Listener Crossword No.4564

[IainGrace]

Having been away on holiday a lot recently and playing catch up with numerous crosswords that we do and just about got there, this was a pleasing puzzle to solve. Neatly constructed and entertaining but requiring only two or three glasses of wine to bring to a finish.

[upsetter]

That was quick - I started another thread 10 minutes ago.

An elegant construction - we were pleased when the subject was not the one that we had feared.

[emcee]

Just moving my comment across ... didn't realise another thread existed.

A decent beginner's puzzle.

Thanks, Stick Insect.

[12barblues]

Yes, well worked and very accessible with relatively few obscurities. It would be a great introduction to themed cryptic puzzles. Thanks to Stick Insect.

[0pt0]

This was one of the most enjoyable Listener puzzles I have ever done. To have constructed the grid containing so much thematic material, in the right order, is a work of art. My vote for puzzle of the year would go to this one. Thanks Stick Insect.

[vetuste_ennemi]

(Good news for me then)

[pushmi-pullyu]

It's not often I can complete a Listener puzzle in one sitting. Great fun though, and I've learned a new word - 13ac.

[Askival]

One of those 'a great deal harder to set than to solve' puzzles, so thank you Stick Insect for making the effort. Knowing the direction of the answer made for a much more straightforward solve (and a refreshing change from a couple of Ferret's latest challenges, although they were excellent also).

Thanks Stick Insect - I enjoyed it very much, and it's nice to be up speed before Saturday lunchtime.

[IainGrace]

For a further challenge this weekend Paul’s conventional cryptic in today’s Guardian is a tricky little ***.

[Hagen]

Has this become the official thread, although Upsetter's was earlier? It doesn't matter a toss who gets there first of course, but if only AB would get their search facility working properly to avoid this sort of thing.

It wasn't hard to guess what the theme would be before starting - not that I'm complaining as it is a worthy one. I'm curious as to what theme Upsetter feared!

The construction is very neat and I imagine much work went into fitting in all the thematic material. It was over a bit too quickly and perhaps the fun could have been prolonged by not telling us which answers had to be reversed.

For me the difficulty of a puzzle is far less important than whether it is enjoyable or not and whether the non clue-solving part is in reasonable proportion to getting the answers. This fulfilled both criteria easily, therefore I found it to be a fine puzzle.

[olichant]

Some odd surface readings, I thought, but I can’t quibble with the implementation of the theme and the better-than-necessary structure of the surnames. Not sure I found it quite as easy as the rest of you, but maybe that is rustiness for you! An enjoyable way to weather out a nasty heatwave - thanks, Stick Insect.

[upsetter]

@Hagen - I think Iain Grace beat us by half an hour.
The real problem is that TAB does not reveal posts in its search for several hours.

The theme we feared was The Hobbit because of its subtitle "Or, There and Back Again".

[Hagen]

Yes you're right. Apologies to IainGrace. Like I said, it isn't about who gets there first, but it is annoying when we keep treading on each other's toes. I started a thread about this in the Editor's Blog, but only got one response and nothing from the AB team. Perhaps someone had started a similar thread before me?!

I wouldn't have minded a Hobbit-based puzzle. It's been a while since it or LOTR has been a theme, I think. I'm not a Tolkien obsessive - I don't go to conventions held in Elvish - but I've never understood why some people dislike it so much either.

[sunny-dave]

“ Elvish has left the building ...? “

But seriously folks ... lovely puzzle - and a work of some complexity for the setter to get all the thematic material into the grid so neatly.

Thanks Stick Insect