is correct. I don't think I'd go as far as to say that it's the start of a slippery slope (Today "the = t' ", tomorrow "elephant=pink" is just a bit of hyperbole), but it's certianly not the most brilliant clue in the world.

[maurice]

Thank you, jim, I think we can agree on that! Have a nice day!

[UglyUncle]

I've only just completed my post-holiday solve of this excellent puzzle. It certainly required exceptional care, with several of the removed letters rendered ambiguous by the need to choose between two possible entries in unchecked cells. It would have been much harder to complete if the perimetric 'proverb' hadn't been so easy to deduce.

Speaking of which ... does EA Chaplin's suggested use of an 'adjoining' letter in the SE corner of the frame really work? I've opted for a revised version that imitates a significant feature of the original.

The 'equivalence' debate is one that vexes me (and a few million others) somewhat. My original tentatively treated version of the answer to 41 occurred to me quite spontaneously, but neither the BRB nor the construction allowed it, so I had to settle for an anagram of it instead!

[Cagey]

Found this hard too. A few wrong entry's held me up for ages. Done now apart from my normal careless mistakes

Already looking forward to next weeks

[Scorpius]

Having been away, I didn't tackle this until today. I made fairly quick progress in the top half but found the bottom harder, especially the SW corner, and confess to using TEA quite a lot in that area. The quote was slow to emerge because of the number of unchecked cells containing one of two possible letters, either of which could be the moved one. All the thematic treatments are supported in Chambers so I don't think any are dubious, though one or two surprised me (mainly because in one historical case, at least, I think Chambers is incorrect).
In my opinion it's by far the best Listener out of the last four. It cannot have been easy to construct.