Listener 4149: Toga by Nod

[midazolam]

An enjoyable Listener debut from Nod

A concise preamble for once, straightforward clues and a nice finish to round it off. A few of the clues I had the wrong letter, despite being perfectly acceptable alternatives, which may have been deliberate.

Classic Listener fun. Thanks Nod

[starwalker]

Started this at a gallop and finished at a slow trot. Getting the wrong letter definitely slowed things down, but was recoverable later.

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, a Friday grid fill but I am sure there must have been some deliberately misleading clues as far as 'getting the wrong letter' is concerned as I am having trouble finishing.

[contendo]

Thought I might join the Friday club just this once but I can't quite figure out the advice. Maybe tomorrow will bring enlightenment.

[AHearer]

I'm with Ruthrobin and contendo on this one: I have what looks like a clear set of 'advice', but I've not yet succeeded in following it. I'll sleep on it.

[trux]

Like others, grid filled but advice neither clear nor heeded .... best plan must be to sleep on it

[AndrewG-S]

Ditto, full grid and advice but not sure what to do with it. Hopefully with wake up at 3am with the answer.

[AHearer]

Hope you'll have a longer sleep than that, AndrewG-S. I used to keep a pencil and paper by the bedside, but gave up after too many small-hours scribblings in the dark were totally illegible.

[Zabadak]

H'm. I think I'm with the not-quite-getting-it set tonight: there's a lot of (deliberate?) vagueness in this one, with some critical letters (20d a case in point) being perm any one from about a dozen. I have an instruction, but the first word is so vague (if I've surmised the right letter from 11a) as to be currently meaningless - at least until inspiration (or the right guess) strikes.
Congrats to those who have stumbled on the solution. I've just stumbled (again).

[Ruthrobin]

Made the Friday club after all - a delightful finish, thank you Nod!

[AndrewG-S]

Yes very good finish - woke up at 2am with the idea and then sorted it out this morning. I did keep the pencil and paper by the bed but would not have been popular with scribbling in the middle of the night. Thanks Nod.

[borealis]

Saturday morning dawns clear, as does advice. Like others above I had a few letters wrong. Lots of intuitive leaps in this one, in both clueing and advice, with some bits of hard slog confirming afterwards what you know should be right. Nice ending, and I liked 12d.
Now where are the pens from that set that I put aside as fairly useless?

[trux]

Rarely have I seen such unanimity in the AB thread .... scamper through clues, not entirely sure about some of the extras, scratch head re further advice, dawn breaks (or midnight oil gets burned) and happy with final endgame. Well .... ditto for me (and I didn't lose any sleep over it either as there clearly had to be a way). Many thanks, Nod.

[AndrewG-S]

Yes interesting, perhaps it was something to do with the wine served at the Friday night club? I was feeling a bit off colour this morning.

[Rogue-Elfe]

Nearly there, and have figured out the extra letters - the one that I found the most misleading was 15d, though I got 20d wrong as well.
Does anybody else have a cow?

[Rogue-Elfe]

Yeah, done it now. 19a is another one to watch out for - it proves I'm just a little bit racist, but then again isn't everyone?

[perseverer]

All finished. Clever idea. Didn't know "it" was called "that," so something new learned.

Held up by 22ac - not in my older BRB.

[pushmi-pullyu]

A very quick (for me) grid fill, relying shamelessy on Word Wizard for a lot of the longer entries. Thoroughly enjoyed the denouement. Fun all round.

[jabone]

After a hard week, a very satisfying solve for a tired brain; I'd forgotten 'it' was called 'that' (found it in a book I know I've read and which I'd bought to help with a previous Listener). Now back to unfinished Magpie!

[tilbee]

Late start today, but relatively quick gridfill. Took some time to decipher the last word of the instruction due to some incorrect assumptions and ambiguities. Based on comments here, now look forward to trying to work out how to follow the advice.

[AHearer]

Mulled it over while up a ladder painting -- and it works! Very neat. Thank you, Nod.