Listener no 4157 Easy Win by Ilver

[Ruthrobin]

Thought I'd begin the Friday club. What joy to see another new Listener name and what succinct cluing! A speedy fill then a delightful pdm for me with the theme cleverly holding it all together and what head-scratching before the final touch fell into place. Magic, thank you Ilver!

[jim360]

Finished - almost my first solo solve (completed grid up to perimeter on my own and found the 8-letter rearrangement, but not all the words due to not knowing my round the BRB yet) and found the substitution too.

Might be last listener for a while, though! They take up a fair amount of time which I don't have much of now I am back at university.

[contendo]

Finally spotted the letter change which will reveal a thematic 6-letter word. The only thing is that, far from making a new thematic entry of the entered answer, it makes a non-word of it. Have I still got something else to do?

[tilbee]

Contendo - you will also find a reference to the amended answer in the obvious place in BRB, though does not have an entry of its own.

[perseverer]

Finally got it - answer is so obvious when you think about it - so why did it take me the best part of two days?

[Antmark]

Just worked out that the title too is anagrammatical and refers to the theme. Enjoyed this one too.

[contendo]

Aha! Thank you Tilbee. I hadn't spotted the relevance of the ending of the said word. As so often, obvious once you think of it.

[jabone]

Finished at last (but didn't start until this morning). Strangely I created exactly the same typo as trux, which didn't help the prolonged final head-scratching phase. Most enjoyable.

[Zechstein]

Worked out the hint for the theme (I think), but struggling to figure out the unclued thematic entries around the perimeter. Think I've got the clue to highlight, though...

[u10]

Once I had adjusted the normally entered answer, I was expecting the same thematic relevance as the perimeter entries. However unless I'm missing something, it seems that it has one significant difference. The highlighted word nicely sums up both words of the theme.

[pushmi-pullyu]

Finally got there after realising that one of the answers I'd written in was wrong by one letter, which of course was a critical one. Shows yet again that if you don't understand an answer then chances are it's wrong.

[IainGrace]

Antmark, yes spotted the thematic anagram of the title too. Off on hols for a couple of weeks or so, so probably miss a few puzzles.

[fyellin]

I'm surprised by the comments about people not knowing the meaning of the 8-letter theme. I believe it's reasonably common knowledge here in the US. Is it less so in the UK?

[sunny-dave]

Well the penny did eventually drop (cue the usual banging of fist against forehead and mutterings of "d'oh"). Lovely puzzle and nice thematic confirmations at the very end.

Now working my way back through previous puzzles - with surpsisingly few problems given an 18 month layoff. Done back to 4153 so far and 4152 looks simple enough at first glance. I presume there's a stinker lurking somewhere in the woodpile ?

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, Sunny-dave. I would nominate 4131 and 4140. When you've managed drawing graphs on the torus, have a go at the knights' moves. They should give you all the challenge you you are looking for!

[Walterloo]

Oh, for crying out loud, I've just got it. After a weekend of staring at the grid between two hikes in the country, plus starting AND finishing TWO Magpie puzzles, I've found the 6 letter word. Thanks emcee for the BRB hint.

[trux]

How pleasing to see so many people grappling with endgame, then finally getting the pdm, and smiling at the result. Real essence of Listener, methinks.

[Walterloo]

From a personal perspective I found this puzzle an entertaining ride and very rewarding - once the frustration of trying to find the 6 letter word had been banished of course. I remember a certain puzzle by MynoT that caused a stir here on this site a few years back that held me in an iron-clad grip of frustration until the pdm. That also required words to be highlighted that were of the same 'origin' as the one in Ilver's puzzle. I failed to see both pdm's

[Walterloo]

Sorry, trying to type this on an iPod and my fingers betrayed me.

... both pdm's until a few days after starting them. It just goes to show how these can catch you out if your mind is on a too literal path. A certain degree of lateral thinking is required at times and that's never been my strong point! I tend to thrive on difficult puzzles that require more construction than endgame.
Thanks Ilver.

[ichkeria]

The clues in this were what I'd call classic "Listener". Functional, full of microscopic, obscure wordplay and precious little wit. But that doesn't take away from the construction.
On the subject of the torus puzz,e there would have been a chance to throw eggs/garlands of flowers at the TV screen earlier as the setter of that puzzle appeard on a quiz program.

[Ruthrobin]

And wasn't he superb? I felt that his performance demonstrated the type of spectacular mind that is behind some of these Listener crosswords. I was a light-year behind mentally and simply delighted when the 'crossword' side won.