Listener 4235 X And Y By Ron

[midazolam]

What an excellent Listener. Thorough enjoyment from start to finish. Solid clues with a variety of straightforward and tricky ones. The grid fill looked tough at first with no entry greater than seven, but given the number of across clues, the rows could be worked out from the start. A bit of head-scratching at the end with the bars, but with another PDM it came together without ambiguity. Many thanks Ron.

[jim360]

When I was passing on the list of victims to ruthrobin via email I think I omitted the one that might have given her cause for amusement! I look forward to its illustrated version, anyway.

[jockie]

jim360 - the list of victims is where I'm stuck. Once I have two or three I expect the rest will follow, but getting the first is proving a difficulty. An email to [email protected] would be a kindness!

Rooting for the Light Blues at 4.30.

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, also rooting for the light blues - and Kings next Monday jim360.

[emcee]

An excellent puzzle from start to finish. I initially made the endgame far more difficult than it really was. A great deal of satisfaction came when I spotted what needed to be done and how everything pieced together so neatly.

We're being spoilt with top-class crosswords this year. Many thanks, Ron, for a quality puzzle and *yet another* AGC contender.

[IainGrace]

Just checking in. Grid three quarters done and quote identified. Intrigued by posts to date so looking forward to denouement.

[jim360]

Definitely, emcee. The last step in this one is far simpler than I imagined but all the better for that - the more complicated it becomes, the less elegant. Still nine full months of the year to go so who knows what we'll have in store, but so far this one, ELM and probably Vera must be up there as puzzle-of-the-year contenders?

[youngoffender]

I now have the full grid, the victims and (I think) worked out how the final grid shapes up, but I'm still baffled by the instruction for bar rearrangement. I'd be grateful for any gentle nudges...

[tenflags]

hmmm stuck at two instructions stage and identifying victims .. not the ones I initially thought. Think i'm in the Goat race rather than Boat race.

[jim360]

I think there was some sort of unspoken agreement that there wouldn't be any hints given out in this forum. So if you want any hints you may want to email someone. I'd be happy to give a hint, youngoffender, if you sent along an email to [email protected].

[teuchter2]

I agree that this was an excellent puzzle. I'm a bit late to get round to seeing other folk's comments this week, but I did finish grid on Saturday and then the reconstruction yesterday - it was easier than I anticipated. My only question is whether there need be any bars in my submission. I suppose I should put them in as instructed, which I didn't bother with when it became clear where they were to be, but it doesn't seem to add anything to the final outcome.

[Ruthrobin]

Teuchter, I think I am within our AB rules in suggesting that it is always essential to obey preamble instructions exactly. There is usually a good reason for their presence.

[trux]

@Teuchter: I would say that the bars are essential, not least to prove you've fully understood the entirety of the theme (just a shame that there was nothing lurking to catch the victims...)

[olichant]

Just revisiting this to check the grid before posting and I'm struck again by the quality of the clues, which I lost sight of when chasing my tail over the endgame. So much fun. And a great choice of poem!

[AndrewG-S]

This was a great Easter weekend puzzled as for once I could savour it rather than rush it. Brilliant thematics which all tied together well into a very satisfying finish. Great clues too. Has got me out of my grump from last week. Thanks Ron, certainly a contender for the poty.

[Mesnilpat]

I came to this rather late in the weekend but have thoroughly enjoyed it. I have a full grid, poem and instructions but will leave grappling with the victims until tomorrow. Definitely a top-notch puzzle and more achievable than first sight would suggest. Any other slow-laners out there?

[Scorpius]

I'm certainly a slow learner. I'm full of admiration for all of you who solved it so quickly. I didn't find solving the clues too hard, though one or two still puzzle me, but I have been staring at it ever since. I finally twigged to the bar re-adjustment today, but I cannot begin to see how the theme word can emerge within the limited manoevres prescribed, since the last 3 letters are not consecutive anywhere in the grid. I'm beginning to think I may have a wrong answer somewhere.

[the_heisman]

Yes a really nice crossword with great clues. My only issue is that I have an urge to make a further change from a dodecagon back into a square in order to more precisely carry out the first part of the instruction. Perhaps i am missing something? Thanks Ron for a great bank holiday workout.

[olichant]

the_heisman: it sounds like you might be where I was when I first thought I'd cracked this - and (for what it's worth, sorry if this isn't helpful!) my first "solution" was wrong. As always with the Listener, when you've got it, it's unambiguously right - and (I'm giving nothing away here) unambiguously a dodecagon.

[the_heisman]

Thanks Olichant
Yes I did feel as is usually the case with the Listener that if you are not confident you are probably wrong. I will return to the drawing board in due course.

[perseverer]

I don't know about slow learner - started Friday evening, filled grid by Saturday morning - helped by successfully Googling chunks of the poem - took a couple of hours to understand the start of the message but then quickly realised (correctly) what the instructions meant - then took about three days to overcome my inability to carry out wordsearches (and appreciate the significance of the remarks about RR!)

One of the better Listeners of the year to date so thanks to Ron, but to my mind not quite in the same class as ELM.