Listener Crossword 4499 Silent Movie By Elfman

[emcee]

I haven't been able to find another thread so here goes ...

I thought this was quite a straightforward offering this week; the clues didn't take too long to solve. There will be some argument about some of the choices of letters selected from the across clues -- nevertheless an impressive effort by the setter.

Many thanks to Elfman for a straightforward puzzle, as I anticipate a busy weekend.

[olichant]

I agree with you, emcee. Weirdly, the quote jumped out at me - but only because I happened to come across it very recently while browsing something else.

I’m glad I got the quote before I worked out the rationale for the choice of letters, I have to say - I think I’d have found that pretty tough.

[olichant]

And lest that sound too grumpy (it wasn’t really meant to be) the constraint that Elfman put himself under can’t have been at all easy to execute.

[Hagen]

I wonder how many solvers will get the quotation via the intended route, rather than doing a search and working backwards to figure out why those particular letters should be chosen. I did the latter. A strange puzzle in that unless I've missed something, it is possible to submit a completed puzzle without understanding the letter choices at all.

Still, a pleasant diversion and I'm always pleased to learn new quotations. Thanks, Elfman.

[Liathach]

I certainly found the quotation from Googling and completed the puzzle without understanding the selection of letters. Indeed, several cases seem tendentious to me and a matter of individual practice. And surely you would have had to Google anyway to obtain the remainder of the quotation. Is is now necessary to be computer savvy in order to complete a puzzle?

[Philoctetes]

Like others, I have a complete grid, but no understanding of the letters, or even which are the three words. Shall I try to work it out? Low on my weekend priorities, I'm afraid.

[olichant]

Philoctetes, I’d say it’s worth it. It made me smile, anyway.

[starwalker]

I would be very surprised if anyone got the quotation without Mr Google, since the choice of letters is littered with liberties. Thanks Elfman, for a puzzle with a difference.

[12barblues]

Similar experience to many others. Definitely in GWITland after filling the grid relatively quickly. After a bit of Googling however realized that I’d missed the hint. Like others I’ve still not worked out how to select the letters - every now and then the editors give one back to us!

[Scorpius]

Nobody will get the quotation without Google unless he/she happens to know it because it's not in ODQ. The hint was of no help to me because I thought it was hinting at something else, which got me nowhere. It took me a while to get the quote by entering variations of one of the search terms.

[Cruncher]

Delighted to have googled the quotation because I have frankly no idea how it is derived from the across clues so, on that basis, would never have got it without googling. Not ideal

[icynorth]

Reading the word ‘liberties’ filled me with trepidation, but it didn’t take too long to secure the first two words, and thence a search (although I know I’ve come across the quote before).

A brave submission, and an enjoyable puzzle. Thanks, Elfman!

[Cruncher]

Think I've figured it now but have to say it's an unreliable device. Thank goodness for Google!

[IainGrace]

Entertaining, as it were, but are we right in thinking that one crack it without bothering with letters in the across clues?

[HappyUncle]

The choice of letters in across clues took me a while to fathom from the three-word hint, but after playing 'Spot the Liberty' (the usual solecisms), 'Spot the Ambiguity' (where there was more than one contender) and 'Spot the Frankly Bizarre' (where there was scant justification for the choice) I didn't have too much trouble. True, the entire thematic substance could have been derived from a Google search for the obvious seventh word, but one would have missed a proper appreciation of the hard work and cleverness of the puzzle.

[Alekhine]

Says nothing.

[Flocker14]

Actually the seventh word wasn't that obvious because I wasted some time looking for the wrong word and finding nothing. It occured to me that perhaps a test solver suggested to the setter that the device for finding the across letters was too difficult without extra help - thus the flawed preamble enabling one to bypass it - otherwise we'd have been siiting here till the middle of next month and there'd have been more complaints than the hare...

[Scorpius]

A hint in the form of an ambiguous phrase leading to a selection method that contains some highly dubious examples and further ambiguities doesn't strike me as the most successful way of leading solvers to the quotation. I'm afraid this is pretty low down my list of well-crafted puzzles.

[sunny-dave]

Another post holiday catch-up - a nice romp through some clever clues and a nice device to make four entries a bit tricky. I do agree that the ambiguities would have made the selection of letters from the across clues almost impossible - but google was my friend.

Thanks Elfman