Listener 4279 Hellside By External

[BobHWW]

Nice gentle cluing from eXternal - first Listener I think. This will be a good starter for new or newish solvers but shouldn't detain the regulars for too long. All definitions sorted, just a bit of grid staring needed to find the nine cells.
Thanks eXternal.

[s_pugh]

Bin happily avoided for once, but cell block a little anti-climactical, was expecting something a little neater (assuming I've found the right one). Thanks eXternal, at least I have the weekend back!

[Mesnilpat]

Only started this today as being full-time Granny all day yesterday rendered me temporarily zombie-like. Nice puzzle, I liked the endgame. I think the song was 'famous' in the early 50s? Before my time - just.

[tilbee]

I certainly remember the song from the past and I wasn't yet born in the 50s, though as already mentioned I recall it with an additional thematic member. A gentle solve and fortunate to alight on the letter block to highlight without any need for an extended search. Good fun, so thanks to eXternal.

[contendo]

Aha. The penny has dropped, but I still haven't spotted the 9 cells, nor the significance of the title. Nice puzzle but some of the clues were a bit too easy for once.

[salveMe]

Spare a thought for those of us on the nursery slopes. I started tackling the Listener mid-November and this was only my 3rd completion so far, and the first in a day. It feels rather good! So, thank you, eXternal.

[jim360]

Well done then SalveMe -- welcome (belatedly) to the madhouse!

[salveMe]

Thank you, jim360. I have a feeling I've fallen victim to a dangerous addiction.

[IainGrace]

Now have completed grids for 4278 and 4279 but the difficult bit still to do in each case.

[Scorpius]

Hours of grid staring averted, than goodness. I picked up the grid again today and the block of nine cells jumped out at me in less than a minute. I don't share s_pugh's view that the block was anti-climactic, and less than neat. I can imagine different representations, but within the limited scope of nine cells this seemed about as neat as one could reasonably expect.
The significance of the title completely escapes me.

[maurice]

As an absolute beginner who with help from a friend eventually got the whole thing sorted just before attempting to commit suicide, I'd just like to point out for anyone still struggling (and no doubt there are some) that the tip given on this thread much earlier referring to the Coppola film was completely erroneous, and that indeed anyone familiar with songs at all will have known this one for ages.
And I think that's the last "easy" Listener puzzle I'm going to waste time on. I prefer other types of madhouse. No-one should take offence at this contribution, though. I've just had enough, OK ???!!!

[emcee]

Good grief, I made heavy work of that. I was seriously worried that my personal run of submissions was going to end. Well done, indeed, to those who spotted it so quickly.

And, yes, I've heard of the song despite my non-Meldrew age (!); but the number of self-created red herrings I pursued was ridiculous.

The block of 9 came quickly enough and I've just sussed the (amusing) title.

In summary, the clues were too easy but the remainder of the puzzle was, for me, a nightmare and one of the most difficult "spots" I can remember.

Thanks to eXternal for worrying the living daylights out of me!

[aldanna]

I filled most of the grid quickly, but I did find a few clues very tricky. A quick pdm meant that for once I did hardly any grid-staring. An amusing end to the puzzle.

[Cruncher]

Nice to have a gentler task this week - not least because I was still slotting Samuel's oeuvre together yesterday morning. One wordplay and the significance of the title still elude me but otherwise good.
On another note, and perhaps this has been mentioned elsewhere in these threads already, but I was saddened to hear of Roddy Forman's death (Radix to us). I never met the man but when you do enough of someone's crosswords you start to feel as though you know them. His puzzles were never an easy ride, not least the notorious Boxes last summer, but always scrupulous and fair and, for whatever reason, I always a tremendous sense of pride when I completed on. He was a regular commentator on the Crossword Centre forum, was invariably generous about another setter's work and would almost always end his review of a crossword with "tremendous fun" or some such, even after some diabolical grid that had had the rest of sweating and cursing for days. I hope there are a few more of his puzzles waiting to be published.

[youngoffender]

This is certainly one of those Listeners where the endgame tail wags the gridfill dog, with the preamble only making sense once you have stared your way to the theme. I'm pretty sure I have the right 9 cells now.

[Philoctetes]

Weird way the (my?) mind works. I too was staring at an unconnected string of letters and a grid with no obvious blocks - and then the point of the title leapt out at me and the rest fell into place in an instant.

[EAChaplin]

The title?? Remember Speravi's rule? By the way not heard from him/her in a while.

[IainGrace]

Sometimes the PDM just hits you from nowhere.

[Cagey]

Started yesterday. Smooth progress and finished yesterday too. All in all a good day. Am yet to work out the title, and one or two of the word plays. A fun theme.

[contendo]

Well done Maurice. You've escaped just in time. A few more Listeners and you would have ended up as mad as the rest of us here.

[s_pugh]

I hope it wasn't the 'erroneous' Coppola hint that pushed you over the edge Maurice, that was actually linked to a clue in L4278 so it would indeed have caused confusion if you tried to use it to help with L4279! It may be a madhouse but it's an enjoyable one - don't give up so easily!