Listener 4166, Brief Appearances by Schadenfreude

[Walterloo]

Looks like a hefty and interesting challenge this week from a renowned setter. How many Friday Clubbers will there be with this one? Good luck to all.

[Zabadak]

Splendid, splendid. Didn't really crack into this until the wee small, mildly sleepless hours of Sunday morning, as both Friday night and Saturday were otherwise occupied. Astonishing construction, no ambiguities in preamble or grid (it can be done!) and right up there in the best of the year. No Z cup for me this week!

[contendo]

Slow but steady progress. Three-quarters filled but the north-west quadrant almost empty so far. Lovely economical clueing.

[AndrewG-S]

Late start for me too but what a joy! Very well hidden material, which I really should have spotted earlier as I had the right inkling for the theme. Many thanks Schadenfreude for a Listener classic.

[aldanna]

Full grid, got the message, now just the usual problem of implementing it. Very good crossword, with some quite obscure words in it.

[emcee]

Finally reached the end. One of the best of the year in my opinion - take note Mr. Klein Bottle, this is what a crossword's all about!

[Walterloo]

Brilliant. Definitely one of my favourites as it's based on a theme I appreciate greatly, being a fan. There's nothing more enjoyable than sussing the theme and then being able to almost fill the grid without the need to look up further info on the web. Thanks Schadenfreude.

[contendo]

I'm in Aldanna's situation of having completed the grid (though not too happy about 49) and not knowing how to implement the message, despite being very familiar with the theme. Would the message be clearer with the insertion of a conjunction? No idea which nine cells need a letter-change. I'm also mystified by the four projecting cells. Perhaps inspiration will come after a snifter, dram, tot or nipperkin.

[jockie]

Yes indeed, and nice to see (and temporarily be caught by) two red herrings.

[floaker]

A novel method of concealing a message that makes the construction all the more impressive since it added further constraints to what went into the grid compared to misprints or extra words in the clues. For me it was a bit of a slog but that might be due to a persistent cold. I prefer puzzles with a fewer clues and more of a challenge at the end once the grid is filled – a vote for Klein bottles and Nibor’s classic of last week. Jockie – only two red herrings?

[pushmi-pullyu]

Oh dear, the longer I look at it the less I progress. I've got an almost full grid and thought I had the theme sussed, but now not at all sure. Maybe the problem is a snifter too many?

[Arcticpenguin]

What an excellent puzzle - hard but fair and no staring at a completed grid for days on end wondering what to hightlight.

[Staurologist]

What virtuoso construction. I started solving this yesterday, earlier than usual, and encountered no hitches at all--not until the very end, that is! Some of my favourites were missing, but that's not surprising--the complete list of brief appearances runs to many more than nine.

[dead-eye]

Found this to be fairly tough. Baffled by one of the residue clues which was resolved by one of the new words. Nice finish.

[jockie]

Fans of Schadenfreude should get their hands on the new (December) issue of CAM - the Cambridge Alumni Magazine - in which there is another, just as cleverly constructed. Hats off, gentlemen!

[vetuste_ennemi]

re CAM: thanks, Jockie, have just done so.

[pushmi-pullyu]

Considering it's my field, I'm ashamed of how long it took me to finish this. Still don't understand the wordplay for one of the clues, but never mind. What a satisfying finish, after quite a few red herrings, or should I say...

[jim360]

Wow. It was a long hard slog to complete the grid over the weekend in tandem with a fellow solver, but got there in the end. Endgame was fairly pleasant, having quickly guessed at the central part of the theme as soon as I saw the past part of the 22-letter message, and a nice way to fit it all in. Not my favourite, but only because I would have on my own been stumped by the cluing.

Contendo - about the four projections - all will be revealed...

Out of interest, what makes the 2011 BRB so "disappointing", apparently? I've nothing to compare it with, to be fair, but seems fairly typical of a dictionary to me.

[bobbycollins]

I agree with others that the end justifies the means. I, apparently like others, entered a couple of blind alleys before spotting the method of entering the thematic material. Started as a slog and finished (much later) at a canter.

Nice one, Schadenfreude.

[Vagans]

Nearly there! A good fair challenge, if gruelling at times, and a pleasing combination of a well-flagged theme but suitable delay before the dropped penny had its moment and the expected material could be pencilled in. Congrats to Schadenfreude who I hope doesn't quite take that attitude to our sufferings... And on to CAM in a moment.

[cluelessJoe]

jim360 - re 2011 edition, I think the main problems are that stupid section stuck slap bang in the middle of the M's, the omission of the formerly available 'some first names' appendix with its useful name derivations, and the quirky highlighting of words seemingly picked at random at the whim of the editors. Whilst Chambers has probably never been a 'typical dictionary', if it does aspire to being that then why try to tell users what particular words seem to be interesting in the editors' eyes?
Content apart, I'm also not over keen on the feel of my copy - the pages just seem that much flimsier than in my trusty older editions, and I wonder if it has similar staying power.