Listener No 4471 What Can The Matter Be? By Flying Tortoise

[Ruthrobin]

With quite a bit of surprise and head scratching, we have a full grid. It took a lucky early spotting of the theme to speed our solve up enormously. I thought this was quite challenging. Thank you, Flying Tortoise.

[Hagen]

I found this more fiddly than a violin concerto, but it all came together nicely in the end with no ambiguities or grid staring. A lucky guess at the theme, and therefore the letters to go in the circles, helped to put the quadrants in order. I actually thought there was a clue missing for a while because although I'd solved it I forgot to enter the answer in the grid. Duh.

[AndrewG-S]

As above this needed a lucky guess at the theme and then all fell into place.

[perseverer]

Not so much GWIT, but more figure out what you have to do to fill the grid with the answers you've got.

[s_pugh]

A daunting preamble but everything fell neatly into place and the circled entries made for easy placement. No ambiguous endgame either for a pleasant change. Thanks FT.

[12barblues]

Enjoyed that a lot, despite the cold solve. Would have been quicker if my eyes had seen what was in front of me instead of something clearly wrong. (Hope that's cryptic enough to pass muster on this site.) Many thanks to FT.

[sunny-dave]

What a cracker - some hard cold solving, a quick google or two once I got close to the theme, then a very satisfying gridfill.

No ambiguities, no grid staring, just a scrupulously fair (and difficult) puzzle.

One of the best - thanks FT

[sunny-dave]

But now I have "Three old ladies locked in the ..." as an earworm

(and no - that is not in any way, shape, or form a clue to the theme)

[Scorpius]

Quite a few easy clues, then some more challenging ones where the misprints, extra or missing letters were very skilfully handled, leading to several pdm's. I saw the theme early enough to make selecting the quadrant for a given set fairly straightforward.

However, I must be missing something, as I don't see the thematic basis for resolving ambiguities in the quadrant with no down entries. I can see how they probably should be entered, but don't see that as a thematic justification.

[Flocker14]

I agree with Scorpius - the preamble lacks any precise instructions on how to deal with that quadrant - otherwise hats off to Flying Tortoise for testing what's left of my wits superbly!

[sunny-dave]

Given that you can precisely place two of the entries in the quadrant under discussion, I can only see one logical arrangement for the other four entries?

Agreed it isn't spelled out in the pre-ramble, but then none of the entry methods for the other three quadrants are fully detailed either - they are all just "if it fits, it's right"?

[Osirun]

Whew, just made it over the finish line after a lot of (very enjoyable) puzzling. Agreed that there's no explicit instructions for that one quadrant, but if you really can't find an order that seems more pleasing than the alternatives I'd be very surprised!

[Scorpius]

Osirun, perhaps you were implying that I'd failed to see that one order is "more pleasing" than others. I thought I'd made it clear that I saw a rationale, but that per se doesn't make it necessarily right, unless there is a thematic reason. The preamble didn't ask for a consistent pattern of entries in that quadrant. It just seems a bit odd to me.

[Cruncher]

Suddenly fell into place although agree with others that there was a paucity of instruction

[icynorth]

Fascinating puzzle, thanks Flying Tortoise. I enjoyed it a lot, but I’m surprised it was accepted, as it’s not a crossword.

[starwalker]

Very little to add to what has already been said. Would have finished earlier if I had not made a dog's dinner of the final assembly. Sometimes my own stupidity amazes me. Thanks FT, that was fun.

[Alekhine]

There were moments when I thought this could become a real battle ... periods of little progress, then a flurry, then a standstill.

Overall, enjoyed it. Some minor quibbles, as others have indicated, but a challenge. And that is what a Listener should offer, I suggest.

[upsetter]

Some excellent clues of varying levels of difficulty and despite spotting the theme fairly early we struggled with the SGF.
We are convinced that there is a deducible thematic justification for the way that all the answers are entered and will await some higher intellect to explain it in due course.

[emcee]

Tough and enjoyable. Justification for the entry method in the one quadrant remains a puzzle here too.

A true Listener. Many thanks, FT.

[Philoctetes]

A fine puzzle, yes, with some nice clues. But a "crossword"? Hardly. I think it was only in the last two or three clues that I had any assistance from the grid - otherwise all cold solving. Like others, I found the relationship of the construction to the theme eludes me. And the letter in the last clue surely makes the last thematic item somewhat different from the others.

[olichant]

I found this really very tough - more so than everyone else seems to have done! I thought it was an enjoyable puzzle. I share Scorpius's uncertainty about part of the implementation of the theme, but even so, I enjoyed the way everything came together in the end. Some tough, well-crafted clues on the way.