Listener No 4465 Pqrst? By Yorick

[Ruthrobin]

What a struggle this has been. There is so much going on in the grid that I thought the penny was never going to drop (but it just did with a clang when I read the preamble more carefully). Thank you Yorick for a real challenge.

[Hagen]

I found the clues extremely tough, not least due to the misprints being so well disguised. I feel that the endgame is a bit of an anti-climax after all the hard graft needed to get there, but then I could well be missing some breathtaking bit of cleverness (wouldn't be the first time). Thanks Yorick.

As I'm sad enough that I start f5-ing madly as the appointed hour for the new Listener approaches, I've noticed that the puzzle has appeared several minutes late this week and last. No big deal, except that I hope this isn't a sign that the puzzle will no longer appear reliably on Friday afternoon. However I do like the way the puzzle now appears on one page by default.

[Philoctetes]

Barely started - but, prompted by Hagen's last remark, is there any way of printing the puzzle in the old large format. I end up with a very cluttered, grubby worksheet.

[Hagen]

Philoctetes, you may well be aware of the many complaints over on the Times site about the PDF version of the daily puzzle (too small, wastes ink, clues far too faint if you use your printer's economy function, etc.). The poor bloke who has to stick his head above the parapet to tell us that the new PDF layout is really much better, and we're just too stupid to realise it, has intimated that we're not going to get the old HTML version back. The answer to your question is that you'll probably have to do clever things with copying, pasting and enlarging to get a bigger version. Sorry I can't be more helpful!

[Philoctetes]

Ah well, it all adds to the struggle that is life. Best that I learn to write in very small, neat letters. On to the puzzle, comrades.

[starwalker]

Philoctetes, the grid can be enlarged by using Adobe Acrobat (not to be confused with Acrobat Reader). Using the snapshot tool, you can "capture" the grid as an image and then copy it, paste it and stretch it.

[starwalker]

I'm glad that it wasn't only me who found this to be tough. After a long grid-stare, evrything now sorted. Thanks Yorick, for a serious workout.

[Liathach]

All OK apart from the extra thematic item. I cannot see how to position this so that it does not impinge on the others, has the correct area and is bounded by lines which start and finish at the cell centre. Indeed (without giving anything away) the dimensions of this item would appear to be fixed by the area of 20 and there is simply not room for this. I can of course find an item with the correct area which fits the available space, but it contravenes the third requirement.

[AndrewG-S]

Final step took a little longer than it should have due to liatach issue but all sorted now. Great puzzle

[AngryUncle]

I thought there would be lots of successful and contented solvers by now, but it seems that I'm not alone in my perplexity. It didn't help that I held myself up by making the wrong judgement about 45, but even after resolving that mistake I am left with a fruitless grid-stare for the ? The apparently redundant empty cell is a niggle as well. Yet, as always with the stinkers, there are the happy few who have cracked it. (Sorry, Yorick, if 'stinkers' seems unfair: the clues and the method were ingenious and enjoyable; it's the GWIT that rattles.)

[Liathach]

I can see it now - did not make the obvious implication yesterday! Now to see if I can finish that infernal thing from last week.

[12barblues]

A lot of tough clues with these different things going on. I'm feeling quite smug over a couple of them, but there are still some I've got to parse although the entries are obvious. I didn't find any ambiguity in the final step, once I'd remembered some basic principles and read the rubric.

[Scorpius]

I didn't find the final step too tricky once I knew what I was looking for, but some errors in recording accurately all the incorrect letters from wordplay delayed getting that.

My main complaint was not that it was tough (which I accept and usually welcome in the Listener), but that some clues were unfair. Two homophone clues were ambiguous (despite warnings against this in the Listener 'Notes for Setters') and one of the clues that gave wordplay with a wrong letter was virtually unsolveable until one had most or all of the letters in the grid; it must be one of the most unhelpful clues to a non-word entry that I have ever encountered.

[olichant]

A solve of three thirds for me. I got off to a good start, enjoying the way the different clue types were handled and limiting the locations for clashes. I then floundered for a bit and had serious difficulty with some of the clues - some of which were very good indeed, some of which I found a little odd (I agree with Scorpius' comments). It all came together nicely in the end. Overall, an enjoyable challenge.

[icynorth]

I was dying to post that this was, alas, poor, but it was brilliant, Yorick.

A couple of stretches in the wordplay, but to finish with a unique solution was genius. Many thanks!

[emcee]

Now finished having satisfied myself that I understand every wordplay.

Some very difficult clues but, in comparison, a pretty trivial endgame.

I enjoyed the challenge. Many thanks, Yorick.