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.

[Warden]

Thank goodness for the internet! All done now - what a difference from last week! Will have to find something else to do for the weekend.

[AHearer]

Yes, indeed, much more straightforward than last weekend's. The possibilities for the jumbled thematic items are easy to confirm by (other search engines are availabl)ing. At least one of the anagram indicators wouldn't have satisfied Ximenes, but overall a pretty neat puzzle.

[TheBear69]

Assuming I have it right (not necessarily a valid assumption!) I found the final step somewhat unsatisfying as I see no rationale for the way the deception is being represented.

[trux]

I remember enjoying the source during my schooldays, so 1A/1D fairly quickly sprung to mind ... the specific details had to be verified on the 'Net (and I suspect that will be true for most solvers). I found some clues ambiguous - but overall a pleasant jaunt down memory lane. Thanks, Dysart.

[Zabadak]

H'm. A reasonably straightforward grid fill, and there's an interesting red herring on the names, at least until the majority of the clues are in. I have all the bits, including the five letters, but I'm not happy with what to replace it with, even given the very limited range of options. No doubt there's a proper solution (and I've read the entire account of the encounter), but it just won't fall into place for me. The two word phrase in particular is elusive.
Not bad, and coherent enough thematic treatment. Just feeling a bit frustrated.
I agree with trux on the ambiguity (looseness?) of some clues.
Thanks again for your good wishes over the past week. Mrs Z is progressing very well, and it's clear that the surgery undertaken was the right choice.

[silversolver]

Yes, much more straightforward and nice to get a Friday finish - hopefully gives me time to go and complete those last couple of stubborn clues from last week (was away for most of the week so only got to it late). Trux, I too had a distant memory of the theme but needed some reminders from the internet.

[silversolver]

Zabadak - pleased to hear that Mrs Z is doing well...

[dr b]

Like others a quick grid fill; also like others I have a 7 letter sequence that makes sense, having read the source. But, like Bear & Z, not quite satisfied that the result is the right one.

[contendo]

Making steady progress with this one. Meanwhile did anyone else, like me, interpret "rub out all the odds" in the last numerical (no. 4138) as meaning rub out whole numbers, rather than individual digits? This left me with everything rubbed out except for the 2 in the south-east corner cell. As 2 codes as X "ergo X" was appropriate. I think this solution is just as valid as the official one. Grrrr.

[TheBear69]

Contendo, if you thought the instruction to rub out the odds was to apply to the entire integer answers, how could you do that and also highlight the evens? 5d is an odd number (1363) and 10a is even (17256) so did you highlight the intersecting '6' or rub it out?

[TheBear69]

Also, 3d=112 and and 10a (17256) are both even so why would you erase the 2 where they intersect?

[contendo]

TheBear - Re your first point, we were asked to shade the evens and then rub out the odds, so I shaded 10a and then rubbed out 5d. On your second point I have to admit I missed that, and the 2 where 3d and 10a intersect should have been left, which would have been messy. I just wondered whether anyone else followed the same path as me.

Trailblazers is going nicely. Without Google I would have struggled to get the two adversaries.

[trux]

Anybody else feel that the title would be even more appropriate if in the singular rather than the plural ?

[Zabadak]

Trying not to give anything away, I now have a solution which includes using extensions either end of the 7 letter sequence (can't be coincidence) and the elements (plural) depicted in the source, in a way which certainly represents the deception perfectly. The three letter square works in a way which also looks absolutely perfect. But that two word phrase?

[tilbee]

Definitely an easier grid fill this week, now onto the end game. I was sidetracked for quite some time by a famous superhero actor and the identity of an associated villain with a rather apt pseudonym !

[contendo]

The wordplay for 4dn suggests a spelling which the BRB doesn't give as a variant of the word given by the definition.

[tilbee]

Contendo - 4d is fine, but need to think outside of dictionary entry for the definition.

Zabadak - have the 5 letters and see the wrapper, but strugggling to work out the replacement.

[TheBear69]

contendo, 4d is perfectly sound as is; I suspect you are thinking of the wrong word that is being referenced in the wordplay.

On the other hand, I know the answer ot 37a but cannot fathom the wordplay there.

[trux]

The B : re 37 : the "fade" is really the only tricky bit - and rather loosely constructed as such - the tree genus is one of those words that you'll either recognise or not (but can be deduced from Word Wizard, or similar) once you've got the overall construction of the wordplay

[TheBear69]

Thanks, trux; that's clear now...