Listener 4140 "Jumping to Conclusion" by Sabre

[Zabadak]

Not even close yet: I have almost all the "outside" clues and most of the ones that start on the outside, but tracking them through the knight moves is pretty desperate at the moment. I'm toying with the idea of spreadsheeting it (or just using a bigger version of the grid) and putting each letter in whatever squares the moves get to until I find some matches. Trouble is, I'm finding the "inside" clues the most adamantine. Anyone out there reporting success just yet?

[tenflags]

Ditto Contendo and BC .. a couple left to go I think .. and real strokey beard time (if I had one).

[Clamzy]

Phew! Judging difficulty is a personal thing but as a yardstick for me, the last time I failed to submit an entry was Char by Pieman in 2006. This is the closest I've come since then to giving up. Like most of you I found the outside entries no problem but came to a grinding halt on 19, 23 and 36. Added to that I fell for the red herring and my attempts at grid fill were going nowhere. After 2 days of futile pondering, I asked a friend for a nudge and limped over the line somewhat exhausted.
When I received the puzzle I was foolish enough to remark that Sabre was not as fearsome as of old. How wrong can you be?

[JackDeCrow]

I'm very glad I missed the red herring - quite hard enough without it! Mind you, the title was well chosen to make one paranoid that anything one assumed to start with was likely to be wrong!

[Ruthrobin]

And say no more on that score - I plead yet again that we owe it to Sabre not to spoil this one - for him or other solvers. Ten flags, ask me for help on those if you need it still.

[Speravi]

I endorse Contendo's sentiments. A while ago I posted an opinion that expressed disappointment about the frequency of cartes blanche, but a better analysis would have focused on the incidence of offerings that had a high proportion of clues that required cold solving before the benefits of crossing words could be accessed (I don't think we're allowed to say lights these days).

[contendo]

What's wrong with "lights"?

[logophile]

? reference to shade/colour, ergo non-PC

[Clamzy]

So that's why Blackpool use 13 letters instead of six to describe their Autumn event.

[serpentinew]

Down to last clue (19ac) and my beard has well and truly been stroked.
Happy with the explanation of the others though (10dn) seems a bit of a stretch in my opinion,,though confirmed by the horsey moves.
Anyone willing to give me a gentle nudge over the finishing line - you can email me at [email protected]. I'm at the point where a blatant push might be the decent thing. I can offer assistance in return on any other clue.

[Cruncher]

Thought this was unsolvable for a long time and personally had to cold solve all the clues before I could fit the central 6x6 together. 35dn was the most elusive for me. I have a working solution but am puzzled to find that one of the 6x6 squares is effectively redundant - i.e. it is possible to enter all the answers without filling the square. Did anybody else find that?
Serpentinew - if you're still stuck drop me a line - [email protected]

[Mysterons]

19 is tricky, as it's a modern portmanteaux word, not in older dictionaries - the wordplay is exactly what it says, ie R + anagram. You shouldn't have any empty cells Cruncher - which one is it ?

[Cruncher]

It's alright Mysterons. I've filled it in now. I had let one of my entries protrude too far into the central grid before it started hopping

[serpentinew]

Thanks Cruncher and Mysterons - definitely a new word for me.

[Philoctetes]

This may well sort some goats from the sheep - checking that all letters are in the right place is a nightmare. And how anyone could work out the six-letter words before the finishing line was in sight is beyond me. A nice challenge.
Also, not sure why this puzzle warranted a warning not to give too much away any more than any other.

[pushmi-pullyu]

I keep resolving not to spend any more time on this one, and then returning to it, only to be as stuck as ever. With 3 clues still to solve I haven't got much hope of filling the central square.

[Philoctetes]

I think most of us have been in that boat, P-P. It can be done. Take each answer - 30 is a good one to start with - and work out possible paths. It actually does start falling into place. Keep it up!

[tenflags]

Fell into pretty much every red-herring / trap along the way. I used to like chess.Tricky setter this Sabre.

Can take some small comfort / encouragement that I managed to get a few difficult ones earlier than normal for me, that some other brighter folk than me seem to have had struggled with, before running into sand myself and dragging over the line cross eyed.

[easterfool]

MAde it - an earlier than usual finish for me i.e.before teh next offering from the Listener. I always like but dread Sabre's offerings - beautiful clues with horrendous catches here there and everywhere. This one lived up to that opinion, but I really can't work out 5d in detail even though I know the answer has to have a certain letter in 4th position for my knight to complete one of his tours. What am I missing in the wordplay (definition very clear)?
Thanks Sabre and everyone else. I enjoyed reading the thread, glad I started and finished early - it makes it all much more interesting.
Glad to have missed the problems of last thread - please come back CJ. With the Leeds connection I can guess the deep reason for the dislike of the N tag, many of my best school friends from Manchester had the same reason.

[Malcolmd]

Pushmi Pullyu, how are you doing with the grid fill with 3 clues unanswered? I have 2 to go (17a and 26d) and the permutations of the fill seem quite dauniting. Very enjoyable so far.

[pushmi-pullyu]

Malcolmd, I'm stuck on different ones, though 17a gave me a lot of difficulty before I finally got there. I'm totally stumped by 23d, and am wondering whether 35d is in Chambers? And I know I'm in good company being baffled by 5d. As for the grid fill, I thought I was getting there only to come up against a brick wall.