Listener Crossword 4171, Fruitful Recipe by Dipper

[Zabadak]

A nice easy start to the New Year, encouraging me to start entering again. If there are people reading this who haven't tried the Listener yet, here's a good place to start - fair clues that take a bit of thinking, a nice endgame and (it has to be for me) a straightforward enough find the hidden message.
Thanks to Dipper, and a good New Year to all. Don't forget the tree comes down today.

[starwalker]

I suspected that there would be a hare or two on this puzzle.
A gentle start to the year and just the thing to entice some unsuspecting souls and turn them into gibbering addicts.
Thank you Dipper.

[djawhufc]

Hi where can you find this as I have never tried it.

Thanks

DJA

[AHearer]

OK, a free weekend. Fun, but not a real Listener workout.

[dr b]

One of the quicker gridfills of late, certainly.

I took our tree down last Sunday - was that wrong?

dja, the Listener is available today from the Times Xword Club online, available in the Times tomorrow? (Someone UK-based can confirm that last part?).

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, available in the Times tomorrow or online at five o' clock on Friday if you subscribe to the Times Crossword Club. Indeed this was the gentle first January one we were hoping for after a string of tough ones. Typical of Dipper and certainly one to encourage Listener newcomers. A Happy New Year to all Answerbankeers.

[Ruthrobin]

Sorry, available at 16h - four o'clock in the UK.

[Zabadak]

The Listener is indeed published in the Times on Saturday. I'm with the Crossword Club (about 24 quid a year) solely to get the Listener on Friday night!

[Paula]

Happy New Year to all.
My first ever Friday grid-fill (still searching for the two-word instruction).
We are going over to Florida on 22nd January for a month - does anyone know what time, locally, the Listener is available on-line at the Crossword Club?

[dr b]

Paula, I get mine at 10 am (midwest time) so Florida would be at 11 am.

[AndrewG-S]

Yes a welcome gentle but fun start. Good to keep the weekend clear and will be interesting to see what EV 1000 brings...

[Paula]

thank you dr.b - I hope to print all 4 puzzles whilst away but, without my BRB, it is going to be a struggle!!!

[easylistener]

Hooray! An easy listener at last. Finished grid fill without having to bother RR for hints for once! Just got to find hidden words. Re taking trees down, ours came down Monday - always like to be ahead of the game!

[easylistener]

found them!

[aldanna]

First time ever in the Friday club! Fun, but I suppose it was not over-difficult. Also I was helped by Himself being away so had totally free evening for it, despite having spent today on the hills.

[BlackHugh]

One of my few entries in the Friday club - an auspicious start for this years Listeners! After last year when I failed to complete several (remember all those Carte Blanches) and made at least one howling error - and that is before considering the transcription mistakes :-(

[Zabadak]

Perhaps a reprise of useful aids for completing the Listener might be useful at the beginning of the year and for beginners. Two from me:
Chambers Dictionary is the foundation resource, referred to here as the Big Red Book, or BRB. Paper's good, electronic is sometimes so useful it feels like cheating. I use the 2003 edition still, sometimes available on Amazon.
The internet has almost made the main reference books redundant: if you have a few words of a key phrase, googling can often produce enlightenment, and in a crossword like this one, the invaluable aid of knowing which words are redundant/misspelt and so on. As it happens, in this one, I got the hidden phrase without googling, but the pattern that emerged was helpful.
It's meant to be fun - happy solving!

[Alekhine]

I feel like an established member of the Friday Club now.

I live near enough to Green Lane to be able to consider driving over and delivering my entry by hand before midnight, but Mrs Alekhine has sensibly pointed out that, in this instance, being able to do it is equivalent to actually doing it.

Nevertheless ...

[sunny-dave]

To add to Zabadak's resources list :

The BRB app is available for iphone/ipod/ipad - amazingly useful when travelling and has some quite decent wordmatching facilities - currently the 11th edition and a bargain at £4.99.

[tenflags]

arrhhh. managed to pick this up Today. Careful what you wish for I guess .. just a tad easier than I had hoped for although nice to have some time to crack on with other stuff.

[dr b]

Gee, I just assumed that everyone would have the thematic book in their own horticultural library. What is this googling of which Z speaks?