Listener 4188 Painless by Rasputin

[Coalminers]

I can't believe I'm the the first to post this week, so will someone tell me where I can find the real thread. Anyway, very enjoyable, and a subject that I have always enjoyed. Thanks Rasputin.

[IainGrace]

Radials are always entertaining but the theme came quickly and there were no jumbles this time.

[starwalker]

Botox seems to be doing wonders for you, dr b.

[Alekhine]

Quite fun, although I was fortunate that the theme came early.

Some enjoyable clues. Thanks, Rasputin.

[freiheid]

Well, having looked at the coinage at 39 first, I spotted an anagram of the title and thought that might be something to do with the puzzle. Another four-letter word appearing in 36 was a further red herring! Made it in the end...

[flocker]

Congratulations to Rasputin on a great puzzle! Spotted the theme just as I was about to give up in despair at some very tough clueing which made it possible to limp home finally. Did anyone else pause for thought on 34?

[vetuste_ennemi]

No, the Dr B EV is not the crossword which I remember. It was a lot longer ago. If it was EV it had a picture corresponding to the highlighting.

[Alan7777]

I was also beginning to think that this might defeat me but having filled half the circle I have found the theme and it should make life a little easier completing the other half. I may yet regret my optimism but ....... I have found some of the clues quite hard and there has been a lot of cold solving.

There are also some clues where there may or may not be an extra letter in the word play. Hopefully it will all become clear eventually.

[magichour]

This has been fun (and tough), though I think I must have one of the extra letters wrong towards the end as the final word of my instruction doesn't make sense. Therefore have not worked out the 'changes in thematic positions' yet, though I have a rough idea where the 12 relevant cells should be. Wordplay for 43 is also proving elusive.

[contendo]

It's a nice moment when the penny drops for rings 1 & 5, opening the door to solving all those radials which have been resisting resolution till then. Have filled the grid, though I don't understand the wordplay for 19. Still struggling with the instruction, though I think I know what I'm looking for.

[contendo]

Aha! Got it. I was thrown by having an alternative to one of the extra letters.

[aldanna]

Very late start this weekend, but I have the grid very nearly filled. The theme pdm'd for me quite quickly which helped a lot. Only snag is, the message from the extra letters seems to be near gibberish at present, BUT I have made what I think is a shrewd guess as to the thematic whatsit at the end. Mind you, my record on shrewd guesses is less than perfect.

[Philoctetes]

Nice conclusion. I was hindered by omitting the first letter of the third word of the instruction (and an inability to count). As this made perfect sense I was led up many garden paths. Rice pudding for lunch did the trick!

[magichour]

Penny finally dropped. Beautiful finish. I don't normally like radials, but this was a very nice puzzle.

[ichkeria]

'ichkeria's strictures' ?
No strictures from me. I think it was ?heisman? who was complaining about stuff being given away. All I said was that if folk didn't want any giveaways then they shouldn't read the thread!

[contendo]

But that implies that one of the functions of the thread is to give hints. I enjoy the discussions here without looking for hints and I don't want to have to avoid visiting the thread in case people drop them.

[IainGrace]

Finished. Must have been on a roll as we didn't find the clues particularly difficult. No doubt we will pay for it next week. Agree with vetuste-ennemi that the thematic positioning of the final changes was a delightful touch.

[Stavrolex]

Very enjoyable. Thanks Rasputin. Not usually a fan of radials - this was the best I've done, with a good mix of hard & easy clues, and very little cold solving, as the theme was quickly discernable. And a very satisifying PDM right at the end, after I'd done the highlighting! No doubt everyone else was expecting this denouement - I was just thinking it was a shame Rasputin had not been able to reflect this key thematic element into the final grid. Very nicely done.

[teuchter2]

Finished last night, but not got round to posting until now. I think I would have found this to be quite a difficult slog if I hadn't got a key word in circle 1, fairly quickly. After that, I quite enjoyed it - some very entertaining clues.

[the_heisman]

Excellent crossword and despite the way things seem to be going I am delighted to see no one has given anything away. Great theme beautifully treated and lending itself very nicely to the radial format.

[aldanna]

The gibberish of the message sorted itself out quite well - I find it strange how a couple of wrong letters make the whole so hard to read. All done, and I was at least partly right on the "shrewd guess" I referred to earlier ( which of course means I was partly wrong). Unlike some, I do like radials, and I enjoyed this crossword. Hard enough, but not too hard!