Listener

[Ruthrobin]

Oh what a challenging one. I don't know how anyone gets to the full grid (as we have just done) without the help of devices. Now we are enjoying sorting out the godly mix up. Many thanks, Stick Insect for a tough work out.

[Ruthrobin]

I am wondering how many years it took to work out all these astonishing stages in the endgame from the final message back to the digits. Amazing, Stick Insect.

[TheBear69]

Lots of easy clues, but that just belies the difficulty awaiting the solver. Another first rate Listener; 2014 has been superb! My thanks to Stick Insect as well.

[olichant]

Yikes. Quite a lot of the grid filled, some easy clues, a gazillion clashes, and no clue as to what is going on. Checked in here to see if there was a massive Saturday morning club and I was just being obtuse, but it looks like it is just hard. Oh well - onwards and upwards - should be a nice challenge in the sun with a glass of wine later on.

[fallster]

Got the grid fill, extra-letter message, and first step, I think. But what comes next? All ideas so far have failed. Will put it aside for a bit and hope for inspiration.

[starwalker]

I also have a full grid and the extra letter message, but sadly, the good weather means that painting the house is taking priority. Thanks for the ride so far, Stick Insect. I'm sure that I will get there eventually.

[contendo]

For some reason this thread doesn't come up when you type in "Listener 4299". Like Fallster I've filled the grid, encoded the cells' contents and got the extra letter message but don't know how to interpret it. I must say I find crosswords that depend on trying to interpret ambiguous phraseology irritating.

[Ruthrobin]

Sorry Contendo, I was so delighted with this truly exceptional puzzle that I bungled the posting. Well worth sticking at it for a magnificent endgame.

[jim360]

I'm at something like the half-way point of the initial grid fill (though this might be optimistic). A very tough puzzle, so far!

[trux]

Only got chance to tackle this today when I got back to Geneva. A truly mind-blowing endgame makes all the seeming hassle on the way all worth every single dropped penny of it. Stunning! Myriad thanks to Stick Insect. Must be a contender at the end of the year ....

[jim360]

Managed to spot what was going on very early on in the grid fill after all, which has enabled me to fill most of the grid without solving the underlying clues. Surprisingly it turned out that I'd guess the theme correctly at the very beginning, although for what I think are the wrong reasons. Perhaps a bit of a weakness when that can happen. I'm not sure if I'm curious enough to work out what the rest of the clue answers are to "confirm" the final grid...

[olichant]

I have to say, I'm close to giving up. Seems really very tough indeed. Maybe a few days staring at something else instead will help!

[tilbee]

My experience was very different to Jim's. I had solved all but two of the clues before I finally twigged how to map the cells to digits, having gone off on somewhat of a tangent. Once this penny dropped however was then a straightforward step to the final grid. Yet another excellent puzzle, so thanks go to Stick Insect.

[Alan7777]

The end game wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be. I haven't solved one of the clues but then I don't need to. What a clever construction.

[olichant]

Ah, it has just twigged. Very clever (and I have boundless respect for everyone who managed to solve it relatively quickly). It vindicates my personal twin rules for finishing an apparently unsolvable Listener: (1) Post a message here saying you're hopelessly stuck, and (2) pour a glass of wine.

Thanks, Stick Insect.

[jockie]

By Saturday afternoon I had the grid satisfactorily filled with numbers, but since then the brick wall has been impenetrable. The apparently obvious next step doesn't seem to deliver anything meaningful. So hours of gazing later ... still no dawning. On the other hand I have spent a useful Sunday finishing (I think) all 6 in this month's Magpie - a first for me. Wimbledon beckons!

[contendo]

Like Jockie I have hit the brick wall having got gobbledegook on applying the obvious interpretation of the message from the extra letters. However this week's EV provides a welcome alternative and is developing nicely.

[Cruncher]

Clever title. Very ingenious. Like this one

[AHearer]

An excellent puzzle. I ground to the same halt, I suspect, as some others of you did, but a penny dropped this morning. I see what you mean, jim360, about being able to fill the grid without solving the clues, but I don't think many people would have the insight you had to spot the theme early enough to be able to do so.

[jim360]

A suppose after the usual string of Listeners on themes I've never (or only vaguely) heard of in 4292, 4293, 4296 and 4297, it's nice to have a puzzle that just sidles up to me, rubs its head against my legs and purrs with a comforting familiarity. Rather ideal to have it on this weekend too since I was at home treating my Mum to an evening out at the theatre to see "Wicked", and either side of that was stuck on the train.

[Contrarian]

It doesn't get much better than this. I was slightly thrown off the scent, towards the end, by RR's mention of the necessity of 'devices'. I was expecting something rather more demanding, cryptologically speaking.