Listener No 4390: Castaways By External

[AHearer]

That was good fun. I have to admit that I used the extra words to deduce the first six relevant entries, and only then sat down to work out what the husband and wife had been up to. I suppose it might have been possible to get the last two modifications without fully understanding the theme, but that would have reduced the enjoyment. Many thanks, eXternal.

[starwalker]

Just finishing off a couple of loose ends. Nice to get back to solving on a Friday evening, especially with wall to wall rugby tomorrow. Never heard of the husband and wife before, but that's what the Listener is about sometimes. Thanks eXternal.

[jim360]

I can see what's going on but can't totally be bothered to tidy up the loose ends of what the last couple of answers-to-be-modified actually were. Not that it matters too much -- I think I may have just about heard of the source material before, on the very edge of my memory, but nice to be reintroduced to it. Thanks, eXternal.

[lyrabelacqua]

I agree with Jim. Is it just me or is there an error in the rubric (26ac should be 28dn surely?)

[starwalker]

26ac should read 28ac

[AHearer]

Sorry, I meant to note the 26/28 error in my original posting.

jim360, are you turning prematurely into a grumpy old person? Perhaps you've just got better things on your mind.

[Pasquin]

I'd never heard of the couple either. They had obviously worked their way through a few Listener-type preambles of their time. I enjoyed this enormously. Thanks, eXternal.

[perseverer]

Online version has had 26 changed to 28 sometime this evening.
Can't say I had heard of husband and wife before, and like AHearer, got several of the modified entries from the extra words, then with the help of the Wiki article on the couple, eventually figured out what was going on and solved the original clues. We may have reservations about Wiki, but how often do we use it! (I'm ignoring government pressure to use fewer exclamation marks!)

[lyrabelacqua]

Indeed 28ac starwalker

[jim360]

I wasn't meaning to be grumpy particularly. This felt more of a routine Listener than a particularly special one, but I don't mean that to be disparaging. Kept me involved to the finish, which is what counts.

[olichant]

I enjoyed this very much too. Thanks, eXternal.

Some day, I'd be really interested in a list of setters' pseudonyms with descriptions of how they were chosen and what they refer to - some of them are really intriguing.

Happy weekend to everyone here (and here"s hoping I don't get marked wrong for joining up the planks of Emu's gibbet - though it'd probably be fair enough if I did)

[upsetter]

A perfectly good introductory Listener, showing that the genre can be accessible without compromising standards.
Nothing wrong with a few easy clues to get a toehold on the grid.
Don't expect to run into the characters again.

ThanX eXternal.

[upsetter]

We miss RR?
We notice she is still posting on Listen with others but not here.

[sunny-dave]

Lovely puzzle - a perfect example of what a (relatively simple) Listener should aim to be.

Nice theme (new to me at least) giving a proper raison d’être for the modifications of entries, an impeccable grid construction and a mix of easier/harder clues.

Thanks eXternal - very enjoyable indeed.

[s_pugh]

Reasonably easy grid fill, though I had to resort to Wikipedia to find one of the thematic modifications (hardly a common word!). Still it proved not to be as daunting a grid stare as I feared. I think the pre-amble could have been better worded to indicate the overall state of the completed grid, as is usually the case but that is a minor quibble. Major quibble is the (apparent lack of) proof reading in the Times version of the puzzle. Thanks eXternal.

[icynorth]

Clever puzzle, and fun to complete. Many thanks, eXternal!

[UglyUncle]

I'm in agreement with those who've made positive comments: this was a very satisfying solve, and the final modifications were well sign-posted and required no staring at all. The 'overall state of the completed grid' is pleasing as well.

I wonder if Scorpius will endorse my one quibble, viz that the clue to 11dn commits a minor solecism.

Olichant: Azed's book 'A-Z of Crosswords' (Collins, 2006) gives biographies of some setters, some of whom explain the origin of their names, e.g. Mick Freeman chose Salamanca from the name of the university founded by the original Ximenes. I also have 'Who's Who among Listener Crossword setters, 1995', photocopied on A4 paper with a plastic slider to hold it together. Neither of these answers your question. I agree it would be interesting to find out.

[rhona121]

Most enjoyable and an elegant final grid. Thank you eXternal.

[doctormatt]

Very enjoyable and an education regarding the theme!

[Scorpius]

I thought this was very enjoyable puzzle. There was a range of clues from easy to middling difficulty, and enough going on with the gimmicks and modifications to maintain interest to the end. Unlike some I rather liked back-solving from grid entries the three thematic clues that I hadn't solved. I guessed one candidate for the final modification, after which the second became easy to identify thanks to the appropriate anagram supplied.

UglyUncle, I'm not sure what feature of 11dn you were referring to. If, by 'solecism'' you mean faulty syntax, i don't see any, but there is one aspect of the clue that surprised me and that has not been allowed by editors in the past without a further qualification.

[Philoctetes]

At last! A Listener that used MY O-level knowledge! Very enjoyable throughout.