Listener 4663 Blurred Lines By Skylark

[Hagen]

Can’t find a thread so here goes…

After last week’s masterpiece from Android, I didn’t envy the setter whose puzzle would follow. So much to live up to, so perhaps the editors wouldn’t bother and choose this week to foist a Playfair on us?

Well, no. This was an absolute treat. A gentle grid fill, then some head scratching until the penny dropped so hard it made a dent in my floor. I guess this is one where (like me) you’ll need the internet if you don’t know the theme, but most of us have accepted that’s OK these days, right?

Lovely puzzle Skylark, thank you.

[HawkCrossword]

I agree, Hagen. You can see the setter's love of the subject matter coming through with themes like this.

Identifying the second set of cells was difficult for me, as I don't have the requisite skill in that area, but the ones I've chosen seem to roughly fit, which is in keeping with the theme, I guess.

Thanks Skylark - I enjoyed that very much.

[olichant]

Could not agree more, Hagen. A theme that’s dear to my heart, for one! And some nice clues.

[emcee]

A good puzzle with a satisfying endgame. Not knowing the work, I'm presuming that, for the second thematic set, all versions (there seem to be many on the Internet) are the same otherwise we wouldn't know which the setter was referring to! The positioning of the second set was otherwise unambiguous.

Thanks, Skylark.

[Cruncher]

A lovely endgame - graphically accurate and, for me, removing some ambiguity about entries

[Philoctetes]

Excellent endgame