Listener 4292: Going Out In Style By Homer

[AHearer]

That was quite a work-out. I admit to firing up the spreadsheet to help with the sorting, and once I'd got the theme and saw what had to be revealed I left a few loose ends till this morning. Some beautifully hidden misprints and, for me at least, a few red herrings. Thanks, Homer, for a great puzzle and for reminding me of some happy evenings.

[IainGrace]

Steadily working our way through it. Baffled by one or two clues where we are certain we have the grid entry. Another bottle of red beckons.

[EAChaplin]

Oom-pah,oom-pah,oom-pah-pah, me too, I'm brassed off. As contrarian said the wordplay was clear enough.
What a gem from Homer this week. For me this epitomised the Listener Crossword and I hope he/she is already at work on the next one.

[s_pugh]

A fantastic construction and a real slog to get to the end, just a shame that the finale is (to me anyway) a distinctly unconvincing word/letter search not helped by the vagueness of the 'manipulation' required. I managed to get TAPU but I'll be as hacked off as those that didn't if I find that I have highlighted in the wrong places. Great puzzle Homer, shame about the endgame.

[Zymurgist]

I agree that the manipulation confirms the ambiguities. It's still a bit of a shame that you don't actually have to 'do it'. Do you think that's just to make it easier for marking? It doesn't seem that problematic - I'm sure there's been worse...

[Scorpius]

Like many, I imagine, I struggled to fill the grid; it made Radix's recent puzzle seem like a stroll in the park. I felt the setter relied rather too heavily on obscurities buried within Chambers. Obviously there's a role for these in any tough puzzle (and even not so tough), but such widespread use as we have here makes solving a rather tedious chore of trawling through Chambers' nooks and crannies. I prefer tough clues to be so because of verbal subterfuge and dexterity rather than obscure synonyms.

In my naive optimism I thought that once I'd finished the grid and got the theme I'd be home and dry, but I've now found several different versions of the theme, so finding what to highlight looks as though it's not going to be straightforward.

[contendo]

Well this certainly is a marathon. I've finally managed to get the theme but several of the wordplays elude me and my instructions for manipulating the grid are so far an incomprehensible jumble of unfriendly-looking letters. The lawn-mowing is going to have to wait a bit longer.

[Scorpius]

Contendo, I was in a similar position to you. The trouble is that in several cases there are alternative corrections that are justifiable, given the looseness or indirectness of some definitions. In the end I managed to get a meaningful pair of instructions, but only by replacing one of my corrections, that I thought was unquestionable, with another one that doesn't really seem to fit the clue at all.

[jabone]

Phew! Good thing it is a bank holiday. Thank you Homer.

[maurice]

Got there at last, but what a slog!
This has got to be my last puzzle ever!
Can't even be bothered to look for the instructions now, frankly!

[teuchter2]

Still slogging away at this one!

[Scorpius]

I'm not sure how to resolve a few ambiguities in the highlighting. Three might be resolved by observing symmetry, but that still some others. Manipulation of the grid doesn't seem to resolve things. Actually, I don't really see how manipulation of the grid enables the letters to appear clearly in sequence anyway.

[jabone]

I resolved the ambiguities by following the instructions.

[contendo]

I think I've now got the first instruction, though no idea how to apply it. Still working on the second. It would help if I could complete the NE corner in the grid.

[maurice]

OK, 10d is an odd word meaning "three"!

[contendo]

Thanks Maurice, though I wasn't really asking for a prompt. Such overt hints are not generally "the thing" on this site.

[Ruthrobin]

I actually performed the manipulation and, if you are working on that titchy bit of newspaper grid, it is perfectly clear why Homer (or maybe the editors) decided it would be asking too much to require it of entries - but if you manage to do it despite fat fingers, it makes the denouement clear.

[Cagey]

Not sure am enjoying this one. Grid almost done, a collection of seemingly random letters and a bit stuck. the only thing keeping me at it is a degree of OCD rather than pleasure. I agree to many obscure synonyms.

[Scorpius]

My initial selection of letters seems to be confirmed when I do the rather fiddly manipulation, though I still have lingering doubts as to whether I'm doing what's intended, but I'm not spending any more time on it.

Cagey, you've probably got some wrong 'corrections'. Check them carefully for other possibilities. You've almost certainly got the wrong correction to 40a. I doubt many solvers went for the correct one first time.

[olichant]

I think I'm going to submit mine with evidence of the manipulation - I thought it was a really neat endgame.

[Cagey]

Yes. Had some wrong corrections, not the one suggested though as work next to Glasgow. All done no, but not feeling much satisfaction from this one, although technically an impressive construction.