Listener 4330: Following The Brief By External

[AHearer]

A pleasing puzzle with a neatly worded preamble. It's always pleasing to learn something along the way, so many thanks to eXternal. But we're still waiting for the first tough challenge of the year.

[Cagey]

If I have given anything away it is genuinely not intentional. I just tend to put down my reaction. And if there is one a discussion. Point.

[perseverer]

While I agree with tilbee's point, the problem is that when you do comment on posts giving something away, you draw attention to it. And Cagey, I don't think the reference was to yourself.

[fanfer]

Tilbee: I would be interested to know where other help is available. I have completed the grid so I know all the answers but I have no idea what to do now.

[roslyn251254]

fanfer - sometimes the Listener is discussed on here:
http://www.crosswordsolver.org/forum/

Maybe in a day or two - look again than

[Cagey]

That is a relief. Thank you. This is genuinely something that would have trOubled me all day.

[s_pugh]

Having slept on it the endgame soon revealed itself, hardly a PDM, more of a dull groan. Happily however I had the satisfaction of getting to the finish line before I saw the ‘spoiler’ posted yesterday – I thought these were a no-no on this site? Contendo, if you're still stuck I’d be happy to give you a hint if required - spw6128 is my gmail account (usual format).

[jim360]

I can't off the top of my head think of the ambiguities people are referring to, at least not according to C. I suppose, by a convention typical of the subject, one of the cells could just be left blank and still be "correct", but I doubt that was what was intended!

[tilbee]

Cagey - to confirm my comment was certainly not addressed to you.

[Contrarian]

Tilbee,

I think it was just a bit of harmless fun.

[Ruthrobin]

We do have an unwritten agreement on this thread that any type of detailed discussion or hint spoils the game. If you feel that there has been a spoiler and you hit 'report' at the bottom of the comment, and explain your objection, the comment will disappear in an hour or two. We had a contributor who was crudely aggressive to others on the thread a few years ago and a few of us reacted and his comments disappeared. Eventually he did too, and was banned even when he appeared with a new identity.

[petefoxes]

I'm earnestly hoping for a PDM of some sort. I have a full grid, the quotation, brief and omissions, and I know the person of the thematic invention (though the invention itself was new to me). But I can't see which entries are examples nor yet what I should do with them.

[the_heisman]

Yes me too Petefoxes - at least we have a while to consider further. I do agree with Tilbee - and given that the contribution is bereft of wit I am not sure it can be described as harmless or any other kind of fun.

[Contrarian]

If you haven't worked out the theme, then I don't see how you could judge the wittiness of the contribution.

[Philoctetes]

Actually, this week's "spoiler" is less obviously a blatant hint than most. But the contributor - who must know we are referring to him - should really get a grip. It is not big, and it is not funny.

[aldanna]

Four in a row completed on Friday evening? Obviously this can't go on. It may well be I have missed subtleties but I had no ambiguities or problems with this.

[jim360]

Having had a chance to discuss them with others I'd say that the ambiguities are what you might call "soft" -- in that plausible alternatives exist, but one choice is clearly superior to the other(s). Nothing like in the Sabre puzzle, where there was a genuine ambiguity that in the end was only resolved by treating all options as equally acceptable.

[the_heisman]

Contrarian
You may wish to read Petefoxes' post again. The meaning of the somewhat clunking contribution was apparent from the stage we have both reached.

[AHearer]

I have to admit that I have occasionally worded my postings so that they would ring a bell with somebody who had completely solved the puzzle. I know I'm not guilty on this occasion, but if I have overstepped the mark in the past please accept my apologies.

[sunny-dave]

All done, after a complete blindspot on the substitutions (even after having got all of the thematic material, I just couldn't see them).

Thanks for the nudge, jim360.