Listener 4227: 42 By Xanthippe

[trux]

Well, that was quite a workout!! Scant help from the preamble made for tricky end-game even after sussing what the 42 were. Not a subject I know anything about so cannot comment on the specific accuracy or plausibility of the final manoeuvres. Some foxy clueing, too. Definitely feel like I deserve a drink but, alas, today is 1st of Feb and Feb is my dry month....Many thanks to Xanthippe for another hard test.

[Ruthrobin]

Hah, Trux, I totally agree. We know a little bit about the subject but what a tough endgame! It has taken me as long as the gridfill. I shall have to reward myself with a double (on your behalf).

Quite a crossword, Xanthippe.

[emcee]

That's good work trux. I'm still fighting with the clues, having done around 60% of them. No idea at the moment what 42 is, and the preamble is not helping one iota.

Will take the rest of the evening off, methinks, and hopefully have a clearer head tomorrow.

[scooterbug]

Did you all get the puzzle from the Crossword Club site? I'm getting a message that my account does not allow access. Maybe my membership has expired, but I can't find how to renew it. Is there still a separate membership for the Crossword Club, as opposed to subscribing to all of The Times?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Ruthrobin]

Scooterbug, yes, we have a Crossword Club subscription that used to be automatically renewed annually - mine is coming up for renewal next week. Other people have been having the problem you describe. Go to the Crossword Centre message board (Derek Harrison's board) and you will read a series of messages from despairing people. The Times claim they are putting things right in April but we suspect there is some jiggery pokery going on and they are perhaps attempting to eliminate the club. Certainly they will not succeed in getting crossword club members to buy the full annual subscription. They are just making their long-suffering members very frustrated.

[TheBear69]

Congrats to Xanthippe for a superb Listener!

I'm still pondering how two of the wordplays work but my grid is confidently filled along with the required highlighting...the spotting of which gave me the PDM to figure out 42.

[Texasetes]

This one proved tougher than I at first thought it would be. The PDM came fairly early on, but the final couple of pairs took me an age to find. Some very good clues, one of which still puzzles me; its structure is made unconventional by what seems to be some extraneous wordplay. Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't see what.

And like last week's Kea the mechanics of the grid is quite an impressive feat of construction.

Thank you, Xanthippe.

[Zabadak]

A proper Listener, challenging cluing and with a well-integrated endgame - no sudden change of direction after grid fill. Had no time last night, so a good start to Saturday. Could this be the biggest grid we've ever tackled?

[starwalker]

I had always associated Xanthippe with the 'easier half' of Listeners. Not any more. Certainly proving to be a hard test and with about 60% of the grid filled, I'm no wiser of 42 but I'm sure everything will come out in the end.

[trux]

Tex: re unconventional clue - I think I know to which you refer, which seems to be Wordplay/Def/Wordplay ... never seen that before!

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, I agree about the one you must be referrring to Texasetes and the answer is the obvious one. I imagine the editors have insisted Xanthippe give a more transparent clue because of the significance of that word in the grid and its importance in the endgame.

[emcee]

The penny dropped last night soon after posting here. A cat's whisker away from completion now. My grid's a mess but I'm leaving everything in for now!

Nice puzzle, and 'Xanthippe with attitude' is a pleasant surprise. Many thanks to the setter.

[perseverer]

Hard work! Still a couple of wordplays to go but satisfied with final grid. Re how easy Xanthippe usually is, his Listener 4112, Girl, from a couple of years back - the one involving folding and cutting, and 'a penny dropping moment' certainly didn't prove easy.

[AHearer]

That was fun -- I expect somebody finished it a long way away three weeks ago last Tuesday.

[Texasetes]

trux & Ruthrobin: yes, that's the one. You may well be right, Rr - maybe Xanthippe will mention it in a setter's blog.

I always try to make sure I understand everything about a clue and its answer in case the setter is pulling a fast one. I'm even more pernickety since Sabre's KEEP IT DOWN, which I still don't like to think about.

[pushmi-pullyu]

I'm also at around 60% of grid fill, not helped by inability to access Chambers Word Wizard. Is this because too many of us are trying to use it at once?

[teuchter2]

I found some of the clueing pretty tricky and, despite having got the 8 and 42 really quickly, I struggled to get the endgame for a while, but am now totally satisfied with my grid. This was a masterly construction, leaving quite a lot to be deduced, and my first thought about what would happen in the grid was wrong!

[aldanna]

If the endgame took some people as long as the gridfill, and I haven't quite finished the latter yet, it seems like a strong hint to put this one in the "failed" pile, clever as it seems to be.

[dr b]

I also got 8/42 very early and made an early guess (which turned out to be correct) as to what the final highlighting would look like. So I was expecting something as quick as last week. But, I got hung up on a few short answers which turned out to be crucial. However, once the grid was full the endgame was very quick for me (so hang in there aldanna). A proper Listener indeed.

[olichant]

Very clever, I thought. Many thanks to Xanthippe.

I'm personally pleased to see that the prize has been changed to a copy of Brewer's!

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, Texasetes, I too try not to think about 'Keep it down'. It wrecked a very long clear run for me and almost put me off Listeners forever. However, if you haven't sussed that one, look up two thirds of your solution in BRB.