Listener 4358 The Other Letter By Wan

[perseverer]

Can't find an earlier post.

Quite a challenge from Wan with some tricky wordplays and misprints/extra letters. Highlighting not too difficult if you have an idea where to look.

Thanks to Wan

[AHearer]

It took me a ridiculously long time to fill in the lower left corner, and I had to give myself a good kicking when I finally got 37. A couple of corrections to my down corrections, if you see what I mean, were necessary before I could be sure of the other letter, and even knowing that it took me a while to locate the highlighting. Many thanks, Wan.

[sunny-dave]

Something weird with AB's indexing today - this thread currently doesn't appear if you search for Listener or 4358, but does if you search for Wan.

Hopefully this post will rectify that ...


Finished the grid - nice challenge - hard but fair.

The grid staring is a complete pain though - still no idea even afttr a nap and rethink :(

[upsetter]

Halfway through - just posting to encourage the Google search mechanism.
Every clue is tough but enjoyable.

[fallster]

Hard clues, hard grid stare at the end, but all done. Nice challenge!

[contendo]

Don't know what's going on with Answerbank, but it took a bit of hunting to get here.
Grid almost filled, though still held up in the NW corner and my extra letters for the across clues aren't making much sense yet. Some fiendishly clever clues. Time for a rest and a drop of mother's ruin.

[Contrarian]

Very tough clues, made harder for me because I'm away on holiday, and had no hard copy to work with.

Thanks, Wan, for a welcome relief from the rather undemanding level of recent Listeners.

[jim360]

This one's proving fairly tough, to say the least. Not yet half-done, although I'll be putting it aside for most of the rest of the day as I have other things to do. I'll be interested to see what's on the other side, although at the moment I have no idea what's going on. I always find Wan's puzzles incredibly tough, although on the occasion that I do get to the end they tend to be well worth it. His Spiral from last year was brilliant.

[upsetter]

Got though the grid-fill in 6 hours - staring taking almost as long - occasional insights that all transpire to be false dawns

[starwalker]

Certainly harder than some recent offerings, but not so bad that I want to give up. Slightly stuck at the moment in the NW corner. Perhaps time to take a break and look more closely at what I have definitely got.

[sunny-dave]

Phew - finally spotted the hidden members - what a chore.

10/10 for an excellent (hard) grid fill problem

Rather less for the grid staring component

Thanks Wan

[NickorWan]

I do apologise to you all. I hate grid-staring as much as anyone and really wouldn’t want to put you through hours of such a chore. I thought that the endgame was going to be too easy to for you all to spot, not too hard, but I clearly got that bit wrong.

Sorry, Wan

[AngryUncle]

I wondered if anyone would have finished this yet, and it looks as if the tally currently stands at four home-and-dries (not sure if an adjectival phrase can be pluralised quite like that, but perplexity is the mother of invention).

I'm at the grid-staring stage and have been for several hours. That's enough to justify one harrumph, but I'm also in the always unsatisfactory position of having filled the grid and worked out all three sets of letters (including The Other one) *without having the faintest idea how to parse four answers*. Four! ('Tell me, why does this matter to you, Uncle?' 'I don't know, it just does.')

[AngryUncle]

I must have been tired and emotional (but not in the euphemistic way). Posting here sometimes leads to an immediate epiphany, and lo - by applying logical analysis to the preamble - I've found the hidden six, some of which are obscure indeed. A specific colour of highlighter would be nice, if I submitted entries.

Not yet a Happy Uncle, though: I'm down to three answers I can't parse, but that's still three too many.

[perseverer]

Was about to post but one of our Uncles beat me to it - read the preamble and extract all the info you can.
I would be interested to know if those who find the highlighting after a long stare, feel they should have got it much quicker. Certainly many clues were of the 'why didn't I spot that quicker variety' when they had previously seemed impenetrable.
I would rate this as one of the three top puzzles of the year so far, but then I didn't spend ages grid-staring, (says smug so-and-so.)

[Cagey]

Did not get back from visiting folks until late Saturday, so did not start until yesterday morning. This morning I have a third filled grid only, but a good idea of the second set of thematic words. No idea on first set yet. The clues are tough, but agree with sentiment that once you have them you kick yourself. Although I admit I do have one I am "sure" is correct but cannot parse.
Held myself up for ages by getting 37ac completely wrong.
Enjoying process, just a shame back at work this AM and there is lots to do.

[Philoctetes]

Odd one, this. The clues were much more challenging than some in the last few weeks, and held my interest longer. Several left still to parse fully, so several letters undiagnosed. After having driven madcap up a blind alley when I was trying to find symmetry around the column, not the row, I spotted something worth following up at once and found the remaining examples quite easily. So I have guessed at the first set without all the data, no idea about the second set, a highlight that makes sense, and a grid filled with several hunches. Have I finished?

[icynorth]

Deliciously tough clues. I think I've parsed them all now, working backwards for the last few. A couple look a little odd, but that probably means I've not quite got it.

A couple of wonderful red herrings in the grid staring department, but all finished now - thanks Wan!

[olichant]

Ah, this is where the party is! That took me a good long while, but I enjoyed it, not least some really challenging clues. And (I confess) I still have a few wordplays to get to the bottom of. Thanks, Wan - I don't think there's any call for an apology - I should have got the hang of the grid-staring much earlier on, and the preamble is really quite fair.

[emcee]

Back for a brief appearance... to thank Wan for such an excellent puzzle. The clues were just right to keep you wanting to battle on.

I look forward to more from this setter in the future. Best for me this year to date, purely based on the cluemanship.

MC