The Listener 4370: Hefbeet By Yorick

[tnap]

I am surprised that there seem to be no other posts, as I am usually quite slow at solving. Anyway, an enjoyable workout from Yorick, although one that required a lot of careful cross-checking.

[BobHWW]

I found this quite tough and the misprints and extra words took a lot of getting.
An impressive debut.

[lyrabelacqua]

Exceedingly chewy, even at the death, but completely fair. I do not recall seeing a similar method of grid filling before. Very enjoyable. On to the rugby.

[AndrewG-S]

I typed in the wrong listener number and saw 48 posts beginning with "a nice gentle listener"...wondered for a bit why I had made such heavy weather and then spotted my mistake. Great fun and needed a few leaps of faith along the way. Certainly will need careful checking too.

[jim360]

I've been struggling to get into this one. I have some idea of what might be going on in the end, but for whatever reason I'm not tuned into the clues.

[AHearer]

I found this tough with a capital UGH (signifying effort, I hasten to add, not distaste). That was largely due to my habit of looking at the preamble, seeing whether it's more than a couple of lines long, and if so deciding I'll come back to it at the end. In this case that was definitely the wrong approach - in fact, I thought the preamble gave us rather more information than was needed for a fair puzzle. I really liked the method, the clues, and the final step -- many thanks, Yorick, a most excellent fancy.

[jockie]

Yes, a different approach, and one which has taken - is taking - more of my Saturday (and Friday) than it should. Got the whole thing finished apart from one clue, of which the checking letters allow about 200-odd possibilities. A good day's mental exercise!

[perseverer]

Very impressive construction, and some very clever clues, especially if this is a new setter.

[icynorth]

Yes, this was a stiff challenge with some impressive clues. A few niggles: it's not pretty, the real title isn't strictly accurate, and I managed to complete it without needing to find the hidden instruction. Great mental workout, though - thanks Yorick!

[s_pugh]

Very tough indeed - have all the usual contributors been abducted by zombies? Thanks Yorick, that took some effort!

[Scorpius]

After cold-solving 80% of the clues I got some idea of what was going on. I'm still five solves short, and it doesn't seem to get much easier as things progress. I admired some of the clues, at least one of which was almost Sabre-like in it's fiendishness.

With the third occurrence of double unches in six weeks, I guess the editors are sending setters a clear message: double unches are OK now.

[jim360]

Yes, I'd noticed that... may make setting slightly easier in future and I suppose it opens up new possibilities.

Still a few pieces to fill in but it's been an engrossing challenge.

[Scorpius]

My comment was slightly tongue-in-cheek, Jim. I shall resist such temptation unless thematically justified, and stick to grids that comply with previous practice and editorial guidelines.
I hope that statement won't come back to haunt me.

[Contrarian]

Yes, some extremely difficult clues there - I still can't see 36A, or understand the wordplay for 21A. Still, this is surely the right sort of level of diffculty for the 'world's most difficult crossword'.

Thanks Yorick.

[UglyUncle]

Now that's a proper Listener, and from an unfamiliar setter too. Last night I almost gave up, but then this morning, as always, a few more fell into place. The turning point came with the realisation that the down misprints were beginning to form a plausible part-phrase; without the leap of faith that followed, and its vindication, I'd have been feeling a bit Angry.

I knew I wouldn't be alone in deploring the double unches. Clues mostly fair - once one was on the wavelength - but 20 takes the art of convolution to a new extreme, and 21 (alone) remains unfathomable, giving me one cell short of a fully charged battery.

[starwalker]

Pretty much in agreement with others on this. Finally nailed my last two outstanding entries after a lot of hard staring. Thanks Yorick.

[Scorpius]

UglyUncle, I agree with your comment about 20. I think it's by far the weakest clue in an otherwise very fine set. Like you I was totally flummoxed by 21, but I studied closely all my notes and suddenly realized that 21 is a key to something else, and hey presto! It's another devilish clue.

[IainGrace]

Have found the last few Listeners pretty tough, albeit persevering. Not intended as a plea in mitigation, but is there too much cold solving required these days? Realise that that's a test of solving skills, but the raison d'être is that they are CROSSwords, so that solving one clue ought to assist immediately with solving others.

[olichant]

What a cracking puzzle. Generally terrific clues (though I agree with Scorpius and UU about 20). Is this a debut puzzle? If so, double wow.

[UglyUncle]

As an aside, which has nothing to do with this puzzle, how often does it happen that a Listener entrant is a winner in two consecutive weeks? Keep an eye on eBay listings from NW3? (I'm assuming they don't hold car-boot sales in Hampstead.)

[perseverer]

Happened with puzzles of 11th and 18th September!