Listener 4133

[Ruthrobin]

No, not completed yet, but I have found the quotations and this changes from hard grind to pleasure.

[tilbee]

Contendo - I would stick with it if you have the time, This one is worth the effort, I feel. As already suggested some of the more obscure or forced words in the clues already suggest themselves as misprints.

[dr b]

Managed to finish this one while on the road; yay for hotel Wifi. All around, an excellent puzzle. Google was no help at all (for me, anyway) finding the author of the first quote.

[IainGrace]

Agree with Tilbee. Well constructed and enjoyable. Struggled initially with some quite difficult clueing, not helped by being unable to rely on the authenticity of intersecting letters, but got the quotation and the method of treatment in due course. Not yet finished but on the last lap. For those who still toil, well worth persevering.

[freiheid]

Really good, with some satisfying tough clues. Grid completion was helped by finding the highlight subjects, well before working out the quote!

[dead-eye]

thoroughly enjoyable challenge. had to put it aside a few times before making slow progress. final entry was the author which i completely failed to spot.Contendo, I'm sure you will be drawn back to this one.

[cluelessJoe]

Yes, very pleasing. I don't like jumbles and the quotation-containing-instruction gimmick is becoming a bit hackneyed ... but this puzzle proved to be an exception for me, and the challenging level of the clues kept the interest to the finish. I had to tackle it piecemeal owing to fine weather and an acre of dandelions to fight but even with a good run I'd have been pushed to finish it by Saturday. Thanks Tiburon

[AndrewG-S]

Next two weeks could be interesting. I predict an easy one for the Easter Weekend and then probably a tough/thematic one for the Royal Wedding. I had a go at the Silver Jubilee one a while ago which was pretty much impossible (Knight's tour on a cube).

[JackDeCrow]

That certainly was hard. Didn't get as much time as I would have liked over the weekend, but have spent way more time on it today than I probably should have! Was also held up by having one wrong author for a long time - and still chuckling about duck soup, which was my last answer!

[Philoctetes]

Just finished. A thoroughly enjoyable blend of tough cluing and some obscure words. I did like 28, but thought 2 a little unsatisfactory. And a good progression of PDMs. So thanks Tiburon

[Clamzy]

Sorry to be such a 37 across but this one didn't light my fire. I appreciate that the setters among you admire the skills of grid construction and the like, but speaking as a pure solver, for me the rewards didn't justify the long hard slog.

[aldanna]

I am progressing very slowly with this, hampered (my excuse) by a terrible copy as printer has developed a mind of its own recently. I think this is difficult as there are so many possible misprints. No idea about the quotation yet, which obviously would solve all my problems (maybe).

[perseverer]

Have to say I was pretty impressed with this puzzle (now that I have managed to sort out a few wordplays that had left me baffled.) Seems to me that Tiburon has proved himself (if he still needed to) to be a worthy successor to Viking in the editorial team. A number of taxing clues and a good quota of the type where you wonder why you had so much bother solving them, 2 down probably my favourite. Agree that the symmetry thing seems to appeal to the purists, but in this case it was helpful in picking out the thematic clues. My (old) ODQ was no use whatsoever, and like Dr B, I found that, while Google helped to get the second quotation by accident, it led me astray looking for the first author.

[tenflags]

Rear-gunner Tenflags true to nature struggling on.. over half way with the clues, have the quotes etc., and geddit. However due to the nature of the beast I don't see the floodgates opening or indeed a tipping point.. just more hard work.

Worth noting Perseverer's comments about word-play as I have a few possibilities that I can't justify yet. Will take that namesake (i.e. persevere) for the time being at least.

[silversolver]

Came to this one late after returning from skiing yesterday. A slow start but eventually the quotations emerged... things then progressed a bit more quickly and have now finally finished. I thought this was a really excellent puzzle - some lovely and very hard clues (particularly enjoyed 8dn and 21ac). Thanks, Tiburon.

[Speravi]

I tend to agree with Clamzy: slog is the mot juste.

The title constitutes an irony (in the proper sense of the word) in that the idea was used by Kea in Inquisitor 141 "Formula", so hardly "All New". The absence of a reference for confirmation of the quotations was unhelpful, particularly as there is some evidence to suggest that there is an inaccuracy, or at least an infelicity, in relation to one of the "subjects". There seem to be some remnants in the final grid of an alternative view of the subject of the first quotation, although they may be coincidental. Occasionally inventive cluing kept me going and provided some rewards.

[jabone]

Is 14A in Chambers? I'm only missing the first letter, think I understand how it could be constructed, but can't do it. I suppose one of my letters is wrong but can't see how.

[Clamzy]

Jabone - I had the same problem but it is in Chambers.

[jabone]

Thanks Clamzy, I will struggle on - meanwhile the rest of my life is on hold!

[tenflags]

Spooky, I'm there now but finally just trying to justify the wordplay for 14a myself.

I'm not as practiced or adept as most here so i'm pleased to have got there. This was a real work out for me and whilst I didn't enjoy parts of the slog some clues were clever and fun.

Hi Spavari, I'm not familiar with inquisitor 141, or if your comment was cryptic, but the title here has a special relevance I think.

[jabone]

Done it! Thanks again to Clamzy for a helpful, but not too explicit, reply.