Listener No. 4430: G&s By Pilcrow

[AHearer]

Good fun, if not enormously taxing. I have to admit never having seen the point of the other work, and I'm not a great fan of the method of submission, but neither detracted from my enjoyment of the puzzle. Thanks, Pilcrow, and a merry Christmas to you, all the other setters, and all solvers.

[Contrarian]

Yes, I also struggle to see the point of that work, but I liked Pilcrow's amusing exploitation of its pointlessness in the instruction.

[starwalker]

Just about to take the final step, never having heard of the work. Some very generous clues, I thought. A merry Christmas to Pilcrow and to all other sufferers of this terrible disease that we share.

[olichant]

I liked the way the various elements of this tied together, and it was a fun solve. Happy Christmas to everyone here. We've had some great puzzles this year.

[Ruthrobin]

Well, I really like this kind of pointlessness and found the clues very fair, easily yielding the extra words that, of course, produced a smile when we put them in order and read our two 'messages'. Thanks to Pilcrow - do we get a setter's blog? It would be appreciated.

[midazolam]

Where is the Christmas Listener? What a disappointment. I look forward to the festive crossword that we have had for a number of years now.

Bah! Humbug!

[fyellin]

Definitely a lot of fun, and an ending that was completely unexpected.

[midazolam]

I suppose Bandmaster's puzzle three weeks ago was our Christmas Listener

[aldanna]

Pleasingly silly and lots of fun. I just hope the checking doesn't prove too onerous. Happy Christmas to all!

[upsetter]

The trouble with the mode of entry is that it happens much more frequently than a blue moon.
Not quite as predictably as the last time.

[s_pugh]

Pointless and ultimately deeply unsatisfying, just as it was pointless and ultimately deeply unsatisfying the last time this ruse was employed.

Thanks Pilcrow, great puzzle, shame about the endgame.

[icynorth]

Yes, I concur with some of those sentiments about the endgame. I did enjoy the journey, though, and preferred the thematic clues here to last week's.

Yes, some great puzzles this year, I agree. Thank you setters, one and all, and Merry Christmas!

[olichant]

Although we're unlikely to see the submission method very often, I thought it was totally appropriate to the theme, and it made me smile. I didn't think it pointless.

I was hoping to enjoy the work this morning, but it was difficult with my young niece screaming in the next bedroom.

[UglyUncle]

There was a nice logical sequence starting with the title and associated clues, proceeding to the alternative title and thence to the alternative work, but sadly ending with a saw-it-coming-a-mile away final instruction, broadly hinted at in the preamble.

But yes, it was a Christmas puzzle, to bring seasonal joy to JEG and his volunteers; and I did thoroughly enjoy the hopeful travelling.

[IainGrace]

A good challenge but a request please that the endgame is used sparingly. Festive greetings to all.

[TioMateo]

Having had to abandon this on Christmas Day to enjoy the festive meal, I returned to it this morning, and found it good fun all the way up to the endgame, which I found very dissatisfying.

Am I alone in feeling irritated that the fifth word in the final instruction to solvers is ambiguous, to the extent that it could result in an incorrect final sumission?

[perseverer]

Sticking to our convention of not giving things away on this site makes it difficult to be specific, but while I think I understand what you are getting at, there is another aspect which would remove this potential ambiguity.

[TioMateo]

Perseverer, thank you so much for taking the trouble to respond to my irritated rant. Being more than a little pedantic, I was concerned - even at the time of writing - that I might have missed something, but your brief opaque nudge was all it took (within seconds) to point me in the direction where my perceived complaint of ambiguity could be resolved. I don't do The Listener regularly but, whenever I have tackled it, I have always trusted the setter's integrity of instruction. Am now kicking myself for for having been too literal or, perhaps, not literal enough. As they say, "There's no heavier burden than a great potential". Thank you again.

[greenfarmroad]

Sorry folks - like Norwich City I'm destined to live in the lower divisions. Have completed the puzzle and have obtained the instruction for submission but am still unclear what I have to do to the grid. any further nudge, however opaque, would be welcome
thanks

[sunny-dave]

Finished the grid last night (which I enjoyed very much) - but saved the decoding until now.

Distinctly underwhelmed is what I now feel - I can see (at least) two options as to the final alteration - possibly a third.

I'm pretty sure I know what is intended - but that is not the only interpretation of what is actually said.

Either of the first two would be entirely justifiable, and I could make a case for option three if pushed (I've seen grid processing in Listeners based on flimsier evidence).

I don't submit, so I don't actually care, but I'd be pretty cross if I guessed incorrectly and lost a 100% ...

[Hagen]

I've finally got round to this, and appreciated a gentle solve after far too much festive cheer. Yes we've seen this trick before, but there will always be some solvers who are encountering it for the first time, so I don't mind its occasional reappearance.

It didn't occur to me while solving that there could be more than one interpretation of the instructions. Perhaps the seeds of doubt have been sown by a certain hidden hare? (New Year's resolution: I won't mention "that puzzle" ever again. Promise.)