Listener 4141 : Trailblazers by Dysart

[starwalker]

Grid fill is proceding quite quickly and smoothly, especially when compared to last week.
However, I know that this will rapidly slow down as I know nothing about either the two adversaries or the title. More reading required.

[serpentinew]

BobbyCollins - if you search in the kindle section you can save yourself £1.99. Kindle books can be read on a PC. That was my solution.

[teuchter2]

Finished the grid quite quickly, but haven't managed the seven letter sequence as yet. I can't seem to summon up the enthusiasm to work on that. I didn't finish last week's either, but might have a last look tonight.

[cluelessJoe]

:)

[pushmi-pullyu]

Okay, I'm practically there now, but it seems to me that there are two possible ways of entering one of the mistreated unclued entries, and I can't see any way of deciding which to go for. I must be being exceptionally dim, because nobody else seems to have had this problem.

[TheBear69]

It's not hard to find a free online version of the source material...The Wikipedia article on it has a link to an online version

[abns]

Looking at the notes to setters mentioned earlier, these do seem to be guidelines rather than rules (I.e. Help to stop setters from wasting time on a puzzle that is unlikely to be printed rather than protection that solvers can rely on!)

"It is important to understand that in many cases these are guidelines, rather than hard and fast rules. The very nature of a Listener puzzle renders it inappropriate and impossible to set down absolute rules"

I wonder if the Internet "rule" is being relaxed. I think there's a real difference between a theme relying on a text that is actually readily available on the Internet (as was the case here) and material that can only be backed up by potentially unreliable sources like wikipedia. In the circumstances I think the theme was fine and I enjoyed the puzzle.

[Ruthrobin]

pushmi-pullyu, I think you need to look again. Two of the unclued jumbles have a couple of unches and, thus must have the same letter in there twice, all the other letters are confirmed, the other word has a single unch and three checked letters. (As usual, believe that is only saying what is evident to all).

CJ :) :)

[pushmi-pullyu]

Thanks RuthRobin, I had the wrong answer. The same 4 checked letters but two different unchecked ones. Equally valid in terms of the source material, but not making sense in the grid.

[BlackHugh]

I guess the fact that I attended a southern Grammar School excludes me from further comment on this thread.

[the_heisman]

i would say as with Twitter versus the superinjunctions, it is very hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube. The internet is hard to ignore and i would be surprised if there were many people travelling by the Glasgow underground system to watch a Kurosawa retrospective while listening to Pink Floyd.

[tilbee]

My twopenn'orth on the very interesing debate I am now catching on (minor public, Southern).

As suggested by other contributors, one of the the delights of a Listener is to research and learn about classical and popular culture that one has not previously been familiar with, Sometimes it is of interest (Kurosawa) and sometimes just tedious (chicken breeds). However it is all part of knowledge.

From the thread, I am guessing that I am relatively young (50) compared to some contributors, so classic Greek is not my bag, but Pink Floyd resonates. I hope that we continue to get younger people interested, so would not be surprised to see a themed Harry Potter puzzle soon.

[cluelessJoe]

Sorry folks, have to make a brief return from exile here:
tilbee, just before my time as a serious solver - though I remembered seeing this one and marvelling at how on earth people knew this stuff at the time (I don't think I cracked more than a handful of clues).
Check out Listener 3560 ,Trainspotter by Dimitry (= ex editor John Grimshaw) from the year 2000 which clearly predates your comment by 11 years ... solution summary reads
"Subsidiary indications in clues involve extra letters, spelling GRYF-POTTER-FINDOR, SLYTHERIN, RAVENCLAW, HUFFLEPUFF; unclued lights down are all trains, including HOGWARTS EXPRESS from platform 9¾ (which grid number is therefore to be entered)".
Incidentally, one of the prizewinners seems to have been a certain Derek Harrison, master of the Crossword Centre site.
Good ol' northern Grammar School
ciao

[tilbee]

Thanks CJ - I should have known that the encyclopaedic knowledge of contributors to this site would soon put down my vague attempt to think up a reference to modern cultutre. Think I perhaps I should have referenced something a little more contemporary - say Lady Gaga where a number of thematic elements are hidden within a meat product. Or has his alreadty been done ?

[Antmark]

Tilbee : Deadpan expression. Can faker cope?

[AndrewG-S]

Or there could be an X-Factor theme where judges names are initially included in the grid, but then have to be rubbed out if they are likely to be axed.

[Antmark]

...or "Unwelcome snappers a measure of Gaga's Fame ?" (9)

[Antmark]

...and finally Tilbee. What was she wearing ? Flesh out the answer ! (4 4)

[turast]

Southern Grammar school, but long term Northern inhabitant. I'm with the "all knowledge is good knowledge" school of thought. Definitely not familiar with this creator and I certainly couldn't find any creations in my local library. The detail required for the (very unsatisfactory and untidy in my opinion) endgame could only be obtained by reading the whole thing, which I obtained free online. I'm not tempted to read any more about this protagonist, but the great thing is, I might have been. If we are expressing personal preferences about early reading, I'd be looking for a Hornblower or Jennings & Derbyshire themed Listener. Unless they've already appeared......

[midazolam]

Welcome back cJ

Tilbee, don't forget Mr Lemon's Harry Potter themed listener puzzle in 2007 entitled Convert (no. 3936)

Not the best puzzle this week, which is why I haven't commented. Hopefully tomorrow will be better

[tenflags]

Had a busy week and only picked this up today and just a few little troublesome ones to go - so it must of been lighter than norm. I wasn't familiar with the subject matter but then I didn't have a proper eduction to start with. So I'm used to looking up new themes and subject matter on the internerd.

It strikes me as very specie in style ... hopefully I can find time to finish and find the 5/7 letter stuff before the next puzzle.